I have an idea for a video that will give the names for each of the fingers. In English we have Thumb · Index · Middle · Ring · Little.
Japanese is no exception. The most interesting name is for the Ring finger—薬指 kusuri yubi Medicine Finger.  More on this later.
Incidentally, I just received an [...]

Makoto and I watched a 釣りバカ日誌 (tsuri baka nisshi A Fishing Nuts Diary) movie the other night. If you haven’t seen any of the 釣りバカ movies, I highly recommend them.* They aren’t by any means bwah-ha-ha funny, but they have their moments.
One such near-bwah-ha-ha moment was when Hama-chan arrives late to the office [...]

These Ko So A Do words can be troublesome for beginners, but once you get used to the pattern, it really is easy. This article will break down the words into artificial but hopefully helpful bits of meaning. However, the best way to internalize them is by learning example sentences—that will come in [...]

NHK, ever the serious type, has started a new fad among children (and adults who can’t get the song out of their head): おしりかじり虫 oshiri kajiri mushi Butt Biting Bug.
Well, just watch it for yourself:

The bugs were out and singing with a lot of children on Kouhaku the other night. Interesting.

Being in Florida and not in Japan, we watch NHK’s 紅白 on TV Japan. And…Being in Florida and not in Japan, we watch it in the morning of the 31st instead of that night. Actually TV Japan broadcasts it once at the same time as in Japan and then again that evening to [...]