Working from home around the world As working from home has increased and online communication has become a norm, one issue that is recently receiving media attention is the health effects of sitting too long. There are a few countries that have data on this and Japan is one of them. In this blog by a Japanese teacher for learners of the language, Yukiko Takane has found some data on this proble...

Summer in Japan The Japanese summer is a hot and humid affair. Temperatures in the southern areas and mainland of the nation have regularly climbed to almost 40℃ in recent years with records being rewritten every year in various localities. In this blog for Japanese learners, Igarashi sensei, a Japanese language teacher at Japonin(JOI), introduces some useful Japanese summer vocabulary. Please ...

Chinese medicine in Japan Chinese medicine is known as Kanpo in Japan. It is based on herbal medicine that has a long and traditional history and was brought to Japan from China around the 5th century. It is often viewed as alternative medicine by most people in modern Japan, but you can also use the national health insurance to receive herbal remedies, so it is officially acknowledged as a via...

The four seasons of Japan It is well known that Japan has four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. But because of the elongated nature of the islands of Japan, from north to south, the changes of seasons are slightly different between each area and the severity of each season can differ from place to place. In this blog by a Japanese teacher living in Niigata, you can read about and also...

Translating Japanese words There are some words in Japanese that are difficult to translate into another language. One of the most often used words in Japanese manga and anime, "Ganbatte!" is one of these words. It can have a different meaning depending on the situation and the person saying it. In this blog for Japanese language learners, by Japanese teacher Kumiko Yatabe deals with these mean...