JapanesePod101.com Blog

Telling time is one of the most essential aspects of everyday life. Learning how to tell time in Japanese will help you improve your basic Japanese language skills. Whether you’re checking the time for transportation or making an appointment, knowing how to say time in Japanese will help you when visiting Japan. Telling time in Japanese is quite simple and easy to understand. Unlike in English, when expressing time in Japanese, the words which indicate the hour and minute are always added next to the numbers (e.g. 3:12 or three twelve = 時 (3ji) 分 (12fun). Thus, even without context or a sentence, you’ll easily understand that these phrases indicate time in Japanese. In this article, we introduce the basic vocabulary and phrases for... Show more

Knowing how to ask for directions in Japanese is very helpful when it comes to getting around in Japan. In particular, finding the right address can be a bit confusing, because smaller streets in Japan aren’t named and addresses are expressed with the name of a small area and numbers. Along with knowing how to ask directions in Japanese, understanding the directions you were told is even more important. This ensures that you can reach the destination with the information given. (You don’t want to mistake "right" in Japanese for left!) But don’t worry! Japanese people are kind in general, and they’ll stop to listen and help you when you ask them for directions in Japanese. Here’s some useful vocabulary and phrases for giving and... Show more

Japanese fireworks are arguably the best part of summer. After a long and trying rainy season (tsuyu), people are just itching to get out and enjoy themselves! Did you know there’s a firework display called the Niagara? These fireworks are arranged in a row, set off at the same time, and are specially designed to look like a huge wave or waterfall. In this article, you’ll learn all about the fireworks festival in Japan: what to expect, how these festivals got started, and some relevant vocabulary you can use to impress your Japanese friends. Let’s get started. 1. What is the Hanabi Festival in Japan? Every year during the summer, usually in July and August, the Japanese celebrate the Hanabi festival. Hanabi is... Show more

Expanding one’s vocabulary is one of the most essential elements in improving one’s language skills. Learning Japanese nouns will help you boost your knowledge of the Japanese language because nouns occupy the majority of the language’s words. Knowing the top 100 Japanese nouns is the first step to enhance your Japanese vocabulary. Japanese nouns are used to name a person, place, thing, or idea. Contrary to English, Japanese nouns don’t accompany any articles, such as "a" and "the." In addition, there are no certain rules for indicating, in a precise sense, whether a noun is singular or plural. For example, there’s the word 達(たち) , which indicates a plural form of people or creatures when it’s put next to a noun (e.g. 動物 + 達 =... Show more

Rain, rain, go away… I don’t know about you, but I get pretty depressed when it’s rainy or overcast—and more so with each day that the weather remains gloomy. Imagine that kind of weather for several weeks straight! Each year, various regions of Japan experience a several-week period of much rainfall and cloud cover called the rainy season, or tsuyu. In this article, you’ll learn all about this rainy season, Japan’s most notable features during this time, what you can do during a rainy season visit, and some useful vocabulary. Let’s get started. 1. What is the Rainy Season in Japan? 梅雨 (Tsuyu) is the rainy season in Japan, and it literally translates to "plum rain." This is in reference to when the rainy season... Show more

Giving compliments makes people feel important and happy, and compliments are a great way to express your positive feelings. However, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do!" There’s a particular way that people give and respond to compliments in Japanese. Before giving compliments in Japanese, keep this in mind: Humbleness and modesty are the most important values in Japanese culture. Therefore, it’s considered bad manners to show off and explicitly exhibit your abilities and achievements. For this reason, people aren’t used to receiving a lot of praise. However, it’s still a good thing to give a compliment when someone has great traits or has done wonderful things. Giving compliments is a useful way to improve communication and your... Show more

It's essential to be able to express your feelings when communicating with others in everyday life. Knowing how to express your emotions in Japanese, including anger, will help you have smoother communication with Japanese people. Although showing anger with swear words isn’t common in Japanese culture, there are various angry phrases in Japanese you can use. Knowing angry phrases, and how to show that you’re angry in Japanese, will not only help you understand Japanese anime and Japanese TV shows better, but it will also improve your conversation and communication skills. In this article, we’ll introduce useful angry Japanese expressions and phrases to help you discuss your emotions. Let's learn various expressions here at... Show more

Giving proper greetings and celebration messages is essential in making relationships better. Whether you have Japanese friends online, live in Japan, or just want to understand Japanese culture, it’s good to know how Japanese people celebrate events and what they say. Once you learn how to say Happy Birthday in Japanese, Happy New Year in Japanese, and Merry Christmas in Japanese, use them practically with your friends! Japan has various life and annual events to celebrate. Some of them come from the Western culture, such as Christmas and Valentine’s Day. But there are unique Japanese traditions as well, such as the twentieth and sixtieth birthdays, also called 成人 (Seijin) and 還暦 (Kanreki) respectively. So, how do you wish someone well... Show more

Japan has four beautiful seasons, and every season has its own unique characteristics and weather. Whether you want to know the weather in Japan in April to visit the pretty 桜 (Sakura) or "cherry blossoms," or research the weather in Kyoto, Japan for world heritage sightseeing, there are some useful words and phrases to know regarding weather in Japan! Weather is one of the most useful topics for conversation and is also an essential topic in everyday life. When you know how to talk about the weather in Japanese, it will expand both your communication skills and vocabulary skills in Japanese, as there’s a variety of expressions relating to Japanese weather. Let’s get started! By the time we get done, you’ll be talking about weather in... Show more

The school entrance ceremony in Japan, or Nyūgakushiki in Japanese, is one of the most momentous occasions in a student’s life, and it takes place each year as the cherry blossoms bloom. In this article, you’ll learn all about this celebratory season and gain some new vocabulary along the way. Let’s get started! 1. What is the School Entrance Ceremony? The Japanese school entrance ceremony name is Nyūgakushiki. Nyūgakushiki is a time of both encouragement and excitement about the coming year for students in every grade, though the Japanese high school entrance ceremony may be the most exciting for new students. During a school entrance ceremony, Japanese students celebrate their enrollment in a school, and that... Show more