Uchikura & Co Blog
2026-10-01
In Japanese, We “Listen” to the Taste Japanese has an interesting way to describe tasting food: 「味を聞く」. The verb 聞く usually means “to listen” or “to ask,” but in this expression, it means to taste ...
2026-10-01
Mabushii: When a Person Shines Like the Sun In Japanese, we use the word mabushii (眩しい) when sunlight is so bright that we have to narrow our eyes. But we also use the same word to describe people. ...
2026-09-30
A Nap in a Warm Patch of Sunshine In Japanese, a daytime nap is called 昼寝（ひるね、hirune）. Imagine taking one in a 暖かい陽だまり（あたたかいひだまり）—a warm patch of sunlight streaming through a window. The sun falls ...
2026-09-30
You Can Never Take Back Spoken Words In Japan, there’s a saying that once you’ve said something, you can’t take them back. Even if you apologize or clarify your meaning later, you can never return to ...
2026-09-30
Nothing Is More Expensive Than Something Free There is a Japanese saying: “Tada hodo takai mono wa nai” (ただほど高いものはない). It means, “Nothing is more expensive than something free.” That may sound stra...
2026-09-30
作法 Sahō: More Than Manners, Less Than Law In Japanese, 作法 (sahō) means the proper way of doing something. It is often translated as “etiquette” or “manners,” but I think it represents something deepe...
2026-09-29
Nagomu: To Feel at Ease The Japanese verb 和む (nagomu) describes the way tension softens and the heart becomes calm. It can mean to feel at ease, to be soothed, or to feel relaxed, depending on the si...
2026-09-29
Dining in the Dark at Honōa Japan has a restaurant called Kurayami Restaurant Honōa (暗闇レストラン 灯無). Its dining room is kept completely dark, offering guests a chance to experience a meal without relyin...
2026-09-29
The Grateful Crane — 鶴の恩返し(Tsuru no Ongaeshi) Long ago, an elderly couple lived in a small house near the mountains. One snowy evening, the old man found a crane caught in a trap. He gently freed it,...
2026-09-29
蚊帳の外 — Left Out of the Conversation A kaya (蚊帳) is a mosquito net placed around a sleeping area. If you are 蚊帳の外 (kaya no soto), you are outside that net, separated from the people inside. Today, t...