Foreign words undergo transformation in various ways when they enter another language. The following are some of the technical terms that linguists use to describe such changes. All languages have ...

In that most dingy of Japanese official buildings called the Gaimusho, a flimsy affair of wood and beaverboard, whose shabbiness is accentuated by the grandiose Navy Office across the way, Japan’s new ...

As a native Japanese speaker, I get annoyed when I come across English articles that tout Japanese buzzwords like ikigai. They’re not commonly used in our day-to-day conversations. Ikigai is more like ...

It’s the language that gave us the world’s first novel, birthed commonplace words from tycoon to emoji and produced three winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Why, then, is the Japanese Word of ...

Emoji, karaoke, futon, ramen: Words we wouldn't have if it weren't for the Japanese language. The complex language that incorporates elements of Chinese, English, German and Portuguese is on full ...

Reporting from Tokyo — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will deliver a speech Saturday on the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender to U.S. forces in World War II. The text will be closely ...

Marie Kondo reflects on some elements of Japanese culture—kintsugi, umami, the kyureki calendar—that have informed both her ...

Ah, Japan! On a regular basis, I get emails from readers wanting to know about where they should go on their trip to Japan. Where should I stay? What should I eat? Questions like that. For a moment, ...

Returning from a talk in Washington with Undersecretary of State Phillips last week, smiling Ambassador Katsuji Debuchi received U. S. reporters and announced: “Japan regards the Great Wall as a ...