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...

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,...

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...

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...

Japanese Onigiri rice balls One of the most popular and standard Japanese cuisine is the Onigiri or rice balls. They are usually wrapped in sea-weed which is also known as nori or roasted laver. The insides can be filled with almost anything, and the most traditional filling is usually Umeboshi or Japanese plumsthere although many innovative fillings found in convenience stores recently. In this...

Japanese Onomatopoeia The Japanese language features a large amount of onomatopoeia. There are words that express the sound of animals and people which are called Giseigo. There are words that describe other sounds like the sound of footsteps on dry leaves which are called Giongo. There are also Mimetic words that describe feelings and way in which something is done. These are called Gitaigo....

U-Turn Rush during Obon The teacher's blog this week by Ueno sensei, a professional Japanese teacher at Japonin(JOI), talks about a phenomenon in Japan that happens during the holiday seasons. There is another similar phenomenon which is called “U-Turn Rush”. When the holidays are over, everyone floods back to their cities to start the working weeks. This creates huge traffic jams going into the...

Japanese Origami The name “Origami” comes from the verb “Oru”: to fold and noun “Kami” which means paper. It is an ancient art and has been practiced since the 17th Century in Japan. There are various types of Origami some which involve colorful paper, and also wet paper. This is a Japanese language blog by Japanese teacher Takase sensei, who lives in one of the most traditonal cities in Japan,...

Astronomy in Japan Japanese people have historically made the stars an integral part of their lives, as is common with many old cultures around the world. The Japanese however, tended to associate the stars with everyday objects rather than mythological Gods or animals. There are various names for the constellations throughout history and sometimes there are local differences in the names as...

Japanese summer fashion Japan is a fashion and trend leader in the world. And many fads are started from the streets of Tokyo and from the historical wear of traditional Japan. There are many kinds of fashion for every season, but Summer fashion is often touted as the most unique and quintessentially Japanese of the four seasons of styles. Someya sensei, is a Japanese teacher at Japonin(JOI)...