Japanese literature audiobook release: “Fast Forward Japan: Stories by the Founding Father of Japanese Science Fiction”
Japanese Netflix Drama review: “Alice in Borderland” (2nd Season)
Around two years ago I reviewed the first season of the Netflix drama “Alice in Borderland” (with the Japanese title 今際の国のアリス, “imawa no kuni no arisu), which you can find here. It was quite a wait for the second season, but when it finally came out I couldn’t help but watch. Fortunately, it was definately… Read More »
PC game review “Ghostwire: Tokyo” (a realistic trip through the streets of Japan)
These days, with so many other responsibilities (and hobbies) I find it hard to make time to sit down for a PC game for any length of time. Part of the reason is that playing games a few minutes at a time is just not as satisfying as those hours-long sessions that I could do… Read More »
Useful Japanese words: Expressing annoyance with めんどくさい (mendokusai)
When learning a foreign language, it’s important to learn a little bit about a lot of things: words, expressions, culture, etc. But it’s also important to learn a lot about a few things, namely those things that occur frequently in daily life. This post, falling in the latter category, is about an expression you are… Read More »
Advanced Japanese technique: changing a thought mid-stream
As we learn a foreign language, we gradually improve our vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, and at the same time gain other more abstract skills that help us understand and communicate better. Often these things happen subconsciously, but you can also learn these types of skills explicitly and try to apply them to your daily language… Read More »
Ten surprising Japanese loanwords that come from German
English-speakers tend to quickly pick up on the large number of words in Japanese that come from English (something I’ve written a few articles about). However, there are many loanwords in Japanese that originate from other languages such as Portuguese, Dutch, French, and German. It so happens that I have started studying German a little… Read More »
Introducing Arigatai Goods: putting appreciation first
Several usages of “mono”(もの)in Japanese
“Mono” in Japanese (usually written in hiragana as もの, and sometimes in kanji as 物) is a word that has the basic meaning of “thing”, generally in the sense of a physical (often tangible) thing. 店でいいものを買ったよ (mise de ii mono wo katta yo) I bought something good (=a good thing) at the store. However this… Read More »
Movie review: Bullet Train (a surprising connection to Japanese literature)
I’ve had a special interest in Japanese culture for almost as long as I can remember, and can often appreciate books, movies, or TV series that try to highlight some interesting, unique, or significant part of Japan’s culture. But I’ve developed a good sense of which of these have an authentic feel and intent, and… Read More »