Japanese Grammar and More: Episode 16 (Osaka travelogue)
In this episode I take a break from grammar discussions and talk about a recent trip to Osaka, Japan.
Japanese vocabulary list: Ki Aikido (martial arts) training words 
I wrote up a few pages of vocabulary words and expressions that can be used during training Ki Aikido (or another martial art) in Japanese.
Photo Album: Japan 2024 October Trip to Osaka/Kyoto
I just came back from a trip to Osaka, Japan, for which my main objective was attending a 3-day world camp for Ki Aikido taught by the head of Ki Society, Shinichi Tohei Sensei (which was an amazing experience, by the way). I also spent a little time doing some sight seeing, including a few… Read More »
Japanese literature release: “Dreams of a Child: Mimei Ogawa: The Father of Modern Japanese Fairy Tales”
I’m happy to announce the release of a collection of stories by Mimei Ogawa (the father of modern Japanese fairy tales) containing 36 stories and one essay, all in bilingual Japanese form.
Anime highlight: Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (チ。―地球の運動について)
I’ve been feeling a bit burned out on Netflix; historically the number of shows where I’m motivated to watch the 2nd episode has been pretty low, but in the last few months it feels even worse than usual. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I happened upon the new Netflix series “Orb: On the Movements… Read More »
If Pianos Could: Flow [Solo album released]
I’m happy to announce my 2nd album of new age piano songs, now available on popular streaming platforms such as Spotify, Youtube Music, and iTunes.
Japanese verbs “ukeru” (受ける) and “ukaru” (受かる): a useful pair
Japanese verbs often conveniently come in transitive/intransitive pairs, but sometimes those verbs don’t have the meanings you would expect. In this post I’d like to talk about “ukeru”（受ける） and “ukaru”（受かる), two verbs that are pretty important in daily life. The first of these, “ukeru” is the transitive one, which means it takes an object using… Read More »
Interview with Neil Gudovitz about what it takes to be a literary agent (also topics such as AI and Japan)
I interviewed Neil Gudovitz, experienced literary agent who has sold international rights for bestselling books by authors such as Marie Kondo and Toshikazu Kawaguchi.
Foreign Language Tricks: Being aware of tone and nuance (and being humble)
Some thoughts on being aware of what we don’t know as language learners, and acting accordingly in a way to get along well with others.
Japanese Grammar and More: Episode 15 (Let’s learn about ‘you’)
In this episode of my podcast for learning basic Japanese grammar, I go over the word “you” that is commonly used to compare one thing to another. I also go over a useful expression for making a wish.