Your Name in Japanese
Five English Sounds Japanese Does Not Have
L and R, both th sounds, V, the missing consonant-vowel pairs and the vowels Japanese inserts into consonant clusters. None of it is random, and all of it is predictable.
Japan Know How archive
Author: Megan Rothwell
Your Name in Japanese
Katakana Name Rules, and the Names That Break Them
We tested a rule engine on 61 names with documented Japanese spellings. It scored 77 percent, and the misses were Michael, Thomas, Sean and Charlotte. Here is the autopsy.
Your Name in Japanese
How to Write Your Name in Japanese: The Complete Guide
Which script your name belongs in, how English sounds get remapped, the four adjustments that decide whether a spelling looks natural, and where the rules simply lose to precedent.
Anime & Manga
Character Names in Japanese: Meaning, Kanji and Readings
A Japanese name sounds like something and means something, and translation can usually carry only one. Plus why the same written name has several correct readings.
Anime & Manga
Japanese Honorifics in Anime: -san, -kun, -chan and the Rest
Nine forms of address, what each one claims, and why the moment a character drops the suffix is a plot event that English subtitles cannot show you.
Travel to Japan
The Apps You Actually Need in Japan
Six apps and one website cover a whole trip. Plus the honest answer on Suica: brilliant on an iPhone, mostly unavailable on Android, and what to do instead.
Travel to Japan
How Much Money to Bring to Japan
Three daily budgets with what each one buys, the taxes that rose in 2026, and the tax-free change on 1 November that moves your refund from the till to the airport.
Japanese Culture
Japanese Gift Giving: Occasions, Wrapping and Taboos
Omiyage, temiyage, ochugen, oseibo, and two kinds of envelope that mean opposite things. New notes for a wedding, old notes for a funeral - and why the knot decides.
Japanese Eras
The Four Japanese Years That Belong to Two Eras
1912, 1926, 1989 and 2019 each split between two eras on a specific day. The exact boundaries, and why Showa 64 lasted a week.
Japanese Eras
Showa, Heisei and Reiwa Year Tables
The tables you can scan instead of calculating, the anchors worth memorising, and how a new era name is actually chosen.