#askmejapan

Question: How Difficult is it to Learn Japanese Characters? You ask about the difficulty of learning Japanese characters but you don't ask about learning the language itself, so I will leave off mention

Question: Are you happy with Reiwa as name for Japan's new era? Note: See my previous post for info on what Reiwa is. Sure. It has a pleasant sound and the poem it comes from is nice. The characters for

Question: What's the best tale of samurai? There are many. Here are just a few off the top of my head. The 47 Ronin You might start with The 47 Ronin. It is the one of the most well known samurai stories,

Question: Are There Mixed Restrooms in Japan? At older and smaller places in Japan, public restrooms are occasionally mixed, yes. This is becoming less common all the time, but it still exists. Before

Question: How Can I Be a Samurai? How do you become a samurai? For starters, you go back in time. The samurai as a class were abolished beginning in 1873. All samurai at the time became "shizoku",

Question: How Do You Say "Demon King" in Japanese? The Demon King is commonly the top villian in anime, manga, or video games. The Japanese word for this is 魔王, which is pronounced “mah-ohh”.

Question: How can someone born in America gain intuition for metric units? Not really about Japan per se, but I get this question a lot, especially from newbie Americans who come into Japan. Frankly, I'm

Question: What are the currents threats to Japan? One of the biggest is the looming Tokai quake. This is been expected to go for the past 50 years, but worry about it has only increased since the Kumamoto

Today I was sitting at some cafe tables just outside the city library, inside an atrium connected to the library. It is an area I sit at often when I visit the library. Usually I am the only foreigner

@jrvacation asks: It is standard etiquette for commuters to stand on the left side when using the escalator, so that the right side is cleared for those willing to walk up or down. The left side standing

I want to introduce a new series. I think I'll call it... Ask Me About Japan Or maybe not. I'm not sure. I'm still thinking about names. At any rate... In this series I will take questions submitted to