Words and Expressions / 言葉と表現

“This may be our last time to meet over a cup of tea.”
This thought, “一期一会 (pronounced ichi-go ichi e)” would make us feel sober and serious about our friendship. This is the spirit of tea ceremony.
「こうして一緒にお茶できるのも最後かもしれない」と思うと、私たちは友情に対して真剣にならざるを得ません。これが茶の湯の精神です。

We will share an easy instruction of a handy bookmark with a small piece of paper.
小さな紙切れで、便利なしおりの作り方をご紹介します。

What do you do with an empty container if someone cooks food or dessert and gives it to you? Old Japanese people would return the container after cleaning with a matchbox. It was a “thank you” message with a word play. /
誰かがお料理やデザートを作ってくれたら、その容器をどうしますか？昔の日本人は、洗った後でマッチ箱を入れて返しました。これは、言葉遊びで「ありがとう」を意味していたのです。

和文は英文の下にございます。ルビはいつか付けますので、またお立ち寄りください。/ The Japanese translation is below the English text. We will one day add Ruby to Chinese characters, please drop…

Japanese names sometimes require you to read with a completely different sound from the way it is written. There is a good reason each time, but at the first sight they look like a riddle and an answer. Last updated 1/13/2021

The American legume, “Black-Eyed Peas”, reminded us of an interesting expression. We would like to share it with you!

This is a short reading material for intermediate-level students. In the hope that people of all levels can enjoy and may learn one or two things, we added notes for useful expressions and hurigana.

After I moved to Charleston from NYC, I always felt the need to organize the meaning of “countryside” and “inaka”.
I also wanted to share this with my family and friends in Japan.
Last update: 2/27/2021