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Japanese language
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Japanese kana symbols Japanese language
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Japanese language summary
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Many slips of paper with "thank you" in different languages written on them. Thumbnail for the Dutch, Yiddish, Japanese, or Hindi Quiz.
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poem. A poet in a Heian period kimono writes Japanese poetry during the Kamo Kyokusui No En Ancient Festival at Jonan-gu shrine on April 29, 2013 in Kyoto, Japan. Festival of Kyokusui-no Utage orignated in 1,182, party Heian era (794-1192).
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Saint Lucia Day. Young girl wears Lucia crown (tinsel halo) with candles. Holds Saint Lucia Day currant laced saffron buns (lussekatter or Lucia's cats). Observed December 13 honor virgin martyr Santa Lucia (St. Lucy). Luciadagen, Christmas, Sweden
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Japanese kana symbols
Japanese kana symbols Japanese kana symbols.

Japanese language

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Written by
Masayoshi Shibatani
Professor of Linguistics, Kobe University, Japan. Author of The Languages of Japan.
Masayoshi Shibatani
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News •

Once taboo, more Japanese women are brewing sake • Dec. 13, 2024, 10:41 PM ET (ABC News (U.S.))
Japanese company to demo futuristic human washing machine in 2025 • Dec. 9, 2024, 10:00 PM ET (The Hindu)

Japanese language, a language isolate (i.e., a language unrelated to any other language) and one of the world’s major languages, with more than 127 million speakers in the early 21st century. It is primarily spoken throughout the Japanese archipelago; there are also some 1.5 million Japanese immigrants and their descendants living abroad, mainly in North and South America, who have varying degrees of proficiency in Japanese. Since the mid-20th century, no nation other than Japan has used Japanese as a first or a second language. Japanese kanaJapanese kana.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Japanese is the only major language whose genetic affiliation is not ...(100 of 4091 words)

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