A scary story There are a number of scary stories in Japan, and Imoto sensei has introduced one of her own experiences in this week's blog. Her recommendation for how to read this story is, if you find any words you do not understand, do not worry about it too much, continue reading. We have only added the minimum necessary vocabulary with the intention of having you read the flow of the story. ...

Superheroes Japan The cultural impact of Japanese superheroes is hard to measure. And there are many Japanese people who spent large parts of their youth following the adventures of these characters on TV and in comic books. In this teachers' blog by Yuko Momoki sensei, a Japanese teacher at Japonin(JOI), she introduces her own view of this phenomenon. Read the blog and listen to the video to l...

Japanese sake Japan's national drink is Sake or Japanese rice wine. The drink is enjoyed all year round in Japan and the methods of drinking it differ from season to season. One way to enjoy the drink is to have varying vessels to drink from. Takane sensei here introduces some of the best ways to choose a Japanese sake vessel. Please listen to and watch the video to learn how to pronounce natura...

Nature in Japan Japan often gets mislabeled as a major urban sprawl due to the spectacular metropoles of Tokyo and Osaka. But actually, over two thirds of the islands of Japan are covered by forests and mountains. Shiomi sensei who is from Kobe, shows in this week's blog that there is much more to Japan than big cities. Read this fun and easy blog to learn more Japanese for free. And listen to ...

Japanese Idol groups There are numerous “idol groups” in Japan which are manufactured pop groups usually made up of young girls that are chosen for their cute looks and personalities. The recent trend has been to relate these groups to local areas, and Igarashi sensei introduces a quick look at this trend with a surprising twist ! Read these blogs to learn Japanese and listen to the video to pr...