In my most recent talk with a Japanese friend, two things felt charmingly clear. That doesn't usually happen with my conversations in Japanese!
I was tickled when he said this:
This Tokyo signpost seems to indicate that one has arrived at the heart of darkness:
...
What would you think if you pedaled across Tokyo, worked your way up a hill, and saw a street sign referring to sweet potatoes or udon? Chances are you'd be pretty excited. But not so fast. The...
In the last blog post, I mentioned that Russell Hogg had developed a fun obsession with the signposts on some Tokyo slopes an...
Here's a radical quiz for you. What do you get when you put a person and an old bird together under a cliff? What if you then add a tree?
I'm talking about this word:
When I first saw this book cover, which I've included in the forthcoming essay 1751 on 赴 (to head to), I was astonished:
It's a warm day here, and although I have the caffeine jitters, I also have the sense that it's the time of year when everyone wants to go more slowly. Indolence is the name of the game. Fo...
I really like this artistic ad, and I've now used it in two essays:
I ended the last blog by mentioning a wonderful piece of art:
Let's start with a quiz. What do you think this term could mean:
余談 (よだん) surplus + talk...
A few blogs back, I talked about this sentence:
そして、2人は周りの大人を巻き込んで計画を立て始める。 And then the two of them involve the adults aroun...
Let's start with a quiz. You may recognize 湾 from 台湾 (たいわん: Taiwan). And you might know 曲 as "musical composition," as in 曲調 (きょくちょう: melody, tune). The 曲 kanji also means "...
Last week I indulged myself in the sort of pleasure that only a Virgo can understand—I spent about two hours decluttering my bathroom cabinet.
Three events coalesced around this monum...
When I study Japanese, I live for "aha!" moments. Those are not only some of the best experiences in life but also a most welcome salve after the pain of feel...
I'm back from a restful vacation on the coast north of San Diego. Although I was sick with a cold the whole time, I eventually felt well enough to do my favorite thing—walk barefoot on th...
Privacy Policy
