The Nihongo Master Blog

Learn interesting topics about Japanese language, entertainment, culture and more.

• A Beginner's Guide to Japanese: How to Say Zero in Japanese

  Imagine learning Japanese for months and getting a good handle on the language. However, you start to realize that you don't know the word for zero in Japanese. Luckily, it's never too late to learn how to say the number, and you even have...

  Read More
• The Most Common Japanese Counters

  Counters in Japanese describe the amount of something. There are different counters for everything, including objects, living beings, and even concepts. In fact, there are hundreds of counters in Japanese. Many of them are uncommon, but the...

  Read More
• How Do the Japanese Celebrate New Year's?

  New Year’s is Japan's biggest holiday. Celebrations officially occur from January 1st to 3rd, but festivities run all the way to mid-January. Japanese New Year originally did not have a set date since it followed the Lunar calendar. Because...

  Read More
• The Ultimate Guide to Telling Time in Japanese

  Before learning to tell time in Japanese, it is good to have your Japanese numbers memorized. Number Kanji Romaji 1 一(いち) Ichi 2 ニ(に) Ni 3 三(さん) San 4 四(よん) Yon 5 五(ご) Go 6 六(ろく) Roku 7 七(しち or なな) Sh...

  Read More
• Traveling to Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Dining, Sights and Culture

  "People judge things by their own experience, not knowing the wide world outside." -Japanese Proverb. Do you feel your view of the "wide world outside" may be narrow? What better way to expand your perspective and enhanc...

  Read More
• Introduction to Hiragana Vowels

  You have now started your journey in learning the wonderful language of Japanese! In this lesson, you'll see the different writing systems of Japanese, including Hiragana. You will even learn the first few characters and even some new words!

  Read More
• Hello and Goodbye in the Japanese Language

  Saying Hello and Goodbye in Japanese- Casual Greetings How to say "hello" in Japanese? It's all about social appropriateness. You have to be aware of whom you're speaking to and converse accordingly. In the case of greetings and f...

  Read More
• How Long Does It Take to Learn to Understand Japanese?

  Learning a new language requires commitment. It requires mental focus as well as time. However, becoming fluent in Japanese is not as difficult as some make it seem. Nearly 125.6 million people speak Japanese as their native tongue. A numbe...

  Read More
• The Complete Guide to Writing Dates in Japanese

  Writing dates in Japanese is surprisingly easy! While there is a lot of memorization involved in being able to write the date, once you know your numbers and counters, it is a simple task to put everything together. The date in Japanese is...

  Read More
• Is Japanese Hard to Learn?

  The Foreign Service Institute published a map of the world indicating which are the hardest languages for English speakers to learn. Guess which language was listed as a "Category V" or "exceptionally difficult for native Eng...

  Read More