Go! Go! Nihon blog

Author: Akseli Gardemeister

Japanese Culture
Buddhism is one of the two main religions in Japan and has co-existed with its counterpart, Shintōism (神道) for many centuries. Buddhism was officially brought to Japan from China and Korea during the 6th century...
Life in Japan
Usually, when thinking of spring in Japan you probably imagine people gathering in parks, watching the cherry blossom trees. That is indeed part of spring in Japan, but there is so much more to experience...
How to
Exploring and traveling in the Japanese countryside is one of the most harmonic down-to-earth things you can experience in life. This is because Japan has a more than 2000-year old history, rich with temples, shrines,...
How to
It can be very difficult to start studying for JLPT N1 (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). This is because the gap in difficulty from N2 to N1 is huge and it can take students between one...
How to
If you are studying Japanese it is highly recommended to aim at passing the JLPT N2. The test is hard, but there are many benefits to passing. Having a JLPT N2 certificate makes you linguistically...
How to
If you’re planning to pursue further education in Japan or if you are in search of employment, having a JLPT (Japanese Language Certificate Test) certificate will come in handy. JLPT N3 is the intermediate-level test...
How to
If you are studying Japanese, chances are that you’ve come across the term JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). The JLPT is a nationwide standardized Japanese test for foreigners and is recognized in all of Japan....
Life in Japan
Lake Biwa (琵琶湖, Biwa-ko) is Japan’s largest lake, located right next to Kyoto in Shiga Prefecture. With crystal-clear freshwater beaches, outstanding nature, and lots of outdoor activities like camping and cycling, Lake Biwa is the...
How to
Have you ever considered buying an apartment or a holiday home in Japan? Buying property in Japan as a foreigner can seem daunting, but it is an achievable dream and can be a good investment...
Learn Japanese
If you’re a fan of anime and have watched the latest season of Dr. Stone, you’ve probably heard the protagonist, Zenku, saying the phrase “sosoru-ze, kore wa.” (唆るぜ、これは, this is exhilarating). This is one example...
Food&Drink
During my time in Japan as a student at Kyoto University, I was living on a scholarship and trying to save up as much money as possible. As such, it became a custom to find...
How to
Have you ever considered creating a side business in Japan? Or maybe opening up an online store? Perhaps you have a creative-side and love doing painting, knitting, crafts or photography, or maybe you have another...
Japanese Culture
If you’re living in Japan and have a calendar at home, you may have noticed that there is some additional information under the date in black or red letters. This is the traditional Japanese six-day...
How to
Is one of your goals in life to move to Japan to study or work? If that is the case, you will need a visa and a visa sponsor for Japan. This can be quite...
Japanese Culture
When you think about spring in Japan, surely the first thing that springs to mind (no pun intended) is the cherry blossoms that draw large crowds of locals and tourists alike. The tradition of hanami...
Learn Japanese
Have you ever struggled with memorizing kanji and felt that you forget old ones as quickly as you remember new ones? To speak and write fluent Japanese, it is often said that you need to...
Only in Japan
Japan is famous for its stunning cherry blossom season, or sakura (桜) season, during spring. Each year, from late March to early May, the country is awash with pink and white petals, drawing crowds of...
Learn Japanese
Learning adverbs in Japanese is very useful if you want to become better at expressing yourself. But what is an adverb and what adverbs are especially useful to learn?  In this article we will look...
Only in Japan
Spring in Japan is associated with the tradition of 花見 (hanami, flower-viewing) where Japanese people gather in parks to have a picnic under the 桜 (sakura, cherry blossom trees). It is also associated with new...
Life in Japan
Have you ever wanted to study Japanese in Japan? We often receive questions about the different options to study in Japan and live in the country.  We created this article about the different options to...
Life in Japan
Traveling with accessibility needs involves lots of planning and research, especially if you’re visiting an unfamiliar place – but it’s completely doable and worth it in the end! If you’re traveling, or moving, to Japan...
Learn Japanese
Are you perhaps studying Japanese? Or maybe plan to study Japanese, and want to know what to expect on the journey ahead? I’m going to share my experiences and thoughts on being “fluent” in Japanese....
Learn Japanese
Particles in Japanese are like the building blocks in a sentence and crucial for constructing sentences. In this article we will review some functions of the particles に/へ, で, と, から/まで, as well as the...
Japanese Culture
Celebrating the new year in Japan is a fantastic experience. Unlike many western countries you traditionally don’t shoot fireworks during New Year (except maybe at Disneyland).  Rather, it is customary to place a shimekazari (しめ飾り)...
Japanese Culture
Have you ever visited a temple or shrine in Japan and seen large amounts of wooden plaques hanging on display at the temple grounds? These wooden plaques, so called ema (絵馬), have a long history...
Learn Japanese
Particles in Japanese are like “building blocks” and decide the role of the word it is preceded by in a sentence. That’s why understanding particles in Japanese is key to being able to construct sentences,...
Learn Japanese
Knowing how to best prepare for JLPT N1 is not obvious. This is because the jump from N2 to N1 is huge and can easily feel overwhelming if you don’t have a proper study plan....
Life in Japan
You’ve made up your mind on coming to Japan this year. Great! You’ve shopped around and looked at schools and maybe even started learning hiragana to get a head start on Japanese lessons. But wait!...
go-go-nihon-who-we-are

Who we are

Go! Go! Nihon Live and Study in Japan!

In 2009, after meeting and studying at a Japanese language school together, Davide and John start working on a project that will make the process of living and studying in Japan much easier. The idea for Go! Go! Nihon is born. The service and website is launched with Italian, Swedish, and English language support. There is an immediate positive reception to the service and the first long-term students start the October session that year.