As part of the move to a new server (see below) I switched to using UTF-8 encoding (had been using Shift JIS). Most email programs handle encoding automatically and I know that Yahoo!, Gmail and Hotmail seem to be fine. Some, however, like Outlook, are not so good at this and you may need to manually change the encoding.

I redesigned the site and moved to a new server in February 2008. You may not notice much difference in the design, which is the way I wanted it. Mostly, I cleaned up some bad HTML code, simplified some things that you wouldn't likely care about, etc. Please be aware that any time a site moves servers there could be differences in the way email clients treat incoming email, so if you are receiving any of the daily kanji or grammar mailings, please make sure you add yookoso.com to your safe list.

• Grammar a Day mailing list (in partnership with JGram.org)
  
• Kanji a Day mailing list
  
• Class / Textbook Notes - notes from various courses I've taken and their respective textbooks
  
• Random Kanji tool - developed as a complement to the Kanji a Day service, use this page to display a random Kanji character with readings, meaning, stroke order diagram and associated words
  
• JPOP tunes and their lyrics - a small, but varied selection of songs with their lyrics to aid your studies; most are slow enough and clear enough that you can actually understand the words being sung (note: requires free registration)
  
• Original articles (e.g., choosing an electronic dictionary, studying Japanese using a PDA, etc.)
  
• Slideshow of pictures of Japan

Are you studying Japanese, thinking of visiting Japan, interested in Japanese culture, people, products, etc.? If so, this site is for you. My name is Jeff Blum and I have been attempting to learn Japanese, off and on, for many years (my progress is very slow). During my studies (both independent and class-based) I have assembled notes summarizing key grammar constructs, word usage nuance, aspects of the language that regularly trip me up, etc. In fact, the name for this site (besides being, well, "welcoming") came from my desire to post my summary notes for the popular Yookoso! textbooks.

I have also assembled a huge collection of links to the best sites on the Internet. All of these (well, actually I still haven't posted many of them yet), plus some of my favorite JPOP tunes and their lyrics I share with you here. If you have any feedback to offer, or especially if you want to contribute notes of your own or articles you have written, please do so at jmblum@yookoso.com.

I am indebted to the following folks for some of the content found on this site:

• Jim Breen's various Japanese projects make the various kanji pages and mailing lists possible.
• Jgram.org - makes the grammar mailing lists possible.
• Will at Nihongojouzu often points out useful sites and books and allows me to use some of his descriptive copy.