Easy Japan

Learning Japanese (in Italian)

イージージャパン - Easy Japan

Discover Japan, the Japanese, and their language with ERIKOTTERO
Eriko Kawasaki has lived in Italy for 17 years and has made a name for herself as a singer and Japanese teacher. She has a large fan base who enthusiastically follow her videos about Japan and the Japanese language on YouTube. Her channel is called Erikottero. (eriko --> erikottero, elicottero)
She has now published her first book, "Easy Japan." Here she explains the Japanese language and Japanese culture. She addresses both beginners and advanced learners in a very professional manner.

Japan Within Reach
Part 1 – Is Japanese Difficult ?
1 Some Things You Should Know
2 The Basics of Grammar
3 Other Grammatical Elements
Part 2 – Ready-to-Use Japanese
4 Introductions and Greetings
5 On Public Transportation
6 In Hotels
7 In Shops and Convenience Stores
8 In Restaurants or Cafés
9 In Temples or Museums
10 Traditional Activities
11 At the Matsuri
12 Unforeseen Events
Part 3 – Short Vocabulary
Times - Family - Directions - Body and Health - Expressions
Answers to the Exercises

Book presentation on RAI 3

In May 2025, Eriko Kawasaki was invited to the culture and tourism program "Kilimangiaro" on the Italian public television program RAI 3. Her book was briefly presented, and she was able to answer specific questions about the cultural peculiarities of Japan.
The original video (RAI 3 on YouTube) is approximately 13 minutes long. The main parts of the conversation are presented here.
At the end, Eriko offers tips for travel destinations in Japan. As second, she mentions the city of Kagoshima, the birthplace of Yoshigasaki Sensei. She also explains the reasons for this.

Everything's easy

Use of "easy" in Japanese
The book title "Easy Japan," written in katakana "イージージャパン", is an example of how foreign words in Japanese, which today mostly come from English, are not always easy to decipher.
The English "easy" is written "i-ji-" because the "si" sound does not exist in Japanese. The hyphens mean that the preceding vowel is pronounced long. Remember: In Hepburn romanization, the consonants are pronounced as in English and the vowels as in Italian.

nihongo Hepburn deutsch english italiano
イージー i-ji- einfach; leicht. easy facile
イージーさ i-ji-･sa Einfachheit easyness facilità
イージーだ i-ji-da einfach sein to be easy essere facile
イージー･ミス i-ji-･misu Flüchtigkeitsfehler easy miss Errore di disattenzione
イージー･ケア i-ji-･kea pflegeleicht easy care facile da pulire
イージー･チェア i-ji-･chea bequemer Stuhl easy chair sedia comoda
イージー･パンツ i-ji-･pantsu Schlabberhose easy pants pantaloni larghi
イージー･マネー i-ji-･mane- leicht gemachtes Geld. easy money soldi facili
イージーな仕事 i-ji-na･shigoto einfache Arbeit easy work lavoro facile
イージー･コート i-ji-･ko-to leichter Mantel. easy coat cappotto leggero
イージー･ゴーイング i-ji-･go-ingu Gelassenheit easy going serenità
イージー･ペイメント i-ji-･paimento Ratenzahlung easy payment pagamento rateale
イージー･リスニング i-ji-･risuningu leichte Musik easy listening musica leggera
イージー･オープン缶 i-ji-･o-pun･kan ohne Dosenöffner zu öffnende Dose easy open can lattina facile da aprire
イージー･マネー･ポリシー i-ji-･mane-･porishi- Niedrigzinspolitik easy money policy politica dei tassi di interesse bassi
The "i-ji-" is also made japanese.
"i-ji-sa" (イージーさ) is a noun meaning "easyness" due to the suffix "sa" in hiragana (さ).
"i-ji-da" (イージーだ) is a verb meaning "to be easy" due to the suffix "da" in hiragana (だ).
"i-ji-na shigoto" (イージーな仕事) is a combination with a Japanese noun (仕事, shigoto) and means "easy work"; "i-ji-" becomes an adjective due to the suffix "na" in hiragana (な).
Source of examples: 和独辞典 online dictionary.