TCJ Blog

Explore the three different types of characters in Japanese: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. This article explains why these three writing systems exist, how they are used differently, and how they function together. How many kanji exist, and how many are commonly used in daily life by Japanese people? As a foreign learner, how many kanji should you know? Is it true that each kanji has two different types of readings? This article answers all your questions about the Japanese writing system.

In the process of learning Japanese, learners often encounter kanji that appear familiar but are read differently, or seem to carry an entirely different meaning. In Japanese, a single kanji—or a combination of kanji—can have multiple readings and meanings. A change in reading alone may shift the reference from a concrete object to an abstract evaluation, or from a general concept to a specific description of a state or condition. In this article, we focus on four commonly confusing words—銀杏, 上手, 人気, and 流石—which learners often struggle with despite encountering them frequently in daily life. We will examine their different readings and meanings, the contexts in which each is used, and how native Japanese speakers determine the appropriate reading.

There are some words that Japanese people often use but the nuance is subtle and it is hard to use. However, if you can use them well, your friends and Japanese people will be surprised. This time, we will show you seven phrases and explain them with example sentences.

Many learners find Japanese pronunciation relatively easy, as the language does not rely on a stress accent like English or tonal distinctions like Chinese or Thai. However, Japanese has a unique feature known as pitch accent, in which words with the same pronunciation can carry different meanings depending on their accent pattern. This is a crucial element for conveying meaning accurately and being clearly understood by listeners. In this article, we explore the basics of Japanese pitch accent and key points to be aware of, along with examples of homophones, in an accessible and easy-to-understand way.

Kanji is hard but it is interesting if you come to know it little by little. More Kanji you memorize, the more vocabulary you can use. And more Japanese phrases you can read. Moreover, even if you find words you do not know, you will be able to understand its meaning from the kanji used in that word.