Who is Japan’s Supreme and Most Important God?
As you may already know, Kami (神) is the Japanese word for god, and its honorific title is Kami-Sama (神様). When you hear Kamisama, the first person that comes to your mind might be...
Category: Culture
Mazui vs. Yabai: Meaning in Japanese
Mazui (まずい) is a Japanese word often used in terms of food, in which case the antonym is Umai (うまい), meaning delicious or tasty. Mazui (まずい: meaning Bad) Yes, Mazui basically means bad or...
Uki, Tsuyu, and Akisame: Rainy Season in Japan
Spanning from May to July, Tsuyu (梅雨), also called Baiu (梅雨), is a cloudy/rainy season broadly seen in East Asia, including the southern part of China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. Tsuyu (梅雨) and Uki...
Youbi (曜日) & Shichiyou (七曜): Meaning in Japanese
Recently, I have learned from Japanese Wikipedia that the names of the days of the week or Youbi (曜日: meaning Day of the Week), that is, Nichi-Youbi (日曜日: Sunday) Getsu-Youbi (月曜日: Monday) Ka-Youbi (火曜:...
Kanpan: Japanese Hardtack as Emergency Food
Japan is the land of earthquakes and typhoons, so many people have emergency food at home just in case. In fact, in a closet of my house, there is a bunch of instant cup...
Meanings of Hina Arare rice crackers for Hinamatsuri
Here in Japan, March 3rd is a special day for young girls called Hinamatsuri (雛祭り) when parents with daughters annually celebrate and pray for their sound growth. As I wrote before, regarding food for the...
Umami vs. Umai vs. Uma: Meanings of the Japanese Words
Umami is one of the best-known Japanese words, but do you know the term has two different meanings? One is represented as 旨味/旨み (Umami), and the other is うま味 (Umami). Umami vs. Umai vs....
Date Maki vs. Tamago Yaki: Japanese Rolled Omelettes
Happy New Year 2021! I spent this New Year’s Eve or Omisoka (大晦日), watching Kouhaku Uta Gassen (紅白歌合戦: Red-White Song Battle), a standard long-loved TV program for Omisoka. And I ate Toshikoshi Soba (年越しそば:...
