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August 18, 2026
 

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GRAMMAR

A woman takes advantage of a public mist machine to deal with a heat wave in Tokyo last month.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 14, 2026
Cruel summer: Searching for an escape from Â鶹´«Ã½ extreme heat
From extreme heat and tropical nights to mountain escapes, a look at the Japanese vocabulary of summer.
Retirement can bring unexpected changes to long-established relationships, prompting some Japanese couples to adjust to new routines and a shared daily life.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 17, 2026
Japanese has a word for when your husband makes you sick
Explore Â鶹´«Ã½ ¡°husband-origin illness¡± while learning vocabulary and grammar about marriage, retirement and relationships.
A fortune teller in Tokyo's Yanaka district reads a client's palms.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 18, 2026
Predicting the future, one Japanese grammar point at a time
From fortune tellers to weather forecasts and prediction markets, learn how Japanese expresses uncertainty.
A mock poster uses the verb ¡°hataraku¡± in its ¡°tai¡± form to tell potential applicants ¡°we want to work with you.¡±
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 22, 2026
In Japanese, saying what you want can be complicated
From softening requests to reading others¡¯ intentions, expressions of desire in Japanese are rarely straightforward.
Even a slight brush with the law can be enough to cause reputational damage for public figures.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 15, 2026
How Japanese grammar captures the gap between legal outcomes and public judgment
Using ¡°monono¡± and ¡°ni mo kakawarazu¡± to explore contradictions between expectations and outcomes in Japanese.
Sun hats, hoodies with built-in UV protection and parasols are on the must-have lists of Japanese moms this summer.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 8, 2026
When it comes to their kids, Japanese mothers look beyond pink and blue
A look at how evolving vocabulary around fashion signals changing attitudes toward gender and function.
Under the new blue ticket system, cyclists will have one week in which to pay fines for minor traffic violations.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 24, 2026
The language around Â鶹´«Ã½ new bike rules leaves no room for ¡®maybe¡¯
Blue tickets are now being issued for minor traffic offenses, but you have to watch you don¡¯t get scammed.
Riku Miura (left) and Ryuichi Kihara celebrate in Milan after winning gold in the pair skating event.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 19, 2026
No one else will do: What a pair of figure skaters can teach us about familiarity in Japanese
An Olympic duo illustrates how honorifics and in-group dynamics can signal closeness across different contexts.
People admire the Kajimoto Family wisteria trellis during the Shindachijuku Wisteria Festival in Sennan, Osaka.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 16, 2026
After Â鶹´«Ã½ cherry blossoms fade, spring keeps blooming
The fleeting beauty of cherry blossoms gives way to a rolling season of color, vocabulary and new ways to describe change.
A mother and daughter take part in a buffet of sweets and desserts ¡ª a perfect way for many to spend Valentine¡¯s Day this year.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 13, 2026
In Japan, Valentine¡¯s Day has become a personal luxury
Valentine¡¯s Day in Japan is shifting from obligation to indulgence, as people embrace life¡¯s small luxuries for themselves.
Japanese trains are usually full of advertisements that all fight for your attention.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 2, 2026
How Japanese advertising breaks grammar to get your attention
Japanese advertising may look chaotic, but the strange grammar, puns and omissions are carefully engineered to grab your attention.
The English ¡°I¡± has gendered equivalents in Japanese that give the listener hints as to how the speaker identifies.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 23, 2026
Just between you and me: Gender and Japanese pronouns
Japanese pronouns reveal gender in unexpected ways, complicating how speakers express identity compared with current English.
True improvement comes from a long-term strategy to change unhealthy habits. Don¡¯t worry if you slip from time to time, just keep up your initial efforts.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 15, 2026
Just because you broke your resolution doesn¡¯t mean you failed
Breaking a New Year¡¯s resolution doesn¡¯t equal failure. Japanese grammar offers a gentler way to rethink goals and progress.
While making it to 100 is cause for a celebration, there are a few other ages that get you an extra piece of cake in Japan.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 28, 2025
Â鶹´«Ã½ milestone birthdays: Why 60, 77, 80, 88 and 99 matter so much
A look at Â鶹´«Ã½ milestone birthdays, the traditions behind them and how the grammar pattern ¡°ni totte¡± expresses their personal meaning.
People in Japan are increasingly opting for digital New Year greetings as postage prices rise.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 5, 2025
Are new year postcards becoming a thing of the past in Japan?
Â鶹´«Ã½ new year postcard tradition is fading as more people opt for digital holiday greetings.
Sit or stand? A gender-specific question is being discussed in the bathrooms of the nation.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 26, 2025
As bathroom behavior changes, these Japanese expressions can help explain why
A subtle shift seems to be happening in the bathrooms of the nation. Learn how to describe it using structures that indicate tendencies.
The reference text A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar recently underwent a revision for the first time in nearly four decades.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 19, 2025
A dictionary revision illustrates how Japanese keeps on evolving
The newly revised Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar updates example sentences and grammar notes to reflect language shifts since 1989.
While Kyoto's Kiyomizu Temple is a famous spot for viewing the autumn foliage, Japan has no shortage of colorful forests.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 16, 2025
The what, where and when of Â鶹´«Ã½ autumn leaves
Autumn in Japan is a lesson in color and language ¡ª learn how to ask the right questions when it comes to hunting fall foliage.
Ed Sheeran's marketing team has taken over a shop in Tokyo's Ichigaya Station.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 26, 2025
Oh, Ed(o)! Where have all the vowels gone?
Â鶹´«Ã½ playful ¡°Magica spellings¡± drop vowels and swap consonants, blending Japanese and English into crafty puns.
The promise of autumn is one of relaxation and just being cozy overall.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 18, 2025
How Japanese captures the subtle shift into autumn
From the equinox to cooler mornings, Japanese grammar and expressions reflect how the season gradually deepens into autumn.
South Korea fires warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed DMZ
North Korea's propaganda village Gijungdong as seen from a South Korea's observation post inside the Joint Security Area on the Demilitarized Zone in March 2023
Slowly but surely, Tokyo is becoming a hot spot for chicken rice
One of Singapore's most iconic dishes, the humble chicken rice is given an upscale treatment at a new Marunouchi cafe.
At Yasukuni, the politicians followed the script, but the shrine did not
People crowd in front of Yasukuni Shrine to pay tribute to the war dead on the 81st anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, in Tokyo on Saturday.
New shinkansen model delivered to Taiwan
A new Taiwan High Speed Rail train car is unloaded from a cargo ship at a port in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Saturday.
Trump orders ¡®inappropriate¡¯ U.S.-South Korean military drills scaled back
A U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter flies over Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on Monday, after Seoul said that its annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercises with the United States had started.
Unrelenting Russian anti-war protesters in Japan fight through inescapable doubt
Anti-war Russians protest Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in February.
How U.S. bombing survey in Japan shed light on civilian sentiments of WWII
Residents are seen walking beside rubble in the city of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, in this undated photo taken soon after the end of World War II.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
Takaichi needs Aso on her side to solidify position in LDP
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a Liberal Democratic Party meeting alongside LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki (left) and LDP Vice President Taro Aso in Tokyo earlier this month
Ikarigata closer to emulating older brother Fujinokawa than many think
The future Fujinokawa (third from left) and Ikarigata (right) compete against each other at ages 5 and 3, respectively.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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