Kibi no Iro – Episode 7 Unspoken Consideration: The Art of Communication in the Margins In Japanese conversations, people often show care through silence and subtle cues. Silence, facial expressions, and pauses—these nonverbal cues play a central role in expressing…
Episode 6: Reading the Unspoken – The Japanese Sense of “Ma” In Japanese culture, “Ma” (間) refers to the subtle sense of space, pause, or timing between things. It’s the silence between words, the stillness between actions, and the breath…
Episode 5: Unspoken Kindness — Quiet Care in Japanese Culture In Japanese culture, there is a deep-rooted tradition of unspoken kindness — caring that is not expressed through words. For example, instead of asking someone “Are you okay?” directly, one…
Episode 4: Harmony as a Guiding Principle — The Japanese Spirit of Wa The phrase “Wa wo motte toutoshi to nasu” — “Harmony is to be valued” — is well-known in Japan as a saying attributed to Prince Shōtoku. Though…
Episode 3: The Subtle Art of Reading the Air — Japan’s Culture of “Sassuru” In Japan, “sassuru” — the act of sensing or guessing someone’s feelings without them saying a word — is often considered a virtue. Phrases like “reading…
Why Japanese Writing Systems Are So Unique Japanese writing systems — including hiragana, katakana, and kanji — often surprise new learners. Unlike English, which uses only 26 letters, Japanese has hundreds of characters. It can feel like a jungle at…
What is “Kibi”? – The Untranslatable Nuance of Japanese Language When Japanese people hear the word “kibi” (機微), they often pause and tilt their heads. It’s not a word commonly used in daily conversation, yet it evokes a subtle familiarity—a…
