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Why is the Japanese government considering adding kanji such as “cancer” to the jinmeiyō kanji? I do not think that the government is trying to add these kanji to the set of jinmeiyō kanji. I think that some people are confused by the unclear description in Wikipedia. At least I was confused at first. So probably it is useful to clarify it. Article ...

I believe most Japanese think of Christmas as a secular, commercial holiday (gift giving, christmas decorations, etc) rather than a religious celebration of the birth of Christ, so I would think that most would not even think to be offended. It might be out of place to say at a religious (Shinto or Buddhist) shrine or celebration, but I would think this ...

What did these words mean? 才六, 贅六, 賽六 and 采六 are all the same word written in various kanji. There are several pronunciations: sairoku: most basic and original. zeiroku: Derives from above sairoku. This is how an easterner would pronounce the word. ai > eː is a common phonological change in eastern Japanese. Likely pronounced as zeːroku (zeeroku) ...

According to 大辞泉{だいじせん} the term came from 丁稚{でっち}, a term used particularly in the area around Kyōto for "shop boy"/apprentice (and also apparently sometimes used as a derogatory term itself). 小僧{こぞう} was the Edo equivalent of 丁稚. The suggested development is this: 丁稚 sounds like 重一, a term from sugoroku where both dice come up as ones. The opposite side ...