Laughing in Japanese

Posted by in Language on 10. Jan, 2009 | 9 Comments

There are many ways to describe laughter in Japanese. 笑う (warau) is to main verb “to laugh”. It can also mean to smile, depending on the context. There are many more phrases to express laughter or smiling in Japanese, and many use the same 笑 Kanji character. Note that not all of these phrases are [...]

Hoshi Shinichi – Short Shorts

Posted by in Books, Language on 13. Nov, 2008 | 3 Comments

Shinichi Hoshi (星新一) was a Japanese author from Tokyo who lived from 1926 to 1997. He is famous for writing extremely short (4 or 5 pages) science fiction short stories for adults. Many of them have a dark twist to them at the end. I was introduced three of his stories in the Japanese class [...]

Miyazawa Kenji – The Restaurant with Many Orders

Posted by in Books, Language, Media on 22. Jul, 2008 | 2 Comments

The TheJapanShop.com now has one of Miyazawa Kenji’s most famous stories, 「注文の多い料理店」The Restaurant with Many Orders, available as a 5-dollar downloadable package that includes the story text, and an accompanying audio file with a native speaker reading the text. In addition, the furigana for every Kanji is provided, and you also get a definition for [...]


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