This week – Kumi Tanaka Sensei will share with us several idioms in Japanese related to cats.

MutsukiSan is a new staff member that has been working at Coto Japanese Academy since February.  She is extremely friendly so please say Hi to her if you see her at Coto!  In this interview we will talk about how she helps the school and learn more about who she is! When did you start […]

How Can I Use Toriaezu in Japanese? 日本語こちら Typical Conversation between Japanese Friends The Positive & Negative Connotations To (と): Toriaezu (とりあえず) Beer! (Tori-Bee!) Have you ever been to an izakaya? It’s a kind of casual drinking establishment in Japan that also serves food. When you go to an izakaya with friends, you might all […]

A, who is a university student, told me this story the other day: “I had an interview with a company today. My university lecturer had told me to “go dressed tekitō (適当),” so I wore jeans and a T-shirt. But I noticed that the interviewer had a really shocked look on his/her face the moment […]

In this blog – Matsumoto Sensei teaches us the meaning behind one of Japan’s longest running advertising Campaigns.

What brought you to Japan originally? I first came to japan when I was transferred with work in 1997 – My first time to Japan I lived here for three and a half years – where I met my wife.  After that I moved back to New York and lived there for 13 years.  My […]

What brought you to study Japanese in Japan? I am half-japanese and grew up in America.  I recently moved back to Japan to reconnect with my Japanese roots – I will be attending Waseda University to study literature in January and I have 9 months to improve my Japanese and enjoy living life in Japan. […]

With a history of almost 1300 years in Japan, we explore the origins of Children’s Day, its connections to China, and some of its most revered traditions.

Celebrated annually on 4th May, this relatively young is linked to one of Japan’s youngest colours.

On 3rd May 1947 the Constitution of Japan, also known as the “Peace Constitution” was signed, and this date has been a national holiday ever since.