マンション — manshon
Your Japanese colleague casually mentions she lives in a mansion. She has 42 square metres, one bedroom and a washing machine…
Read →ハイテンション — hai tenshon
In English, "high tension" means somebody is about to throw a chair. In Japanese it means somebody has had two coffees and is…
Read →コンセント — konsento
You will ask, in English, where the consent is. There will be a pause. That pause is the sound of an entire language shift…
Read →サービス — saabisu
A plate arrives that you did not order. The owner says one word. That word means you are not paying for it.
Read →クレーム — kureemu
"We received a claim from a customer" does not mean insurance paperwork. It means somebody shouted at a 19-year-old for eleven…
Read →ナイーブ — naiibu
In English it means gullible and slightly stupid. In Japanese it means fragile and worth protecting. Same word, opposite…
Read →スキンシップ — sukinshippu
It is not a word in English, it sounds like it should be illegal, and it means hugging your kids.
Read →ワンピース — wanpiisu
"I got a new one piece for the wedding." Three different English speakers picture three different garments, and all three are…
Read →ファイト — faito
Shouted at exam candidates, marathon runners and people carrying heavy boxes. It is encouragement. It has never once been an…
Read →マイペース — mai peesu
Being called "my pace" in Japan is either the nicest thing anyone will say about you, or an extremely gentle warning to your…
Read →Hang on — the rest of this site is in Japanese?
It is. JAPAN NOW is the English corner of 英会話学習ラボ, a site that teaches English to Japanese learners. Which means the other 600 pages are the exact mirror of this one: what Japanese people find impossible about your language, what they are taught, and where the misunderstandings actually begin. If this page was fun, that is the other half of the same joke.
Look at the Japanese side