Words October 2026 Week 3

Mugwort manju, a.k.a. kusa manju or yomogi manju, is often sold as a local specialty in scenic or mountainous areas like Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture, such as Chichibu Nakamuraya. (I heard that it is yummy.)

The facial mudpack makes the skin smooth. (Tsuru Tsuru Onsen supposedly makes your whole body smooth.)

He cooked for himself when he was single. (He visited a friend’s vacation house to play mahjong with three old friends, and they all took turns cooking.)

A Japanese mini towel is also called a handkerchief towel. (She bought a few of them at the Hotman biannual sale.)

I had a sinus infection. (Up to 80% of what you perceive as "flavor" actually comes from your sense of smell so she couldn’t taste her food well.)

We visited an antique military plane museum. (This was during his vacation in Australia.)

A pit is a hole in the ground and cock fights were held in cockpits. (There is also an orchestra pit, armpit, and racecar drivers sit in cockpits.)

There are about 7 peas in a pod. (A pod is a type of container.)

He devoted himself to playing tennis for 19 years. (Nishikori recently retired.)

The phrase "carry the load" is an idiom that means to take on the majority of the work, responsibility, financial burden, or emotional strain in a situation. (My husband carried the load concerning our finances.)

Our home mortgage was eighty-thousand yen a month. (A mortgage is the money you pay a bank for the money you borrowed to buy a house. BTW, the “t” in mortgage is silent.)

I use a bear bell on my bike to warn people I am behind them. (In Japan, bicycles are supposed to be ridden in the street unless it is unsafe to do so or if you are an elderly person.)

I cheered for them with great enthusiasm. (He attended his granddaughter’s sports day event.)

Many people were lined up before the shop opened. (A lot of people were waiting in line for the shop to open.)

Don’t do anything strenuous. (Don’t do any heavy lifting, long distance running, etc.)

I made a detour. (I took a different route to avoid congestion.)

The Japanese kamoshika, a.k.a. serow, is a Japanese goat-antelope. (It looks like a mix of these two animals.)

Antelopes belong to the Bovidae family, such as cattle, sheep, and goats. (I thought they were in the deer family.)

Racoons don’t hibernate. (They don’t sleep all winter like bears.)

To “chill” means to “relax.” (Japanese slang “chiru” come from English slang “to chill.”)

The average Japanese can’t afford to buy a condominium. (Many people think that the government should control the prices of condominiums.)

What is the difference between “to work hard” and “to hardly work”? (Working hard means putting in a lot of effort and hardly working means barely doing any work.)

Rhinoceros is “tameiki” in English. (Samui!)