Japanese often use titles of the person referred to where pronouns would be used in English. For example, when speaking to one’s teacher, it is appropriate to use sensei (先生, teacher), but inappropriate to use anata. This is because anata is used to refer to people of equal or lower status, and one’s teacher has higher status. There is no best blade since it depends on your experience and needs. A gyuto is a great all-purpose knife that’s akin to a Western chef’s knife. Missav – Housewife

Festivals are held for a variety of reasons, the most common being to give thanks (e.g. for a successful rice harvest) and bring good fortune. Although most festivals are small events sponsored by local shrines or temples, there are hundreds that are large city-wide affairs, any of which would be a nice addition to your itinerary if they overlap your schedule. Japan is famous for geisha, although they’re often misunderstood by the West.

Assistance dogs are limited to guide dogs for blind people, hearing dogs for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and mobility assistance dogs for people who have balance problems or other difficulties with standing or walking. They are accepted only if they have been professionally trained and certified by an organization recognized by the Japanese government. Trained service dogs must additionally display specified information and carry certain paperwork whenever they are in public. Emotional support animals and even service dogs trained for purposes other than helping people walk are treated as pets. Even dogs arriving from the few certified rabies-free places on Earth (e.g., Australia, New Zealand, or Hawaii) require at least 40 days’ notice to arrange a health inspection upon arrival.

• In 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, destroying a small portion of the U.S.
• Unlike most western languages, Japanese has an extensive grammatical system to express politeness and formality.
• Most people go into a textbook with zero knowledge and wind up spending a large chunk of their time looking up words they don’t know.
• The latter are then divided into either three groups—Eastern, Western, and Kyushu dialects—or simply Eastern and Western dialects, the latter including the Kyushu group.
• The Japan Cup, held annually at Fuchu’s Tokyo Racecourse, is one of the premier events on the international horse racing calendar, and regularly attracts the world’s top jockeys and horses.

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The first people in Japan were the Ainu people and other Jōmon people. They were closer related to Europeans or Mongols.19 They were later conquered and replaced by the Yayoi people (early Japanese and Ryukyuans). The Yayoi were an ancient ethnic group that migrated to the Japanese archipelago mainly from southeastern China during the Yayoi period (300 CE–300 AD). Modern Japanese people have primarily Yayoi ancestry at an average of 97%.2021 The indigenous Ryukyuan and Ainu peoples have more Jōmon ancestry on the other hand. Six homes have been damaged in city of Okayama, where a fire started on Mount Kaigara and burned 250 hectares (600 acres) of the forest.

Free Japanese learning games and tools

Literally translated, the word 芸者 (geisha) means “artist” or “artisan”. Geisha are entertainers, whether you’re looking for song and dance, party games, or just some nice company and conversation. Geisha train from a young age to be exquisite, high-class entertainers. They’re often employed today by businesses for parties and banquets. Although traditionally expensive and exclusive, you may be able to see geisha perform for as little as ¥3,000, or for free at a festival.

¥50,000 a night per person is not uncommon for some of the posher ones. Sizes of Japanese rooms are often measured in jō (畳 or sometimes 帖), the number of tatami (straw floor) mats that would cover the floor, regardless of the room’s actual flooring material. Sizes vary by region, with 1 jō ranging from 1.445 to 1.824 m2, but a commonly used value is 1.652 m2 (17.8 sq ft). A typical room in a Japanese apartment is 6 jō (about 9.3 m2; 100 sq ft), big enough to sleep two people with their luggage spread out.

The main distinction in Japanese dialects is between Tokyo-type (東京式, Tōkyō-shiki) and Western-type (京阪式, Keihan-shiki) pitch accents. The “Nishi-nihon hōgen” (West Japan dialect, including Kansai hōgen) categories are actually spoken in the central region, with borders roughly formed by Toyama, Kyōto, Hyōgo, and Mie Prefectures; most Shikoku dialects are also Western-type. Dialects spoken further west are actually of the “Higasi-nihon hōgen” (East Japan dialect, including Tokyo hōgen) category.

The number of foreign visitors to the country hit an all time high of 36.8 million last year, according to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization. The surge in tourism has piled pressure on several popular onsen areas across the country, from Ureshino in the west to Niseko on the northern island of Hokkaido, said researcher Akihiro Otsuka of the Chuo Onsen Research Institute. Pocket Wi-Fi is another option for people wanting to use their Wi-Fi enabled devices (smartphone, iPhone, iPad, laptops etc.). A Pocket Wi-Fi device is a little smaller than a deck of cards and fits in your pocket or bag. It makes available a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot you can connect your devices to.

There are plenty of list-apps and pieces of paper out there, so it’s going to be difficult for me to say what you should use. I’m partial to Evernote and have my own processes built up there. And Airtable is a great spreadsheet app for people who don’t think in math. But maybe you like physical pocket-sized notebooks, to-do lists, your smartphone camera (with a special folder for future processing), or something else.

Karaoke (カラオケ) was invented in Japan and can be found in virtually every Japanese city. Pronounced kah-rah-oh-keh, it is abbreviated from the words “empty orchestra” in Japanese; most locals won’t have any idea what you’re talking about if you use the English carry-oh-kee. You and your friends have a room to yourself — no strangers involved — and the standard hourly rate often includes all-you-can-drink alcohol, with refills ordered through a phone on the wall or through the karaoke machine. The major chains all have excellent English-language song selections.

There are also host clubs (ホストクラブ hosuto kurabu or ホスクラ hosu kura) where the roles are reversed, and female customers pay for attractive male company instead. In both of these, you will generally be expected to buy drinks for your host/hostess, and not doing so will greatly upset them as these make up a significant part of their income. A girls bar (ガールズバー gāruzu bā or ガルバ garuba) is similar to a hostess club, except that the attractive women are bartenders and stay behind the bar when chatting with customers. These are typically cheaper than hostess clubs, but just like in hostess clubs, you will be expected to buy drinks for your bartender. A seku kyaba (セクキャバ) is the erotic version of the hostess club, in which limited physical intimacy is allowed. Hiroshima is the first city ever to be attacked by an atomic bomb, as well as the deadliest.