Japanese artist Mari Miyazawa plays with her food. Like, a lot. As a parent, she sent off her kids with homemade bento lunches, that much is normal; but where Miyazawa differs from most mothers is that her bento creations are works of art.

They’ve been featured in photo exhibitions and on TV shows in Japan and abroad. You’ve probably seen bento art before, but Miyazawa is maybe the most prolific and skilled of the many bento artists out there.

Bento art is called キャラ弁 in Japanese, a combination of the word for “character” and “bento,” and Miyazawa is a master at creating different characters using lunchtime materials.

Bento Theater

Not content with just her amazing bento box art, Miyazawa has dipped her toes into animation as well. Her YouTube channel is full of what she calls “Bento Theater.”

You can find a whole playlist here.

Do It Yourself

Maybe the best part about Miyazawa’s YouTube channel is the instructional videos; she’s kind enough to show us all how she whips up her amazing culinary works of art.

Putting together these dishes might not be especially easy or practical for you to do. Still, Miyazawa’s artistry is inspirational and might be enough to encourage me to

• Official site
• YouTube channel
• Facebook page

via Metafilter

More than sushi, okonomiyaki, or any other recognizably Japanese food, ramen is arguably the most popular food in Japan. It’s inexpensive, you can find it virtually anywhere in Japan, and everybody seems to have their own take on it.

As you might have guessed from my Ramen Survival Guide, between all of the different broths, styles, and toppings, you can find a ton of different varieties of ramen in noodle shops in Japan.

For most people, that variety is enough; but some ramen shops go completely off the map to push the limits of ramen and entice customers with novelty dishes. Strange toppings and unusual broths help noodle shops stand out from an increasingly saturated market.

The strangest thing of all? Most of these strange dishes are actually really, really good. Here are some of the strangest ramen dishes that Japanese noodle shops have cooked up in recent years:

Tequila Ramen

Unsurprisingly, Japan makes notoriously bad Mexican food, so I was a little apprehensive when I first heard about the tequila ramen at Kouno noodle shop (麺や河野). But against all odds, the Tokyo restaurant’s concoction of lime, a shot of tequila, and cilantro work well together.

Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that the combination tastes good—after all, Vietnamese phở also uses lime and cilantro as garnish, so maybe throwing in some tequila isn’t that radical after all.

Ramen Burger

Japanese fast food chain Lotteria is notorious for cooking up some strange, strange hamburgers; past hits have included the oversized shrimp burger named in honor of Japanese comedian Sugi-chan, and a nine patty burger to celebrate an anime movie.

More recently, Lotteria teamed up with ramen restaurant Menya Musashi to create a ramen burger. A batch of ramen is fried up in the shape of a patty, then pork and mayonnaise or added before it’s placed between two buns.

Not quite the traditional way that you see ramen served, but more or less par for the course for Lotteria.

Ice Cream Ramen, Colorful Broth

If you’re looking for strange ramen, look no farther than Tokyo ramen shop Kikuya (菊や). Kikuya offers unusual ramen dishes in all varieties, using all sorts of ingredients and tricks to interest even the most dyed-in-the-wool ramen eater.

For one, there’s the color selection:

At Kikuya, you can get ramen with broth of virtually any color, including purple, red, and sky blue. While it looks pretty unnatural, the colorful broth is anything but; the color comes from natural ingredients like red cabbage, and clever mixing.

Kikuya also offers a ramen dish topped with an ice cream cone slide down the middle. According to ramen lore, a child came into the shop on a hot day and asked for ice cream, joking with the chef that an ice cream ramen would be ideal.

Being the genius that he is, the owner decided to turn this joke into a reality. Before long, Kikuya’s ice cream ramen became its signature dish.

The strange menu at Kikuya is way too long to go through in full here—between the colorful broth, ice cream ramen, and other oddities like cheese (think Kraft singles) ramen, cocoa ramen, and battery (think alkaline) ramen, you could spend weeks sampling Kikuya’s unorthodox offerings.

Pineapple and Strawberry Ramen

Ramen is a very savory dish; you don’t grab a bowl of ramen when you’ve got the hankering for something sweet. Because of that (and the fact that you don’t find too much fruit in ramen to begin with), the sometimes sweet dishes from Tokyo ramen shop Papapapapine (パパパパパイン) are a little surprising.

Papapapapine’s most famous dish is its pineapple ramen, which comes complete with chunks of pineapple and a pineapple-based broth. You can see Papapapapine’s pride in its specialty dish from the pineapple-shaped lantern hanging outside of the shop, its pineapple-yellow counters, and the ceramic pineapples adorning the restaurant.

Aside from its signature dish, Papapapapine also offers a strawberry ramen, aptly named Susususustrawberry. Like the pineapple ramen, Susususustrawberry has chunks of fruit floating in the soup, and the broth is strawberry-based with a little cream.

You can add condensed milk to taste, for a combination that seems more like a dessert than a meal. Despite the unorthodox combinations, reports are that both dishes are actually pretty good.

Taco Ramen

Ivan Orkin is a New Yorker who’s famous around the world for being one of the few gaijin to open a successful ramen business (アイバンラーメン AKA Ivan Ramen) in the fiercely competitive Japanese market.

While being a gaijin has been more than enough to make Ivan Ramen stand out, Orkin’s uses some unusual. In addition to using rye, an unorthodox ingredient by Japanese standards, to make the noodles themselves, a few years back Orkin created his own take on taco rice—taco ramen.

Taco rice is actually a pretty common dish in Japan, but it’s unusual for ramen to be used as a substitute for rice, and Orkin, an American from New York City, adds his own American touch to the dish.

In addition to the house-made noodles that Ivan Ramen has become known for, the taco ramen has lettuce, tomato, and beef with taco seasoning. No broth, whatsover, nor any of the typical toppings you’d see on your average bowl of ramen.

It was a seasonal special a few years ago, so you won’t be able to get it anymore; which is unfortunate, because it sounds delicious (and would probably go well with the tequila ramen).

Ramen has changed a lot over the last century as it’s come to almost dominate Japan’s culinary landscape. New techniques and approaches, like miso and double soup ramen, have become commonplace.

So while you probably won’t find chunks of pineapple in purple broth in your typical ramen shop anytime soon, I think that it’s great that ramen chefs across Japan continue to dream up new dishes that push the boundaries of ramen.

Chances are, if you’ve ever been to a Japanese or Chinese restaurant, you’ve probably seen one. Their happy looking eyes. Their little paws that beckon you towards them. That cute mouth that just seems to say “Hey you! Buy some egg rolls!” Yes, I’m talking about Japan’s beckoning cat, maneki-neko. They’re common in restaurants, stores and anywhere else where bringing in people means bringing in the money.

But what is the deal with these little felines? Why would you get a cat to welcome people? How come some of them are holding yellow kanji flashcards? And no matter how you look at it, those cats are definitely waving, not beckoning, right? For the answers to these questions and more, we’ll begin with the humble origins of the maneki-neko. Hang on to your cat; we’re travelling back to the Edo era.

Origins of Maneki-neko

In 1633, a daimyo by the name of Ii Naotaka was out and about, doing the sorts of things daimyos did back then. On his way home, he was caught in a rainstorm and sought shelter under a tree. Nearby was an old, rundown shrine, whose owner had a pet cat. Naotaka noticed the cat beckoning him over to the shrine. He figured whatever a cat had to tell him was important enough to risk getting a little wet, and hurried on over to the temple.

Then, as if on cue, Naotaka’s former shelter of a tree exploded into a twisted mess of splinters and post-lightning fire. Shocked that the cat had just saved him from getting a much larger shocking, Naotaka decided to return the favor, making sure the temple, and its beckoning cat, never had to worry about money again. The temple was renamed Gotokuji Temple after Naotaka’s posthumous Buddhist name, and is, to this day, filled with beckoning cat statues. The tradition of maneki-neko was born.

Another legend tells of a cat loving geisha by the name of Usugumo. One night, her beloved pet cat began to pull at her clothes. Usugumo tried and failed to get the cat to stop and, not wanting it to claw up her fancy kimono, called for help. The owner of the establishment misunderstood, and thought that the cat was possessed. He pulled out his sword and quickly cut off the head of the cat. The cat’s head went flying through the air and, in one last act of loyalty, bit and killed a snake about to attack Usugumo.

Realizing that the cat was trying to warn her about the snake, Usugumo became depressed over the loss of her pint sized protector. To cheer her up, a customer created a wooden statue of her cat, with a paw raised in warning. And the tradition of maneki-neko was born. Again.

A third legend tells of an old woman and her pet cat. The old woman was very poor and, without any daimyos around to save from lightning, was forced to sell her cat. The cat later comes to her in a dream and instructs her to create a clay model of it. The old woman follows the cat’s slightly egotistical advice, and finds that someone wants to buy it. She creates more statues, which become extremely popular, turning her cats into cash. And, for the third time this article, the tradition of maneki-neko was born.

Yes, But What Does It All Mean?

But wait, a cat with its paw up doesn’t look like its beckoning, right? Well, that depends where you live. In Japan, the gesture is reversed, with the fingers downward (as demonstrated by Koichi in this video). There are also westernized maneki-neko with the paw facing the opposite direction, mimicking the western style of beckoning. These maneki-neko are sometimes depicted with coins with dollar signs on them, earning them the name “dollar cats.”

Of course, if western maneki-neko are holding western money, it only makes sense that the classic maneki-neko of the east are holding classic money of the east. Many maneki-neko are seen holding a ryo, an old form of currency from the Edo era that was worth quite a bit of money. Additionally, many of the ryo that maneki-neko are labeled 千万両, meaning “ten million ryo”. Then again, since 千万 can also mean “a great many”, it’s possible that these maneki-neko simply cannot count particularly high.

The maneki-neko is said to be beckoning for different things, depending on which paw it’s using. A maneki-neko with its left paw up is inviting people, while one with its right paw is inviting money. Although, if you’re a shopkeeper, you probably want people to come to your store and buy things, so you may want one of each. Or, better yet, one with both paws raised.

Now, if something as little as which paw is up has meaning, it’s reasonable to expect color to play a big part, too. Yes, just like how the color of candy tells you its flavor, the color of a maneki-neko tells you what that cat’s talent is.

The classic calico design is the most popular, and brings its owner fortune. Likewise, an all-white cat is also for luck. A black maneki-neko is useful for warding off disease and evil. A gold maneki-neko performs as you may expect, and brings in the money. A red one is used for both protection from disease and demons, and bringing its owner good health. Pink is used for inviting love. There are other various colors, such as yellow or green, that are sometimes linked to feng shui.

So, have you had any experiences with maneki-neko? Have you seen any strange or rare ones? Do you own a maneki-neko? Personally, I have a little one that sits by my computer. It doesn’t bring luck or money or anything, but I’ve never been attacked by any snakes while it’s around, and that’s gotta count for something.

GIFs! Wallpapers!

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Even though I was way too young to gamble the first time I visited Japan, pachinko really interested me. My dad tried to take us into a pachinko parlor to see what the hubbub was about, but the staff quickly spotted a then 10-year-old Hashi and kicked us out.

During Tofugu’s trip to Japan this year, I decided to give pachinko a try since I was finally old enough. I put in my hundred yen coin and my eyes glazed over as lights flashed, a screen lit up, and little silver balls bounced around.

I didn’t understand a damn thing that was going on, but I won a small prize and decided to retire at the top of my game.

As we’ve written about a bit before, pachinko is a huge industry in Japan. It’s raked in incredible profits over the years, and played all across Japan. When we visited, we saw people lining up at pachinko parlors before they’d even opened.

How does the pachinko industry keep people interested? After all at its core, pachinko is an extremely simple, not very interactive game. But to keep this multi-trillion yen industry afloat, the industry has a lot of incentive to keep players entertained.

Technological Advancements

The backs of pachinko machines from the 40^s and current day

The podcast 99% Invisible recently did a really interesting story about the evolution of slot machines in the US. What started out as a one-armed bandit has turned into a monstrous, complex, computerized machine that uses sophisticated algorithms to slowly bleed people of their money.

When I thought about it, I realized that the same thing has more or less happened with pachinko machines.

They started out simply enough. Even I could probably build a pachinko machine the way they were built in the early days. Get a wooden board, hammer in a few nails, drill a few holes, and you more or less have an early, primitive pachinko machine.

But if you crack open the back of a modern-day pachinko machine, you’ll see something that looks more like a computer than a woodworking. Circuit boards, wires, and power supplies line the inside power the modern pachinko machine.

The site Vintage Pachinko has a great visual history of pachinko machines from the 40^s to current day, showing both the front and the exposed back of the machines. It’s astounding to see how the electronic parts and circuitry grow exponentially over the decades.

Flashing lights and speakers on machines catch a player’s attention. Features like rapid-firing pachinko machines and motorized handles let players go through balls quicker (and therefore spend more money), and the math behind the placement of the nails within the machine have gotten increasingly sophisticated.

The technology is only one half of the equation. The variety of the machines, whether it’s the branding, the type of game, or the price, also play a big part in bringing in players and keeping them planted in front of the machines.

Variety

You can only do so much with technology; at some point, you have to go beyond the circuitry and appeal to customers in other ways.

Branding

Pachinko machines are cycled out of parlors at an astounding rate, not only to keep up with technological advances, but to also keep up with the current cultural trends too.

In Japan, I saw lots of pachinko machines that branded themselves after pop culture staples like AKB48 and the newest Evangelion movie. Foreign franchises get their own pachinko machines too, like Western movies or Korean dramas.

While your everyday pachinko addict probably doesn’t care too much if some pop star is staring back at them while little metal balls bounce around the machine, they appeal to hardcore fans and might draw people into pachinko parlors who otherwise might not be there.

Plus, it gives the parlors a sense of being current and relevant. See, we know what the kids like! AKB48! Now who wants to play some pachinko?

Games Within Games

If you don’t have the licensing rights to stick a celebrity’s face on the front of your pachinko machine, what else can you do to differentiate your game? For one, you can add on new functionality.

You’ll see a lot of machines nowadays incorporate slot machine functionality in to pachinko by using the screen in the middle of the machine. Balls landing in certain spots trigger the machine to start spinning and basically start another game altogether. It’s like a game within a game!

There’s also variance on how much you can bet on a machine. Balls for a pachinko machine vary in price a little bit, the way that slot machines do—you might have slot machines that take quarters, but there are also nickel and penny machines too.

Same goes for pachinko. Per ball, prices range anywhere between ¥1-¥4. The lower prices can lure in players and cause them to accidentally spend a lot more money. The difference in price may not seem significant, but when you tally all of the balls that players go through in a typical game of pachinko, it really adds up.

There’s nothing wrong with playing a little pachinko here and there; hell, some people are actually about to make a living out of it. But just remember that a multi-trillion yen industry has spent decades designing machines to keep your butt planted squarely in front of a pachinko machine for as long as possible. Have fun!

Read more: The big business of Japan’s pachinko parlours, History of Pachinko

Bonus

Some lovely animated GIFs and wallpapers from our illustrator Aya. Enjoy!

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One of the things I’ve learned about learning a language over the years is that association in memory is a very (very) powerful tool. Memories are almost always learned best when you associate them with another already learned memory. So, if you can attach a new memory to an old one, then the effectiveness of your memorization will go up by quite a bit. This is why there are radicals and mnemonics in WaniKani… association is a very powerful tool.

That being said, there are other types of associations as well. You can connect two new memories together and learn them at the same time as a sort of “set.” If you do this, it becomes easier to memorize this group of things because they are connected to each other in some way. For example, take a look at these sets:

• Jack & Jill
• Dog & Cat
• Sun & Moon
• Mac & PC
• Good & Bad/Evil

The list, of course, goes on and on. Just going through this, there should be a couple of things you should have noticed. 1) These pairs go together. If you hear one side, the other side isn’t too far away in your brain. Maybe it came up automatically without you even trying. 2) A lot of these are opposites of each other, or antonyms. They pair because they are opposites, not because they are similar or the same. I think this association is easier than say “cool and cold.” “Hot and cold” is much easier to remember.

If you were to learn pairs like these, I don’t think it would necessarily be easier to learn “Jack & Jill” compared to just “Jack” or “Jill.” That being said, if you had to learn both “Jack” and “Jill” anyways, the existing association will make it so it’s not twice as difficult to learn (since there are twice as many items to learn, two instead of one). Instead, I’m guessing it’s about 1.5x as difficult to learn, which is a savings of 50%. Assuming this, learning items in pairs like this can be a powerful memory (and time-saving) tool.

Studying With Japanese Antonyms (Hantaigo & Taigigo)

Let’s try to put this idea into practice now. Talking about it is one thing, doing it is another. Depending on your level of Japanese, this will either be somewhat challenging or downright difficult. You’ll have to gauge all that on your own, though I think everyone can at least get something out of this.

Hantaigo and taigigo are the Japanese words for “antonym.” I’ll continue to use those terms going forward, so try to remember them. First thing you’ll want to do is go through this list. It’s fairly long, but I promise you these lists get way longer. I went through a couple thousand pairs and picked out the ones that were going to be more useful, and put them in the list below. That being said, there are much bigger lists out there, such as this one. If you’re finding this exercise way too easy, you should probably head on over to the bigger list (though this one is pretty big too, I think).

The first step is a painful one. Copy/Paste (or print out) this list somewhere where you can make highlights on it. Evernote would work well. Then, go through the list and highlight the words you know. Some of them will have only one side highlighted. Others will have both sides (nice, complete!). Still others will have nothing highlighted at all.

The next step will be to find the ones where both sides are highlighted. Good job! Then, find the ones with only one side highlighted. These are the ones you should focus on next. Put them into an Anki deck (or preferred flash card system) and learn them as a pair. Perhaps have one side with the Japanese + Reading + Meaning of one word, then the antonym Japanese + Reading + Meaning on the other. Remember, the point is to create associations. This group of words will be the most important and the easiest to learn. It is also the most effective part of this exercise.

After you’ve done that, it’s time to look at the ones you don’t know at all. Don’t worry about them. Come back to this list often to see what new words you’ve learned, then learn the other-side pair that will complete the set. This works best when you know one side already, not as well when you have to learn both sides of a pair at the same time.

Alright, have fun going through this list! I think you’ll know more than you think you know. If you’re having trouble reading things, use something like rikaichan/rikaikun to get the readings and meanings of things you don’t know.

あいうえお

会う (To Meet)　⇔　別れる (To Separate)
明るい (Light)　⇔　暗い (Dark)
悪 (Evil)　⇔　善 (Good)　… I’m going to stop translating here, good luck!
上げ　⇔　下げ
暑い　⇔　寒い
厚い　⇔　薄い
暖かい　⇔　寒い、冷たい
新しい　⇔　古い
あなた　⇔　私
甘い　⇔　辛い、苦い
余る　⇔　足りない
有る　⇔　無い
洗う　⇔　汚す
安心　⇔　心配、不安
安全　⇔　危険
安楽　⇔　苦労
いい　⇔　悪い
いいえ　⇔　はい
生かす　⇔　殺す
以下　⇔　以上
意外　⇔　当然
行き　⇔　帰り
生きる　⇔　死ぬ
医者　⇔　患者
忙しい　⇔　暇
以内　⇔　以外
入れる　⇔　出す
上　⇔　下
うるさい　⇔　しずか
氏　⇔　名
嘘　⇔　本当、拾
失う　⇔　得る
うまい　⇔　まずい
うまい　⇔　下手
憂い　⇔　喜び
嬉しい　⇔　悲しい
男　⇔　女
王子　⇔　王女
押す　⇔　引く
遅い　⇔　早い、速い
大人　⇔　子供
大きい　⇔　小さい
多い　⇔　少ない
重い　⇔　軽い
美味しい　⇔　まずい
音読み　⇔　訓読み

かきくけこ

開始　⇔　終了
借りる　⇔　貸す
可燃　⇔　不燃
簡単　⇔　複雑
北　⇔　南
義務　⇔　権利
休日　⇔　平日
昨日　⇔　明日
着る　⇔　脱ぐ
巨大　⇔　微小
嫌う　⇔　好む
黒　⇔　白
空車　⇔　実車
具体　⇔　中傷
下がる　⇔　上がる
苦しみ　⇔　楽しみ
軍人　⇔　文民
訓読み　⇔　音読み
現在　⇔　過去
現在　⇔　未来
現実　⇔　理想
個人　⇔　社会
困難　⇔　容易
子　⇔　親
混乱　⇔　整頓、秩序、統一

さしすせそ

最初　⇔　最後
最古　⇔　最新
最高　⇔　最低
最大　⇔　最下
最良　⇔　最悪
栄える　⇔　衰える
左右　⇔　前後
参加　⇔　不参加
私　⇔　公
事実　⇔　虚構
自然　⇔　人
質問　⇔　解答、回答
市内　⇔　市外
自動　⇔　他動
弱者　⇔　強者
自由　⇔　専制、束縛、籐製
集中　⇔　散漫、分散
収入　⇔　支出
出発　⇔　到着
女性　⇔　男性
信用　⇔　不振
深夜　⇔　白昼
好き　⇔　嫌い
鋭い　⇔　鈍い
すべすべ　⇔　ざらざら
正確　⇔　不正確
正義　⇔　不義
精神　⇔　肉体
絶望　⇔　希望
全体　⇔　部分
全部　⇔　一部
前回　⇔　次回
善良　⇔　不良
増　⇔　減
続行　⇔　中止
外側　⇔　内

たちつてと

大量　⇔　少量
他人　⇔　自分
立つ　⇔　座る
父　⇔　母
父親　⇔　母親
地下　⇔　地上
着席　⇔　起立
中古　⇔　新品
つかむ　⇔　離す
着く　⇔　発つ
付く　⇔　取れる
妻　⇔　夫
強い　⇔　弱い
手　⇔　足
天　⇔　地
出口　⇔　入り口
天国　⇔　地獄
天使　⇔　悪魔
伝統　⇔　確信
得　⇔　損
時々　⇔　度々
特別　⇔　普通
年上　⇔　年下
取る　⇔　捨てる

なにぬねの

内　⇔　外
中　⇔　外
名前　⇔　苗字
苦手　⇔　得て、得意
入学　⇔　卒業
入金　⇔　出金
入社　⇔　退社
抜く　⇔　刺す
脱ぐ　⇔　着る、履く、被る
濡れる　⇔　乾く
濃　⇔　淡
登る　⇔　沈む

はひふへほ

入る　⇔　出
働く　⇔　怠ける
恥じる　⇔　誇る
外れ　⇔　当たり
東　⇔　西
引く　⇔　足す
光　⇔　影、闇
低い　⇔　高い
否決　⇔　可決
必要　⇔　不要
広い　⇔　狭い
皮肉　⇔　世辞
否定　⇔　肯定
美徳　⇔　悪徳
開く　⇔　閉じる
非力　⇔　強力
増える　⇔　減る
部下　⇔　上司
深い　⇔　浅い
不可能　⇔　可能
プロ　⇔　アマ
不足　⇔　充足
不利　⇔　有利
別人　⇔　同人
別々　⇔　一緒
変人　⇔　常人
便利　⇔　不便

まみむめも

前　⇔　後ろ
マイナス　⇔　プラス
マクロ　⇔　ミクロ
負け　⇔　勝ち
真面目　⇔　不真面目
まだ　⇔　もう
真っ黒　⇔　真っ白
真っ赤　⇔　真っ青
学ぶ　⇔　教える
迷う　⇔　悟る
丸　⇔　角
◯　⇔　×
未　⇔　既
見合い結婚　⇔　恋愛結婚
見上げる　⇔　見下ろす
見失う　⇔　見つける
右　⇔　左
南　⇔　北
右手　⇔　左手
短い　⇔　長い
未成年　⇔　青年
昔　⇔　今
無知　⇔　博識
無理　⇔　道理
無料　⇔　有料
息子　⇔　娘
明　⇔　暗
明確　⇔　曖昧
明色　⇔　暗色
メンタル　⇔　フィジカル
設ける　⇔　廃する
申し込む　⇔　受け付ける
目的　⇔　手段
モダン　⇔　クラシック
戻る　⇔　行く

やゆよ

山　⇔　谷、野、海
八重　⇔　一重
安い　⇔　高い
訳文　⇔　原文
約束　⇔　解約
安物　⇔　上物
勇敢　⇔　臆病
有形　⇔　無形
友好　⇔　敵対
有税　⇔　無税
有徳　⇔　不徳
有毒　⇔　無毒
有名　⇔　無名
有力　⇔　無力
夜　⇔　昼
洋語　⇔　和語
夜中　⇔　日中
理性　⇔　感情
利息　⇔　元金
良妻　⇔　悪妻
両手　⇔　片手
良友　⇔　悪友
良質　⇔　悪質

らりるれろわ

留守　⇔　在宅
冷凍　⇔　解答
連続　⇔　断続、単発
朗報　⇔　悲報
ロー　⇔　ハイ
老爺　⇔　老婆
ロング　⇔　ショート
Y軸　⇔　X軸
和語　⇔　漢語
若人　⇔　老人
和式　⇔　様式
和室　⇔　洋室
和書　⇔　洋書
和食　⇔　洋食
和風　⇔　洋風
和服　⇔　洋服
和本　⇔　洋本
ワイフ　⇔　ハズバンド
笑う　⇔　泣く
悪い　⇔　良い
我　⇔　彼
ワースト　⇔　ベスト

More That You Can Learn From Japanese Antonyms

When you go through these, there are a couple of patterns that become really apparent. There are some obvious ones, like how when you see a 不 or 無, it’s likely to mean the opposite of whatever comes after the 不 or 無. Then there are other kanji that act in a similar way as well, like how 悪 will refer to bad things, and oftentimes the counterpart will be 良 or 善, though the kanji that comes after will remain the same. Studying in opposites will help you to discover patterns like these, and these patterns will help you to make associations, which will help you to learn vocabulary more easily and effectively over the long term.

Studying these hantaigo/taigigo also give you some insight as to what actually are opposites in Japanese. For example, the opposite of “Japan” (or 和, there’s a whole crazy history on how this kanji came to represent Japan, if you’re interested) is 洋, which represents “the West.” That being said, occasionally the opposite of 和 will be 漢, which represents China. It’s interesting to see what words use what antonym kanji, depending on the word.

You’ll also find that you will begin to learn opposite kanji. While the above are words or things you stick onto words, the more you look at vocab this way the more you’ll notice that kanji will have common counterparts as well. Even if you don’t know a word all the way, when you see the 有 kanji, you’ll know that you “have” something, and the opposite is probably going be 無, where you don’t have something. This list goes on and on, and the only way to understand it is to experience a lot of vocabulary. The more you know, the easier things will get.

And, of course, beyond the patterns there is a lot more to learn as well. If a useful word has an antonym, it will surely be useful too, even if it’s not as useful as its counterpart. Dogs can’t go without cats, and boys can’t go without girls. Just imagine if you learned only half of those at a time. How much easier would it be if you learned those pairs together? At least 1.5x easier, I’d say.

As I mentioned before, there are plenty of Japanese resources on hantaigo and taigigo. Here are some of the ones I looked at in order to put this list together:

• Hantaigo Jiten
• Hantaigo Database

Be sure to go beyond the list I provided, as it is just me going through thousands of hantaigo and picking out the ones that seemed useful. The list provided here is a start, but the rabbit hole does go much, much deeper should you wish it to do so.

I started watching the American TV show New Girl this week and while I really enjoy the characters, zany antics, and comical situations (you should probably check it out if you haven’t, it’s a good show) it also made me think about how co-ed roommates are viewed in today’s society. In the show New Girl, four people live together in one apartment. Three males, one female – and none of them are romantically involved with one another. This isn’t really a big deal in America and most Western countries, but how would such a scenario be viewed in Japan?

Platonic Male-Female Roomies

Around the time you get to college, it’s not that unusual for men and women to live together platonically under the same roof. I know a lot of people who’ve had an arrangement like this, and one of my friend’s sisters even lived with us at our house in college for one summer. While it’s definitely not the norm, most of the time nobody really thinks much of it unless there’s some funny business going on, they’re really old fashioned, or are a jealous boyfriend/girlfriend with trust issues.

And then there’s Japan. They don’t feel the same way about this as we Americans do. Aside from most Japanese apartments being relatively small (i.e. not much personal space) many Japanese parents are very protective of their children, especially the women, and would not be happy at all with their daughter living with a man before marriage, regardless if they were involved romantically.

“We’re just friends, I swear.”

Even if you are living with a purely platonic opposite sex roommate, good luck convincing everyone else that you aren’t actually involved somehow. Some Japanese people hard-set in their male-female relation views jump to conclusions way too fast and can’t believe that men and women can be just friends. While browsing some forums on this topic (link, link), I came across the following guy talking about his own experience in Japan.

I was showing my portfolio to a prospective client earlier today and I was commenting on a maintenance video that I made. There is a picture on the cover depicting me discussing the machine with a young woman, to which the client piped up, “Is that your wife?” I answered that it wasn’t, to which he responded, “Are you having an affair?!”

The guy claims it’s apparently much worse in the countryside, but this is just one person’s experience. Plus the post was from about 7 years ago. Regardless, this seems to be a very different view on things than it is in the West, but I’d imagine this view is mostly held by the older generation.

Living Together Before Marriage

And then on the other side of the spectrum, we have males and females living together non-platonically. Lovers, boy/girlfriends, or fiancés. In America at least, I feel like it’s becoming more of a “prerequisite” for couples to live together before they get married just to make sure they can stand being around one another all the time and would survive living together if and when they get married. Sometimes it’s even encouraged for couples to “test the waters” this way. In Japan, this is not the case.

Living together before you’re married in Japan seems to be pretty rare. Many people live with their parents, alone, or with same sex roommates. If Japanese couples are living together, it wouldn’t be too strange for them to keep it secret from their family and judgmental acquaintances. Many older Japanese people and those who are old fashioned would say that if you want to live together, you should just get married because it’s the right and proper thing to do. Living together before marriage can be viewed as indecent.

If you do live with your significant other, there’s a good chance you will incur at least one of the following: general scorn, an endless stream of “When’s the wedding?”, or other related wedding questions. Regardless if people view your living arrangement as improper, they’ll most likely assume it’s a stepping stone towards marriage and in their eyes and they’d prefer to see it happen sooner than later.

I asked some of my friends living in Japan what their personal experiences were with this and what they have noticed first hand. Here’s what they had to say.

I think there are so many young people in Japan who still live at home with their parents, and they only move out when they get married. None of my friends or Japanese people I know are living with someone of the opposite sex unless they’re married. I know one guy living with his girlfriend, but he’s American and she’s Japanese so I don’t know if that counts.

I have a Canadian friend whose Japanese girlfriend basically lives at his house but still retains her own residence.

Most of my Japanese friends said that it wasn’t strange for couples who are planning on getting married to live together, but some of the older generation may look down on it. They also said that it is still kinda strange for just friends of the opposite sex to live together, especially in the countryside. However, home shares are becoming more popular, and there is more attention being brought to opposite sex roommates through dramas and movies, etc. but it’s still pretty irregular and overall people think it’s strange.

But as they say, times are changing, and in cities at least, living together before marriage might be moving towards being not so strange as it once was especially with the younger generation being desensitized to it all through dramas and movies and such. It also really depends on the location, the families, and whether or not a foreigner is involved.

While living together before marriage is not quite as rare as it used to be in Japan, it’s still much less common than it is in the West. It used to be uncommon in the West too, but since then, it’s become much more acceptable. Will the same happen for Japan? Only time will tell.

So what are your thoughts on males and females living together, platonic or otherwise? Do you think that Japan will eventually become more accepting of this practice like the West is? Have any firsthand experience with cohabitation in Japan? Let us know in the comments!

Every Sunday we gather the week’s weird and interesting Japanese news and present it to you in our Sunday News column. It might not always be hard-hitting news, but we hope that it still informs and entertains you. Enjoy!

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