Streetside Interviews
A collection of interviews with regular people on a variety of topics.
Featuring realistic adult answers to difficult societal questions, this series provides some of our most challenging material. Readers who find it too difficult may wish to start with the interviews on food and tourism.
An intrepid reporter accosts a man at a train station and asks for his opinion about a social problem Japan is facing.
Notes: This article contains great examples of polite yet very conversational Japanese, including incomplete thoughts, inversions, and interjections.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers |  |
| Standard | Unread | 9147 |
The reporter asks the man for his opinion about the linked problem of the aging population.
Notes: This article contains several longer and more challenging sentences, but we've included notes and breakdowns to help you make sense of them.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 4038 |
Pro
Our reporter heads to Yokohama, where she stops a woman on the street for her views on the declining birthrate problem.
Notes: This article contains lots of useful vocabulary such as "saving" and "earning" money, along with a fun neologism that means "around forty."
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 2130 |
Pro
The reporter digs deeper into the related issue of the aging population.
Notes: This episode contains a few challenging sections, such as extended indirect quotations. We've attached notes breaking everything down.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 1196 |
Pro
A young woman shares her opinions about the declining birthrate problem.
Notes: This episode contains interesting tidbits, such as nde as a contraction for node, a breakdown of shigoto versus kinmu, and more.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 1277 |
Pro
The young woman jumps to a related topic of declining population, a problem affecting countryside towns.
Notes: This episode provides cultural insight into a related issue Japan has been grappling with, as well as lots of good vocabulary, such as words for "anonymity" and "a very difficult task."
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 971 |
Pro
Our reporter seeks the opinion of an older woman on the declining birth rate issue.
Notes: This episode is packed with annotations on grammar and traditional Japanese culture. Dig in!
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 938 |
Pro
The woman brings up several other societal issues that she believes are related.
Notes: This episode contains such interesting terms as "death from overwork," "silver divorce," and more.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 819 |
Pro
Our reporter digs more deeply into the woman's views on "silver divorces."
Notes: This episode contains several sentences that might seem very complex on the surface but whose cores are actually quite simple. As always, our friendly notes will help you to make sense of things.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 772 |
Pro
Our reporter strikes a nerve when she asks a young mother about the declining birth rate issue.
Notes: Packed with speech contractions, long and creative sentences, and great expressions like "that defeats the purpose," this episode is on the more challenging side, but our copious notes will help you make sense of it all.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 873 |
Pro
The interview turns into a brainstorming session that yields an intriguing idea.
Notes: As in the previous episode, this episode contains several tricky sentences, but our extended annotations should help you make sense of everything.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 777 |
Pro
Our hard-hitting reporter turns to the important topic of food preferences.
Notes: This episode contains multiple notes on interesting phrases common to conversational Japanese.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 1082 |
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Seven-year-old Aoi shares her considered opinions about food.
Notes: This episode contains several fun expressions, such as one for resigning oneself to a non-optimal situation and another that means "pretend that / act as though ."
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 918 |
Pro
As foreign tourists increase in number, our reporter asks a man on the street about his tourism recommendations.
Notes: This episode contains a breakdown of the word o-susume, "a recommendation."
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 801 |
Pro
The man elaborates on what makes Hokkaidou so great.
Notes: This episode has several extended notes ranging from fun "made-in-Japan English" expressions to a word that signals that the speaker is not 100% certain about what he or she is about to say.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 673 |
Pro
Our reporter interviews a woman on her sightseeing recommendations.
Notes: This episode contains a note on the use of dokoka and a discussion of a slight misuse of sugoi.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 814 |
Pro
The woman explains more about why she was so taken with Toudaiji.
Notes: This episode contains a note on a prefix that contributes the meaning of "complete" or "total" with certain words.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Standard | Unread | 685 |