Japanese (language)

Over 60% of modern Japanese vocabulary is borrowed from Middle Chinese. This is because Japan adopted the Chinese writing system in the 5th century AD, and many Chinese words were borrowed along with the writing system.

The Japanese borrowed Chinese words for a variety of reasons. Some words were borrowed because they didn't have equivalent words in Japanese. For example, the Japanese borrowed the Chinese word for "book" (書), because they didn't have a word for "book" in their own language. Other words were borrowed because they were considered to be more sophisticated or elegant than Japanese words. For example, the Japanese borrowed the Chinese word for "poetry" (詩), because they considered it to be a more sophisticated word than the Japanese word for "poetry" (和歌).

Japanese and Cantonese are the only two languages where it's customary to apologize after sneezing.

All Japanese words end in a vowel, with a Y, or with an N.

In Japanese, there are at least 20 different ways to say "sorry."

Japanese uses different words/number designations to count money, flat thin objects, vehicles, books, shoes and socks, animals, long round objects, etc.

"Death from overwork" is so common in Japan there's even a word for it: Karoshi.