Learn about the word Senpai and its meaning in Japanese and English in this latest A-I-U-E-O Learning Blog.

There are four basic Japanese greetings, or aisatsu (挨拶), that can be used at different times of the day. If you’re starting to learn Japanese, this will be the first thing you’re introduced to. After all, you don’t want to accidentally claim “Good morning” in the middle of the night or say “Have a good […]

About this week’s Author: Mr. Matsumoto, was a junior high school Japanese teacher for 23 years before joining Coto Language Academy. Therefore, he is a Japanese language pro. He currently teaches Coto’s Intensive Courses (intermediate and advanced), Business Courses and the Part Time N1 grammar and reading classes. He is also involved in developing teaching materials at Coto.

Japanese Rock Paper Scissors In Japan, “rock paper scissors” is referred to as “じゃんけん”(Janken).Although it is called different names in different places, the rules of the game are the generally same in every country.In Japan – Rock, Paper, Scissors – or Janken is used to settle disagreements, select participants, and determine the order in which […]

There are many ways to say ‘I’ or ‘me’ in Japanese, depending on social status, gender, and situation. Usually, the Japanese learning textbook only shows the usage of Watashi (私). It doesn’t show you how to change the first-person pronoun due to different situations in daily life. This blog will show you 10 common ways […]

They might have the same meaning, but sou そう, mitai みたい, rashii らしい and ppoiっぽい have different nuances and distinctions.  

Due to its somewhat controversial origins, National Foundation was abolished following the post-war constitution, but it subsequently bounced back 20 years later. We wonder, does it still hold the same meaning?

Coto Japanese Academy is proud to announce that our students achieved a high overall pass rate of 72.7% for their JLPT 2021.

We have a new Youtube companion blog for you!  In the above video, Kanbara-sensei introduces us to JLPT N3 grammar point: と言うより.  You can use this expression in conversation when you want to say “rather than…” such as to clarify a talking point. First watch the video above, and then review the content with this […]

Have you ever heard this phrase in a Japanese sentence before, but didn’t know what it meant: 何々っぱなし〜?   Maybe you were able to catch the general meaning or implication, but you weren’t sure what 〜っぱなし(ppanashi) means?  っぱなし is a JLPT N3 level Grammar point, and this article will be giving a run down of it’s […]