Kanji Cheat Sheets

Kanji Cheat Sheets
Kanji Cheat Sheet: Understanding Your Japanese TV Remote Control
August 25, 2020

If the number of controls on a Japanese remote control can’t faze you, then the sheer amount of kanji will. In Japan, TV remotes offer a variety of controls that not only improve your viewing experience like changing the voice dub or adding subtitles, there are also controls that allow the user to interact with what’s going on the TV program at certain times especially during gameshows. While those commands are convenient actually navigating through the different buttons is a another story. In this guide, learn how to read some of the most basic controls to level up your TV viewing experience.

The basics of Japanese remote controls

Compared to the ones I used to use in the Philippines, Japan has at least 10 more buttons.

There are a lot of options that can help improve your reading speed in Japan like adding subtitles (まく) to whatever program you happen to be watching. There is also an option to switch the audio from Japanese to the original language it was recorded in (おんせいきりかえ).

EnglishJapaneseRomaji
Power (On/Off)電源dengen
Switching the TV input (HDMI/cable)入力切換nyuryoku kirikae
Subtitle字幕jimaku
Channelチャンネルchanneru
Volume音量onryou
Mute消音shouon
Confirm決定kettei
Switch to English (or original language)音声切換onsei kirikae
Screen size adjustmentワイド切換waido kirikae

Advanced buttons

Once you get more familiar with the basics, try tuning into weekly Japanese quiz shows and answering some of the questions by pressing the color that corresponds to the answer of your choice.

For those who can’t get enough of Japanese TV, be sure to check the schedule (ばんぐみひょう) for the latest lineup of programs.

EnglishJapaneseRomaji
Blueaoi
Redaka
Greenmidori
Yellowkiiro
TV schedule番組表bangumihyo
Homepage for the channel連動データrendou deta
Back戻るmodoru
Memoメモmemo
Menuメニューmenyuu

Go forth and Japanese TV and chill in confidence with your newfound knowledge.

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