Japanese with Hikari's Blog

Have you ever had a day so chaotic that you didn’t even have time for coffee?
Like… not even one sip?

Or maybe you were so tired that you couldn’t even open your eyes in the morning…
(Yes, I’ve been there. Seven alarms and still no movement. )

In Jap...

You’re sitting in a cozy Japanese restaurant, the smell of grilled fish and miso soup fills the air.
The waiter brings you a cup of sake, and you take a sip.
“Mmm… this is delicious! I wonder what it’s made from?”

Then, you spot a small dish of tofu ...

Have you ever wanted to ask for permission in a polite, natural way in Japanese?
Maybe you want to take a photo, try a task, use a room, or join an activity,
but you need to say, “Please let me do it.”

That’s when させてください (sasete kudasai) becomes your...

You step into your favorite lovely cafe in Tokyo.
Soft jazz is playing, and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee tickles your nose. Then, wait, there’s a fluffy black cat outside the window. Another one is walking toward you...
You notice someone tryin...

Alright everyone, today’s grammar is one of the absolute basics!

We’re talking about だ／です (da / desu), the small but mighty words that mean “to be” (am, is, are) in Japanese.

You’ll hear です all the time, it’s the sentence-ending marker that pops up...

You studied really hard for your Japanese test, but still got a tricky question wrong.
Or maybe someone invited you to karaoke, but you were too shy to sing.

In English, you’d use “but” or “although”, and in Japanese, that’s けど (kedo)!
It’s one of th...

Have you ever wanted to express just how much effort, emotion, or difficulty something involved, but in a more elegant, formal way?

That’s where いかに (ikani) comes in.

It’s a refined N1 expression that means “how,” “in what way,” or “how much.”
You’l...

Have you ever had a moment that changed the flow of your life, like moving to a new city and setting up your cozy new apartment, getting married and starting a new chapter, or landing a new job and meeting inspiring people?

That kind of moment, when...

Have you ever promised yourself not to eat snacks at night… and then suddenly realized you finished a whole bag of potato chips?

Or maybe you told yourself not to check your phone before bed, but before you know it, you’re scrolling through social m...

Have you ever found yourself walking toward something, not just physically, but emotionally too?
Maybe you’re heading toward a new city for a fresh start, walking toward someone you’ve missed, or working hard toward a long-held dream.

In Japanese, wh...

Have you ever noticed how some changes happen so gradually that you only realize them after they’ve been happening for a while?
Maybe the days are getting a little longer, the air is getting warmer, or your Japanese is improving without you even noti...

Have you ever tried something and thought, “Wow, this is actually better than I expected”?
That’s when Japanese speakers often use なかなか (nakanaka), a little word that expresses pleasant surprise or admiration.

It’s often translated as “quite,” “prett...

Imagine you’re in Japan and you want to take a photo at a beautiful shrine.
You see someone nearby and want to ask politely, not too direct, not too casual.

That’s when you use ていただけませんか(te itadakemasen ka), one of the most polite ways to say “Could...

Have you ever fallen asleep with the lights still on… or left your house still wearing your pajamas?
Or maybe, at a class reunion, you saw your first love again, and they smiled with the same warm smile as back then, unchanged by time.

In Japanese, ...

I’m sure many of you reading my blog have experienced this before...
Maybe you’ve watched a Japanese anime or movie, or tried ramen, or a sweet matcha dessert at a Japanese restaurant in your country.

In Japanese, when we talk about something we’ve ...

Have you ever met someone who knows everything about a certain topic?
Maybe there’s that one colleague at your office who’s mastered every accounting trick and system, the living dictionary of bookkeeping. Or maybe you have a friend who’s always readi...

You know those moments when you think,
“I should’ve gone shopping while it was still sunny!”
Or maybe,
“I wish I had started studying Japanese while I was still a student…”

In Japanese, there’s a perfect phrase for expressing these “while you can” mom...

You’re strolling through a market in another country when you suddenly spot a notebook with a kimono-style pattern on the cover.
You stop and think,
“Hmm… this feels kind of Japanese-ish, or maybe Japanese-like!”

In Japanese, you can express that same...

Imagine this, you’re walking down a street in Japan, and suddenly you stop in front of a cake shop.

Your friend’s eyes start sparkling, their mouth drops open, and they can’t look away from the strawberry shortcake in the window…

You can feel it, r...

Imagine your friend is struggling to carry heavy bags, so you say,
“I’ll help you!”, and you actually do it.

Or picture this, it’s right before a big test.
You feel confident, but your friend looks on the verge of tears because they don’t understand s...

Have you ever walked out of your house and suddenly thought,
“Oh no… I forgot my phone!”

That exact moment, when you realize something, is what we describe in Japanese using に気がつく (にきがつく / ni ki ga tsuku).

It means “to notice,” “to realize,” or “to ...

You’re walking down a street in Japan for the first time, everything feels new and exciting!

You spot a bright sign and gasp,
“Oh! There’s a konbini (convenience store)!”

You walk in and look around
“There’s an onigiri corner! There’s a sandwich cor...

Seasons change, people change, even your Japanese skills will change, and all of that can be expressed with one simple word: なる (naru)!

なる means “to become” and shows a change of state, when something or someone turns into a different condition or s...

Have you ever wanted to say, “This is just my opinion, okay?”, or tell yourself, “No matter what happens, I’ll get this done!”

In Japanese, both of those situations can use the same expression, あくまでも (akumade mo)!

Sounds tricky, right? One phrase t...