Journal · Editorial
The Tadorimichi Journal
Study notes, Japanese culture, and how we build the platform.
- Study notes 2026-07-11 · 8 min read
The 30-Day JLPT Final Sprint: Plug Holes, Drill Rhythm, Panic Less
The last 30 days aren't for cramming more — they're for plugging holes and drilling rhythm. A week-by-week sprint plan: audit weak spots → cycle mistakes → mock rhythm → final-week routine, built on spacing and retrieval practice.
- Study notes 2026-07-11 · 8 min read
How to Actually Practice JLPT Reading (Grinding Vocabulary Won't Save You)
Three thousand words drilled and you still can't follow a paragraph? Because reading tests structure and stance, not vocabulary size. The three shapes of a trap answer, the split between close reading and timed skimming, and how to arrange the final two weeks.
- Study notes 2026-07-11 · 9 min read
N1/N2 Look-Alike Grammar: Five Confusable Sets, Told Apart for Good
One Chinese word, three or four Japanese near-synonyms, all rendered identically by your dictionary. Five of the most-confused N1/N2 sets — obligation, inference, "as X," concession, "the moment" — pulled apart in contrast tables, with examples straight from the site's grammar library.
- Study notes 2026-07-11 · 8 min read
Transitive vs Intransitive Pairs: One Meaning, Two Verbs, a Pattern You Can Trust
Chinese uses one 開 for both "the door opened" and "I opened the door." Japanese splits it into 開く and 開ける. That gap trips up every Chinese speaker — but the pairs follow patterns, and the particles を / が give the answer away.
- Study notes 2026-07-11 · 7 min read
Phonetic Components: The On-Yomi Shortcut Built for Chinese Speakers
You do not have to brute-force Japanese on-yomi one kanji at a time. Most kanji are phono-semantic — the phonetic part predicts the reading, and Chinese speakers already carry that map. How to read the clue, with five crystal-clean families.
- Study notes 2026-07-11 · 7 min read
False Friends in Japanese: 14 Kanji Words That Trip Up Chinese Speakers
Shared kanji let Chinese speakers read half of Japanese for free — but false friends bite exactly when you feel most confident. Fourteen classic traps, what they really mean, and how to lock them in.