This summer, 大地の芸術祭 (daichi no geijutsu-sai, Echigo-Tsumari Art Field), also known as Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, runs July 13 to Nov. 10 in Niigata Prefecture, adding one more destination to Japan’s …
Osamu Dazai (1909-48) is one of Japan’s literary legends: a tormented and embittered man who drowned himself in the Tamagawa Canal, and yet who lived on in his books to …
Have you scrolled to the end of the emoji keyboard, looking for those peskily faraway hearts, and accidentally sent a mysterious “NG”? Asked a friend in Japan if they want …
With バレンタインデー (barentain dē, Valentine’s Day) taking place on Feb. 14 and ホワイトデー (howaito dē, White Day) coming on March 14, it would seem that women get a lot of …
Banana Yoshimoto burst onto the Japanese literary scene in 1987 with her mega-hit novel, “キッチン” (Kitchin, Kitchen). It was so explosively popular that literary critics actually started to think that …
During this year’s ホリデーシーズン (horidē shīzun, holiday season), パーティ (pātī, parties) and 飲み会 (nomikai, drinking parties) are officially coming back. In the past four years, quiet おうちクリスマス (ouchi kurisumasu, at-home …
Nagoya – On Oct. 23, publisher Sanseido did what it would usually do for an upcoming title: It uploaded the basic details of the book, along with sample pages, to …
There is an expression in Japanese, 「ウサギの昼寝」(usagi no hirune, “a rabbit nap”). It describes a moment of carelessness that leads to unexpected misfortune. It was a rabbit nap that caused …
You may have learned that “I” is 私 (watashi). And while this is a handy all-around term to use when referring to yourself, a 2019 survey showed that over 30% …
Oct. 11 marks one year since Japan reopened its borders to individual tourists. Since then, the relatively new word インバウンド (inbaundo, inbound) has been making frequent appearances in the news. …