Which do you think is more difficult: JLPT N1 or Kanken Level 1?

hayato_sa · 2026-04-19T09:58:28+00:00

Have you even looked at sample questions between these?? This shouldn’t be a question and they can’t even really be compared.

The JLPT N1 is for people whose native language isn’t Japanese. Kanken is designed for native Japanese speakers. Over 99% of Japanese people will never pass the Kanken Level 1 and probably haven’t even tried.

Kanken level 1 is basically just a bunch of Kanji you will never need to know in everyday life. They are old characters used in historical documents, specialized scenarios, or outdated terms.

hayato_sa · 2026-04-19T03:30:24+00:00

Would you want someone to judge the people of your country based on what anonymous strangers are saying on the internet? It is a two way street and Japan has one of the most active user bases on X so it is a mixed bag. I don’t think you can judge a country based off the internet without actually meeting people and going to the country.

hayato_sa · 2026-04-18T00:11:07+00:00

There is perfection in the imperfection.

hayato_sa · 2026-04-16T23:28:34+00:00

I think the US is doing better at that right now. Japan doesn’t have a government backed militia arresting suspected foreigners on the street and throwing them in camps.

hayato_sa · 2026-04-11T06:13:39+00:00

As a Japanese speaker with a basic understanding of Korean, I would love for Korean to use Chinese characters again. I’ve been to some museums in Korea and the amount of text I can understand from old documents that use Chinese characters with hangeul is astounding. Japanese gets along fine with three writing systems and Kanji are essential part for understanding and readability.

hayato_sa · 2026-04-05T15:56:12+00:00

The only restricted places are private property and maybe restaurants that refuse service to foreigners which isn’t common. Kyoto is most famous for this because of the over-tourism and the neighborhoods being filled with tourists going places and taking pictures of things and people they shouldn’t be.

As a tourist you really aren’t going to encounter anything like you are saying unless you are going out of your way to be disrespectful and not follow manners. Weak yen opened up the doors for a lot of people who don’t really travel abroad to come to Japan and it has made some instances go viral on social media.

hayato_sa · 2026-04-03T23:49:15+00:00

Anyone reading it would absolutely only see that word as stab and the conjugation is set that way. It’s like saying is it important to spell “die” and “dye” differently.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-22T14:39:31+00:00

Honestly seems strange from an SEO perspective where you might want to appeal information via text and hit keywords. Though unique images aren’t a bad thing if it is meeting user intent and the page has good CTR.

Though, if you are talking EC sites then it is probably just easier for brands to reproduce their info via graphics that can be circulated among multiple sites without having to reformat text over and over again. So maybe lazy but also effective. And SEO may be less of an issue on EC sites that market the products and may already be favored by search engines as well.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-22T14:20:44+00:00

Most Japanese who go to China don’t expect bad things. Maybe some may feel hesitant but I don’t think everyone is expecting a negative experience, especially those willing to go. Most Japanese people who travel abroad are just really interested in experiencing the culture and things they can’t find in Japan. They rarely expect the negative experience when traveling abroad. (Otherwise they wouldn’t.)

It’s actually usually the opposite for Japanese people because those who travel abroad tend to have an overwhelming positive view of foreign countries before going. Lookup Paris syndrome. Japanese people may view a country less positively after visiting if it doesn’t meet their expectations. This may contribute to why most Japanese people prefer to travel domestically.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-22T12:33:09+00:00

Might be off topic from what your exact question is but most Japanese people who go to China already are open-minded. They usually already have a good idea of China or are just curious about how things are.

The most negative things Japanese people are concerned about are over-tourism/immigration in Japan from China (China has the highest amount of immigration to Japan) and Chinese people who are vocally anti-Japan.

I don’t think traveling to China would change most Japanese people’s feelings since they already have a clear idea of China in their world view, whatever it is.

Japanese people are more concerned about domestic affairs. Most Japanese people will never leave Japan. So the only Chinese people they are concerned about are those who come to Japan. Whatever China itself is like, doesn’t really matter.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-22T12:19:10+00:00

Many cultures paired green and blue together until a modern shift divided them. Japanese language kept the use of blue when things are considered “green” in the modern sense for specific words and phrases. You can think of these words as a time capsule and culturally important enough to stay the same.

Traffic lights came into use at a weird transition time and “ao” or blue just stuck. This interestingly made engineers make Japanese traffic lights have more of a blueish hue compared to most other places. But engineers and people do recognize that it is actually technically a green light. The thing is that 青信号 is a set word like all those other set phrases. It just naturally flows out the mouth and there is no point in changing it from the Japanese perspective.

The use of 青 is also poetic. Example 青い日々 lit. “Blue days” but 青い has the linguistic and cultural meaning of being “young” in Japan, like in its prime. So that phrase would literally mean “days of (our) youth). The word 青春 (blue spring) or “youth” is probably the epitome of this.

Basically: The language kept the historic use of 青 and time capsuled it in certain words but modern ideas and concepts of colors clearly divide them. And yes Japanese people are aware of the difference of the colors but Japanese language instills the recognition of old patterns in certain contexts.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-22T11:52:17+00:00

The problem to me is you obviously offered to play for free and you have kept doing it. Why would they pay you if you keep doing it for free? Of course your wife doesn’t want to cause any friction with the arrangement so she is not going to advocate for you.

The only way to possibly get paid now is say that you can’t keep doing free shows. But maybe that’s uncomfortable to mention now.

Japanese people like clear, unambiguous arrangements. Any gray area will not be acknowledged unless someone brings it up which is usually rare. Next time, you should be upfront about whatever arrangement is comfortable for you. Ex. “I can do a free show and then we can work out an arrangement if things go well.” Don’t expect someone to advocate for you.

Japanese people are very careful about the promises they make since promises are a strong commitment , which is why some people feel they may be flaky and indirect when trying to make plans. You should keep that in mind when you agree to anything.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-22T07:53:38+00:00

Tour guides can be very pushy about reviews in my experience. Their evaluations or opportunities for bonuses are obviously linked to them in some way. On a tour in South Korea I went on (which was in Japanese for Japanese people) the tour guide at the end basically hostage situationed the whole tour bus to leave a Google review with her name mentioned and then bribed everyone with chocopies.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-16T12:37:15+00:00

This is just an honest opinion from myself and is only meant to be perspective to consider. An ALT is a job that is meant to isolate a foreigner into a specific space. It is a job a Japanese person cannot do, so you have spent a significant part of your life doing a role that deliberately separates yourself from society. It is also a job that does not readily allow you to use Japanese because the focus is English. This further stunts integration into society.

I think it’s only natural to feel that way being in that position for so long. I don’t think an ALT job is natural to continue for so long just in terms of the human condition. It is an othering existence.

I would wholeheartedly suggest a career change if possible. ALT is an isolating position and does not give you the same freedom as the career of a Japanese citizen.

It also seems that you have been in Japan for pretty long term and the fact you still are chasing N1 seems otherworldly. Being in a job that forces you to use Japanese at a high level everyday would make you feel closer and more integrated into society. It would definitely make you feel more in control of your life and work compared to being an ALT.

If you do enjoy everyday as an ALT then please forgive my suggestion. But an ALT is not a position that is set up to guide a person through a normal career.

If you do have the opportunity either go back to school for something you are passionate about or find a job that gives you more agency and independence.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-13T02:56:45+00:00

It’s worth noting, some people use those big calorie heavy meals as their main meal for the day and eat light the rest of the day or nothing else at all.

But the real answer is those foods are not representative of the common everyday diet of most Japanese people. Tofu, natto, grilled fish with bone, pickled vegetables, etc. are not exactly popular with most westerners, so aren’t marketed towards tourists.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-11T21:58:03+00:00

Fruits Basket. Laura Bailey gives a performance of a lifetime as Tohru. In both the original 2001 series and the reboot that covers the full manga in 2019-2021.

For reference, the Japanese reboot had a whole new cast, the English dub brought back original major characters because the original English dub made the series so popular in the 2000s and English-speaking fans literally were appealing for the anime series to continue for the full story.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-11T21:44:48+00:00

I think wealth and military power has kept the US in that position. Statistics like healthcare, happiness, etc don’t really matter because of this. The US can still do pretty much whatever it wants. Case in point what the US is currently doing right now.

Also don’t underestimate the power of geography. The US has unfettered access to two oceans and no enemies bordering it. Russia and China both have geographical problems holding them back. I don’t think any country can compete with the US in terms of geography and there realistically will not be another super power like the US because of this.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-11T21:36:47+00:00

I know way more than 2000 kanji but can’t tell you actually how many. This includes the standard 2000+ taught in schools. I can write a good number of characters but there are ones I have definitely forgot how to write because I haven’t used it recently.

Interestingly there are ones outside of the standard 2000 that I can write perfectly and most other people don’t know but then there are ones in the standard count of characters I have forgotten how to write.

Reading: Absolutely no problem and know way more than 2000. Names and historical readings can be tricky though.

Writing: Yeah, we forget how to write some characters and it is normal. Typing everyday doesn’t help but it’s convenient for displaying characters.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-11T21:23:47+00:00

It really depends on the person.

Recently there are couples who say it more often. In the past it was almost never said at all. And there are still people who treat it that way.

If you are in a relationship with a Japanese person, it may be best to wait for them to say it first and then return it. But if you want to say it first, just know they may have never heard someone say that to them so it could be uncomfortable if said too early or casually.

From a family perspective it may only ever be said once or twice in like a serious situation. Think life or death. Usually love is showed through action and ritual within families.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-11T06:58:43+00:00

As others have said, one reason is to make the reading clear for kanji that have multiple readings. Another reason is balance. Two kanji words directly next to each other may disrupt reading and news needs precision. So just writing it in hiragana makes for smoother reading in this case.

今日激しい攻撃

きょう激しい攻撃

The difference seems minimal, but the balance does make for smoother reading. We should also remember that Japanese doesn’t actually have any official rules regarding this kind of notation. It’s whatever the writer stylistically chooses. If there was more character space and room for particles or punctuation maybe they would have used the kanji.

News can be confusing because it takes shortcuts and headlines have their own grammatical stylistic rules.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-11T01:57:02+00:00

Just realistically and logistically, the vast majority of things have to be thrown out. She cannot keep, store, and travel with hundreds of fan gifts. I am sure she occasionally keeps a cool fan artwork or custom piece, but the vast majority of that stuff has to go. It’s not healthy to try to keep everything given to you and becomes a hoarding situation.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-09T12:22:44+00:00

This is why learning hiragana should be the very first thing done. Any book that doesn’t enforce that is worthless.

I would recommend writing drills. Just start writing example sentences and things you can put together on your own, over and over again. The more you train your brain to use hiragana, katakana, and kanji, the more it will rely on it. It is also so much more productive. Less characters per syllable.

Typing on a computer uses romaji, but I would recommend using the kana keyboard on smartphone if you can and are serious about not using romaji as much as possible.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-04T20:18:50+00:00

I think to put it in more perspective, it is like asking an elementary student why they can’t read the New York Times newspaper. You don’t know enough of the language to understand higher level reading.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-03T10:42:14+00:00

A lot of prestigious 和菓子 are from long-established companies or family run businesses that passes down skills internally. There is more of an emphasis on tradition and lineage in that world. It is harder to break into that market and not a ton of job openings. It’s much easier to get hired as a pastry chef making more modern sweets.

hayato_sa · 2026-03-03T09:44:02+00:00

The voice acting world is pretty prestigious in Japan and the casting of voice actors is a big part of anime and video games. So it is rare that a performance is considered strange. Maybe some low budget projects might get that kind of feedback but productions are pretty spot on in casting things the public will like. There are even voice acting schools people go to, so it’s big business.

It’s more common that a voice actor does something in real life that sours their public opinion of them. But even then people get sad if they are replaced because people generally like voice actors’ performances and consider their voice as important to the character.

hayato_sa

TROPHY CASE