Some exciting news! I was asked to write a guest blog for a series about Japanese literature in translation. The very capable series editor David Jacobson wanted me to write about kanji in particul...
Let's start with a quiz. Match the Japanese to the English definitions, steering clear of the one false option:
1. 脚本 (きゃくほん) ...
Dictionary.com emails me about the Word of the Day, and I was thrilled that the April 16 word may have had a connection to Japanese:
ken:
Let's start with a quiz. You may know 命 (いのち) as "life," but what do you think it could mean in the last part of this passage about the thickness and thinness of calligraphy strokes:...
Essay 1995 on 熊 (bear) is now out, and as usual, writing it taught me a great deal about the subject matter—everything from Ainu views of bears to shogi moves and unexpected uses of yak...
A quasi-neighbor who often drives by our house wanted agave for his garden, so he asked for some of ours. Yesterday he spent at least five hours with a hand saw, cutting back the exuberantly produc...
We've gathered here today to talk about kanji, and yet I want to focus for a bit on two words typically written in hiragana: ある and いる. As it turns out, the discussion has an important kanji co...
Here's a quiz for you. What's the connection between an ostrich and a camel?
To block the answer I'll post a preview of the newest...
I've been giving a lot of consideration to how I'm spending my time and how I'm stretched way too thin. I know I should jettison some obligations, but which ones and why? My line of inq...
Toward the end of the December newsletter, I presented a sign for a business called さんずい:
It's a new year, or so it seems, but an unthinkable two weeks have already passed. They slid right by when I wasn't looking. What the hell happened? I really can't say, except that...
Let's start with a quiz! If you had to assign a day of the year to be "Happy Husband and Wife Day" or いい夫婦の日 (いいふうふのひ), which day would you choose:
a. F...
What do you think the following term could mean:
尻馬に乗る (しりうまにのる) buttocks + horse + to ride
Let's start with a quiz! What do you think the following term could mean:
遺伝子 (いでんし) to leave behind (...
Last night, thanks to a wonderful drink called a Sazerac, I talked deeply with a friend about realizing visions and feeling a profound sense of meaning in life. I was surprised to hear myself sayin...
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