15 Hilariously Literal Japanese Words

There are a surprising number of Japanese words that are incredibly literal. The Japanese word “tebukuro” (手袋) is made up of the characters “Te” (Hand) and “Bukuro” (bag) = “hand bag”. It’s the Japanese word for “glove”! That makes sense, considering gloves technically are bags for your hands… Here are 15 other hilariously literal Japanese words that are used quite … Read More

How to Write Your Name in Japanese (Katakana)

If you’re learning Japanese, one of the first things you should learn is how to introduce yourself! And you can’t do that unless you know your name in Japanese, right? Here is how to write your name in Japanese!

4. Basic Hiragana Chart (Audio)

Each Japanese syllable is made up of either a single vowel: a,i,u,e and o or a combination of a consonant plus a vowel. The only exception is the n, m or ŋ sound which is represented by the character ん.

3. Japanese Alphabets

Japanese alphabet

There are three types of Japanese letters: Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. In this section, the history and the role of each Japanese script are introduced.