My husband works closely with people in Japan, Taiwan, and Mainland China, among other places, and when they travel here on business, they inevitably bring presents covered with Chinese characters....
In English I'm a painfully slow reader. My mind wanders all the time, and I have to backtrack to wherever I was before I drifted away, hoping I won't meander down the same side paths on the...
Last week I wrote about attending Kyle Ikeda's lecture on Okinawan literature, and I mentioned that, much to my frustrat...
I'm late again. To my chagrin, I've become the sort of person who starts every email with apologies for slow replies. That habit is now seeping into my blogs, as well. Oh, well. Perhaps the...
Long time no see! I haven't been nearly as bloggy lately, and I apologize for my silences here, though it's not that I've been idle. Rather, writing three Radical Notes and the last new...
Essay 1958 on 彙 (collection) is now out, and although I focused the essay on that kanji (of course!), I felt intrigued by several o...
Last November, a crew from the Japanese reality show「ニッポンへ行きたい！」 (I Want to Go to Japan!) came to my house to film me about...
Long, long ago, I wrote a great deal about architecture, and then that came to a halt and in a sense all I could see was kanji! But a few weeks ago someone asked me to write about architecture, and...
It's been a rough week in many parts of the world, and joy often feels beside the point. And yet I know it doesn't accomplish much to dwell in the dark side, so I have to double down on my...
Let's start with a quiz! If 報酬 (ほうしゅう) means "reward" in the following sentence, what is the speaker proposing:
報酬は山分けにしよう。
I found an unexpected link between the two newest essays, which are on 酪 (1891: dairy product) and...
Over at Kanshudo, a site that teaches kanji in a variety of ways, there's a new game called Kanji Bui...
Here's the best thing I've seen all day—a video of an 80-year-old Japanese toy maker who wishes he co...
Let's start with a quiz. If 露 means "dew" and 地 means "land," what do you think this term could mean:
露地 (ろじ) ...
Last week I said I might blog more about fans today. However, I've decided to make the new essay on fans completely free....
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