How to Japanese Podcast

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.