Small, easy language immersion with Neko Atsume

I used to play a lot of Neko Atsume, and had collected everything that could be collected. Unfortunately, since I chose to finally change my gmail account (to a less unprofessional one) when switching phones, I lost all of my progress :frowning: I decided to replay the game, but this time in Japanese, and have found it to be a very good but also surprisingly decent source for language immersion.

Especially the shop with their visual and lingual description of their items are great, but the cats also each have their own name (which is often a pun), personality, and favorite toys.


An unexpected teaching tool however, is the daily password that you can enter for a few bonus fish (the currency of the game), with a sizeable reward for each set of 5 passwords you entered. These words are 50/50 kana loanwords/kanji-based words that I have never seen before, which you then have to write down somewhere else. This is especially great for reinforcing kanji readings. The words are usually referring to little items around the house, nature, or specific holidays and seasons.

Just thought I would share since it’s very low maintenance and a passive background game, it doesn’t need any microtransactions (just be patient), and as a fun bonus, it also teaches a little bit of Japanese every day :slight_smile:

EDIT: As an exercise, I think I’m going to make this a thread where anyone who wants to join can discuss the daily password, and discuss any details around it if it’s interesting :slight_smile:

EDIT 2: I’m continuing logging the password in a more central thread here Neko Atsume Password Database

23 Likes

June 23rd, 2025
Word of the day: 麦星(むぎぼし)
Meaning: The star Arcturus in the Boötes constellation
Further information: A star visible during barley harvest time in autumn (麦秋(むぎあき))(x)

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One of my friends used to play this game a lot and I always enjoyed the art direction- though never quite tipped the scales to play it myself. Thank you for the recomendation in this context, might have to give it a shot one of these days :cat_face:

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Ok, i just downloaded it and will give a try.
Looks simple and seems it will provide more reading exercises.
ありがとう。

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June 24th, 2025
Word of the day: ソーサー
Meaning: Saucer
Further information: You put your tea cup on there, ya know?

June 25th, 2025
Word of the day: クルー
Meaning: Crew

June 26th, 2025
Word of the day: テレイン
Meaning: Terein
Further information: Honestly, the weirdest word yet. “A fungal metabolite of Aspergillus species. Terrein forms pale yellow crystal needles. Terrein has a strong cytotoxic activity against cells with colorectal carcinoma.” This translation might possibly be wrong XD

June 27th, 2025
Word of the day: 雄弁(ゆうべん)
Meaning: Eloquence
Further information: Literally translated as “superior/excellent speech”

June 28th, 2025
Word of the day: 完全無欠(かんぜんむけつ)
Meaning: Flawless, Absolute perfection :person_tipping_hand:
Further information: Everything perfect, lacking nothing

June 29th, 2025
Word of the day: しぐれ
Meaning: Rain shower in late autumn (fall) or early winter (時雨)
Further information: This one is a bit of a mystery to me, because I’ve not found an interpretation that is normally written like this in hiragana. There is also a dish that is referred to as this name, which is a shortened version of 時雨煮, which is a seafood dish prepared with mirin, soy sauce and ginger, so maybe this is the casual way of referring to that dish?

June 30th, 2025
Word of the day: 水無月(みずむげつ)
Meaning: Sixth month of the lunar calendar (x)
Further information: The 無 is simply ateji, and does not actually mean nothing here. It literally translates as “Month of water”, which refers to the time of the year where the rice fields are flooded.

July 1st, 2025
Word of the day: 七夜月(ななよづき)
Meaning: Seventh month of the lunar calendar (x)

July 2nd, 2025
Word of the day: コシ
Meaning: lower back, lumbar region
Further information: Just the Kanji 腰

July 3rd, 2025
Word of the day: なないろ
Meaning: The seven prismatic colours :rainbow:
Further information: 七色, can also be used as an abbreviation for a seven spice mix 七色唐辛子, containing coarsely ground red chili pepper (the main ingredient), ground sanshō (“Japanese pepper”), roasted orange peel (chenpi), black sesame seed, white sesame seed, hemp seed, ground ginger, nori or aonori (seaweed), poppy seed, and yuzu peel. Interestingly, that’s 10 ingredients :sweat_smile:

I’m continuing here Neko Atsume Password Database

4 Likes

Ahhh I loooooved Neko Atsume when it first came out and used to play it all day every day! This makes me want to download it again…!

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I haven’t regretted redownloading it so far, so give it a go :wink:

That is a great idea, I downloaded it :heart_eyes: Thank you for sharing, I didn’t know this game :blush:

1 Like