Winter (冬) Photo Contest 2016! Coto Japanese Academy’s Winter Photo Contest is BACK! All you have to do to take part is to post a picture of your experience during Winter in Japan and you stand a chance to win up to 10,000yen worth of exciting prizes!   Contest details Theme: Winter in Japan 2016 Contest […]

Did you know that in Japan, not so long after the New Year’s celebrations, Japanese people celebrate the festival of the Little New Year? Historically, the “koshougatsu” took place around mid-February, celebrating the first full moon of the year, but nowadays the festival takes place on the 15th of January. The rites and customs are celebrated […]

Who doesn’t like to learn more about slangs? We believe that when you are learning a foreign language, studying slang is a nice and fun way to widen your vocabulary. Not only will you speak more fluently but you will sound more like a native speaker. Bibiru is a funny word to pronounce, and an interesting point […]

You can learn a lot about Japan just by looking at its calendar. Full of surprises and very interesting facts, the Japanese calendar is a door to the traditions and culture of Japan. For example, did you know that the 7th of January is called “nanakusa no sekku”? Written “七草の節句”, nanakusa no sekku means the […]

Did you know that until the Meiji era, the Japanese New Year calendar was similar to the Chinese calendar? It was only until 1873 that the Japanese New Year changed for the Gregorian calendar, however, all the traditional customs were maintained.  January is a great time to discover Japan! The Japanese New Year culture is also great occasion […]

Learn more about Japanese tradition and culture and discover the wonders of the New Year traditional dishes called “osechi ryouri” (おせち料理).

This is an older post – to see our upcoming monthly events – click here Monthly Events at Coto We are going to be holding some really fun events this January, take a look below! Go for Lunch!　Kagurazaka area Thursday, January 7th 12:30-13:50 in Kagurazaka Let’s go for lunch together and explore the Iidabashi-Kagurazaka district! We […]

How has everyone’s 2015 been? Continuing the tradition from last year, our 2015 year-end party was held at Salt and Soil organic restaurant, only a two minute walk from the school. Over 60 students and teachers had a fun-filled night eating an interesting selection of food and enjoying the nomihodai (all you can drink). We […]

December and January are the busiest times for the Japanese post offices and it all come to one reason: the tradition of New Year‘s postcards (nengajo). And yes, it’s probably the biggest item on the calendar of annual events! New Year wishes postcard: 年賀状 年賀状 is composed of year 年,  congratulations 賀 and 状, meaning circumstances. With the […]

When leaving the office for your well-deserved winter holidays, don’t forget to wish your Japanese colleagues a Happy New Year with the correct expression! You may have learned the phrase 明けましておめでとうございます which translates Happy New Year. However, you can only use this greetings from first of January! If you have the unfortunate idea to greet your […]