How do tell the difference between NOSE (hana, はな, 鼻) and FLOWER (hana, はな, 花) in Japanese?

Regardless of whether you are a complete beginner at Japanese or very close to being fluent (perapera, ぺらぺら), the pronunciation of hana (はな), which can mean either nose or flower in Japanese, is a very interesting topic. In fact, it is one that that I have been thinking about a lot lately, the reason for which I will tell you about a bit later, but for now, I’m sure you just want me to get on with the answer. 

Perhaps you have heard that you can easily tell the difference between the words by where the emphasis is placed. Some teachers, books and websites will say that ‘nose’ is pronounced HAna while ‘flower’ is pronounced haNA. Confusingly, some say the exactly opposite. 

Then there will be the teachers, books and websites that say it has nothing to do with the emphasis but everything to do with the pitch difference. ‘Nose’ starts out high, and finishes low, while flower starts off low and (*inhale helium*) finishes high. Listening out for these pitch differences and the pronounciation of words takes Japanese from being one of the most difficult languages to learn, to almost (*breathe in entire helium balloon*) impossible. 

And this is without considering that people from the Kansai region of Japan (Osaka, Kyoto and the surrounding area) often pronounce words exactly the opposite to their Kanto (Tokyoite) compatriots. 

But would you like to know the answer. Would you like to know a tried and true method that will probably most likely work in perhaps 100 per cent of situations – the answer is CONTEXT. 

For example, if you are in a Japanese business meeting and you are told that you have something coming out of your flower, and you are not holding any flowers, please please please, to avoid any further embarrassment, get a tissue out and discretely wipe the middle of your face. 

Or alternatively, if someone asks you to go out and pick a dozen noses, under no circumstances should you go out and pick a dozen noses, until you have made absolutely sure that you have understood the correct emphasis and pitch difference, and you have specifically considered your geographical and linguistic location in Japan. While I accept that the Japanese do some pretty crazy things (just google Japanese game shows), but in this situation, context will almost certainly resolve the issue. 

There is nothing amazing about hana and hana, they are just one example of Japanese homophones. All languages have them, and they are great for puns and jokes and for writing interesting but pointless blog posts. Other Japanese homophones are kumo which can mean spider or cloud (Watch out, there’s a cloud on your back), or hashi, which can mean chopsticks and bridge (Don’t leave your bridge stuck in the middle of the rice, and under no circumstances should you suck your bridge) (That Ramen restaurant gives you extra noodles if you bring your own bridge). There are other Japanese words which are not true homophones, but sound very similar for Japanese students, such as chizu (map) and chiizu (cheese) (Can you put a bit of map on my sandwich?), biiru (beer) and biru (building) (Can I buy you a building?), or biyouin and byouin (hospital) (He was hit by a car and rushed straight to the beauty parlour), but for a Japanese native, these are absolutely clear. 

So why have I been thinking so much about the difference in Japanese between nose and flower. Well on 1 January 2015, my wife gave birth to our third child and we named her Hannah. She weighed 4.58 kilograms (10 pounds 2 ounces) and I like to think of her as my beautiful little nose, oops I meant flower.

Publisher: Daily - 9:47 PM

What is the most useful word ending in Japanese? 'mono'

In my view, one of the most useful words to learn in Japanese is mono.

It is not so useful as a word by itself, which literally means ‘thing’ or as I like to think of it as ‘stuff’. But it comes in really handy in understanding words that end in mono. Almost every time I turn around, I learn or see or hear another verb ending with mono.

The most common ones for early or beginner Japanese learners are tabemono and nomimono, which literally mean eating things and drinking things, or as I sometimes call them food and drinks. And then there is the best known one, which is 'kimono', which literally means a wearable thing, but as I’m sure you will recognise, this is a poor translation of a beautiful traditional Japanese garment.

A few other useful ones are kaimono, bought stuff or shopping, urimono, stuff for sale, tatemono, a built thing or building, or karimono, a borrowed thing.

It sometimes feels like you can add mono to almost any verb (which you can't, but just feels like that).

If you don’t believe me, here are a few others I can think of:

fuyumono, winter things or clothing
norimono, something to ride in
kudamono, a fruit thing
yasamono, vegetable stuff
bakemono, a goblin thing
waremono, broken stuff
wasuremono, forgotten thing
shinamono, goods or product stuff
namamono, raw stuff
yakimono, baked stuff namely pottery
agemono, deep fried stuff
jidaimono, period things, antiques

Pretty useful don't you think? Can you think of any others? If so, leave them in the comments below.

Publisher: Daily - 8:34 PM

How do you say ‘how do you say’ in Japanese?

This is possibly one of the most useful phrases I have learnt in Japanese.

More useful than 今日は (konnichiwa) hello, ありがとうございます (arigatō gozaimasu) Thank you, and てつだって ください, (testudatte kudasai), Please help me. And much more useful than Watashi wa yubi no kankaku ga sukkari nakunatta (I have lost all the feeling in my fingers), which to this day I am still waiting for the right opportunity to use. 

Being able to say "How do you say ..." followed by what you want to say, is not only very useful, but it goes a long way to starting and continuing a proper conversation in Japanese.

The simple phrase is nan to iimasu ka, however a full sentence would look like this, 

Q: Nani nani (something) wa nihongo de nan to iimasu ka? 

For example: 

Q: Dog wa nihongo de nan to iimasu ka? 
A: Inu iimasu. 

Obviously this is more helpful if you are speaking to your sensei, or someone who knows a bit of English however, it can easily be modified when speaking only Japanese. 

For example: (pointing at unusual food item in restaurant) 
Q: Sore wa nihongo de nan to iimasu ka? 
A: Kore wa takoyaki (This is Octopus balls, no not literally, it's a delicious type of Japanese food).

Or even in this example:
(pointing at a sign you can’t read) 
Q: Sain wa nihongo de nan to iimasu ka?
A: koko de tatte wa ikemasen.

Did you already know how to say "How do you say in Japanese"? Let us know how or when you have used it lately? Publisher: Daily - 9:04 PM

How do you pronounce Tokyo?

I live in Sydney, Australia and I am always slightly amused by the way other Australians pronounce the word Tokyo (東京).

There are only five letters but I have heard it pronounced numerous different ways, including with 2, 3, and 4 syllables. Number 1 on my list of favourite mispronounciations is the seemingly ubiquitous 'toe key yooo' (with the number of 'o's at the end something that the goooooogle search page would be proud). 

The actual Japanese spelling in hiragana is とうきょう, which is transliterated as Toukyou (or sometimes with a dash on top of the 'o's, namely Tōkyō).

Therefore it is not three syllables, nor two syllables, but actually four syllables - to, u, kyo, u. 

Despite this, it is essentially pronounced with two long rhyming syllables, 'toe kyoe', with virtually no gap between the 'k' and the 'y' and certainly nothing to do with the item you use to open doors and cars. 

If you practice it enough, you will soon be able to pronounce it like a local, or as a true Tokyoite (which incidentally and quite interestingly is known as an 'Edoko' (えどこ, 江戸児) - a person born and raised in the Tokyo / Edo region).

If you live in the Edo region, why not let us know by leaving a comment below. If not, why not let us know where you are reading this from, as we would love to hear from you. 

Alternatively have you heard different or unusual pronunciations of Japanese cities? Osaka? Hiroshima? Yokohama?

Or feel free to listen here.

Publisher: Daily - 2:00 AM

What does Irasshaimase (いらっしゃいませ) actually mean?

In short, it means "Welcome", or "Come in". 

If you have ever been to Japan, you will have heard it. Not just once, but many times. Many many times. It can range from short and shrill to low and gruff. It can be said by one female employee at a posh Department store, or a group of male chefs at a rough and ready Ramen restaurant. You can hear said with complete apathy at Konbini stores at 2am (meaning I would rather be doing anything than welcoming you into this store at this time and in this way), or you can hear it said with such enthusiasm, volume and joie de vivre, that you could well be mistaken that you have mistakenly entered your very own Japanese surprise birthday party (in my view some stores almost need a cardiological caution out the front ). 

But don't get me wrong, I personally love hearing Irasshaimase. I love the welcome and I love the word, even more so when the last syllable is extended to such extraordinary lengths that it sounds like the beginning of a Disney movie or a Broadway musical. 

But what does the word actually mean and where does it come from? 

The verb iru/imasu means to be or to exist. And as you may or may not know, there is anywhere between 5 and 10 different levels of politeness in the Japanese language depending on the prefix, the suffix, the conjugation of the verb and even the verb choice. Therefore, a similar word to iru/imasu that has a higher politeness level is irasshairu/irrasshaimasu, which means to be or to exist, but also to come or to go. 

But linguistically or grammatically, where does the final 'e' ending coming from in 'irasshaimase', and why is it used when entering a shop. I have heard and read many different theories, and I am sure no matter which answer I give, someone will be able to correct me, but here are the reasons I have seen: 

Firstly, irasshaimase is the strong imperative form of verb irasshairu. The strong imperative, rarely used in Japanese, except for perhaps 'Gambare' at a sporting event, or 'Tomare' at a vehicle stop sign, 'irasshaimase' is telling the customer in the strongest form possible, Please Be! or Please Come! (but hopefully not "Please Go!). 

Secondly, the ending 'mase' is often added to the end of words to make them more polite. This is easy to believe given there are so many other ways to make things polite, why not have one more. 

Thirdly, historically it was a way market place sellers tried to order the people around and wanting them to come to their stall to buy from them. 

But perhaps just as interesting as what the word means, is the question of what you are supposed to do in response. In the moments following a spirited and hearty 'Irasshaimase' what is the culturally appropriate action? Should you say 'Irasshaimase' or 'Arigatou gozaimasu' in reply?

I am not so sure, but I always do what I have termed a 'walking bow' - a slight nod of the head with an awkward mis-step to at least acknowledge the communication while passing the employee. 

Do you have any other theories of what 'Irasshaimase' means? Or the origin of the word or the cultural practice? However I would be more interested to know, what do you do when someone yells out 'Irasshaimase' in your direction?

Publisher: Daily - 8:58 PM

What is "You are here" on a Japanese map? Genzaichi

The short answer is Genzaichi (現在地). This is the way Japanese maps say ‘You are here’. It is closer in meaning to ‘current location’, or can be translated literally as ‘the ground on which you are presently standing’. 

The long answer is a very funny but frustrating conversation I had with my Japanese sensei.

At the start of 2014 I spent three months living in and around Ikebukuro, Tokyo. I studied three nights a week at the Ikebukuro Japanese Language School, and I cannot recommend this place highly enough. It was one to one tuition at a very good price and I really liked the older Japanese gentleman who ran it – Takahashi-sensei.

One of the best things about the individual classes were that Takahashi-sensei allowed me to start almost every lesson with "Shitsumon ga arimasu" (I have a question), or quite often "Takusan shitsumon ga arimusu" (I have lots of questions). Yet patiently and politely Takahashi-sensei answered all of my questions about things I had heard, behaviour that had baffled me, about how to order ramen like a pro, or my most common ones, explaining signs that I couldn’t read and/or understand.

One evening I decided to ask Takahashi-sensei about three kanji I had seen on Japanese maps. They obviously meant “You are here” in English, but I wanted to know how to say it in Japanese. Mainly because 'you are here’ (Anata wa koko ni imasu) is very different from your present location on a map (Genzaichi).

What follows is the conversation we had (in Japanese), but please note that what I thought I was saying in Japanese may not necessarily (and in fact almost certainly is not) what I was actually saying in Japanese.

Me: Sensei, I have a question.
Sensei: Yes.
Me: Sensei, how do say "You are here" in Japanese"?
Sensei: You are here.
Me: No, on a map, how do you say “You are here”.
(At which point Sensei got out a Tokyo map and pointed at Ikebukuro)
Sensei: You are here, Ikebukuro.
Me: No no, not you are here in Ikebukuro.
Sensei: Yes yes, you are here in Ikebukuro.
Me: No no, this map doesn't have a "You are here" on it.
Sensei: Yes yes, here, You are here, Ikebukuro (again pointing at Ikebukuro).
Me: No no, when you are standing lost and look at a map, how do you say "you are here"?
Sensei: Well, where are you?
Me: Well anywhere. How do you say you are here?
(Sensei then looked at me as if I had just blown my nose in public or walked into his house with shoes on)
Sensei: Well, I don’t understand, where you are?
Me: When I am at the train station, and I look at a map, how do I say "you are here"
Sensei: Which train station are you at?
Me: Any train station.
Sensei: Well you say “You are at the train station”.
Me: But how do I say you are here on a big map?
(at which point Sensei got out a world map and pointed at Japan)
Sensei: Japan, you are here.
(At this point I thought about giving up, but instead, I got out my pen and paper and mustering all of my artistic ability drew the best little stick man looking at a map I could)
Me: How does the map say "You are here"
(Sensei looked at me as if I had just mishandled his business card)
Sensei: I don’t understand. Say again one more time
Me: The three kanji on the map, you are here.
(I then drew an arrow and three random kanji to represent the three kanji of the word Genzaichi that I couldn’t recognise)
Sensei: I don’t know these kanji. They have no meaning.
(Sensei was now looking at me as if I was wearing toilet slippers in the classroom and had just blown my nose on his business card)
Me: No, not these three Kanji.
Sensei: Which three kanji?
Me: Do you know three kanji on a map that mean "You are here"
(His face lit up as if I had just mastered the art of Japanese bowing)
Sensei: Ahhh, Genzaichi, you are here. I understand. Genzaichi, Genzachi. I understand.
Me: Yes, yes.
(He then wrote the three Kanji, the last of which I definitely recognised)
Sensei: Genzaichi, Genzaichi.
Me: Yes, yes. Thank you so much.
(with delight still on his face as if I had karate kid style caught a fly with a pair of chopsticks)
Sensei: Genzaichi, Genzaichi (followed by) somethingsaidinJapanese veryfastwhichIdidntunderstand (which I have interpreted to be Why didn't you just say "how do say ‘You are here’ in Japanese" you silly nincompoop)
Me: Thank you so much.
(At this point, if hugging was an acceptable Japanese custom, I would have given him one which would have made a large Hokkaido bear proud. Instead I did my best attempt at a sitting down bow, and like a bobble head figurine I nodded my head back and forth for the next 20 seconds or so)
Sensei: That's ok.
Me: For your great and wonderful assistance on this matter of determining how to say "You are here" on a map, I humbly thank you for your hard work and persistence and efforts to further my study of the honourable Japanese language.
Sensei: It was nothing. Don't mention it. Let’s start the class and get back to studying the difference between wa and ga.

Have you ever had an experience like this? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Publisher: Daily - 3:29 PM

What is the difference between wa and ga in Japanese?

If you are looking for a simple answer to this question without the grammatical mumbo jumbo then you have come to the right place but interestingly I already know a number of things about you:

• Firstly, you are interested in the Japanese language; 
• Secondly, you are not fluent (pera pera) in the Japanese language; 
• Thirdly, you have probably looked elsewhere to try and find out the answer to this question; and
• Fourthly, the other places you looked were probably so complicated and confusing that they induced a type of anger that made you want to slap the author with a large freshly bought Tsukiji Tuna, which incidentally would be a very unJapanese thing to do. 

Perhaps the most common answer given is that 'wa' is the topic marker and 'ga' is the subject marker, which is frustrating and of almost no help at all given English has neither topic or subject markers. It is however only slightly better than the patronising "Don't worry, you'll pick it up at some stage", which leads me to think I will be picking up the Tuna again before I understand the difference between 'wa' and 'ga'.

But I suppose both are better than when people reply to the question "How long is a piece of string", which can be short or long, or its Japanese equivalent, 'how long is a sumo wrestlers mawashi (waistband) sash', which is invariably very very long.

I don't claim to be an expert on either the Japanese language or English linguistics but here is what you have been waiting for - the easiest, simplest, best way to remember the difference between 'wa' and 'ga'.

• If I use 'wa' the important bit of information in the sentence is after the 'wa'. 
• But if I use 'ga' the important bit of information in the sentence is before the 'ga'. 

What do I mean?

If someone asks me "What is your name?", onamae wa nan desu ka?, I answer 'Watashi wa Andrew desu'. But if someone asks out of a group of people "Who is Andrew?" - Dare ga Andrew desu ka?, I answer 'Watashi ga Andrew desu'.

In the first example the important bit of information is after the 'wa', that is, 'Watashi wa Andrew desu'. In the second example the important bit of information is before the 'ga', that is, Watashi ga Andrew desu.

Of course there are exceptions to this, and unfortunately there are exceptions to the exceptions, but on the assumption you are not about to qualify as the next interpreter to the Japanese Prime Minister, or be hired as the Japanese translator for the Imperial Palace, remembering this little idea should be a huge help for your study.

Japanese is quite often very simple, but for some reason we insist on making it more complicated, such as by adding confusing grammatical explanations that don't make sense.

If you enjoyed reading this, or it has helped your Japanese study, please share or leave a comment below.

Publisher: Daily - 9:00 PM