Get 51% Off With the Black Friday Sale. Hurry! Ends soon!
Get 51% Off With the Black Friday Sale. Hurry! Ends soon!
JapanesePod101.com Blog
Learn Japanese with Free Daily
Audio and Video Lessons!
Start Your Free Trial 6 FREE Features

Archive for the 'Japanese Culture' Category

Top 10 most famous Japanese Food

Click here to listen to the audio pronunciation! 1. おでん。- Oden. 2. しゃぶしゃぶ。- Shabu shabu 3. 天麩羅。- Tempura. 4. 寿司。- Sushi. 5. 焼き鳥。- Yakitori. 6. 牛丼。- Gyudon. 7. 蕎麦。- Soba. 8. 餅。- Mochi. 9. 納豆。- Natto. 10. おでん。- Oden. Click here to access this lesson for FREE! Here are some handy ways you can master the quotes with this lesson: Press the sound icon to hear each word and read along Review all words in a slideshow by pressing “View Slideshow” Listen to all the words in one lesson with “Play Audio” Add the words to your Word Bank or Flashcards Print the entire list out for your personal review Leave us a comment and put these quotes to use Speak and... Show more

Top 10 Hardest Words to Pronounce in Japanese

Click here to listen to the audio pronunciation! 1. ツイッター。 - Twitter. 2. 伝えられなかった。 - Could not tell. 3. 侵略。 - invasion. 4. 便利。 - Convenient. 5. 出力。 - Output power. 6. 店員。 - Clerk. 7. 旅行。 - Traveling. 8. 暖かくなかった。 - Was not warm. 9. 駐車場。 - Parking lot. 10. おっちょこちょい。 - Clumsy. Click here to access this lesson for FREE! Here are some handy ways you can master the quotes with this lesson: Press the sound icon to hear each word and read along Review all words in a slideshow by pressing “View Slideshow” Listen to all the words in one lesson with “Play Audio” Add the words to your Word Bank or Flashcards Print the entire list out for... Show more

The Top 10 Words You’ll Hear In Anime!

Hey Listeners! Are you a big fan of anime? Then this is the list for you! There are thousands of different words that are spoken in anime these days. Too many to count. However, there are certain words that have a funny way of showing up in many different series! Today, you'll learn the top 10 words that you're sure to hear while watching your favorite anime shows! Click Here To Start Learning Japanese For FREE! 1. Kawaii (かわいい) Definition: Cute, Adorable This is a word that is constantly used in Japanese culture. It basically describes anything that can be seen as cute, such as a stuffed animal or a pretty dress! 2. Sugoi (すごい) Definition: Amazing, great You'll often hear this word when a character is surprised... Show more

AnimeJapan: The World’s Largest Anime Convention

Hello Listeners! This weekend, an exciting event is taking place in Tokyo, Japan! AnimeJapan, one of the largest anime conventions in the world, will take place at the Tokyo Big Site exhibition center! Anime conventions are known for their crazy and unique festivities aimed at otaku culture, and AnimeJapan is no different. AnimeJapan will feature: FOOD PARK, AnimeJapan’s first food park that will carry dishes from 6 different restaurants. A total of 3 different stages (Red, Blue, Green) for panels and entertainment. Cosplayers’ World, an area where cosplayers can “enjoy the world to the fullest.” A Main Area filled with tons of exhibitions and activities. A section dedicated to anime good where dozens of vendors will sell... Show more

4 Major Cities in Japan

Hello Listener, You're definitely learning new Japanese words and phrases with these lists, the Word of the Day and weekly JapanesePod101 Audio and Video lessons. But here’s a geography question for you: Do you know the Major Japanese Cities? And do you know how to properly pronounce them in Japanese? You’re about to learn it all with this post. 1. Tokyo Tokyo is the capital of Japan and the largest city in the country. Tokyo is also one of Japan's forty-seven prefectures, but it is referred to as a to ("a metropolis") instead of a ken ("a prefecture"). 2. Kyoto Kyoto, one of the oldest cities in Japan, was formerly the capital of Japan until 1868, when Tokyo became the capital. Now it is a major city in the... Show more

Have you been to 松島 (Matsushima)?

Matsushima (松島) is a group of islands in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. There are some 260 tiny islands (shima) covered in pines (matsu) . Therefore, it's named Matsushima. 松島にカモメがたくさんいます。(Matsushima ni kamome ga takusan imasu): Many seagulls are on Matsushima. P.S. Get Your Daily Dose of Japanese with 1-Minute Mini-Lessons The Daily Dose of Japanese is a Calendar that gives you new, 1-minute lessons every day. Why? Because learning a little every day is easy, strengthens your habits and motivation and you improve your Japanese over time. Lessons range from culture and holidays to grammar, slang, phrases and more. Find it in the Japanese Resources menu or in the Quick Links menu on your Dashboard. Click here to check out the Daily... Show more

Did you know 何名様ですか。 (Nan-mei-sama desu ka?) means ‘How many people?’

When you go out in Japan you can expect to be asked this phrase. This is the polite way of asking how many people are in your party. When responding, instead of using the term 名様 (mei-sama) you should say (number of people) plus 人 (nin). 三人です。(San-nin desu.): Three people. P.S. Get Your Daily Dose of Japanese with 1-Minute Mini-Lessons The Daily Dose of Japanese is a Calendar that gives you new, 1-minute lessons every day. Why? Because learning a little every day is easy, strengthens your habits and motivation and you improve your Japanese over time. Lessons range from culture and holidays to grammar, slang, phrases and more. Find it in the Japanese Resources menu or in the Quick Links menu on your Dashboard. Click here to... Show more

5 Unique Japanese Foods

Everybody's got to eat, right? Right! This is why food can be a great way to connect with different cultures! Food can give us a little taste (literally) of life from around the world. When you’re traveling, one of the funnest things to do is try the local restaurants and cafes. From Asia to America, every place has a few unique snacks to munch on! So what are some unique foods in Japan? Kit Kats Yep, that’s right. From Green Tea to Blueberry Cheesecake, there are dozens of interesting and quirky flavors of Kit Kat bars that can be found in Japan. They even have a Wasabi flavor for those of you who are brave enough to try! Kit Kat bars have become wildly popular in Japan. The name “Kit Kat” is often associated with the phrase... Show more

Choose One Quiz: どちらが好きですか?(Which do you like?)

Which do you like? どちらが好きですか? (Dochira ga sukidesu ka?) We're having another Choose One Quiz. Which do you like, 親子丼(oyakodon) or 牛丼(gyūdon)? Choose one and let us know! 親子丼(oyakodon) vs 牛丼(gyūdon) A. 親子丼(oyakodon) Oyakodon Is a combination of chicken, egg, green onion and various other ingredients that is put over rice to create a rice bowl. The litereal translation of this dishes name is parent-and-child-donburi. B. 牛丼(gyūdon) Gyūdon is a Japanese rice bowl that uses cooked beef and onions on top of rice. The dish may also include noodles, and commonly has a raw egg poured on top of it. P.S. Do you want to learn more about Japanese food? Click here to listen to related a lesson on JapanesePod101: Culture Class:... Show more

Why Sapporo is my favorite city in Japan

わや*!That was a hard decision to make Kyushu? Okinawa? South Korea? Taiwan? No… I made it to Hokkaido and have to start this article by talking about Salmon Ikura Don (raw salmon with salmon fish eggs on rice that I ate in Sapporo), in honor of the best dish I’ve ever eaten. First, If you want to travel in Japan and don’t know where to start, I suggest you to take a look at this list: here So...why Sapporo? Well, my two closest Japanese friends are living there... What better reason to fly north? First of all, I love big cities. Tokyo is massive and I enjoy it. However, I’m still a Swiss girl from the Alps… So I was actually really excited about this trip. The image I had of Sapporo is pretty similar to the one foreigners can have... Show more