Little & Big Things about Japan

When autumn arrives in Japan, the air in most regions turns crisp, the leaves begin to change color, and the sky becomes clear with high, distant clouds — a phenomenon the Japanese describe as “the sky is high” (空が高い). It is also a season closely associated with art, sports, reading, and delicious food. "Geijutsu no Aki" (芸術の秋) — Autumn for Art The phrase “Geijutsu no Aki” (芸術の秋), or “Autumn for Art,” is said to have become popular thanks to a literary magazine. It is believed to have originated from a reference to “Bijutsu no Aki” (美術の秋), or “Autumn for Fine Arts,” which appeared in the magazine Shincho in 1918. In addition, many major art exhibitions are held in Japan during the autumn season — such as the Nika Exhibition, the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition ( Nitten ), and the Inten Exhibition — all of which are among Japan’s most prestigious art events. "Supōtsu no Aki" (スポーツの秋) — Autumn for Sports The phrase “Supōtsu no Aki” (スポーツの秋), or “Autumn for Spor...

Today, Japanese is about the only non-Chinese language that still uses Chinese characters (kanji) in everyday writing, with the slight exception of South Korea, where Chinese characters ( hanja ) are occasionally used. This sometimes raises the question: If both languages share the same characters, can Japanese and Chinese speakers understand each other? The short answer: spoken, no — written, sometimes. Why Spoken Japanese and Chinese Aren’t Intelligible Although Japan and China are geographically close, their languages belong to entirely different language families. Japanese is part of the Japonic language family, while Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family. Word order : Chinese follows an SVO (subject–verb–object) structure, while Japanese uses SOV (subject–object–verb). Tones : Chinese is a tonal language, where pitch changes the meaning of a word. Japanese, by contrast, is not tonal in the same way. As a result, when spoken aloud, the two languages are almost co...