Japanese fairy tales now available free on Kanshudo (a Japanese learning site)
One of my translations of a classic Japanese fairy tale is now available for free on Kanshudo, a full-featured site for learning Japanese.
Category Archives: General
Machine Translation Showdown: 5 MTs tested using a classical Japanese excerpt
I compared the English translation abilities of 5 different machine translation services (including those of Google and Microsoft) using a short excerpt of classic Japanese literature from Akutagawa Ryunosuke.
The right and wrong way to use the verb あげる (ageru) in Japanese
The nuances of expressing politeness is one of the most difficult parts of mastering the Japanese language, especially if your native language doesn’t have a strong concept of politeness levels (in my opinion, English does not). One of the things I always talk about when asked about politeness is the verb trio “kureru”, “morau”, and… Read More »
Introducing the Japanese Correction Service (JCS): get feedback on your Japanese writing
I’m always on the lookout for different ways to help people throughout the world improve their Japanese. For example, a few months ago I started experimenting with free online classes, and I also have a series of articles about practicing writing in Japanese (Japanese Writing Lab). After having an exchange with one of my readers… Read More »
Classical Japanese poetry translation: “The Hollow City” (虚しい街) by Yoshinobu Morikawa (森川義信)
Yoshinobu Morikawa was a Japanese poet who lived from 1918 to 1942 and left behind various poems, some with dark or mysterious themes. He was said to be influenced by famous poet T. S. Eliot, author of The Wasteland. This post contains my full English translation of Morikawa’s poem “The Hollow City” (虚しい街), first published… Read More »
Japanese book review: 「書道」の教科書 (Calligraphy Textbook) by 横山豊蘭 (Houran Yokoyama)
A few weeks ago I began learning the art of Japanese calligraphy, which is called “shodou” (書道). I posted a lengthy article here on some of the things I discovered, and included some hints for those interested in learning shodou. Right around the time I finished that article, a book arrived that I had purchased,「書道」の教科書… Read More »
Indonesian Retranslation of “Final Days of Summer”
Back in early 2017 I translated the short fiction story “Final Days of Summer” (残夏) written by Masaki Hashiba (ハシバ柾), which you can read in full here. Recently I received a query from a person named Perzipal regarding the retranslation and online publishing of this work into the Indonesian language. To make a long story short, after… Read More »
Getting specific with も (mo) and what not to tell your lover
The Japanese も (mo) particle has a handful of uses, but one of the most common––and easiest to understand––is when it is used to indicate that something else also applies to a certain statement. For example: バナナも好きだよ (banana mo suki da yo) (I) also like bananas. Here we can see the word “also” cleanly captures the… Read More »
The world of Japanese calligraphy: my first few weeks learning 書道 (shodou)
After spending a few weeks studying and practicing Japanese calligraphy (書道） I decided to write a detailed post about my experiences as an introduction to those who are interested in this artform.
Multiple Meanings of “Maru” in Japanese (円、丸)
It’s not uncommon for one word in a language to have multiple meanings, but for non-native learners it can be challenge to figure out all the meanings from context. Japanese is no exception, although intonation (depending on region) and kanji selection can help to differentiate meanings in some cases. In this post I want to… Read More »