When I moved to Tokyo in 2009, learning Japanese was an entirely different experience than what we know today. Electronic dictionaries were more common than smartphone apps. Digital flashcards had yet to go mainstream, so tangible ones, homemade or prepackaged, were the primary way to learn kanji characters. Before the prevalence of handwriting recognition and optical character recognition (OCR), looking…

My mind is perhaps more colorful than yours–and I mean that in an objective sense. I have synesthesia, a condition in which one sense is stimulated automatically with another. These can come in all sorts of interesting jumbles: for me, I see color in the back of my mind with words and music, but I have met another synesthete who…

Long-time Kokoro Media readers know that I like to apply various frameworks to the process of studying Japanese. I especially enjoy importing concepts from the business world to do this, and in this article, I’ll explain how you can apply the SWOT framework to your Japanese studies. Read on to learn what a SWOT analysis is, the purpose of doing…

The traditional inn—the ryokan—is where Japan’s rich history intersects with the unparalleled hospitality and customer service that the country is known for. Steeped in tradition, it’s hard to imagine what it would be like to work at a ryokan as a foreign resident of Japan. Thankfully, Gary Luscombe, who works at Amami Onsen Nanten-en, has been sharing that very experience…

Japanese dog breeds such as Akita or Shiba have gained popularity beyond the frontiers of Japan. But did you know some Japanese dog breeds are classified as “Natural Monuments of Japan?” This article was kindly provided to Kokoro Media by our partner the German-Japanese Association in Munich (Deutsch-Japanische Gesellschaft (DJG) München), and was originally published in the association’s newsletter, Kaiho July/August 2021. Written…

We’ve all made mistakes, whether they be related to culture, business, or relationships, during our time abroad. In this edition of Kokoro Media Unfiltered, the editorial team got together for a free-flowing chat about the most memorable mistakes we’ve made related to life in Japan. We hope our stories of social, professional, and cultural adjustment in Japan will help you…

Inami is a town of 8,000 inhabitants located in Toyama Prefecture. With more than a hundred sculptors’ workshops, it is said to be the number one city for sculptors in Japan. After moving there in 2016, architect Tomotsugu Yamakawa decided to turn part of his recently refurbished house into an accommodation for visitors to use as a base point to…

Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, was a paragon of productivity. According to the Eisenhower Presidential Library, his two terms in office (1953 to 1961) were filled with accomplishments that shaped the U.S. and the world. Highlights include signing the 1957 Civil Rights Act, authorizing the development of the Interstate Highway System, signing the bill that…

Digital flashcard applications are a popular and effective way to study Japanese kanji and vocabulary. However, not all flashcard applications are created equal. Reviewing flashcards in a random or sequential order is not the most effective way to learn. You need an application that can leverage the power of spaced repetition to quiz you on the right content at the…

Some time ago, one of our readers, Luisa, kindly messaged me to introduce me to the movie “Gochiso Chaji – A Film About Japanese Tea.” She had just watched the movie at a preview with the Global Japanese Tea Association and, like the rest of the audience, was “amazed at how it really delivers the true picture of Japanese tea.”…