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Nadeshiko doesn't just mean the color "pink". It's the Japanese word for the flower called pink, or carnation. In the Western "language of flowers," the carnation implies boldness, i.e. courage, due t …

The root of this answer lies in the word "nation," which has several translations into Japanese. When you look up "nation" in a J-E dictionary, several words come up: 国家 (state), 国民 (citizen[s]), 民族 ( …

The official guidelines of the NHK suggest the term "so-called 'military comfort women'," いわゆる「従軍慰安婦」 as you said. This is not a firm rule, and a search of the NHK site turns up several recent article …

I just had this terrifying conversation: What is "triangle" in Japanese? me: 三角 right? Then what's 三角形? me: Uhh... triangle? I've confirmed both of these translate to "triangle". Apparently they ref …

I understand that 適当【てきとう】 can mean both "appropriate" and "whatever/vague". How do you know 適当な人を教えてください means "please inform me of the appropriate person" as opposed to "please tell me about whateve …

As I understand it お父さん is the usual way to refer to someone else's father in everyday speech. What about when you are writing a formal discussion (for an academic audience) of an interview you had w …

Although Shinmeikai and Daijiten have these as being exactly the same, Meikyō provides a narrow band of usage for 拡げる. [This answer was rewritten to reflect this.] 拡げる is used for "broaden" or "enlarg …

Indeed, what is truth? The answer to your question has two parts: one very simple, and another very difficult. Today, these three characters are used in slightly different contexts: 誠{まこと} is "sinc …

本日 is keigo. You will hear this on a train or airplane, or in a store. But you won't be saying it yourself, unless if you as a beginning student are put in the unlikely position of making an official …