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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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