News and resources

Coto Japanese Academy Year End Party 2018!

Come join us for our Year End Party! 2018 has been a great year for Coto and we want to celebrate with you! What: Coto Year End Party When: Saturday, December 8, 2018 19:30 – 22:00 pm (open 19:10, start 19:30) Where: “Tokyo Mercato” 5 min from Suidobashi station, 12 min from Coto Academy (website) […]

Bravery in Japanese! Yu (ゆ) – 勇気 (Yuuki)

How to Say “Bravery” in Japanese – Bravery in the Face of Adversary 日本語をこちら In the face of Adversity What do you say to a friend when they are hesitant in the face of some challenge?“I want to try this, but I don’t know if I can do it.”「これ、やってみたいけど、できるかな?」 “ko re, yatte mitai kedo, dekiru […]

How to say brave in Japanese - 勇気(yuuki)

Let’s learn some Japanese Halloween Vocabulary!

Places/ObjectsCharactersFeelings/Emotions With Halloween just around the corner, let’s take a look at some Japanese words related to this SPOOKY season.   First up, let’s take a look at the word ハロウィン (Harowin). Want to guess what it means? You’ve probably already guessed it by looking at the Romaji, haven’t you? Well, for those who are still […]

Mottainai in Japanese: Meaning & History

日本語はこちらMottainai in Japanese (勿体無い) is a phrase that is deeply ingrained into the culture. This is especially so when the Japanese take recycling and sorting their trash so seriously. In today’s blog, we will be introducing how the concept of 勿体無い  – how it has spread globally and its influencing some cultural practices.How Mottainai spread to […]

Me (め) – Me (目) – Meaning of Eyes in Japanese

日本語はこちらToday’s theme is “eyes (目:me)”. Did you know that in Japanese Idioms, the most frequently used word is eye?   Frequently used ExpressionsIn a Conversation between FriendsBetween CoworkersBetween Lovers  Frequently used Expressions “I woke up (目が覚めて:me ga samete) at 6 today, and had a look at  (目を通して:me o toushite) the newspaper while having breakfast. I […]

Events in November 2018

This is an older post – to see our upcoming monthly events – click here Monthly Events at Coto   Every month we hold cultural and social events for our students and their friends to discover more about Japanese culture, meet new friends and practice Japanese. We are looking forward to seeing you there! Lunch […]

Mu (む): Meaning of Muri 無理 (むり) in Japanese

What is 無理 (Muri)?無 (Mu) as a PrefixOther uses of 無 (Mu)   What is the meaning of 無理 (Muri)? Muri, put simply, can be translated into English as “Impossible 無理 (mu-ri)”. The typical antonym for Muri would typically be “Infinite possibilities 無限大の可能性 (mu-gendai-no-kanousei)”Have you ever heard someone say “that’s impossible 無理です (mu-ri desu)?”For example,“Why […]