Tofugu: This blog is probably the first I ever followed and one of my all-time favorites! A lot of you guys probably know about it too. The main writer, Koichi, is very active in the online Japanese blogging community and at the educational website EduFire (which I’ll probably talk about in a different post). He’s a great teacher of Japanese and very entertaining as well!
Blog: http://www.tofugu.com/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/tofugu
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tofugu
Gakuranman: Another big name in the jblogger community. I originally took a Japanese class from him on Edufire – his Japanese is very good, and he is a really great teacher! His blog is funny and enlightening, and from my understanding he’s living in Japan right now, so he has a lot to offer.
Blog: http://gakuranman.com/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/thegakuranman
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gakuranman
Jason Harris: If you’re interested in the JET program (which provides the opportunity of teaching English in Japan), then this is definitely the guy to go to. Jason was in JET for five years, living in the rural Japanese city of Shimane, so he has so much to offer on the program and the experience of living in Japan. He’s very active on youtube, so do try to check him out there.
Blog: http://jasoninjapan.blogspot.com/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/myargonauts
Twitter (JET-related): http://twitter.com/JapanJET
Twitter (Personal): http://twitter.com/TaishaJason
All Japanese All the Time: If you’re learning Japanese, or any language for that matter, definitely check out this website. It was created by a guy going by Kazhumoto who became fluent in Japanese in 18 months. He has so many articles on how he did it, and there are so many great tips to pull from it. Plus his writing is really great and humorous to boot. In the links I also included a really nice page that summarizes Kazhumoto’s tactic to learning a language.
Blog: http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ajatt
Summary page: http://jouzu.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/japanese/
An Englishman in Osaka: This one I follow just for kicks. Relatively frequently updated with series of comical pictured comments – an amusing, witty blog.
Blog: http://anenglishmaninosaka.blogspot.com/
Hikosaemon: This is also a pretty big name in the J-blogger community, and I have to say, I’m very impressed with his videos. He’s lived in Japan for about ten years from my understanding, but I still think his fluency is incredible, and he has a lot to offer about his perspective on living there. Also, all of his videos are subtitled both in Japanese and in English, which is really great.
Blog: http://hikosaemon.blogspot.com/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Hikosaemon
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hikosaemon
The Nihon Sun: “Japan’s Online Culture & Travel Magazine.” A blog with a stream of posts concerning Japanese culture – about certain festivals, places, customs, etc. Sooo much interesting material here.
Blog: http://www.nihonsun.com/
Nihongo Notes: A useful blog by a guy learning Japanese himself, so he continuously offers great tips to learning Japanese. Similar to Kazhumoto’s site, although maybe not quite as intense? (^^;) Good stuff!
Blog: http://www.nihongonotes.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/chrisgaunt
Rainbowhill Language Lab: Yet another great site with really useful tips on learning Japanese, as well as discussions on culture. He offers lessons on Edufire and has topics like specific study tips for the JLPT test and whatnot which are very useful. He is also really friendly and I’ve had nice conversation with him, so he can definitely help you in your Japanese studies.
Blog: http://rainbowhill.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/rainbowhill
There you have it for, check these people out! I’ll probably make a similar post soon, there are just so many great blogs out there (^^) If you know of any awesome blogs I should look at or have one yourself, please don’t hesitate to tell me about them in the comments~!
