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.
Category Archives: General
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 »
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.
Introducing “If Pianos Could”, and my first instrumental music album release.
I’m happy to announce my first solo piano album “Opening Movies” as part of my newly established band “If Pianos Could”, now available on popular streaming services such as YouTube and Spotify.
Japanese Igusa Tatami Mat: add a taste of Japan to your room
I generally try to indulge in various aspects of Japanese culture on a daily basis, but for the most part that is small items (books, foods) or immaterial things (music) I’ve generally stayed away from bigger things like Japanese furniture; not just because of the cost, but because I’m not particularly into Japanese furniture. (I… Read More »
Japanese vocab list: house-related words
This is a handy Japanese vocabulary list about words related to houses.
Japanese Literature Release: “The Accordion and the Fish Town” by Hayashi Fumiko
I’m glad to announce the release of my third book of works by noted woman Japanese author Hayashi Fumiko, Japanese Literature Release: “The Accordion and the Fish Town”.