On this episode of Japan Station, I dig into the world of dead Japanese Bubble Era slang. Specifically, I talk about the term hanakin (花金). Also I talk about the days of the week during World War II in Japan. 👉Topics Discussed What is hanakin What hanakin means About the kanji used to write hanakin How I learned the days of the week in Japanese …

On this episode of Japan Station, we’re talking about 4 more words in Japanese. What’s a mora? And why are there so many four mora words in Japanese? We talk about all taht and more! 👉Topics Discussed What is a mora? What’s the difference between a mora and a syllable The possible origins of nikujaga How Japanese love to shorten …

On this episode of Ichimon Japan we ask: What is wasei eigo? (Funny “Japanese” English) Topics Discussed What wasei eigo is About English sounding words made in Japan tenshon ga takai pākā How SNS is not English arubaito nōtopasokon buraindotacchi misu misesu rippukurīmu hocchikisu OL sararīman (salaryman) shīchikin interi haiso furonto hōmu chakku majikkutēpu majikku majikkumirā Gpan jampāsukāto wagomu atakku …

On this episode of Japan Station, we’re talking about Japanese idioms involving the color red (赤, aka, seki). For example, have you ever wondered why lies are red in Japanese? Listen to find out! 👉Topics Discussed Japanese idioms involving the color red Why 真っ赤なウソ/makka na uso means a “complete lie” and what the color red has to do with lies …

On this episode of Japan Station, we’re talking about the history of font design in Japan, the history of the Nintendo font and how Daniel Kaihatsu became a type face designer in Japan. 👉Topics Discussed Why Daniel Kaihatsu became interested in learning Japanese How Daniel Kaihatsu became interested in Japanese font design About doing research for videos in Japanese language …

On this episode of Japan Station, we’re talking about the difference between the Japanese word kaze (cold, 風邪) and kaze (wind, 風). Why do they share the same pronunciation? Are they related? Or is this all just a big coincidence? Listen to find out! 👉Topics Discussed About visiting Japan for the first time What the difference between kaze (風邪) and kaze (風) is The history …

On this episode of Japan Station, I break down what the Japanese term “plus alpha” (purasu arufa/プラスアルファ) means and its possible origins. 👉Topics Discussed What does “plus alpha” (purasu arufa/プラスアルファ) mean? How you use the Japanese term purasu arufa プラスアルファ The most popular etymology of the term of purasu arufa Real world examples of purasu arufa in use About what …

King Kai and puns, that’s what we’re talking about on this edition of Dragon Ball Dictionary! In this video I explain the meaning of King Kai’s Japanese name (kaiō-sama). I also do an in-depth explanation of all the jokes that come up in the scene where Goku meets King Kai. Get ready to laugh… well actually, you probably won’t laugh… …

“I HATE Goku’s Japanese voice!” This is a sentiment shared by some people in the English speaking Dragon Ball fandom. Sadly, many of the people who feel that way about Goku’s original voice have a lack of understanding about 1) Why Goku sounds the way he does 2) Why Goku is voiced by a woman 3) Why Goku has one …

On this episode of Japan Station, we talk about the Japanese word funiki (雰囲気) and other words that aren’t read the way they are written. 👉Topics Discussed About the Japanese word funiki (雰囲気) What the correct way to read/pronounce funiki is Whether you should read funiki as fun’iki （ふんいき) or fuinki (ふいんき) Why so many people pronounce funiki incorrectly About words like manin (満員) and zenin (全員) and why people often pronounce them incorrectly/differently from …

Did the English dubs of Dragon Ball Z do more harm than good to the English speaking Dragon Ball fandom? In today’s video I talk about the negative and positive impacts of the English dubs of Dragon Ball Z. Yes, both the Saban Ocean dub and the Funimation redub are problematic but theee’s also a good side to these dubs! …

Did you know the English dubs of Dragon Ball Z completely changed the set up to Goku and Vegeta’s first fight? In doing so, they turned what is one of the franchise’s best and most thematically important fights into a generic clash between two forgettable characters. In this video I break down the exchange Goku and Vegeta have before they …