Did you know that Japanese people love curry? It seems contradictory, Japanese cuisine is one of the least spicy food types, but perhaps because of the difference of tastes, Japanese people love to eat something spicy sometimes. There are many curry shops in Japan, some run by Indian, Pakistani, and Nepalese chefs, but more recently, many run by Japanese curry enthusiasts. In this food culture,...

Japonin(JOI)’s Business Japanese class Japonin(JOI)'s Business Japanese class teaches all you need to know to do business in Japan. It includes essential business manners and key Japanese business jargon and also writing emails and giving presentations. It is about the latter that Fujinawa sensei, one of the teachers of the Business Japanese classes, introduces in this blog. You can study the...

Many Japanese family names There are a very large number of family names or surnames in Japan compared to other East Asian countries. And the two most popular Japanese surnames are Sato and Suzuki. Some of the names have a long and distinct history but some are quite new because in 1875 the Meiji government passed a law requiring all citizens to register a family name. So many names were created...

Writing emails in Japanese With emails becoming the most used form of business communication, it is important to learn how to write emails in Japanese properly. There is a course that you can take at Japonin(JOI) that teaches business Japanese and also how to write a business email. But this blog is a funny look at how people can make mistakes when writing Japanese. The computer Kanji covert...

Household chores in Japan There was a survey by the Nippon.com site which showed that Japanese wives do seven times more housework than their husbands. The imbalance is even true when both partners are working. In this blog by a Japanese homemaker and language teacher Chiharu Takase, she points out her household chores likes and dislikes. It is an amusing blog for Japanese language learners that...

Children's books in Japanese When you are learning Japanese, finding interesting level-appropriate reading can be difficult. Japanese reading is tested in the JLPT tests and your ability to skim and get information from texts is a valuable one. In this blog for Japanese learners, one of our teachers Sachiko Someya has an amusing story about children's books in Japanese and her son's choices from...

Tea in Japan Tea is popular all over the world and is drunk daily in many countries and cultures. Japan is no exception. In the UK, when people say “tea”, we usually mean black tea. But in Japan if someone says "tea" without specifying the type, they mean green tea. There are many types of tea on sale in Japan though and in this blog by one of our Japanese teachers, Noriko Yokozuka, she talks...

September equinox The September equinox is a day in which is also known as the autumnal equinox. It is seen as the end of summer and start of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. There are many cultures and countries that have special celebrations at this time. And in Japan there is a special name for the days and also for the time period. In this blog by a Japanese teacher. Miki Oosawa introduces...

Japanese Randoseru school bags If you have ever watched a Japanese anime which is set in Elementary school, you may have noticed the unique bags that the children carry. These bags have been a part of Japanese schoolchildren kit for centuries in Japan. The bags are called Japanese Randoseru satchels and are very durable and light. Students often buy them in their first year and use them all...

Fireworks in Japan In Japan, fireworks are an integral part of the summer festivities. There are official fireworks festivals held by local cities and municipalities as well as local summer festivals that often conclude with a small fireworks display. In this blog for learners of Japanese, Rie Kinoi a Japanese teacher at Japonin(JOI) introduces some of the different types of handheld fireworks...