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July 05, 2026
 

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NIHONGO

COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 12, 2014
With love and Japan, what you get out depends on what you put in
Moving to Japan makes an infant of us all, regardless of race, sex or creed. A major conflict in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ comes from the fact that Prospero knew the language and Caliban the land, but when you first get to Japan, you know neither.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Mar 7, 2014
Early joys, trials put potter on path to the simple life
Growing up with severe asthma, Australian Euan Craig was acutely aware of the fragility of life from an early age.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Dec 15, 2013
The war on katakana starts at school
Eliminating katakana’s use as a pronunciation aide would benefit Japanese students’ ability to communicate, but that clearly can’t be achieved overnight. However, it’s still worth putting up a ‘faito.’
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Oct 18, 2013
Norma Field, champion of Japan’s leftist literature, retires — but not from anti-nuclear activism
A colleague once told me he didn’t want to be attached to lost causes,’ says academic Norma Field. ‘I’ve never understood thinking like that. The bright spots in human history are so few. We should embrace and magnify them.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Oct 16, 2013
Adoption and fostering, animal homes and a tribute: readers’ mail
In response to a recent story about adoption and foster parenting in Japan, one woman recounts her life of doing both.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Oct 7, 2013
Fukushima, suicide and nihongo fluency: readers’ mails
A grab bag of readers’ mail in response to recent Community articles.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Sep 23, 2013
Let the world help at Fukushima No. 1
Readers’ mails on the Fukushima fiasco and the late, great Mary Sisk Noguchi, Kanji Clinic columnist and friend to Japanese learners around the world.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 9, 2013
If you’re jōzu and you know it, hold your ground
Communicating in Japanese is not all that difficult. What’s difficult is communicating with Japanese people, writes Debito Arudou.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 9, 2013
A friend to kanji learners worldwide
Mary Sisk Noguchi helped readers unravel the complexities of Chinese characters, adding an element of fun to a process often fraught with frustration for many learners of Japanese.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 29, 2013
Bilingual beauty, straight and permed
Beauty must be a bilingual thing. At least that’s the impression one gets from looking at signs outside hairdressers, beauty parlors and similar types of businesses in Japan.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Feb 26, 2013
I’ve seen haras . . . haras that you’ve seen: when ‘harassment’ goes wild
In response to the article “Blame it on the hara: harassment vocabulary makes us all victims” (The Foreign Element, Jan. 28), we invited readers to come up with their own ideas for new types of “harassment.” As you can see, one JT writer got a bit carried away.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 19, 2013
Signs of Kansai
At the end of lunch with an old friend, I point out yet another hole in my Swiss cheese knowledge of Japan.
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2010
Adapting to the Digital Age
The pervasive influence of digital media was highlighted on June 7 by the announcement of recommendations for changes in the authorized list of kanji for everyday use. A government advisory panel has proposed adding 196 kanji and removing five for a total of 2,136 characters.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 23, 2008
In Japanese, flattery will get you everywhere
In directing plays over the years, it has always struck me how clever actors are at producing insulting dialogue in the early stages of rehearsals. From the first day of rehearsal, they have the invective of their characters virtually down pat. When their character is called upon to say something nice...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 13, 2007
Dialect-rife Japan can be tongue-twisting
The islands of Japan have many dialects, and students of the language often realize these variations are not taught in classrooms.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 12, 2007
It’s a dog’s life when you wear a cat on your head
Animals have always been prevalent in the Japanese language, perhaps more so than in other parts of the world, because Japanese people were for so long vegetarian, Buddhist or Shintoist.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japanese police arrest nine over Sierra Leone-based special fraud
Japanese police have arrested nine individuals for their alleged involvement in a special fraud case using Sierra Leone as a base.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
X Games returns to Chiba with new team format
Skateboarder Sora Shirai practices at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on Friday afternoon. X Games Chiba begins on Saturday.
NU Festival tests Takanawa Gateway City complex’s culture cred
Veteran improvisers Kazuo Imai and Atsuhiro Ito brought some unruly energy to NU Festival, a three-day multimedia event held at the Takanawa Gateway City complex.  
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan&#039;s renewable goals.

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One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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