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August 14, 2026
 

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JLPT N2

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A lot of Japanese workers join online group texts to communicate with their coworkers, but at what point do those chats threaten a healthy work-life balance?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 22, 2025
Expressing annoyance with work group chats in Japanese
Some employees value the convenience; others feel trapped by after-hours texts and social expectations embedded in office messaging culture.
A man takes part in Tokyo¡¯s Sanja Matsuri by helping to carry a "mikoshi" (portable shrine). Many Japanese festivals are open to foreign residents and tourists to participate in.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 19, 2025
Dancers, festivals and one very useful Japanese grammar point
From Kyoto¡¯s Gion Matsuri to Tokyo¡¯s Sumida fireworks, Â鶹´«Ã½ summer festivals offer history, spectacle ¡ª and a chance to learn some vocabulary.
Get those umbrellas out, rainy season has arrived in much of Japan.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 12, 2025
In the forecast for June ¡ª a lot of talk about the weather
From ¡°tsuyu¡± to ¡°amayadori,¡± the current season has no shortage of vocabulary for downpours, floods and wet weather.
As humidity rises in the rainy season, it¡¯s a good idea to get some moisture absorbers and place them around the home.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 30, 2025
How to talk about change in Japanese ¡ª one forecast at a time
Use the changing seasons as a springboard to learn how Japanese expresses cause-and-effect shifts.
Signs advertising the upcoming World Expo in Osaka have proliferated in the city's different neighborhood for the past few years.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 11, 2025
I¡¯ve only just come back from Osaka, but I¡¯m ready to hit the Expo
The term ¡°bakari¡± can be used in several different ways to emphasize and define the limit of a range.
People walk around an outlet mall in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture. At stores across Japan, clerks use a form of polite language called "manyuaru keigo," literally, ¡°manual honorifics,¡± named for the service manuals they study it from.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 6, 2024
Â鶹´«Ã½ honorific language can be challenging for native speakers, too
According to surveys, more than half of those in their teens, 20s and 30s, believe they cannot use ¡°keigo,¡± or honorific language, appropriately.
Get your dark blue suit out of the closet, job hunting season is once again upon us.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 6, 2024
Those looking for jobs in Japan get another shot at it in September
Hiring for new recruits usually takes place in time for an April start, but Japanese companies are increasingly looking to hire in the autumn.
Two people in Tokyo walk past a poster meant to evoke a cooling feeling the summer heat.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 31, 2024
Sunscreen bans, UV-cuts and the language of summer skincare in Japan
Get to know Japanese terms for products that will help you protect your skin in the scorching sun.
People look at the election poster board at Kasai Rinkai Park in Tokyo. The board includes posters for each of the candidates running in that specific riding.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 28, 2024
Tokyo¡¯s election day is coming. Are you comfortable talking about politics in Japanese?
Even if you don¡¯t want to talk about politics, expressing your opinion on a particular topic is always a good skill to have in your daily life.
Dads in Japan tend to fall in one of two categories: "amat¨­," a person fond of sweets, or "karat¨­," a person fond of alcohol.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 14, 2024
Dads like sweets, but some like sweet words even more
Looking for a gift for Father¡¯s Day? It¡¯s said that Japanese dads fall into one of two categories: They like sweets or they like sake.
Artificial chemical scents that come from things like perfume or fabric softener can cause discomfort or even sickness for some individuals.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 7, 2024
Scents and sensitivity: Understanding ¡®smell pollution¡¯ in Japan
In the country¡¯s crowded urban areas, it is important to be aware of how your deodorant, perfume or fabric softener can affect others.
The idea of quitting tends to be associated with weakness, but moving on from a problematic situation can sometimes be extremely positive.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 10, 2024
Sometimes there¡¯s power in quitting
Modern society tends to see quitting as a sign of weakness, but Buddhist teaching has extolled the benefits of letting go of something at the right time.
While carnations and hydrangeas seem to be Â鶹´«Ã½ preferred flowers for Mother¡¯s Day, your mom will likely be happy just spending quality time with you for the occasion.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 3, 2024
Before you forget, order those hydrangeas for Mother¡¯s Day!
¡°Before it¡¯s too late,¡± ¡°while you remember¡± ¡ª Mother¡¯s Day offers us a chance to learn ways to express a range of time in Japanese.
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.
New ¡®Katsu Curry Index¡¯ aims to show how weak the yen really is
A CoCo Ichibanya curry house in Tokyo.
Mexican man arrested over attempt to smuggle some 200 lizards into Japan
Mexican alligator lizards seized by Tokyo Customs from a Mexican man who attempted to smuggle them into Japan on Saturday through Haneda Airport
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company's warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
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.
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.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.

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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