Now that I’m overseas in Japan, my focus will be shifted from poetic/literary Chinese terms to high-mileage everyday terms that you can apply while travelling.

The Chinese language had a significant and long-lasting impact on Japanese. So people who are proficient in Chinese have an unfair advantage when it comes to Japanese because we already recognise the kanji characters. And most of the time, the meaning of the kanji characters remain the same in both Chinese and Japanese languages.

Take 限定 for instance. In Chinese, it’s pronounced as xiàn dìng, whereas in Japanese, it’s pronounced as gentei.

Can’t find the term in my two photos? (They were taken at Hakata Station, Fukuoka.) Let Sensei direct your attention strategically:

At the bottom right-hand corner, you can find the words 九州限定. 九州 refers to Kyushu, the island where Fukuoka is based in.

In the centre of this picture, 福岡限定 captures your eyeballs. 福岡　means Fukuoka.

In this context, 限定 means “exclusive to”. What these shrewd marketers do is to slap this 限定　label on their products and play around with the consumers’ minds. Oh I can only find this snack in Fukuoka. If I don’t buy this now, I can’t find this in other parts of Japan. What should I do?!! And they will more often than not surrender their wallets to the chomping cash register.

Now you know! Maybe this will enhance your resilience when you travel in Japan. Or maybe not.