For many language learners, proverbs or kotowaza (諺) as they are known in Japanese, are part and parcel of learning a language. In Japanese, these proverbs come in three forms: iinawarashi (言い習わし) which are short sayings, kanyouku (慣用句) which are idiomatic phrases and yojijukugo (四字熟語) which are four-character idioms. Whilst I’m sure many of us have heard of well-known … Continue reading Kotowaza: The Art of Mastering Japanese Proverbs