Der Clou: Roll & Heist is a solo or cooperative print and play roll and write board game. That was a mouthful. All you need to play is to print out a few files, a pencil, and three six-sided dice. BoardGameGeek.com rates this game highly. It’s definitely worth a look, especially since it’s free! To…
Japanese: 流石は先生、図太いね。 Hiragana:さすがはせんせい、ずぶといね。 Romaji: sasuga wa sensei, zubutoi ne. Meaning: Bold, shameless, cheeky, brash. I did not know the term zubutoi before encountering it here. This term can be used to both praise and criticize. It refers to someone who is bold and self-confident in their actions, not caring too much about what others may…
Business cards in a Japanese context are important. Bring them. Receive them. Respect them. Going to do business with a Japanese person? Learn how to handle business cards and how to follow business card etiquette. Note, Japan is changing. Some companies are adopting Western business mannerisms, and Japanese who are overseas may take the “when…
The Nintendo Switch is region free, and many (not all) games, including the demo for Project Triangle Strategy, have the full Japanese text and audio available in the U.S. release of the game. This is an amazing resource for gamers who are learning Japanese. Here’s my latest grab! Japanese: どうした。顔が真っ青だぞ、ベネディクト。 Romaji: doushita. kao ga massao…
I finally made it to Sumiyoshi Taisha after years of visiting Osaka. It was never on my radar as it’s a bit out of the way from the city center, but now that I’ve been there I wish I had gone sooner. A friend of mine recently moved to the Sumiyoshi Taisha neighborhood, which was…
Japanese: 難攻不落 Hiragana: なんこうふらく Romaji: nankou furaku Literal Meaning: Difficult to attack, won’t fall. The entire sentence here is 今やあの要塞は難攻不落だ。 要塞 (ようさい) means fortress. 今や well, 今 (いま) means now. The extra particle や is for emphasis, and a smaller nuance that I won’t get into here. So here Claude is saying, “Now that fortress…
Not just any rice. Koshi Hikari! Koshi Hikari itself is known as one of the highest quality rice brands in Japan. Despite the unmistakable quality and brand recognition of the rice, I wouldn’t have guessed this beer was made with rice if it wasn’t on the label. It had a light smooth taste and was…
By default the Nintendo Switch eShop shares your data with Google Analytics. If you don’t want to feed your activity to “Big Data” you can change your settings with a few easy steps. On your Switch go to the eShop. Select your profile icon that is on the top right. In your profile section you’ll…
That’s right. Japanese jokes. Japanese jokes are pretty interesting. There is a whole category of them that is entirely based on word play. Dajyare are made mainly of words that can have multiple meanings when pronounced.. The jokes don’t always involve two ‘words’ that can have double meanings, they occasionally use the grammar in the…
The Nintendo Switch is region free, and many (not all) games, including Octopath Traveler, have the full Japanese text and audio available in the U.S. release of the game. No need to import from Japan! This is an amazing resource for gamers who are learning Japanese. Here’s my latest grab! Kanji: 損切り Hiragana: そんぎり Romaji:…
