Origin of “Sato,” Japan’s No. 1 surname
by Philbert Ono, updated: June 17, 2023 “Sato” (佐藤) is Japan’s No. 1 most common family name with about 1.8 million people named “Sato.” This translates to 1.5 percent of…
Origin of “Suzuki,” Japan’s No. 2 surname
by Philbert Ono, updated Dec. 15, 2024 “Suzuki” (鈴木) is Japan’s No. 2 most common family name, right behind “Sato.” The name’s meaning is very puzzling because the meaning of…
Japanese family names illustrated
by Philbert Ono, updated: Dec. 19, 2023 Most of us don’t usually think about it, but many Japanese family names contain beautiful imagery reflecting Japan’s natural beauty, rural scenery, agrarian…
Musical: The Dream of John Manjiro
“The Dream of John Manjiro” or John Manjirō no Yume (ジョン万次郎の夢) is the title of a Japanese musical being staged in Japan nationwide from March 2023 to March 2024 by…
Coronavirus/Pandemic Japanese Vocabulary
For people studying Japanese or English, here’s a Japanese vocabulary list and basic phrases we often hear in Japan for COVID-19. This list might help healthcare workers and patients in…
Earthquake information in Japan
When an earthquake in Japan is reported overseas, the problem is that they only report the magnitude of the epicenter (usually offshore). They don’t usually report the magnitude in the…
Japan compared to US East Coast
I made this to compare Japan with the US East Coast. Area-wise, Japan is about the same as Montana. But as you can see, it is very spread out, making…
The Toilet Goddess song
The song, Toire no Kamisama (The Toilet God or more accurately, The Toilet Goddess トイレの神様) sung by Uemura Kana (植村花奈) is back at No. 1 on the music charts in…
Supermodel Sayoko Yamaguchi dies
I was shocked and saddened to hear that Japan’s one and only super fashion model, Sayoko Yamaguchi, died of acute pneumonia on Aug. 14, 2007. She was 57. She was…
Tanaka Kio, Nagasaki bomb survivor dies
One of the most iconic images of the Nagasaki atom bomb was of a young mother breastfeeding her dying child as they wait for emergency treatment on the day after…