Kawaii or Kowai? Haunted Japanese Words & Yokai Tales

Episode 4 – Kawaii or Kowai? Halloween and Haunted Japanese Grammar
Just in time for October, Nihongo To English No Show gets a little spooky! Michelle and Michael dive into Halloween in Japan, explaining words like kawaii (cute), kowai (scary), obake yashiki (haunted mansion), and go miyashiki (a trash mansion). They discover how the polite “O-” prefix can turn sweet or sinister — from “o-kane” (dirty honorable money) to new phrases born from wordplay.

The pair also unpack Japan’s obsession with cleanliness, folk ghosts (yokai), and campfire tales, and even invent a movie called “The Curse of the Chewing Gum.” 💀 Between jumpscares, they practice formal Japanese greetings like Hajimemashite and compare British “how do you do” with American “howdy.” It’s a mix of language tips, comedy, and ghostly grammar — where every word has a spirit of its own.

Highlights

• 🏮 Halloween and Japanese culture explained
• 👻 Yokai 101 — why everything in Japan can have a spirit (even gum)
• 💸 The mystery of “dirty honorable money” (o-kane)
• 💬 Formal vs casual greetings in Japanese & English
• 🎭 Mini role-play: international student meets Japanese student

Keywords / Tags: #learnJapanese, #Japaneseculture, #bilingualpodcast, #HalloweeninJapan, #yokai, #JapanesehonorificO, #kawaiivskowai, #languagelearningcomedy, #Japanesegrammar, #cross-culturalhumor