What Is 験担ぎ (Gen-katsugi)? Why Japanese Eat Tonkatsu Before Exams | Easy Japanese Podcast

📘 FREE STUDY GUIDE Furigana, vocabulary, useful expressions & mini quiz: https://ko-fi.com/s/24dafa0faf Would you eat tonkatsu for breakfast on the morning of an important exam? Maho's mother served it on exam day, and she had a good reason: in Japanese, 「カツ」 and 「勝つ」 sound the same. In this episode, Maho talks about 験担ぎ (gen-katsugi) — good-luck habits in Japan — and whether people really believe in them. 今日は、日本の験担ぎについて、やさしい日本語で話します。 In this episode, Maho talks about: ✅ Maho's exam-day story: tonkatsu for breakfast, made by her mother ✅ 験担ぎ = doing something lucky so that the result will be good ✅ Word-sound luck: 「カツ」 and 「勝つ」 sound the same, so some people eat tonkatsu or katsudon ✅ Why some people avoid saying 「落ちる」 before an exam ✅ Daily habits: the same breakfast, the same music, the same clothes, the same route, a favorite item ✅ Athletes' routines — and why not everything is 験担ぎ ✅ 願掛け vs 験担ぎ: going to a shrine, お守り, 絵馬 vs doing a lucky action yourself ✅ Do Japanese people really believe in 験担ぎ? Maho's honest answer ✅ Mini quiz + Maho's Note 📝 Japanese subtitles with furigana are on screen, so you can read along while you listen. ⏱ Chapters 0:00 Tonkatsu on exam morning 1:03 What we'll talk about: 験担ぎ 1:37 What is 験担ぎ? 2:27 カツ = 勝つ: luck from word sounds 2:58 Maho's tonkatsu story 3:45 Why avoid 「落ちる」 before exams 4:36 Same-day habits & routines 5:42 願掛け vs 験担ぎ 6:56 Do Japanese people really believe it? 7:55 Mini quiz 9:03 Maho's Note 10:02 Your turn & Ending 💬 みなさんの国にも、大事な試験や試合の前にする験担ぎのようなものはありますか？ぜひコメントで教えてください。 Is there something like 験担ぎ in your country? Tell me in the comments! 🌸 Japanese Flow — Real Japan × Easy Japanese Real Japanese, Japanese culture, and the Japanese way of thinking — things textbooks don't fully explain — in easy Japanese. I'm Maho, an online Japanese teacher from Ehime, now living in Osaka. ▶ Previous episode: 願掛けって何？    • What Is 願掛け (Gankake)? Japanese Wishes, Om...   ☕ Support Japanese Flow on Ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/japaneseflow #LearnJapanese #JapanesePodcast #JapaneseCulture