Chinese Zodiac
Japan’s Eto vs the Chinese Zodiac: Four Real Differences
Japan starts the zodiac year on 1 January, calls the eighth sign a sheep and the twelfth a boar - and has one combination that cut the national birth rate by a quarter.
Japan Know How archive
Author: Kaori Miyata
Chinese Zodiac
Born in January or February? Your Zodiac Sign May Be Wrong
The zodiac year begins at Lunar New Year, which moves by nearly a month. Roughly one birthday in seven is in the window where year-only calculators get it wrong.
Chinese Zodiac
The Chinese Zodiac Years, Explained Properly
Twelve animals, five elements and a year that does not start on 1 January. The full system, the arithmetic to work out any year, and why 2026 is a Fire Horse.
Writing & Language
Japanese Numbers and Counters, Made Simple
Two counting systems, several hundred counters, and a handful you actually need. Plus what to say when you have no idea which counter is right.
Writing & Language
Why Japanese Loanwords Are Not the English You Think
A mansion is an apartment, a viking is a buffet and smart means slim. Which borrowed words are safe, which are traps, and the four stages that change a word on the way in.