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 Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! The theme for this week is kanji found at a gas station. Let's take a look! ① 泡洗車 (awa sensha) = bubble car wash This refers to a car wash. The first kanji is 泡 (awa) and means “bubbles”, and the second word 洗車 (sensha) means “car wash”. 洗車 is made up of the characters for “wash” (洗) and “car” (車). 泡洗車 (awa sensha) = bubble car wash ● 泡 (awa) = bubbles ● 洗車 (sensha) = car wash ● 泡 (awa) = bubbles 洗車 (sensha) = car wash ● 洗 (sen) = wash ● 車 (sha) = car Sample Sentence: 今日は泡洗車で、愛車を洗う。 ... Show more

In Japan, November 23rd is a National Holiday called 勤労感謝の日(Kinrou kansha no hi) which means Labor Thanksgiving Day.  This holiday was originally a national festival called "Niinamesai" meaning "Harvest Festival." At the festival, the emperor dedicated the year's harvest to the Shinto Gods and ate it to celebrate the harvest of that year. This holiday is similar to Thanksgiving Day in the United States in both the timing and concept.  But, considering that this holiday is held to give thanks to people's hard work in addition to the harvest, it is also similar to "Labor Day" in the US.  Both of these holidays are very similar in that they give us a good opportunity to express our thanks to one another. There isn't a special meal that... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary I've discovered two new ways of offending the Japanese: 渡し箸 (watashibashi: resting one's chopsticks across the top of one's bowl)     to cross over + chopsticks 渡り箸 (wataribashi: using one's chopsticks to jump from side dish to side dish without pausing to eat rice in between)     to cross over + chopsticks Both actions are considered breaches of etiquette. Just one hiragana distinguishes one term from the other. (And that hiragana can serve as a memory trick. The し somewhat resembles the top of a bowl, whereas the り looks like upright chopsticks jumping from side dish to side dish and appalling all the Emirii... Show more

1. Get serious about Japanese with The Ultimate Getting Started Japanese Package - Limited Time Offer! Stop by JapanesePod101.com/ULTIMATE to find out more. 2. Happy Thanksgiving! We want to say "Thank you" for listening to JapanesePod101.com! Use coupon code THANKS09 by November 26th and save 26% off any basic or premium subscription today! Click here to redeem this incredible, limited time offer today! 3. Best Lessons and Blog Entries for November!  - Find out what’s popular this month! The blog has some great content for you to see. Welcome to theJapanesePod101.com newsletter. These periodic newsletters will deliver  to  you  all  the  exciting developments that are going on at JapanesePod101.com.  With  each ... Show more

治療の予約をしようと歯科医院の診察券を見たら、電話番号が「37-6480」と書かれていました。これは、日本人にとってはとても覚えやすい数字です。なぜかというと、「みんな、むしばゼロ」と読めるからです。 日本語では数字を「いち、に、さん…」と読むだけでなく、「ひ（ひとつ）、ふ（ふたつ）、み（みっつ）…」とも読みます。これらの読み方を組み合わせて別の意味を生み出し、数字を当てはめて連想しながら覚えると、より一層、強く記憶にとどめることができます。 特に、歴史の年号を覚えるときにはこのような覚え方が威力を発揮します。日本史の年号で最も有名なのは、鎌倉幕府成立の年とされる「1192年」。これは、「いいくに」と読めるため「いいくに　作ろう　鎌倉幕府」と関連付けた文章と共に暗記しやすいからです。 2の平方根√2は1.41421356…ですが、数字の並んでいる通り、左から順番に暗記しようと思っても容易ではありません。しかし、「ひとよ　ひとよに　ひとみごろ（一夜　一夜に　人　見頃）」と読み換えれば9個の数字を簡単に覚えることができます。 このような読み方を「語呂合わせ」と言います。「語呂」とは、「ことばや文章の続き具合、調子」のことを指し、ことばの続き方を調子よく合わせることで、単なる羅列に過ぎない数字も、おもしろい意味を生み出して覚えたり、宣伝したりすることができるのです。 ＝＝＝ In order to make an appointment at the dentist, I looked at the patient registration card and saw the phone number 37-6480.  This number... Show more

 Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! The theme for this week is kanji found in a Japanese-language operating system of a computer. Let's take a look! ① 終了オプション (shūryō opushon) = shut down options When you’re ready to shut down your computer for the day, this is the button you press to see the different options. We have one word in kanji, 終了 (shūryō), and one word in katakana, オプション. 終了 means “end” or “completion”, and オプション means “options”. So literally this means “completion options”, or “shut down options”. In an English-language OS,... Show more

Shichi-Go-San (七五三 seven-five-three) is a traditional festival day in Japan when parents celebrate the growth of their children and pray for their future and well-being when their daughters turn three or seven and their sons turn three or five．Originally, this event was held on November 15th.  However, these days people often celebrate it on the nearest weekend because it is not a national holiday. There are some regions where they don't celebrate sons who turn three years old. Parents usually dress their daughters in kimono and their sons in hakama, which are formal Japanese skirtlike trousers. They then take them to a shrine or temple to celebrate their growth and pray for their health. They also take family pictures as a keepsake. ... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary In any society, a bridge is perhaps the most visible symbol of trust. And this kind of trust seldom comes into question. When most of us see a bridge, we assume it can handle the cars, trains, and gale-force winds bearing down on it. Lately, though, people in my neck of the woods realize that they can't take bridge safety for granted at all. In September, inspectors found a significant crack on the San Francisco Bay Bridge. (They wouldn't have done an inspection except for a rare circumstance, so this discovery shook our confidence considerably.) Crews labored to fix the problem, only to have the repair job fail weeks later, sending 5,000 pounds of steel crashing down... Show more

Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! The theme for this week is kanji seen on an electric water heater pot. Let's take a look! ① 給湯 (kyūtō) = hot water supply The word written on this button is 給湯 (kyūtō), which means “hot water supply”. This is the button you press for hot water to come out. 給湯 (kyūtō) = hot water supply ● 給 (kyū) = grant, bestow ● 湯 (tō/yu) = hot water Sample Sentence: 「給湯」ボタンを押すと、お湯が出る。 ”Kyūto” botan o osu to, o-yu ga deru. If you press the “kyūtō” button, hot water will come out. ② ロック解除 (rokku... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary I came across an intriguing word: 過渡 (kato: (1) crossing; ferry; (2) transient; (3) changing old to new)     to pass by + to go through (life) It catches my attention for several reasons. For one thing, the spelling (but not the pronunciation) of the yomi reminds me of Kato Kaelin, made famous in the days of OJ's trial, then quickly forgotten. I love finding words such as karen and shaun, whose romanized versions are first names in English. Those "Names" in Kanji ... Beyond that, I like that 過渡 has such disparate definitions: "ferry" versus "transient." If you think poetically, this makes sense; as a boat glides across the water, its... Show more