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【Apologies in Japanese Culture】 Apologizing is a core social lubricant in Japanese culture. From minor inconveniences to serious professional errors, there's a calibrated set of expressions. Using the right level of apology is as impor...

【The Art of Japanese Indirect Disagreement】 Direct disagreement in Japanese is often softened, hedged, or avoided entirely — especially in formal contexts. Understanding how Japanese speakers express disagreement without saying "no" di...

【Japanese Greetings Go Beyond Konnichiwa】 Most learners know おはようございます and こんにちは. But Japanese has a rich system of situational greetings — for leaving home, arriving at work, before eating, meeting someone for the first ...

【50 Phrases You'll Use Every Day】 These are the bread-and-butter expressions of Japanese daily life — phrases that native speakers use multiple times a day. Memorise these first before moving on to grammar. Fluency starts here. 【Agree...

【Not All Loanwords Come from English】 Most learners assume katakana loanwords are from English. While English is dominant, Japanese has borrowed extensively from Portuguese (16th century trade), French (19th-20th century), Dutch (Edo p...

【Japanese Loves Onomatopoeia】 Japanese has one of the world's richest onomatopoeia systems. Unlike English, where sound words are mostly just for actual sounds (bang, crash, hiss), Japanese onomatopoeia covers emotional states, texture...

【JLPT N3: The Turning Point】 N3 is widely considered the gateway to practical Japanese fluency. At N3, you can handle most everyday situations, understand the gist of news articles, and navigate workplace communication. The vocabulary ...

【Japanese Colours: Two Types】 Japanese has two types of colour words: native Japanese colours that function as い-adjectives, and na-adjective/noun colour words. The four basic native colours (赤、青、白、黒) behave as い-adjectives; o...

Imagine standing at the edge of a quiet lake, watching the morning mist drift across the water while cherry blossoms fall around you. Or hiking up a mountain trail as a crow calls overhead. Moments like these are why so many people fall ...

【Office Japanese at N4-N3 Level】 Once you pass the basics, workplace Japanese becomes a priority for many learners — especially those working in or with Japanese companies. This article covers the core office vocabulary at the N4-N3 le...