Traditional Japanese colors Traditional colors of Japan have a long history dating back to 603 and are used in Japanese art, poetry and in kimono fabrics among other Japanese arts and crafts. Some Japanese colors have names that are imported from English and so they are written in Katakana. But there are also Japanese ancient colors that are the equivalent to these. But are they the same? Read m...

Rental Bikes in Japan Many people use bicycles in their daily lives in Japan. Depending on the city, they are sometimes widely used by school-age children and adults. You can also find rental bikes at tourist spots all over Japan. These can be a useful and cheap way to get around. In this blog for beginner learners of Japanese, Japanese teacher Emi Sakude explains her interest in this mode of tr...

Future technology How will we invent the future? And what kinds of rules and regulations do we need to be in place before technological advances are made? Will we have flying cars in the future? Will they take off vertically like drones and helicopters? This Japanese language blog is a fun look at the world of the future. Japanese teacher Rie Kinoi has a great imagination and uses it to write t...

The Coronavirus disease in Japan The Coronavirus disease in Japan is spreading, as it is in other Asian countries. People have been panic-buying toilet and tissue paper and the supply of masks in drug stores has been depleted for almost a month now. There is little in the way of good news on the horizon as the country tries to curb the spread of the virus before the crucial April start of the bu...

Homemade cooking Although there are many great places to eat out in Japan, most families actually eat in most of the time. And there is a deep culture of making food at home too. Some Japanese housewives make their own miso paste and there are bread-making at home became quite a craze in recent years. This blog by Ms. Chie Eguchi who is a Japanese teacher at Japonin(JOI), explains one homemade i...