How to Japanese Podcast

This month I wrote about the word 五月雨式 which has a really interesting history. Unless you already know the word, I bet you don't know how it's pronounced. It's a very useful word in business situations, so add these example sentences into your list of sentences to review regularly. I've also got tourist recs, and there are still spots open in the USJETAA Japanese Coaching sessions I'm helping with. Check out the newsletter and blog as well. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This month I wrote about how to authenticate new Japanese phrases/words that you've never encountered before by doing a search for 例文 (reibun, example sentences). Stick around for Kyoto recommendations this month, and I also talk about the volunteering I'm doing for USJETAA: We're offering Japanese coaching sessions four times a year for anyone who needs advice on how to proceed with their studies. Check out the newsletter and blog as well. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This month I wrote about the word 筋 (suji), which has a huge range of literal and figurative meanings. One of these is closely related to Osaka geography. Stay to the end to hear me give Osaka travel recs and tell a funny story about my wedding this month. Full Osaka recs on the blog, and more about 筋 on the newsletter. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This month is all about acquisition. Specifically the appraisal and acquisition of new Japanese. I argue that a "collector's mindset" can help benefit students. It's how I recently acquired the new phrase あとになってわかったこと. Listen in to learn about what it means. And check out the blog here, and the newsletter here this month. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This month I introduce another "Impossible Pair," which I first wrote about back in September 2024. The pair I introduce: the words 状態 (jōtai) and 状況 (jōkyō). One way to differentiate these is size, but the other is a time element. I think I've hit on an interesting way to think about these. Check out the newsletter for more, and the blog for how 状態 gets used with Pokemon. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This month I look at three paragraphs from an essay by Kakuta Mitsuyo. These three paragraphs have an interesting combination of 常体 (jōtai, direct style) and 敬体 (keitai, distal style), which gives me another opportunity to talk about written and spoken Japanese. And I also address のだ (no da)/のです (no desu), the little bit of language that comes at the end of clauses and sentences. Check out the blog and newsletter for links to some of the essays I wrote about, including the review of drinkable mayonnaise. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This month I talk about the importance of giving up! (What!?) I also examine a sentence from a very difficult essay and talk about 修飾 (shūshoku, description/modification) and 主題 (shudai, topics). At the end I go over a few additional reviews of the English translation of Murakami's latest novel and discuss a usage of 伺う (ukagau, to ask/to hear/to visit) that I neglected to include in last month's episode. Check out the blog and newsletter as well. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Special Emergency Episode: The English translation of Murakami's The City and Its Uncertain Walls will be published on November 19, so I'm re-running my review episode of the Japanese version that I posted last year. I'm adding 20 minutes of additional content as an introduction to discuss a couple of the reviews that have already been published. Check out the blog for links to the reviews and to the one I wrote. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

In the newsletter this month, I looked at 伺う (ukagau) a broadly useful "humble" keigo verb, and on the blog I looked at the other kanji that help ukagau expand its meanings. On the podcast, I talked about keigo more broadly. It's often overcomplicated and intimidating. Students need an easy way in, and I think there's a way to create a simple binary for many keigo verbs. Give the episode a listen and let me know what your own keigo experience has been like! Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

確か (tashika) and 確かに (tashika ni) seemed impenetrable to me when I first started studying; somehow they're nearly identical but meant the exact opposite? I found that I was able to crack the code by "brute forcing" this an other impossible pairs. Read more in the newsletter, and check out the blog for a link to the Kakuta Mitsuyo reading I mentioned and to find a link to my Japanese reading group. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

確認 (kakunin, confirm/check) is one of the most flexible words in the language. This month I go over all the different usages. Check out the newsletter for the prefixes/suffixes it connects with and how it's an extremely effective tool in work chats. On the blog, I've got more in depth discussion of 確認 and how it can set a template for conversations. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

It's been three years since I restarted my kanji study, and unfortunately it's languished over the past year. I take a look at the recommendations I made last year to see if they still hold up and provide an alternate method of creating your own manual spaced-repetition system. Check out the newsletter for the details and the blog for a look at how much a draft of Norwegian Wood might have weighed. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Do you have an 推し? Do you do 推し活? Have you been on a 聖地巡礼 as part of this? Do any of the words I just wrote make any sense at all? If not, tune in for details on how the language of fandom is mutating into more mainstream topics. In the newsletter I look at how having an 推し is good for language study, and on the blog check out a very funny use of 推し活 in marketing. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This month I looked at the 文壇 (bundan, literary world) and 文芸誌 (bungeishi, literary journals) thanks to the 120th anniversary issue of Shinchō. Murakami Haruki has a short story, but the real reason to pick up the issue is the 随筆 (zuihitsu, nonfiction essays/miscellaneous writing). Tune in to learn why, and don't forget to check out the newsletter and the blog. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

How do you improve your ability to understand Japanese sentences on your own? And to craft structurally sound Japanese sentences? I have a theory that sentence diagramming is a great step along the way, and I wrote about it this month in the newsletter. Plus, I provide a great way to increase your exposure to trending news articles in Japan. Read more over at the blog. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

The word 角ハイ (kakuhai) kind of formed in my mind without me even consciously realizing what it was, so I explored that for the newsletter and the podcast this month. Turns out, it's related to Suntory, Japan's whiskey history, and the booming highball market since 2008. Check out the blog as well, where I look at お湯割り (oyuwari, cut with hot water). And at the end I include a grab-bag of いろいろ content, including a Mercari recommendation for all my fellow used book sickos! Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This month I continue the conversation about value in Japan with a close comparison of the 1,000-yen men's haircut and the 2,000-yen men's haircut. The former has terrible value, while the latter has great value. I also get into some good haircut vocab and talk about the interesting customs of men's barbers, which I expanded on over at the blog. For the newsletter, I wrote about the verb まとめる (matomeru, bring things together). Give it a read! Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

明けましておめでとうございます！ New Year, New Murakami. We're getting a Jay Rubin translation of Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World in September. I talk about the market for used Birnbaum translations and go over some of the details that Rubin revealed about the translation in a talk at Wellesley last April. I also talk about the 見積もり (mitsumori, quotes) involved in moving apartments. Check out more on Murakami over at the blog, and details on quotes/estimates and shopping for appliances at the newsletter. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

We made it! 2023 is a wrap. Life sometimes seems busy and overwhelming, but we can have it all--including our language goals. This month I take a look at Japanese recipe creators that you can rely on for simple meals while studying the language. I also do an assessment of the state of Japanese social media platforms and their use as corpora of language usage examples. Check out the newsletter for a deeper dive on the phrase I'm looking at this month, そうこうしているうちに, and the blog for some いろいろ. See you in 2024! Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This month I analyze the subtitle translation for the latest John Wick movie, which came out in Japan in September. The episode includes one spoiler, but I frontloaded additional content and provide a spoiler warning if you'd like to skip. The core part of the podcast addresses collocations, what they are, how they work, and how we as students of the language can take advantage of them in our study. As always, check out the newsletter and the blog for additional content. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This month I talk about 非外来語のカタカナ表記 (non-gairaigo katakana notation). When and why do Japanese users choose to write kanji and hiragana words using katakana. As always, check out the newsletter and the blog for additional content. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This month I take a look at the really excellent little conjunction それが and how it can be used to efficiently express subversion of expectations. I also follow up on Anki and writing kanji based on some interesting tweets and potentially even give myself a new Japanese project. Ask me in a year if I've kept up with it. Check out the newsletter and the blog for additional content. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

のだ is one of the subtler, more difficult-to-use Japanese grammar patterns, but employing it in your spoken Japanese is a quick way to sound more natural. This month in the podcast and newsletter, I look at how to use it in written Japanese. I also have a follow-up on kanji from last month and a (mostly) spoiler-free review of 君たちはどう生きるか (The Boy and the Heron) at the end. Check out the newsletter here and the blog for additional content. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

The podcast is back as a monthly accompaniment to my newsletter. This month I'm talking about kanji study and how to use SRS (spaced repetition software) to optimize your passive recognition and active production of Japanese. Check out the newsletter here and the blog for additional content. And I'd love to hear from listeners/readers: What has worked well for you? Do you have any decks that have been helpful? Strategies for deck creation? Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

It took me two months, but I read the book (in 25 days) and then spent the rest of the time playing Zelda and trying to write my review. Here are some of my thoughts. The first few minutes are spoiler free, so feel free to drop in and then check out. Head over to the blog for links to my review on Medium and some additional thoughts on Substack. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Haruki Murakami's new novel is out in Japan! I've read the first two chapters and give my immediate impressions divided into three sections: spoiler free, loose suggestions about content, and spoiler-palooza. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

We're 24 hours away from the publication of Murakami's latest novel! In this episode, I go through a laundry list of vocabulary that ties together Murakami's fiction over the years, run through a set of predictions I made (both prior to and after the title announcement), and then dig deep into spoiler territory about how exactly the new novel might be connected to Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Check out the links I mention on the blog. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This week I go through all the books--fiction, nonfiction, and translations--that Murakami Haruki published from 2006 to 2023. Take a look at the blog post for all the links I mentioned, and follow along during the podcast using the Google Sheets spreadsheet I created with all Murakami's publications: https://bit.ly/MurakamiBibliography Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This week I go through all the books--fiction, nonfiction, and translations--that Murakami Haruki published from 1988 to 2005. Take a look at the blog post for all the links I mentioned, and follow along during the podcast using the Google Sheets spreadsheet I created with all Murakami's publications: https://bit.ly/MurakamiBibliography Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This week I go through all the books--fiction, nonfiction, and translations--that Murakami Haruki published from 1979 to 1987. Take a look at the blog post for all the links I mentioned, and follow along during the podcast using the Google Sheets spreadsheet I created with all Murakami's publications: https://bit.ly/MurakamiBibliography Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

I've spent the last two months re-reading Haruki Murakami's novels, and here are my power rankings. What do you think? What are his most and least successful novels? Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This week, I take a look at Murakami's famous origin story with the help of writer and translator Matt Schley. We looked at ten different accounts of the day that Murakami was inspired to become a writer. Check out the blog for more details on each. Thanks again to Matt. You can read his translation of Soda Kazuhiro's Why I Make Documentaries: On Observational Filmmaking available via Viaindustriae Publishing. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Welcome to Season 3 of the How to Japanese Podcast, the Murakami Season. Here's the initial intro episode I was planning. Check out the blog for a link to the Murakami commentary I mention toward the end. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

We have the title for the new Murakami novel due out on April 13! It's the same title as a 1980 novella that Murakami disavowed as a "failed work" but later rewrote as Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Here's what we know about that novella, and here are my best guesses about what we could be getting next month. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

On the final episode this season, I talk about the importance of celebrating your little victories as you study a language. And in Japanese, I think about how to balance introversion and extroversion as you're studying. Listen until the end - I provide a short update on one of the episodes from Season 1. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Jens Petersen has been working in real estate in Tokyo for over 13 years. He initially found interest in Japanese independent music. In recent years his interest has also branched out into the art world. We spoke about learning Japanese, finding an immersive environment, and job hunting at job fairs. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

There is an official order to the 都道府県 (todōfuken, prefectures) in Japan. I share some thoughts about it and in Japanese discuss the importance of learning how to really devour (貪る, musaboru) your Japanese studies. This is a nice post with a close look at the numbering. Here is the official website for the 全国地方公共団体コード. And I previously wrote about the alphabet in Japanese. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Molly Des Jardin is a language and computer nerd who came to study Japanese, and later book and media history of modern Japan. She quickly got sucked into both for the long term and enjoyed the 'B-kyu' adventures she got to have while working or studying in Fukuoka, Yokohama, and the least cool wards of Tokyo. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Substack, and Facebook.

This is an audio version of a presentation I gave to departing JETs at the Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago. Usually I'm able to drill the JETs to get them speaking a little Japanese. Obviously it's virtual this year, so I recorded a version to use as reference. This material might be useful for others interested in teaching in Japan. Follow along with the slides, which can be accessed here. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Substack, and Facebook.

What's something that surprised you about Japan that was completely ordinary? For me it was the access to swimming pools. Living in Japan changed my relationship with swimming for the better. And in Japanese, I talk about 趣味 (shumi, hobbies/interests) and their role in Japanese study. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Mike Grant is the co-founder of Devil Craft brewing and has been operating in Tokyo for 10 years as of this year. Devil Craft has four locations in the Tokyo area. See Craft Beer Professional's interview with Mike here. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Substack, and Facebook.

The Katakana Fallacy is the mistaken belief that katakana are more difficult to learn than hiragana (and maybe even kanji?!). A closer look at what drives this believe helps explain why Japanese is, in fact, the easiest language in the world. And in Japanese, I talk about linguistic crutches and how to avoid them. I've been writing about the ideas behind the Katakana Fallacy since this post in 2008. And this is the Anki deck of katakana words that I mentioned might be helpful. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Mercedez Clewis is a Japanese to English localization editor and proofreader as well as a pop culture writer and critic. See her website here. We spoke about intensive Japanese study programs, teaching on the JET Program, and breaking into translation/writing/localization as a freelancer. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Substack, and Facebook.

かもしれない (kamoshirenai, may/might) has subtle nuances, and it can be easy to overuse. I talk about a time when I did, and how many years later that mistake allowed me to become an advice columnist very briefly. And in Japanese, I go into my unfortunate history with 食中毒 (shokuchūdoku, food poisoning) in Japan. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Brian Epstein is a patent attorney with Modal Law who has been working with Japanese clients and patent attorneys for his 14-year career. He started his own practice in 2019 and plans to visit Japan again shortly after the borders reopen. We discuss patent law and communication with Japanese business partners. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

The dreaded 車検 (shaken, car inspection) is an expat's worst nightmare, but it's not a reason to not get a car. Driving in the Japanese countryside is absolutely the best way to get around and make some great memories. I talk about my experience with 車検. I also reminisce in Japanese about the very first time I sang karaoke. The article I mention about 演歌 (enka) can be found here - lots of good songs to study. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Morgan Giles is a Japanese translator based in London. She's translated a number of different writers, including Kanehara Hitomi, Furukawa Hideo, and the National Book Award-winning Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri. Find Morgan on Twitter here. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Living with Japanese roommates in Tokyo was the highlight of my time in Japan. I found those roommates on the website Roomshare.jp, a great site that I introduce this week. And in Japanese I talk about how I ate のり弁 for nearly an entire year and how I think it's a useful metaphor for Japanese study. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Jason Coskrey is a sports writer for The Japan Times. He previously worked at the Birmingham Post Herald and the Marietta Daily Journal before moving to Japan in 2007. We spoke about learning Japanese (and how to do sports writing) through immersion. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Adjectives in Japanese are not always what they appear to be! I think part of this is because they function as what I call "performative adjectives." One of my sixth-grade students helped me finally understand what かわいそう meant. And in Japanese I discuss 系 and how it helped me explain myself. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Paul Snowden worked for over 40 years in universities in Japan. He is also one of the three editors-in-chief of the Fifth Edition of Kenkyusha’s New Japanese-English Dictionary, affectionately known as the Green Goddess. We talked about his experience learning Japanese, working with international students in Japan, and developing The Green Goddess. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com. You can also follow How to Japanese on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.