Japanese Crafts
The Law, the Mark, and the Price Difference
Japan certifies crafts by law: mostly handmade, a century-old technique, one named region. What the seal means, and why the real piece costs what it does.
Japan Know How archive
Author: Megan Rothwell
Japanese Eras
Choosing Two Kanji for the Next Thirty Years
Scholars submit candidates, a cabinet picks one, and a country repaints its forms. The rules a new era name must pass and who actually signs off.
Your Name in Japanese
Every Japanese Form That Asks for Your Name
Residence card, bank, hotel, tickets: which field wants romaji, which wants katakana, and what happens when your two spellings stop matching.
Writing & Language
The First 92 Characters, in Order
Both kana sets in a working order, with the look-alike pairs flagged before they cause damage. A plan you can finish in a week without a subscription.
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.
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.