28
votes
Accepted
Why are police boxes labeled Koban (in roman letters) in Japan?
The answer is right on the 警視庁 (metropolitan police department)'s website.
Basically it says that it is common to use foreign words as-is if there is no similar cultural counterpart, using sumo and ...
- 3,118
23
votes
No word for "time" until 1871?
I think the word [時間]{じかん} was created in the Meiji era, but the word [時]{とき} is older. So it's definitely wrong that "the Japanese didn't have any interest in clocks (until 1871)".
I searched in an ...
- 5,388
20
votes
Accepted
No word for "time" until 1871?
Addendum
The word 時{とき} is probably the oldest native Japanese word for "time". This term appears in the 万葉集{まんようしゅう} written in Old Japanese and compiled from poems composed from the 300s through ...
- 38.6k
19
votes
How do attendance checklists in Japan deal with multiple possible name readings?
It's like this:
Teacher: 「野田{のだ} 努{つとむ}さん。」
野田: 「はい。」
T: 「いわい 隆{たかし}さんですかね？しゅくさんですか？」(the surname reads 祝)
祝: 「はふりです。」
T: 「はふりって読むんですか。珍しい名前ですね。はふり たかしさん。」
祝: 「はい。」
This conversation has ...
- 774
17
votes
Accepted
What are the stereotypical qualities of a gaijin trying to speak/write Japanese to a Japanese person?
I'm not sure if this is within the scope of your question, but the following is about highly stereotyped traits of "gaijin-speech" found in manga and net forums. They are explained in pages like this, ...
- 337k
15
votes
Accepted
Why is ostracism called 村八分【むらはちぶ】?
During the Edo period, villages traditionally had 10 communal activities:
冠 - 成人式 - coming of age ceremony
婚 - marriage
建築 - helping with building/repairing
病気 - helping when sick
水害 - ...
- 8,544
14
votes
Accepted
Why are Japanese fonts different to Chinese?
I assume you're specifically talking about kanji/hanzi glyphs. (Hiragana are obviously more cursive.) Basically the overall appearances of typical Chinese hanzi and Japanese kanji fonts are not ...
- 337k
14
votes
Did the Japanese have a concept of "Asia" apart from the Eurocentric definition?
Short Answer:
As for the Japanese language, we didn't have such a word and I don't think we should have had. Ancient Japanese only knew as far as India, that means they only knew one "landmass" in ...
- 52.7k
14
votes
Accepted
In what unit is the length of Japanese texts measured?
The length of a text written in Japanese is usually measured in characters (e.g. 400文字).
One often writes handwritten assignments at school/university on 原稿用紙 genkō yōshi (lit. "manuscript paper&...
- 48.4k
13
votes
Accepted
How do you say "hello" properly in Kyoto?
Perhaps you have to give up on the idea that "there should be a perfect equivalent of hello in Japanese (or in Kyoto)". Different languages have different sets of greetings. Some common phrases like ...
- 337k
13
votes
回｛まわ｝り as a counter for 12 years?
It is a measurement of time based on the zodiac cycle. There are 12 zodiacs and each year the zodiac changes to the next. Every 12 years the zodiac repeats; two people have the same zodiac sign if ...
- 131
12
votes
Accepted
What does it say on my Japanese alarm clock?
I think this is all you need.
午前 AM ・ 午後 PM
日 SUN ・ 月 MON ・ 火 TUE ・ 水 WED ・ 木 THU ・ 金 FRI ・ 土 SAT
先勝 senshō ・ 友引 tomobiki/yūin ・ 先負 senbu ・ 仏滅 butsumetsu ・ 大安 taian/daian ・ 赤口 shakkō ¹
モニター display
...
- 48.4k
12
votes
How do attendance checklists in Japan deal with multiple possible name readings?
Well I don't know about school per se, but every form I've seen so far (Foreign registration, tax, social security, subscription to various utilities...) asks you to not only write your name, but ...
- 2,736
12
votes
What does rubbing a finger under one's nose mean?
This gesture, typically seen in fiction such as anime, manga, rather old films or dramas, and typically done by young boys, indicates one's pride, confidence, and/or embarrassment.
In Japanese ...
- 66.4k
11
votes
Accepted
What does 次行ってみよう mean?
次{つぎ}行{い}ってみよう is a famous phrase used by a Japanese comedian いかりや長{ちょう}介{すけ}. IIRC this phrase caught on in the late 1970's. He used this catchphrase frequently in his TV comedy show, at the end of ...
- 337k
11
votes
A formal/informal way to say I don't want anything
If the scenario were saying "I don't want anything" in response to someone offering you something (food, drink, etc.), you could also use
（私は）[結構]{けっ・こう}です。 → I'm fine/all right.
- 44.8k
10
votes
Accepted
What are the general patterns of child-directed speech in Japanese?
This question is quite broad, but of course child-directed speech also exists in Japanese.
You probably know ～さん → ～ちゃん is said to be both children's speech as well as child-directed speech, but it ...
- 48.4k
10
votes
Accepted
How do attendance checklists in Japan deal with multiple possible name readings?
First, even native Japanese adults can correctly guess the reading of the kanji names of, say, only 90% of students, at most. Quite a few people have names (either first names or surnames) with really ...
- 337k
10
votes
Accepted
What should I say when a senior colleague is leaving before me?
According to デジタル大辞泉, the Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁) conducted a study on this topic and found that 69.2% of people used お疲れ様 to someone of a higher rank vs. 15.1% for ご苦労様. To someone of a ...
- 8,113
9
votes
Accepted
Why are most Japanese newspapers, magazines and books read from back to front?
Japanese can be written in two directions.
in columns
each column is written from top to bottom
columns are arranged from right to left
in rows [as in English]
each row is written from left to ...
- 48.4k
9
votes
Accepted
What is the Japanese meaning of the name "Kakka"?
"Kakka" is far from popular; it's virtually nonexistent as a Japanese person name.
But there is a word 閣下 ("kakka"), which is a word used to address heads of government/state. It's like English "Your ...
- 337k
9
votes
Why are Japanese fonts different to Chinese?
I basically agree with @naruto's answer - the main reason is that if a Japanese designer chose a relatively unique Japanese font for design aesthetics, it is normally a challenge to get a matching ...
- 9,175
9
votes
Accepted
Is there a story behind drawing a face with の as eyes, も as a nose and へ as a mouth?
It sounds like you are referring to Henohenomoheji (へのへのもへじ). It is sometimes used on Japanese scarecrows (かかし) and teru teru bōzu (てるてる坊主) dolls. The name refers to the Hiragana characters used to ...
- 911
9
votes
Accepted
Meaning of もったいないお化けがでる
If you don't finish your plate, then the leftover food will come to life and this you call もったいないお化け.
Apparently, this concept originates in this TV spot and as far as I can tell is also nowadays a ...
- 48.4k
9
votes
Stubbornly gender-neutral way to address or refer to your older sibling? (Wait a minute...what about non-binary?)
First of all, nearly all Japanese sentences are naturally gender-agnostic, so you never have to be "stubbornly gender-neutral" when speaking Japanese. In English, it is very challenging to ...
- 337k
8
votes
Accepted
How do Japanese people mark checklists?
When Japanese people have to distinguish yes, no, partial and N/A, they mainly use the symbols ○, ×, △ and －, respectively.
See: What do the shapes △ ◯ ╳ ◻ mean in Japanese? And are there variations ...
- 337k
8
votes
Accepted
Is there a word to express "the rain of sakura petals"?
Yes, but we take it as snow rather than rain.
桜吹雪【さくらふぶき】
桜の花びらが風に乱れ散るようすを吹雪にたとえていう語。
a word describing cherry petals whirling down in the wind by analogy with snowstorm
- 52.7k
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