How to play ·
Start here: take an exam or keep a Kyoto diary
Thirty situations in one sitting, or one reply each day? Choose a mode and learn how results, records and certificates work.
Something to read before you play
Explore how we read a situation and how the games work, rather than memorizing a dictionary of hidden meanings.
Start with your question
New to KYOTOEIC?
Compare the exam and diary, choose a language and learn how to save a certificate. Find out what you can do without signing in.
Not convinced by an answer?
See how context changes the same words. Then use the refusal and compliment examples to distinguish a supported reading from an assumption.
Want to return each day?
Understand your DAY count and survival streak, what happens when you skip a day, and how to keep access to a guest diary.
How to play ·
KYOTO SURVIVAL: what makes a DAY?
Understand personal progress, the Kyoto calendar, streaks, guest records and optional Google sign-in.
Making of ·
Try removing “because they’re from Kyoto”
Two public scenes test whether an answer rests on the dialogue or a regional stereotype, and show why explanations need limits and follow-up questions.
Culture and comparison ·
“That’s interesting”: a British code for rejection?
Compare British Council and BBC teaching examples, then try a fictional poster meeting. Separate interest, requested changes and permission to proceed.
Origins ·
Bubuzuke and the rakugo story Kyo no Chazuke
Read Kyo no Chazuke through its hungry guest, awkward host and empty rice tub, and see what the familiar bubuzuke meme leaves out of the story.
Origins ·
From tea rice to coffee: the same joke about leaving?
Did Kyoto’s tea-rice story become a Korean coffee joke? Compare a rakugo record, a video title and the scene details that change when food becomes a drink.
Expressions ·
Going somewhere? Just over there
Why can “Just over there” answer a greeting without naming a place? Compare friendly acknowledgment with questions that need real travel information.
Expressions ·
Haru does not measure emotional distance
An honorific form need not turn a complaint into praise. Separate speaker, listener and person discussed, then compare two public archive scenes.
Origins ·
An ikezu sticker has a request on the other side
A two-sided sticker makes a joke out of indirect wording. Read the maker’s launch notice, then compare invented signs for a shared workshop corridor.
Expressions ·
“I’ll think about it”: what happens next?
A promise to think is not a decision. Compare two invented replies, documented refusal examples, and the information needed to arrange a room or reserve seats.
Expressions ·
Kekkou desu: yes to what, no to what?
One customer accepts a photo size and declines a bag with kekkou desu. Read the preceding questions, then compare a public scene that leaves the answer open.
Culture and comparison ·
“Let’s eat sometime” is not a booking
A Korean meal greeting is not the same as an invitation. Use a curriculum example and invented conversations to separate checking in, proposing and agreeing.
Origins ·
Why Takamatsu sake sits beside Kyoto chazuke
A rakugo record pairs Kyoto chazuke with Takamatsu sake. Read the sound play, separate performance from publication, and compare two scenes about staying.
Expressions ·
Mata kondo: “next time” is not yet a date
A friend says “another time.” Separate the answer to today’s invitation from a future plan, using two invented replies and a study of invitation refusals.
Expressions ·
Ne and yo: the same time, a different task
A meeting starts at three. Compare checking that time with telling someone about a change, then see why a sentence ending alone cannot prove sarcasm.
Expressions ·
Another cup? Reading offers and considerate replies
Compare a textbook home visit with an invented offer of tea. Read the conditions and next actions before treating a considerate reply as yes or no.
Expressions ·
Ookini and habakarisan: start with the thanks
Read two entries in Kyoto’s dictionary for children, then compare invented book-delivery replies to separate thanks, effort and a request that follows.
Culture and comparison ·
Osaka and Kyoto in rakugo: watch the brazier
Read a brazier joke in Kyo no Chazuke, then try an invented seating scene. Follow what a gesture makes possible before turning a character into a city.
Origins ·
Tracing the piano compliment story
A 2014 web story leads to earlier examples cited in a paper. Follow the dates without declaring an origin, then compare praise and requests in two scenes.
Expressions ·
Reading a refusal: exactly what was agreed to?
Changing a date is different from declining a task. Look past a friendly tone and check the scope of the offer.
Culture and comparison ·
A polite request needs more than an honorific
A formal request can still leave little room to choose. Compare invented editing requests, then examine deadlines and the obligations attached to help.
Expressions ·
What comes after the compliment?
Two short conversation notes on separating praise, a request for change and a personal preference.
Expressions ·
Read the situation before looking for a hidden meaning
A compliment need not be a complaint. Compare two contexts for the same words, and see why a game's answer is not a rule for real life.
Making of ·
From 100 questions to 300: where did the old ones go?
Follow the saved question banks through a replacement and two revisions, then see why a retired question can change without rewriting an old result.
Expressions ·
Ending with kedo: whose turn comes next?
A sentence ending in kedo may invite a response. Compare two booking conversations and check what a translation adds before the caller states a request.
Making of ·
When “difficult” becomes “impossible” in translation
A public question shows how one English word can overstate a reply. Compare the actual correction with what the three-language revision counts tell us.
Expressions ·
Chotto…: leaving an unfinished reply unfinished
An unfinished answer can decline an offer yet leave practical questions open. Compare two Saturday replies and see what a translation should preserve.
Origins ·
Ikezu: malice or a conversational skill?
A Kyoto newspaper article shows contrasting reactions to ikezu. Read personal experiences and views without turning either into a rule about a city.
