Tag Archives: history

On Getting Rid of Japanese in Japan

Posted on September 25, 2013 by E.

Kanji is hard. The hieroglyphic written script (just one of three) used in Japanese has a weird history, borrowed and bastardized from the Chinese. And it takes years, even for the Japanese, to learn. For foreigners used to Roman scripts, … Continue reading →

Posted in Kanji, language | Tagged history, japanese, kanji, languages | 7 Comments

On Using a Japanese Toilet

Posted on June 29, 2011 by E.

I still don’t know what “standby mode” means for a toilet.

Posted in Culture Shock, Tradition, Uncategorized, Weird | Tagged bathroom, high brow discourse, history, japanese, squat toilets, western toilets in japan | 10 Comments