31st May – 皐月 梅雨 (Tsuyu), the rainy season falls around June till mid July every year in Japan. During this season, many days have rain or cloudy days, so it’s very humid and damp. The Kanji 梅 means plum, this is because 梅雨 season is the time when plums ripen. Today, the Shikoku areaContinue reading “梅雨 (Tsuyu) -rainy season”
Monthly Archives: May 2020
ジブリ映画 (Jiburi Eiga) – Studio Ghibli Movies
30th May – 皐月 Probably many people who like Japan know what Studio Ghibli is – Japanese animation company which have produced many popular films. Ghibli movies have beautiful drawings and fantastic music so it has been loved by various generation in Japan. Some non-Japanese pronounce Ghibli as ぎぶり (Giburi). However the correct way toContinue reading “ジブリ映画 (Jiburi Eiga) – Studio Ghibli Movies”
一緒文化 (Issho Bunka) – Culture of “together”
29th May – 皐月 When you go for travel or when you see overseas visitors in your country, have you ever encountered Japanese tourists? In often case, those people came together with another friend ( *not always and depends on people), this tendency has grown from school time. Especially for girls, there are implicit rulesContinue reading “一緒文化 (Issho Bunka) – Culture of “together””
早口言葉 (Hayakuchi Kotoba) – Tongue twister
28th May -皐月 早口言葉 (Hayakuchi Kotoba) is the sentence to say quickly, the sentences have similar sounds or related sounds repeated several times, therefore those are hard to pronounce correctly. As well as tongue twister exists in English, so does in Japanese. Japanese 早口言葉 often have following sounds , which makes the sentence difficult toContinue reading “早口言葉 (Hayakuchi Kotoba) – Tongue twister”
日本の怪談 (Nihon no Kaidan) – Japanese ghost stories
27th May –皐月 As every time on 27th, today’s theme is about ghost stories / urban Legend in Japan. Have you ever heard of UMA (Yu-ma)? UMA means mysterious / unidentified animals in Japan and several times every year, the TV shows have the programs that shows the videos and stories about UMA. Most likely,Continue reading “日本の怪談 (Nihon no Kaidan) – Japanese ghost stories”
ガリ (Gari) – Sweat ginger pickles
26th May – 皐月 ガリ (Gari) is often seen when you eat Sushi. Ginger pickled by sweet vinegar. When you go to the sushi shop, you probably see this pink colored ginger there. Have you ever tried them before? It has sweet but sharp spicy tastes and most likely it is provided free. The pinkContinue reading “ガリ (Gari) – Sweat ginger pickles”
折り紙: 菖蒲の作り方 – Origami: How to make Iris
25th May – 皐月 Probably some people might know how to make a bird crane with Origami, so I would like to teach you other things to create with Origami, which is one of my hobbies – today’s one is Iris (菖蒲 Ayame/ also can be pronounced as Shoubu). May is the season for Ayame,Continue reading “折り紙: 菖蒲の作り方 – Origami: How to make Iris”
異字同訓 (Iji Doukun)
24th May – 皐月 It might be one of the hardest languages to learn Japanese, as Japanese have 3 different styles Alphabets and I’m most cases we use all alphabets everywhere. Especially remembering 漢字 (Kanji) is a nightmare – even for native Japanese too as there are just too many of them. Each Kanji normallyContinue reading “異字同訓 (Iji Doukun)”
日本の外国 (Nihon no Gaikoku) – overseas in Japan
23rd May – 皐月 Now it’s a difficult time for everybody due to Covid-19, especially the fact that people cannot travel to other country is one of the biggest issues all countries have. While waiting for all boarders to be opened again, I would like to introduce you some of the overseas within Japan –Continue reading “日本の外国 (Nihon no Gaikoku) – overseas in Japan”
断捨離 (Danshari)
22nd May –皐月 断捨離 (Danshari) is the new mindset of cleaning, consists of 3 processes: 断 (Dan) – stop buying stuff which is not necessary 捨 (Sha) – throw away the things which are no longer used at home 離 (Ri) – stop the obsession toward things / buying This mindset was established by Mrs.Continue reading “断捨離 (Danshari)”
Little Japan Dictionary 