itadakimasu (lit=’I am receiving something’)
One of many Japanese expressions that has no direct translation in English, ‘itadakimasu’ can basically be equated with ‘saying grace’, a short prayer said by a lot of religious families (particularly in the US) to thank God before eating a meal. Read the rest of this entry »

Atsui (hot) and samui (cold)
It’s often said that British people like to talk about the weather unusually often compared to other nationalities, but the same is true of Japanese people.

Whereas the British tend to elaborate on the topic in more detail (‘looks like rain’ or ‘Autumn’s almost here’, for example) however, the Japanese seem content with merely stating the obvious about the temperature – they exclaim ‘atsui’ at every opportunity all summer and ‘samui’ constantly throughout the winter. Read the rest of this entry »

What The Japanese Say

This series will focus on the most common expressions used in the Japanese language. As anyone who’s spent a considerable amount of time in Japan will know, there are certain words and phrases you hear all the time. And I do mean ALL THE TIME, often to the point of being annoying to non-Japanese people. Read the rest of this entry »

The Product: Some model of Toyota or other.

The Ad: It uses a clear (and quite literal) idea to convey Toyota’s ‘Human Touch’ strapline, featuring a number of salarymen performing the roles of car components.

The Stars: The salarymen, memorable in the same way that androids in films tend to be (Westworld, A.I. etc). They’re also a good example of kimo-kawaii.

Why It’s Top: As the best TV ads do, this one uses a unique idea to convey a message anyone can understand. It’s also quite subversive in the it represents a reversal of the Japanese obsession of replacing humans with automated robots.

There are two types of mumbler, the most common being the type whose chronic shyness and lack of confidence causes them to speak at a volume that’s inaudible over the sound of an air conditioner. The second, rarer type (I’ve only taught two like this) is the student likes to do a bizarre kind of shadowing activity, lip-reading as you speak and repeating the words you say half a second later. Read the rest of this entry »

You can find the BigOnJapan.com Japanese Movie Quiz here on Facebook or check it out below. It’s a quiz about Japanese movies, actors and directors, as well as films made on location in Japan. If you take the quiz on Facebook you can get the correct answers instantly, whereas if you take the quiz below you can find a link to the answers at the bottom of the post. Gambatte!

01

Q01: In the film Lost In Translation, Bill Murray is in Japan to promote which product?

1. Nissin Cup Noodles
2. Asahi Beer
3. Pocky Chocolate
4. Suntory Whisky
Read the rest of this entry »

These are the answers to the BigOnJapan.com Japanese Movie Quiz posted above. No cheating! Read the rest of this entry »

This selfish student loves to be the centre of attention and is the exact opposite of the Pot Plant: talking endlessly about themselves, regardless of whether their teacher or classmates are interested or not; over-participating in the lesson so that classmates are unable to answer questions or give their opinions; and competing with the teacher to ensure the lesson revolves around them.
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An interesting clip that gives a good idea of the frenetic pace of both TV programmes and construction work in Japan. Featuring the Shinjuku skyscraper district of Tokyo, keep an eye out and you’ll see one of Japan’s most impressive buildings, Tochō.

As everyone knows, potted plants are used to decorate people’s homes and just sit in the corner doing nothing. Similarly the pot plant’s role in the class is purely decorative, their input in the proceedings non-existent.

The question ‘what’s new?’ always receives the same answer: ‘nothing special’. Similarly, enquiries about whether they have any hobbies gets responses like ‘sleeping’, ‘shopping’ or simply ‘I have no hobbies’. Read the rest of this entry »