Japanese exercise classes There are a large number of gyms and exercise classes in Japan. You can find many classes in the public civic centers for very reasonable prices which often include aerobics classes and yoga lessons. And there are a number of private gyms that provide in vogue classes like Pilates and Speed Yoga. Here in this blog for Japanese language learners, Yanaka sensei introduces...

Sushi in Japan Sushi was first eaten in Southeast Asia along the area around the Mekong River. The person credited with 'inventing' the modern Japanese style sushi which is popular today was was a chef named Hanaya Yohei. Sushi is popular all over Japan, and there are many types of sushi bars ranging from the super-expensive to the reasonably priced Kaiten-Sushi places which are also called conv...

Tokyo sight-seeing spots Tokyo is one of the largest metropolises in the world. And it has a large variety of sight-seeing spots to visit. There is the Tokyo Skytree, the shopping areas of Akihabara and fashionable Harajuku, the swanky department stores in Ginza and a large number of museums and galleries. Inada sensei, one of the professional Japanese teachers at Japonin(JOI) online school, liv...

Writing Japanese kanji in mirror writing. Mirror writing is the ability to write letters the opposite direction to which they are written normally. It must be quite difficult to write Japanese using this form because of Japanese Kanji or Chinese characters. However, Imoto sensei has this rather rare skill ! Read this amusing blog and learn Japanese for free at Japonin(JOI), Japanese online schoo...

Museums in Japan Museums in Japan developed from the late 19th century towards the end of the Edo period. According to a 2005 survey by the Ministry of Education there are over 5,600 museums in Japan today. Many of the museums are funded by city governments or prefectural governments. This allows for large budgets and impressive architecture and collections. Momoki sensei, one of the Japanese te...