All About Japan's Colorful Tanabata Festivals
Tanabata, or the Star Festival, involves a Japanese tradition in which people write their wishes on small, colorful strips of paper (tanzaku) and hang them on the branches of a small decorative bamboo tree. It’s widely celebrated all over Japan, typically on the seventh day of the seventh month (July 7) - although some regions observe Tanabata on August 7, depending on how they decided to interpre
Useful Mandarin Phrases for Moon Mid-Autumn Festival
One of the most important holidays in Chinese culture is the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival. Since the Moon Festival is at harvest time, it is a good occasion to celebrate the abundance of Mother Nature. Moon Festival is a time to gather with family and friends under the full moon sky while eating moon cake, pomelo fruit, and barbecued delicacies. Moon Festival Date Moon Festival
Do They Celebrate Valentine's Day in Japan?
Gift-Giving In Japan, it is only the women who give presents to men. This is done because women are considered to be too shy to express their love. Though it might not be true especially in modern times, Valentine's Day was thought to be a great opportunity to let women express their feelings. Chocolates Women typically give chocolates to men on Valentine's Day. While chocolates are not necessaril
Is Red the Color of Love for the Japanese?
Red is generally called "aka （赤）" in Japanese. There are many traditional shades of red. The Japanese gave each shade of red its own elegant name in the old days. Shuiro (vermilion), akaneiro (madder red), enji (dark red), karakurenai (crimson) and hiiro (scarlet) are among of them. Use of Red The Japanese especially love the red that is obtained from safflower (benibana), and it was very popular
What Is Japanese Girls' Day (or Hinamatsuri)?
Japanese Girls' Day—also known as the Doll's Festival—is celebrated on March 3 to pray for the health and happiness of young girls in Japan. Hinamatsuri, the name of the celebration in Japan, is marked by families displaying a set of hina dolls in the house and serving special food delicacies that are ceremonially beautiful and delicious. Hina Dolls Traditionally, parents or grandparents of a newb
How Do You Use the Japanese Verb "Te"
Japanese Language Expert B.A., Kwansei Gakuin University Namiko Abe is a Japanese language teacher and translator, as well as a Japanese calligraphy expert. She has been a freelance writer for nearly 20 years. The ~ te form is an important Japanese verb form to know. It does not indicate tense by itself, however, it combines with other verb forms to create other tenses. Additionally, it has many o
Onomatopoeic Phrases - hunger, eating, taste
Japanese is filled with onomatopoeic phrases, the words that describe sound or action directly. There are two categories: giongo and gitaigo. Giongo are the words which express voice or sounds. Gitaigo are the words which express actions, states or human emotions. They are often made of more than one word, which is the same word repeated again. Click here for previous lessons about onomatopoeic ph
Learn the Words That Are Used for Counting in Japanese
Hon o ni-satsu kaimashita. 本を二冊買いました。 I bought two books. Koohii o ni-hai kudasai. コーヒーを二杯ください。 Please give me two cups of coffee.Another thing we want to mention is that when the Japanese group objects they divide them into groups of five and ten, unlike the typical groupings of six and twelve in the West. For example, sets of Japanese dishes or bowls are sold in units of five. Traditionally, the
Beginner's Guide to Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana Japanese Writing
Writing might be one of the most difficult, but also fun, parts of learning Japanese. The Japanese don't use an alphabet. Instead, there are three types of scripts in Japanese: kanji, hiragana and katakana. The combination of all three is used for writing. Kanji Roughly speaking, kanji represents blocks of meaning (nouns, stems of adjectives and verbs). Kanji was brought over from China around 500
Singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in Japanese
Namiko Abe is a Japanese language teacher and translator, as well as a Japanese calligraphy expert. She has been a freelance writer for nearly 20 years. The New Year (shogatsu) is the biggest and most important celebration in Japan. Christmas is not even a national holiday, although December 23 is, because of the Emperor's birthday. However, the Japanese love to celebrate festivals and have adopte
Japanese phrase of the day (useful Japanese phrases for dating) - Nande konnani dokidoki shichaun darou
Notes "Doki doki （ドキドキ）" is one of the onomatopoeic expressions. It describes increase heart beat caused by exercise or nervousness. Onomatopoeic expressions are often written in katakana, though they are not foreign words. Click here to learn more about them. "~ shichau （～しちゃう）" is a colloquial way of saying "~ shite shimau （～してしまう）." Click here for the usage of "~ chau （～ちゃう）." "~ d
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