Hiroko America

Hiroko was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. While in Tokyo, she worked at a language school and as a tour guide. She moved to the U.S. with her boyfriend in 2003 and got married (yes, many people love her last name!). She has two sons and a Toy Australian Shepherd. Hiroko enjoys volunteering at her son’s school, origami, and teaching Japanese culture. She also loves ryokan, watching Warriors NBA games, the Bachelor/Bachelorette, hiking, and reading novels in English and Japanese.

Pieces of paper on a desk that have Japanese kanji characters written on them with a brush and black ink. On top of these papers is a red notebook in the center on the image and a Japanese notebook for practicing writing characters is on top of it.

Award-Winning Japanese Words You Should Know

November 6, 2022August 23, 2022 by Hiroko America

The “buzzwords award” started in Japan in 1984, and since then, the “words of the year” get announced at the end of each year. Most words are fads, but some words have become a part of Japanese vocabulary. 1. 激辛 (Gekikara) – 1986: Extremely Spicy 激 (geki) means very/extremely. 辛い (karai) means hot/spicy. This word … Read more