HIRAGANA Version

ROMAJI Version

* Required software (free): Adobe Acrobat Reader

What is this?

This is a “cheat sheet” for the Japanese language. It is an attempt to condense and organize as many of the basic elements of the language onto one sheet of paper as possible.

How do I use it?

The intended use of this document is for you to download it, print it on two sides of one sheet of paper and keep it wherever you need it (in your Japanese textbook, on your desk, in your pocket, etc).

It’s possible to keep the cheat sheet on your computer, but it won’t be anywhere near as handy or portable as a printed version, and you’ll need to do quite a bit of scrolling and zooming because of the small font size.

What information is inside?

Page 1

• Formal (polite) verb forms
• Informal verb forms
• Neutral verb forms
• Verb conjugation guide for U-Verbs, RU-Verbs and the irregulars (suru, kuru)
• Hiragana chart
• Katakana chart
• Kanji chart listing all JLPT N5 (previously: Level 4) kanji.
• Chart of the forms of de aru (desu)
• Adjective/Adverbs usage chart

Page 2

• Core particles: は, が, を, に, と, で, も, か, へ, の, や (wa, ga, o, ni, to, de, mo, ka, e, no, ya)
  • Usage points
  • Example sentences color coded for easy vocabulary tracking
• Assisting particles: だけ, しか, ほど, より, でも, くらい, ばかり, から, まで (dake, shika, hodo, yori, demo, kurai, bakari, kara, made)
  • Example sentences color coded for easy vocabulary tracking
• Common grammatical words and patterns
  • Example sentences color coded for easy vocabulary tracking
• Verbs for giving and receiving
• A small space to add a couple small written notes of your own

Who is this for?

This document will be most useful for beginner to intermediate Japanese learners. A beginner will find the document to be more of a roadmap to what information they should study next and how it fits into the “bigger picture,” and an intermediate Japanese learner get more use with this document as a reference for review.

Why are there four versions?

There are four versions of the file in order to accommodate for users in different parts of the world (North America uses different paper sizes from the rest of the world), and to provide users with a choice regarding how Japanese text is written: using the Japanese hiragana script, or using romaji (phonetic representation in the western alphabet).

What this document is NOT

This document is in no way intended to be a substitute for serious study and learning. Acquiring a human language with 2000+ years of history is a massive undertaking, and this cheat sheet provides only the bare minimum explanation for topics that have great depth.

Nor is this document a comprehensive overview of Japanese language. I’ve tried my best to include as much of the most useful and basic elements as possible, but to get this onto 1 sheet of paper, many things were omitted.

Changes from the old version

Aside from a complete, from-scratch graphical overhaul in Adobe Ilustrator (the old version was made in Microsoft Word), this new version contains updated and expanded information. Here is a pretty complete list of changes:

• “Polite” verbs forms is now more accurately called “Formal” forms, and the command form ～nasai has been moved into this category accordingly.
• Instead of marking forms that cannot be made into a verb with koto/no, noun-able forms are now marked.
• Added abrupt command forms in the informal category.
• In both the formal and informal categories, the causative form of kuru has been corrected to kosaseru, not koraseru
• Added to the neutral verb forms category: Even (if)…, To do too much…, To do… and so on, To seem to want to…
• The note about using verbs as nouns with koto or no is now in the footer.
• Added a note about potential rudeness with the word darou.
• Added a note about how desu/da changes when noun-ified.
• Changed the na-adjective noun form to the form without sa, since this is the more common method (note added)
• Added the continuous/combining form for na-adjectives.
• Changed the old explanation about easily confused i-adjectives to the true difference (the ~ei thing is just a shortcut, no i-adjectives end in ~ei but there are a few na-adjectives that end in い and are not preceeded by an e-line sound.). Added a couple commonly confused na-adjectives also.
• Added a note about the adjective ii, because it always conjugates as yoi.
• Made numerous changes to explanations and example sentences for the particles.
• Added the particle no.
• To the common grammatical words/structures section, added: ka mo shirenai and no you na/ni
• Removed tame from grammatical words section, to make room and because it was already mentioned in the informal verbs section on page 1.
• Added a note that kudasaru is typically used as kudasai.
• Added a small space for the learner to write a few notes of their own.

With this new cheat sheet, the old version is now a sad sight to behold, but it can be downloaded here (8.5×11) and here (A4).

OMG This is so awesome!!!!!

I think so too!!! That’s why I made it. If this document is helpful to you and you’d like to show your appreciation, please consider making a donation to Nihonshock. I’ll take whatever you feel like you can spare.

Oh, and don’t forget to retweet it, tell all your friends, link to Nihonshock on your blog (if you have one), follow me on Twitter and subscribe to the RSS feed!

Final word

Please comment and let me know what you think of the cheat sheet, if you notice any mistakes or if you have any suggestions for improvement. I’ll release minor updates to the cheat sheet whenever I get a new round of prints, but the next major update probably won’t be until next year.

Like many foreigners in Japan, my credit card’s billing address is in my home country (US), so I’m not able to access the Japanese app store. Well, not without some fiddling around, at least (check out Wide Island View’s article: How to access Japan-only apps for more info…). In any case I haven’t gotten around to trying to access the Japanese app store yet, so for this article I’ll keep things simple: all these apps can be downloaded from the US app store.

1. 乗換案内 (Norikae Annai)

Developer: Jorudan Co., Ltd.
Price: FREE
App Store: Get Norikae Annai at the iTunes store
uquery link: Norikae Annai

This one’s a no-brainer. Next to phone calls and email, finding train times is one of the most important functions that a mobile device in Japan needs to be able to execute. While on most traditional Japanese phones this is achieved by bookmarking the site, then visiting it whenever you need information, this iPhone application streamlines the process.

Screenshots

Note: Good train-finding services in Japan are only available in Japanese. This app is not an exception.

If you’re a traveler just visiting Tokyo for a few days, try the English-capable app Tokyo Underground for navigating around inner Tokyo (it’s more of a guide than a train finder). However I can’t offer any detailed opinion on it since I haven’t tried it (I don’t live in Tokyo).

2. QR コード (QR Code)

Developer: Ryo Shimizu
Price: FREE (Pay-version upgrade $0.99)
App Store: Get QR Code at the iTunes store
uquery link: QR コード

Japan has two mobile traditions that other countries have yet to really pick up on. One is infrared (赤外線) data transfer (for swapping contact information quickly) and the other is QR codes. While the iPhone doesn’t have infrared capabilities, you can get this app which will whip up a QR Code containing your contact information for someone with a traditional Japanese mobile phone to scan (don’t worry, Japanese mobile phones are light-years ahead of current iPhone apps for being able to successfully decode QRs).

While primarily useful for giving your contact information, you may also want to read some QR data from time to time and my experience (I’ve tried about 5 different apps) is that this app also offers the most reliable reader. See the screenshots below for proof that it works.

Screenshots

The paid version of this app offers you the ability to do stuff with the information read from a QR code. For example, if it reads someone’s contact info, you’ll have the option to add that to your address book… or if the QR code contains a web URL, you’ll be able to jump to the URL automatically. In the free version it just shows you the raw data. Since I use the app primarily to give my contact info to others, I haven’t upgraded yet.

3. 顔文字挿入 (FaceMail)

Developer: n1system ltd.
Price: FREE (Pay-version upgrade $3.99)
App Store: Get FaceMail Free at the iTunes store
uquery link: 顔文字挿入Free

＼(^o^)／ わぁいわぁい！！iPhoneで顔文字が使える～！
(゜∀゜)　え？何・・・？　(￣□￣;)!!　3.99ドル！！！高ぇ。
(●д●) 困っちゃうな・・・。

If you like to use Japanese kaomoji (faces made using various characters), then this is the app for you. You start drafting an email with this app and can insert various faces from different categories, and then either copy and paste them into another app or send your email draft with faces to your regular email app to finish.

Screenshots

You get access to some faces (such as the ones I used above) for free, but a much bigger selection with the pay version and you can even add your own custom faces. I really want this app but I’m not sure yet if I want it enough to pay $4 for it. Might wait for it to go on sale or something… hmmm…

4. らじおたっち (LadioTouch)

Developer: Kawauso.com
Price: FREE
App Store: Get LadioTouch at the iTunes store
uquery link: らじおたっち

It’s no Pandora but at least this Japanese internet radio app doesn’t give me any problems because of my region. (If anyone knows of a better Japanese internet radio app, please let me know)

Screenshots

I’m not an expert on internet radio so this comparison might be completely wrong… but the way it works reminds me of how shoutcast radio stations felt like 8 years ago or so. You can’t skip songs, and you might have to check through a few channels before you get a decent signal and something that is actually playing music rather than talk radio. Although on the other hand Japanese talk radio could be a good way to improve your Japanese…

I wonder if this app works outside Japan?

5. SkyBook

Developer: aill
Price: $3.99
App Store: Get SkyBook at the iTunes store
uquery link: SkyBook

What you say?! 7000 Japanese classic short stories and novels by authors like Akutagawa Ryuunosuke, Natsume Soseki, Dasai Osamu and Mori Ougai?! On iPhone?! YES, please!!

This app allows you to search and download from a huge collection of free (= copyright expired or copyright released by author) fiction and non-fiction titles at Japan’s Aozora Bunko (the 7000 titles are not automatically available to you for offline reading, you have to download them from within the app). But in fact what SkyBook does is not what sets it apart, as there are a number of apps that access the same collection in the same way (some for free). The beauty of this app is how well organized and presented it is. Books you download get placed on a nice slide-able bookshelf and you get great options for customizing your view (although I like the default settings best). Searching Aozora with SkyBook is also much less painstaking than with some of the other apps.

Screenshots

As a bonus tip, if you come across a word you don’t know or can’t read, touch it for two seconds to open up a search dialog for the word that goes to Goo’s dictionary (= the dictionary.com of Japan). You can look up the word quickly and then go right back to reading without ever closing the app, beautiful! This app is a must-have among must-haves for anyone with sufficient Japanese reading skill.

6. 大辞林 (Daijirin)

Developer: MONOKAKIDO Co., Ltd.
Price: $21.99
App Store: Get Daijirin at the iTunes store
uquery link: 大辞林

This app gives me an otaku-gasm every time I open it. For those of you who don’t know… Daijirin is kind of like the Webster’s or the Oxford dictionary of Japanese; it is arguably the single-most defining modern Jap-Jap dictionary there is, a truly massive tribute to the Japanese language, and this app pulls everything together perfectly for the iPhone.

Get this, all 238,000+ entries in the dictionary are laid out in a beautiful grid which you can scroll both horizontally and vertically. You can literally scan word to word across the whole language! Now that alone would be enough to keep me entertained for hours, but the dictionary has also added illustrations for many popular entries, more entries than were in the most recent print edition and a bookmark and history function to help you build your next vocabulary list. The cherry on top is that you can also select any word within a definition to jump to the definition for that word.

Screenshots

Yes, it is Japanese only, made by and for Japanese people. It may look expensive compared to most other apps, but to have this on your iPhone is worth several times what they’re asking.

Now all we need is the Daikanwa for iPhone…

7. Kotoba!

Developer: Pierre-Phi di Costanzo
Price: FREE
App Store: Get Kotoba! at the iTunes store
uquery link: Kotoba!

While it’s not the monster dictionary that Daijirin is, Kotoba! is an amazing feat in and of itself. This Japanese-English iPhone app is great for quick translations and has a surprisingly complete and reliable index of words. I honestly think this is as good as or even better than the Genius J-E dictionary that is in most people’s hand-held electronic dictionaries (but not the E-J dictionary as I will explain in a moment). I have this app, use it frequently, and highly recommend it to anyone, including all travelers, students of all levels, Japanese native speakers, and anyone else who comes into contact with Japanese on a regular basis.

I do however have a couple reservations about this program. My biggest gripe: all data is indexed by Japanese word. This is great for looking up a Japanese word in English, but not so great if you’re going the other way. A search for an English word brings up a list of difficult-to-differentiate Japanese words that contain your query in their translation/definition, and you have to check each of these entries one by one, a pretty frustrating process that can also make it easy to pick the wrong word.

Screenshots

Also, a recent update seems to have resolved a lot of issues with bad and incorrect example phrase translations. But I still can’t help but be wary when the romanizations for many sentences have had their spacing inserted by someone who clearly had no business doing so. Kotoba! does differentiate between “Certified” and regular examples, thankfully.

8. 漢字でQ (Kanji de Q)

Developer: GYRO Inc.
Price: $2.99
App Store: Get Kanji de Q at the iTunes store
uquery link: 漢字でQ

Think you’re good at kanji? Think again. This app provides a simplistic yet fun quiz-game interface to help you polish your Japanese with around 4000 難読 (nandoku = difficult to read) words. This app was intended to be challenging for Japanese natives so it’s definitely only for advanced learners.

Screenshots

This app also makes for a great party game if you’re out with Japanese people. There’s a few apps like this but this one seemed to me to have the largest and best selection of words.

9. Kamehameha

Developer: Issay Yoshida
Price: FREE
App Store: Get Kamehameha at the iTunes store… NOW!
uquery link: Kamehameha

Yeah right, as if there was any chance at all that I would not list this toy.

Screenshots

Press start to begin “charging” your Kamehameha beam, and when you’ve built up enough energy (= when you’ve struck fear into the heart of your opponent by dramatically saying ka~~me~~ha~~me~~!), then you thrust/swing your iPhone forward to release the beam (HA~~~~~!!!!!!!).

Just remember to check to make sure your iPhone has its usb cable unplugged first… and be careful not to actually hurl your several hundred dollar 3GS into a concrete wall or your friend’s forehead.

10. TSUZUMIN

Developer: Tempus Fugit, Inc.
Price: FREE
App Store: Get TSUZUMIN at the iTunes store
uquery link: TSUZUMIN

Instant Japanese atmosphere. I love these sounds.

Final Word

Well, that’s all for now. If I find any more awesome Japanese apps around the app store I’ll be sure to let everyone know. I might post a follow-up article on apps from the Japanese store once I get around to figuring out how to get in… anyway, follow me on twitter since that’s the one place I will definitely post cool apps I find, even if I don’t get around to blogging about them.

Oh and by the way, all of these apps are compatible with 3.0.1 OS. I also wanted to try 食べログ but it told me I need 3.1 and I’m too lazy to go through re-jailbreaking my iPhone…

Further Reading

Here are a couple links to more articles around the internet with Japan-related iPhone app info. Happy surfing!

• A guide to useful iPhone apps in Japan by Wide Island View
• How to access Japan-only apps, also by Wide Island View
• Roundup of Japanese grammar/vocab study iPhone apps

THE NEW VERSION IS HERE

Alright, I so started this blog about a month ago. Posts are starting to build up and I’m starting to feel at home here lately. I decided it was time to start dishing out some real content, otherwise I’m just another ranting Japanophile. So for the last week or so I’ve been hard at work on a top secret project, and now it’s done!

I present to the world The Nihonshock Japanese cheat sheet!

What is it?

First things first: this cheat sheet is intended to be a supplement to your Japanese studies, not a replacement. The information here has been condensed, minimized, abbreviated, and generally beaten to tiny pieces with a sledgehammer in order to get as much as possible onto just two pages. This cheat sheet will be most useful for helping you to recall information after you have already learned it.

That said, even if you haven’t yet learned a lot of the grammar and words appearing on this cheat sheet, you may still find it useful as a road map to new information, and to help give what you have learned some different and perhaps better context.

How to use

Download it, print it (2 pages/1 sheet of paper front and back) and keep it in your notebook, textbook, on your desk or wherever else you need it. You can use it in it’s digital from, but owing to the small text size be prepared for lots of scrolling and zooming.

Information contained

The guide is built into the following sections:

Page 1

• Polite Verb Forms
• Casual Verb Forms
• Neutral Verb Forms
• Conjugating Verbs (RU vs U verbs and the irregular verbs suru and kuru)
• Forms of de aru (the being/equality verb)
• Adjective/Adverb form guide
• Hiragana and Katakana charts
• JLPT Level 4 Kanji Chart

Note: The katakana chart includes an aside detailing four easily confused katakana, with a stroke direction guide.

Page 2

• Core Particles with explanations and example sentences
  • wa, ga, o, ni, to, de, mo, ka, e and ya
• Assisting Particles with explanations and example sentences
  • yori, hodo, kurai, dake, bakari, demo, shika, kara and made
• Common grammar patterns with example sentences
  • hazu, beki, wake, tame, tsumori, dake de naku, no hou ga, wake ni ha ikenai, ~EBA ~U hodo
• Regular and polite verbs of giving and receiving

Example sentences for particles are color coded to help make their parts more readily understandable. Note that the distinction between a “core” particle and an “assisting” particle I have made is not exactly the classification used in Japanese (although it’s close), but I found this grouping to be the most expedient and understandable.

Formatting notes

Paper Size

Because I imagine most people will be printing this, I’ve made two versions: 8.5×11 inch for the USA/Canada and A4 size for basically everywhere else.

Hepburn Romanization

Since this cheat sheet is targeted toward beginner to low-intermediate learners, everything is in romaji (except the katakana/hiragana/kanji charts, of course). I may release a version using the “official” romanization method in the future, but right now I’ve just made everything Hepburn (revised), because I believe it’s better for learning and the way most people will prefer. However, I have romanized long o sounds as ou instead of ō.

Serif Japanese

I’ve used a serif style (MS Mincho) Japanese font for on page 1 for the hiragana, katakana and kanji because it shows stroke direction and type better than sans-serif style (ie. MS Gothic). In this respect they can be considered a better representation of the written form.

I noticed after finishing the cheat sheet that page 2 currently uses sans-serif style Japanese hiragana. It’s a small detail and there’s no problem really, but I will probably make it serif in any future releases even if just for consistency’s sake.

What got left out

Of course I would have loved to put anything and everything on this guide (I certainly tried), but we’re talking about a whole language here, so some arbitrary unnatural selection took place. Here are some things I considered but which didn’t make the cut:

• Sentence ending particles: yo, ne, tte ba, etc.
• Some assisting Particles: sae, sura, tomo, koso
• Some verb forms: ~TE+shimau, ~E as a command
• Transitions and Conjunctions: dakara, shikashi, keredomo, tokoro de, etc.
• Honorific and Humble forms (keigo)

The particle の (no)

Yeah…. about that…..
well….. you see…..
umm…..
I kinda….
…forgot about it. (^_^; )

I’ll be sure to put it in future versions, because it’s one of the basic particles.

However, it’s also just about the easiest and most straightforward particle there is in Japanese, so its absence doesn’t really impact the overall usefulness of the cheat sheet.

Feedback

This cheat sheet will be an ongoing and evolving project for nihonshock. Although I’m confident even with the first release that this is already the best Japanese language cheat sheet on the internet, I realize it is not and probably will not ever be perfect.

So if anyone notices any mistakes, typos, inconsistencies, anything I may have forgotten, or anything that could be done better, please contact me or leave a comment and help to make this cheat sheet even better!

Compliments are also appreciated!