by Precious Molobye | Apr 26, 2025 | Language, Sub-Culture |
Photo by Owen Ishii. How well you can kuuki o yomu—空気を読む— or rather “read the air” is quite an important feat in your survival skills when living in Japan. As a South African, experiencing this enigma firsthand has been a challenge, but it has also been fun,...
by Harry Clynch | Apr 17, 2024 | Business |
The Japanese government has tried to capitalise on the power of the private sector to advance its foreign policy in Africa, but investors remain notoriously risk-averse. With Africa now the venue of increasingly high levels of geopolitical competition,...
by Emma Ruiters and Owen Ishii | Jan 5, 2024 | Food |
There are three South African restaurants in the Western Cape that are absolutely nailing the Japanese taste experience. Our two reviewers, Emma and Owen, both Japan-food enthusiasts who have travelled Japan far and wide in search of the best food, set their sights on...
by Emma Ruiters | Oct 31, 2022 | Other |
Former MSc in Japanese Studies student Emma Ruiters publishes another article on Japan-Africa. My strange and sometimes wholly disparate loves. Trying to bridge South Africa and Japan, and increasingly looking at other African countries, has been my strange...
by Emma Ruiters | Dec 20, 2021 | Language |
When I first started learning Japanese, I read a few ‘hot take’ articles by casual learners who had advised that one should not or need not learn kanji to become fluent in Japanese. At the time, I scoffed; and, to be honest, now that I have been learning Japanese for...
