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Pink Tenacle reports that publishing company Jiyu Kokuminsha has released its annual list of the 60 most popular Japanese catchwords and phrases of the year. This diverse collection of expressions highlights many of the events, trends and people that caught the attention of the Japanese mass media in 2008.
From this list, a panel [...]

 

A very interesting post on the fate of the Japanese language!
[1] The Fall of the Japanese Language in the Age of English [ja], the latest book by Japanese novelist and essayist [2] Minae Mizumura [????] [en], roused debate among many Japanese bloggers recently over the fate of their national language. In this essay, the writer, who had the opportunity [...]

When President-elect Barack Obama and his family take up residence in the White House it means that he will move into every household in America. He will not be just some Black dude that moved in down the street in a predominately White neighborhood and his family will not become the new Cosby Show. The [...]

It’s that time again! Those planning on taking the JLPT test or interesting in improving your Japanese should check out PlaySay. Click on the BT PlaySay link to test it out! PlaySay can be downloaded to ANY MP3 device. The picture above and below show PlaySay on an iPod. (Pix credit to Japan Newbie)

PlaySay is [...]

Japan Newbie, Harvey,  posted a great language resource (credit goes out to The Japan Shop for the link) called “Yuki no Monogatari” that is is available online for free at TheJapanesePage.com.
Harvey reports that Yuki no Monogatari is a story, accompanied by a video that displays the Japanese and English translation at the same time. Good [...]

 

Some of the older heads here at BT have previously shared their various encounters and experiences on “riding the train in Japan” on the BT Forum. Here is an interesting post by Loco in Yokohama:
“Imagination without action is dreaming. But, my imagination is my life and sanity preserver. Without it, I’d drown for sure. For [...]

Japanese universities look abroad in hopes of upping their sagging enrollments

Rie Yoshinaga had a wide range of colleges to choose from.

Globalization: Of the 6,000 students at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Kyushu, nearly half come from abroad, as does the faculty. Classes are taught both in English and Japanese. TOMOKO OTAKE PHOTOS

 

Having studied at a high [...]