JapanesePod101.com Blog

The 2009 JLPT (December) The 2009 JLPT (December) is scheduled to take place on Sunday, December 6.　This year, the JLPT was held in July for levels 1 and 2, but the next JLPT (December) will be held for all levels, 1 - 4. If you want to take the JLPT in Japan, you can apply during the period from August 28, 2009 through October 2, 2009. You can get the application form at various bookstores starting this week! For those who want to take it outside Japan, please refer to the website below.   New JLPT starting in 2010 As you may know, the JLPT test will be changed next year. The biggest change is that there will be five levels as opposed to the current four levels. 1. Four Levels will be changed to Five Levels: ... Show more

最初の自己紹介の中で、私は、幼い頃から日本文学や日本語が大好きだったというお話をしましたが、今日は、私が日本文学に興味を抱くきっかけとなった和歌を紹介しましょう。 忍ぶれど　色に出（い）でにけり　わが恋は　物や思ふ（う）と　人の問ふ（う）まで これは今から約1200年前、平安時代に活躍した貴族、平兼盛（たいらのかねもり）が作った和歌です。「和歌」とは「短歌」の古い時代のもので、日本語で発音すると「五・七・五・七・七」という三十一音で表現される短い詩のことです。この和歌はとても有名で、『百人一首』にも採り上げられています。 「誰にも分からないように…と心に秘めていたのに、私の恋心はとうとう表情や言動に現れてしまった。『何か悩みでもあるんじゃないの？』と周囲の人が尋ねるほどに」という意味です。 好きな人を見かけたり噂を聞いたりするだけでドキドキして、また、自分以外の人と親しげにしている様子を見かけて胸が痛くなって…恋を知ると様々なことを考えて思い悩み、まるで「新しい自分」になってしまうようですね。このように、時代や文化、習慣などが違っても、人間が抱く感情は変わりません。文学やことばの奥には、必ず人間がいて、人の気持ちが根源になっています。難しく考えず、人間同士、気持ちを重ね合うことができたら嬉しいと思いませんか。 ===== In my self-introduction I spoke about my love of Japanese language and literature from a very young age, but today I would like to introduce a particular Waka poem... Show more

The Kanji for this week are as follows: (Remember, each compound must use the Kanji in the brackets .) Kanji Scrabble #18, Key Kanji: 古、中、名、火、本、花、牛、口、日、上 (Learn How to Play Here) To start, all you need is a Twitter account and to follow our Twitter account @japanesepod101 (What’s Twitter you ask? Read our guide here.) Answers: Kanji Kana English 中古車 ちゅうこしゃ (n) used car/secondhand car/(P)/ 口車 くちぐるま (n) cajolery/wheedling/ 名車 めいしゃ (n) famous or exceptional car/ 日本車 にほんしゃ (n) car of Japanese make/ 火車 かしゃ (n) (1) (Buddh) fiery chariot/(2) kasha (mythical beast said to devour dead bodies)/(3) (in China) train (i.e. steam locomotive)/(4) (abbr) (arch) vile old hag/ 牛車 うしぐるま ... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary Today's blog is going to go all over the place. If that makes you so dizzy that you become sick to your stomach, then you've come to the right place, because soon you'll learn a few ways to talk about that! Take a look at this sentence (unless you're eating, in which case you might want to wait): 血を見て彼は胸が悪くなった。 Chi o mite kare wa mune ga waruku natta. The sight of blood turned his stomach. 血 (chi: blood) 見 (mi(ru): to see) 彼 (kare: he) 胸が悪くなる (mune ga waruku naru: to feel sick, to be nauseated)     chest + bad, sick 胸が悪くなる Won't Always Make You Sick ... There are a few things to notice here. One is the extremely cool... Show more

八月、日本各地では花火大会が行なわれます。やはり花火は浴衣（ゆかた）を着て見たいもの。あなたは「浴衣」を見たり着たりしたことがありますか？ 浴衣の歴史は古く、今から1000年以上前の平安時代発祥だそうです。この頃の入浴は一人でするだけでなく、複数の人と共に湯を浴びることもあったため、薄い着物を着るようになったとのこと。 裏地のついていない着物は「単（ひとえ）」。 昔の人は、この単を下着として着用していました。この下着の名前が「帷子（かたびら）」。「浴衣」は、湯を浴びるときに着る下着＝帷子なので「ゆかたびら」、これが次第に「浴衣」と呼ばれるようになったのです。「浴衣」の「衣」は「着物」という意味ですね。 現代では、花火大会だけでなく、夏祭りや縁日、盆踊りなどで着られます。吸水性や肌触りの良い木綿で作られているので、蒸し暑い日本の夏にはぴったり。 ただし、着るときは胸の前の布地の重ね方に注意が必要です。相手から見て左側を上に出して着るのは「左前」と言って、死者の装束と同じ、大変縁起の悪いものになってしまうからです。 ====== In the month of August, fireworks displays are held all over Japan. And of course the proper attire for any good fireworks display is a 'yukata' (浴衣). Have you ever seen or worn a yukata? The history of the yukata is quite long - dating back more than 1000... Show more

O-bon is a religious event where people hold a memorial service to the spirits of their ancestors.  It is held around July 15 or August 15 depending on the area. O-bon was originally held around July 15 of the lunar calendar. But, since the solar calendar was adopted in Japan, it has been held around August 15 in many areas, because the period around July 15 is the busiest period for farmers. They started to hold the o-bon ceremony one month later. So, during the period around August 15, many companies are closed so that people can return to their hometown. During O-bon, which is from the 13th to the 16th, the spirits of the deceased are said to return to their families.  What people do for this religious ceremony is different... Show more

Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! In this blog and on Twitter we'll be presenting pictures with kanji based on a theme, such as kanji seen on road signs, shop signs, restaurant menus, product packaging, and lots more! You can also see the kanji pictures everyday on Twitter if you follow us! We’ll be changing the theme of the pictures every week. The theme this time is “the signs with the kanji 中 (naka, but pronounced chū in these signs).” 中 is a kanji meaning “middle” or “inside.” When used in signs, it’s usually used at the end of a compound word... Show more

The Kanji for this week are as follows: (Remember, each compound must use the Kanji in the brackets .) Kanji Scrabble #17, Key Kanji: 一、金、長、円、社、多、安、立、会、気 (Learn How to Play Here) To start, all you need is a Twitter account and to follow our Twitter account @japanesepod101 (What’s Twitter you ask? Read our guide here.) Answers: Kanji Kana English 一大 いちだい (n) one large .../a great .../(P)/ 多大 ただい (adj-na,n,adj-no) heavy/much/(P)/ 大会 たいかい (n,adj-no) convention/tournament/mass meeting/rally/(P)/ 大会社 だいがいしゃ (n) large industrial company/major corporation/big business/ 大円 だいえん (n) large circle/great circle/ 大安 たいあん (n) (Buddh) lucky day/auspicious day/ 大社 たいしゃ (n) Grand... Show more

Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! In this blog and on Twitter we'll be presenting pictures with kanji based on a theme, such as kanji seen on road signs, shop signs, restaurant menus, product packaging, and lots more! You can also see the kanji pictures everyday on Twitter if you follow us! We’ll be changing the theme of the pictures every week. This Everyday Kanji theme is Traffic signs, part 2! 追突注意 (tsuitotsu chūi)：This means “Watch out for rear-end collisions”. Do you remember the meaning of 先(saki) in 100m 先? We saw this kanji in... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary Not that many things happen to the chest. Our fingers get papercuts, our toes get stubbed, and I'm forever bruising my thighs. But unless one plays American football, rugby, or the like, our chests don't get whacked around as our limbs do. In Japanese, though, any number of things can happen to the chest. Take the issue of being hit: 胸を打つ (mune o utsu: to be emotionally moving)     chest, heart + to strike In Japanese, striking the chest can provoke tears, and not of physical pain. We're a world away from the rough-and-tumble world of macho sports! In fact, we're actually talking about the heart here. As we saw last week, expressions... Show more