Learn Japanese Online - JOI Teachers blog

Learn Japanese vocabulary, Kanji and phrases with this free blog with a YouTube video for audio learning, vocabulary lists and English Translation !
Every week, a professional Japanese teacher posts a new blog .

Previous blog archives from 2006 - mid-February 2014.

↓Click icon below for categories of this blog from late February 2014 to present.

  • Categories
    Categories Displays a list of categories from this blog.

Japanese culture

Learn about Japanese culture from this Japanese language blog by the JOI's professional Japanese teachers.


Japanese sweets There are many kinds of sweets to be found in Japan. From the traditional Wagashi which use local and unique ingredients, to sweets that were imported to Japan at various points of the Japanese history. In this interesting blog about interesting sweets, Kaori Ishibashi, a Japanese teacher at JOI, introduces one type of sweets that sounds fun to make and delicious to eat. Ishibas...
Last modified on Continue reading

Japanese pottery Japanese pottery and porcelain are one of the oldest crafts and art forms in Japan. There are many kilns and famous districts for pottery which are distinguished by the differences in local clay and traditional techniques. Since ceramics are held in high esteem due to their connection to the tea ceremony, the artistic traditions are well-funded and popular even among modern Japa...
Last modified on Continue reading

Temples in Japan There are many temples and shrines in Japan. Temples are part of the Buddhist religion and Shrines are part of the Shinto religion. Some of these places of worship are very famous and have a lot of daily visitors for sight-seeing and praying. But others are less well-known but often have some interesting back story as to their origin or specialize in one aspect of life (like chi...
Last modified on Continue reading

Japan's Working Style Reform' initiative Japan has had a long tradition of lifetime employment policies and time-based wages. But with the Abe government's initiative to reform the work-life balance of the labour force, there have been some changes in the market. In this blog for Japanese learners, Japanese teacher Ayako Suzuki talks about how these reforms could affect how people take their new...
Last modified on Continue reading

Japanese gardens When people talk about Japanese gardens, they usually refer to the beautiful and artistic traditional gardens that can be found in every prefecture across the country. But one of the things that are also interesting to look at the gardens that belong to individual Japanese families. Many Japanese houses feature small but immaculately kept gardens that can be a wonder to look at. ...
Last modified on Continue reading