This month I look at three paragraphs from an essay by Kakuta Mitsuyo. These three paragraphs have an interesting combination of 常体 (jōtai, direct style) and 敬体 (keitai, distal style), which gives me another opportunity to talk about written and spoken Japanese. And I also address のだ (no da)/のです (no desu), the little bit of language that comes at the end of clauses and sentences. Check out the blog and newsletter for links to some of the essays I wrote about, including the review of drinkable mayonnaise.

Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com.

You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

This month I talk about the importance of giving up! (What!?) I also examine a sentence from a very difficult essay and talk about 修飾 (shūshoku, description/modification) and 主題 (shudai, topics). At the end I go over a few additional reviews of the English translation of Murakami's latest novel and discuss a usage of 伺う (ukagau, to ask/to hear/to visit) that I neglected to include in last month's episode. Check out the blog and newsletter as well.

Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com.

You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Special Emergency Episode: The English translation of Murakami's The City and Its Uncertain Walls will be published on November 19, so I'm re-running my review episode of the Japanese version that I posted last year. I'm adding 20 minutes of additional content as an introduction to discuss a couple of the reviews that have already been published. Check out the blog for links to the reviews and to the one I wrote.

Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com.

You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.