Japanese Learning Blog Japanese Blog

January 5, 2021

Update regarding the Coronavirus Situation in Tokyo – SOE 1/12/2021

School Policy in response to the State of Emergency Dear everyone, Thank you for your continued cooperation and support for Coto. On January 7, 2021, the Government of Japan issued a state of emergency (scheduled from January 8 to February 7) in areas including Tokyo and Kanagawa prefectures. This state of emergency does not demand […]

December 23, 2020

JLPT N2 Grammar: How to Say "I did not have the chance to.." | ずじまい

Time for some JLPT N2 grammar. Today we are looking at the JLPT N2 Grammar point: ずじまい (zujimai). As the title suggests, this grammar point is on the JLPT N2 – as well as N1 – tests. It may also be a word you have not yet heard in your daily Japanese. That’s why today […]

December 21, 2020

Japanese Flashcards for Beginners: Nihongo Fun and Easy

Are you seeking Japanese flashcards for beginners? If you are using our nihongo fun and easy textbook – we are excited to share that we are in the process of publishing a companion flashcard course on the memrise.com flashcard study app. Moreover, it is a completely free to use app (we suggest the desktop version) […]

December 11, 2020

訳ではない – How to Say "It's Not Necessarily the Case that…" in Japanese

Japanese Study

Have you ever heard the Japanese phrase “そんな訳じゃない” or “そういう訳ではないんです“? This is a very common Japanese phrase that can be used in a number of different circumstances. In this blog post, we will provide a review of the contents from the video above, and examine the JLPT N3 Grammar point: 訳じゃない／訳ではない (wake janai/wake de wa […]

December 9, 2020

FAQ regarding Coto’s preventive measures in response to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 2020/11 Update

School News School News

Hi Everyone, In response to the ongoing COVID 19 Situation – we have updated our guidance and safety measures. What is Coto doing in response to the COVID-19 situation? As a basic matter of protecting the health of everyone involved, hand sanitizer dispensers have been installed for the use of visitors to the school. Sanitization […]

December 8, 2020

Improve your Career in Japan – Evening Business Japanese Course

School News

Improve your career opportunities in Japan with this NEW Evening Business Japanese Course Are you already working in Japan? Do you want to improve your business Japanese communication? Taking this new lite-intensive course will improve your work-place communication and improve your opportunities. What is a lite-intensive course? A Lite Intensive Course is a course that […]

December 2, 2020

JLPT N3 Grammar – How to Say "Depending on" (niyotte) in Japanese

Have you ever heard the phrase “による” (ni yoru) or “によって” (niyotte) in Japanese conversation? This is a JLPT N3 Grammar unit that is a very useful way to express “according to” or “depending on”.In this blog post, we are looking at the JLPT N3 grammar point: によって. How to Use によって to Say “Depending […]

November 25, 2020

JLPT N4 Grammar: How to Use the Grammar Point までに (made ni)

If you have been studying Japanese for a while now – you are probably familiar with から and まで. But do you know how to use “made ni” (までに)?Unless you have watched the video – it may be difficult for you to know. For example, do you know which of the following sentences is correct? […]

November 17, 2020

Conversational Japanese: What is Aizuchi? 相槌 – Conversational Interjections

Are you looking to improve your Japanese conversations? One of the most important aspects of conversational Japanese is 相槌 (aizuchi)/相槌を打つ (aizuchi o utsu). But what is Aizuchi? These are conversational interjections that Japanese speakers use when speaking with one another. Aizuchi is primarily a way for the listener to communicate to the speaker that they […]

November 17, 2020

Omoshiroi – 面白い – How to say "fun", "funny" or interesting in Japanese

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Omoshiroi is a Japanese word that means many things. Omoshiroi can be used to say that something is “Interesting, Amusing, Fascinating, Funny, Enjoyable, Entertaining, Fun” and more!The Kanji for Omoshiroi is 面白い and Omoshiroi written in Hiragana is おもしろい.Omoshiroi is an I adjective and it’s a JLPT N5 Level Vocabulary word – so chances are, […]

November 16, 2020

O Genki Desu Ka – What does it mean in Japanese?

O genki desu ka is a phrase in Japanese that means “How are you?”If you have been learning Japanese for any amount of time – you have likely heard this phrase.In many Japanese learning textbooks – お元気ですか is one of the first phrases that you will learn. This is true for our Japanese lessons as […]