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“Stab-kill for two deaths” and other fun Japanese baseball terms

• Master Blaster
  Jul 19, 2026
• Tweet

And it’s one, two, three strikes you’re dead at the old ball game!

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• Japan
• (baseball • Chuman Kanae • history • jargon • language • Masaoka Shiki • sports)

“Bear” voted Japan’s Kanji of the Year for 2025 in extremely close race

• Master Blaster
  Dec 12, 2025

It bear-ly beat out the second-place kanji.

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• Japan
• (bears • COK • Japanese language • kanji • kanji of the year • Kanji of the Year 2025 • Kiyomizu Temple • language • linguistics • Myaku-Myaku • society)

Hachiji juppun mae – A Japanese phrase that even Japanese people can’t agree on the meaning of

• Casey Baseel
  Jul 2, 2025

Survey results show big gap in how younger and older respondents interpreted this seemingly simple phrase.

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• Japan
• (COK • Japanese language • language • learning japanese • linguistics • society • weird)

Years of east-west Japan rivalry decided as McDonald’s officially refers to itself as “Makudo”

• Master Blaster
  Mar 13, 2025

I feel so vindicated.

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• Japan
• (culture • fast food • Hatsune Miku • Kansai • Kanto • language • Makku • Makudo • McDonald's • nicknames)

J-pop mega star Ado reveals she’s been living in the U.S., may not understand language acquisition

• Casey Baseel
  Dec 6, 2024

“Usseewa” singer and One Piece voice actress seems unclear on how long it takes to learn a foreign language.

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• Japan, USA
• (Ado • anime • COK • J-Pop • language • linguistics • manga • music • One Piece • singer)

Diving into the 2024 JC & JK Buzzword Award nominations for trendy Japanese slang and more

• Krista Rogers
  Dec 2, 2024

We take a closer look at some of the entries selected by Gen Z and Gen Alpha Japanese schoolgirls and suddenly feel very old.

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• Japan
• (2024 Buzzword Awards • high school • Instagram • JCJK • JK • junior high school • language • linguistics • slang • social media • teenagers • trends)

Australian sentenced to prison, judges unconvinced he said “Go to a door” not “This is a robbery”

• Master Blaster
  Oct 21, 2024

The “soramimi defense” fails to hold up in court.

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• Japan
• (assault • Australia • crime • English • Japanese • language • law • prison • robbery • Soramimi Hour • Tokyo • Tokyo District Court • trespassing)

New book teaches Japanese people English to help out foreign travelers

• Casey Baseel
  Mar 25, 2024

Publisher wants to help make it easier to help.

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• Japan
• (foreigners in Japan • language • linguistics • society • Teaching English in Japan • tourism • travel)

Kyoto’s “ikezu” culture of backhanded compliments explained in hilarious souvenir sticker series

• Oona McGee
  Nov 21, 2023

Behind the calm, polite face of a Kyotoite is an angry woman who wants to shout at you for being so uncultured.

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• Japan
• (COK • culture • funny • honne • ikezu • Japanese dialects • Japanese language • Kyoto • kyoto ben • Kyoto dialect • language • learn Japanese • LOL • manners • society • souvenirs • tatemae • tradition)

What does a kanji with 12 “kuchi” radicals mean? A look at weird, forgotten Japanese characters

• Dale Roll
  Jan 26, 2023

Three dragons and three clouds…A straight line…An upside-down “child”…What could they mean?

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• Japan
• (Japanese language • Japanese linguistics • kanji • language • linguistics)

Japan forced to call off first-ever unmanned Moon-landing attempt

• Master Blaster
  Nov 23, 2022

I swear, one of these days, OMOTENASHI… Bang, zoom, right to the Moon!

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• Japan
• (JAXA • language • moon • omotenashi • science • space exploration • technology)

Yahoo! Japan finds most alphabetic and katakana words Japanese people want to find out about

• Master Blaster
  Aug 24, 2022

GJ on YJ for TCOB.

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• Japan
• (COK • Japanese language • Katakana • language • linguistics • romaji • society • Yahoo Data Solution • Yahoo! Japan)

Japanese expat remembers the words that changed his life when he started working in Australia

• Casey Baseel
  Feb 27, 2022

Having never left Japan before, he was worried his English wasn’t good enough, but a coworker knew just what to say.

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• Australia, Japan
• (COK • foreigners in Japan • internationalism • language • learning japanese • linguistics • moving • society • touching)

Keeping up with the kids: Japanese high schoolers’ most popular slang of Spring 2022

• Dale Roll
  Feb 9, 2022

Would you be surprised if most of these trendy words came from social media?

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• Japan
• (buzzwords • Generation Z • Japanese language • language • ranking • slang • social media)

Sushi restaurant in Tokyo serves up a plate of “old guy” for only 200 yen

• Master Blaster
  Jan 27, 2022

Once you try “old guy,” you’ll never go back.

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• Japan
• (Conveyor belt sushi • fish • five-barred goatfish • food • language • Oedo • ojisan • sushi • Yuichiro Wasai)

Japanese netizens give their thoughts on how English has changed the meaning of “senpai”

• Scott Wilson
  Sep 12, 2021

The new usage has even made Japanese news.

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• Japan
• (english language • funny • Japanese language • language • linguistics • senpai)

Engrish sign at the Tokyo Olympics turns out to be hilariously accurate

• Oona McGee
  Aug 4, 2021

One of those times when an English mistake ends up expressing everyone’s true feelings.

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• Japan
• (2020 Tokyo Olympics • 2021 Tokyo Olympics • coffee • cute • English • English fail • english language • Engrish • funny • Japanese English • journalists • language • mass media • media • press • Tokyo Olympics • twitter)

English conversation school in Japan has clever reminder that students don’t have to be perfect

• Casey Baseel
  Apr 23, 2021

But is there such a thing as too much confidence?

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• Japan
• (ads • clever • COK • eikaiwa • Japanese language • language • linguistics • teaching English • Teaching English in Japan)

Japanese students despair over the many, MANY ways you can describe a dead flower

• Katy Kelly
  Mar 20, 2021

Would a rose by any other name be as dead?

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• Japan
• (Artur • flowers • interesting • Japanese language • language • learning japanese • twitter • vocabulary • YouTubers)

AI translation company Rozetta bans staff from speaking a foreign language at work

• Dale Roll
  Mar 4, 2021

The company’s AI machine translation programs eliminate the need for anyone to speak a language other than their own, they say. 

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• Japan
• (AI • business • language • machine translation • office culture • Rozetta • technology • translation)

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• Recent Posts

  • New Era celebrates three decades of Pokémon with new 30th anniversary cap line [Photos]
  • Two Tokyo neighborhoods to gather on bridge and shift their recognized border through tug-of-war
  • Hello Kitty ready to keep you company in the bathroom with new dessert-aroma Sanrio toilet paper
  • Cinnabon gets into the Japanese spirit with new Wagokorobon treats
  • Japan’s new matcha vending machines serve freshly prepared matcha in five different strengths

• MOST POPULAR

  • Today
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  • Yearly

  Today

  1. Two Tokyo neighborhoods to gather on bridge and shift their recognized border through tug-of-war
  2. Starbucks Japan unveils new winter drinkware collection with limited-edition Stanley cups
  3. Hello Kitty ready to keep you company in the bathroom with new dessert-aroma Sanrio toilet paper
  4. Japan’s new matcha vending machines serve freshly prepared matcha in five different strengths
  5. Pachinko parlor operator arrested for not obscuring the act of gambling well enough
  6. New Era celebrates three decades of Pokémon with new 30th anniversary cap line [Photos]
  7. Cinnabon gets into the Japanese spirit with new Wagokorobon treats
  8. Restaurant opens in Japan with all-dementia waitresses, serves up ramen, awareness, and kindness
  9. Pokémon doughnuts pop up at Mister Donut, with a new gathering that’s bigger than ever
  10. Get the taste of the U.K. in Tokyo with 99 Flakes, meat pies, and Jaffa Cakes

  Weekly

  1. Japan ends tax-free shopping system for foreign tourists, new refund request system now in effect
  2. Beautiful Ghibli diorama kits lets you build anime characters’ homes inside yours [Photos]
  3. Japan’s TeamLab digital art group is opening a permanent museum in America
  4. Pachinko parlor operator arrested for not obscuring the act of gambling well enough
  5. Starbucks Japan unveils new winter drinkware collection with limited-edition Stanley cups
  6. Liquid croissant coffee is coming to Japanese stores this month
  7. Pokémon doughnuts pop up at Mister Donut, with a new gathering that’s bigger than ever
  8. Starbucks Japan releases now Tokyo Reserve Roastery Christmas drinkware collection [Photos]
  9. First-ever cafe on Tokyo Imperial Palace Garden grounds is now open
  10. Family Mart releases 47 convenience store socks and stickers, one for every prefecture in Japan

  Monthly

  1. Pokémon Company announces first-ever permanent Pokémon store to open outside Asia
  2. Japan ends tax-free shopping system for foreign tourists, new refund request system now in effect
  3. Family Mart releases 47 convenience store socks and stickers, one for every prefecture in Japan
  4. Japan’s TeamLab digital art group is opening a permanent museum in America
  5. What’s it like to stay in a Japanese container hotel?
  6. Beautiful Ghibli diorama kits lets you build anime characters’ homes inside yours [Photos]
  7. Chainsaw robots helping keep trains running safely in east Japan [Video]
  8. New Studio Ghibli anime gets extended run at the only cinema in Japan where it’s being shown
  9. Osaka’s famous Glico Running Man will be removed and replaced with a new-look sign
  10. Studio Ghibli creates illustrated Kyoto sightseeing map, available at any 7-Eleven Japan store

  Yearly

  1. Japan announces sudden 400-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country
  2. Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
  3. Studio Ghibli has a new anime out, and there’s only one place in the world where you can see it
  4. Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
  5. Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
  6. Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
  7. Tokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards
  8. Japanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroad
  9. Salomon releases Japan-exclusive Mt. Fuji hiking gear that doubles as an amazing souvenir
  10. Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa

• RECOMMENDED STORIES

  • New Era celebrates three decades of Pokémon with new 30th anniversary cap line [Photos]
  • Cinnabon gets into the Japanese spirit with new Wagokorobon treats
  • Restaurant opens in Japan with all-dementia waitresses, serves up ramen, awareness, and kindness
  • Pokémon doughnuts pop up at Mister Donut, with a new gathering that’s bigger than ever
  • Get the taste of the U.K. in Tokyo with 99 Flakes, meat pies, and Jaffa Cakes
  • Family Mart releases 47 convenience store socks and stickers, one for every prefecture in Japan
  • Japan ends tax-free shopping system for foreign tourists, new refund request system now in effect
  • Discount retailers known for massive bargains releases massive Japanese egg sandwich
  • Continuing cyberattacks hit Japanese arcade hard [Photos]
  • Liquid croissant coffee is coming to Japanese stores this month
  • Osaka’s famous Glico Running Man will be removed and replaced with a new-look sign
  • Japan’s free stock image site of muscular men doing whimsical and mundane things reveals rankings
  • Japanese government hires leading comedy agency to explain national defense spending
  • Virtual idol Hatsune Miku redesigned with look that adds new elements and brings back old ones

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