Interviews

August 2025.

Marutto! NHK Nagoya.

10 July 2025.

Mizuno, Daiki. 2025. Kotoba-no henka-o tukamaeru 5 (saisyuu-kai): Gengo-wa donoyooni umareta-ka: Ninti-gengogakusya Akita Kimi-san-ni kiku [Capturing language change 5 (final episode): How was language born: An interview with the cognitive linguist Kimi Akita]. Chuuoo kooron 139(8): 168-175.

29 April 2025.

24-syoku-no pen: "Onomatope"-no husigi-na miryoku: Tanaka Riti [24-color pen: The wonderful attraction of "onomatopoeia": by Richi Tanaka]. Mainichi Shimbun.

6 December 2024.

Nanka tutawaru onomatope [We can somehow understand what ideophones mean]. Nanka tutawaru kookoku-ten [Exhibition of Somehow Understandable Ads] Ad Museum Tokyo.

9 November 2024.

Yamaguti Nakami-tyo Inu-wa biyo-to naite ita: Nihongo-wa giongo/gitaigo-ga omosiroi [Nakami Yamaguchi's Dogs used to say biyo: It is mimetics that are interesting in Japanese]. Meityo hyakusen 2024: Watasi-ga kotosi, deatta issatu [100 good books 2024: The book I met this year]. Book 1st Shinjuku Branch.

15 October 2024.

Miru, kiku, kanziru! Onomatopedia [See, hear, and feel! Onomatopedia], Mirai Soozoo Ten [Future Creation Exhibition] 2025: JAPONISM TO THE WORLD, Graphic Design and Illustration Course, Department of CG, Design, and Anime (4-year program), Osaka HAL.

11 October 2024, 28 February 2025, & 1 March 2025.

"Dokidoki" "gorogoro" kurikaesu-no-wa naze? ["Dokidoki", "gorogoro": Why do we repeat?]. Tiko-tyan-ni sikarareru! [You'll be scolded by Chiko-chan!], NHK G.

10 October 2024. (w/ Mutsumi Imai & Masachi Osawa)

Teidan: "Kigoo-setti-suru"-to-wa doo iu koto-ka? [Three-person talk: What does it mean that "a symbol gets grounded"]. In Masachi Osawa (ed.), Seisei-AI-zidai-no gengoron [Language theory in the age of generative AI], 67-144. (Thinking O 020.) Tokyo: Sayusha.

18 June 2024.

Igai-to siranai "onomatope": Hirihiri/gosigosi-nado, iryoo-genba-ya kyooiku-demo katuyaku [We know "onomatopoeia" less than we may think: Hirihiri and goshigoshi play an active role in medical services and education]. Nittere NEWS NNN.

18 June 2024.

Syakai-kadai-no kaiketu-ni dondon yakudatu!? Gengogakusya Akita Kimi-sensei-to "onomatope"-no kanousei-o kangaete mita [Useful for solving social problems!? Thinking about the possibilities of "onomatopoeia" with the linguist Prof. Kimi Akita]. Dentsuho 8949.

17 June 2024.

Yooti-na imeezi-wa moo hurui? "Onomatope"-de kodomo-to-no komyunikeesyon-o "gut-to" yutaka-ni! Taikan-ibento-mo kaisai-tyuu ["Onomatopoeia" are no longer childish? Let's make our communication with children much richer using onomatopoeia! An event for feeling the utility of onomatopoeia being held in Tokyo]. Gyutte Web.

12 June 2024.

Wakuwaku miwaku-no onomatope: Kenkyuu 20-nen Meidai-zyunkyoozyu Akita-san [Exciting (wakuwaku) and fascinating ideophones: Prof. Akita at Nagoya University studying them for 20 years]. Chunichi Shimbun 29289: 12.

1 April 2024 - 15 July 2024. (supervised w/ Mutsumi Imai)

Onomatope-syohoo-ten [Onomatopoeia prescription exhibition]. Itochu SDGs Studio.

1 March 2024.

Onomatopoeia allows looking back to the origin of language and forward to interdisciplinary collaborations. LETTER 22: 3-6. Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University. (web article)

9 February 2024. (w/ Mutsumi Imai)

Sinsyo-taisyoo 2024: Taisyoo-zyusyoosya-ni kiku: Gengo-no honsitu Imai Mutumi, Akita Kimi [Shinsho Paperback Award 2024: Interview with the authors of The Nature of Language: Mutsumi Imai and Kimi Akita]. Chuo Koron 138(3): 110-113.

15 December 2023. (w/ Mutsumi Imai)

Tyosya-intabyuu: Imai Mutumi/Akita Kimi: Gengo-no honsitu: Kotoba-wa doo umare, sinka-sita-ka [Interview with authors: Mutsumi Imai and Kimi Akita: The Nature of Language: How Language was Born and Evolved]. PRESIDENT 61(23): 106.

6 December 2023. (w/ Mutsumi Imai & Masaya Chiba)

Tokubetu-teidan: Naze hito-wa "gengo"-o rikai dekiru-no-ka [Special three-person talk: Why human beings can understand "language"]. Voice 553; 210-215.

10 November 2023. (w/ Mutsumi Imai & Masaya Chiba)

Teidan: Umi-no gogen-wa kantan-no "u"-nanoka? "Gengo-no honsitu"-no nazo-ni semaru [Three-person talk: Does umi 'sea' derive from exclamatory u? Approaching the mystery of "the nature of language" ]. Chuokoron 137(12): 144-153. Tokyo: Chuokoron-Shinsha. (first few sections)

6 November 2023.

Gengo-no honsitu-to-wa nani-ka? Onomatope-kara hazimatta soodai-na tabi-wa besuto-seraa-ni: Hibi nan-no ki-nasi-ni hanasiteiru sono "kotoba", zitu-wa mono-sugoku oku-bukai mono-datta! [What is the nature of language? The journey that started from ideophones became a bestseller: "Words" that we are using casually every day actually have amazing potentials]. JBpress.

11 October 2023.

Wadai-no hon Gengo-no honsitu Imai Mutumi-san x Akita Kimi-san-ni kiku, kono zidai-ni-koso siritai gengo-no honsitu. [The nature of language we should know in this age, as told by Mutsumi Imai and Kimi Akita, the authors of the book in the news The Nature of Language.]. anan 2367: 28-29. Tokyo: Magazine House.

25 September 2023.

Onomatope-kara saguru "gengo"-no husigi-na sekai [A wonderful world viewed from ideophones]. Kango kyooiku [The Japanese Journal of Nursing Education] 64(5): 541-548.

22 September 2023.

Gengo-no honsitu-o sagasu tabi [A journey to search for the nature of language]. Talk show with Mutsumi Imai and Masaya Chiba on the occasion of the publication of The Nature of Language, Daikanyama T-SITE, Daikanyama Tsutaya Shoten, Tokyo/Zoom.

22 September 2023.

Onomatope-tte onosiroi! "Yorimiti-no tumori-ga raihuwaaku-ni natta" meidai-kenkyuusya [Ideophones are interesting! A Nagoya University researcher who "found a little pastime that became his lifework"]. Nagoya University Public Relations Office's note.

6 September 2023.

Imai Mutumi/Akita Kimi besutoseraa Gengo-no honsitu tyosya intabyuu [Interview with Mutsumi Imai and Kimi Akita, the authors of the bestseller The Nature of Language]. kotoba 53 (Autumn 2023 Issue).

1 September 2023.

Zoosatu kasaneru sinsyo Gengo-no honsitu: Onomatope-kara sinka-ni semaru [The Nature of Language, a new paperback printed multiple times: Approaching evolution from ideophones]. Chunichi Shimbun, evening edition: 5.

1 September 2023.

Gengo-no honsitu [The nature of language]. VOOX.

4 August 2023.

AI-to ningen-wa gengo-no gakusyuu-ni oite, seihantai-no apurooti-o totte iru: Besutoseraa-sinsyo Gengo-no honsitu tyosya-intabyuu [AI and human beings take exactly opposite approaches to language learning: Interview with the authors of the bestseller paperback The Nature of Language]. Real Sound.

31 July 2023.

DAYDREAM MAGIC. FM AICHI.

31 July 2023.

Ningen-ni dekite ChatGPT-ni dekinu "imi-rikai"-no sinsoo: Gengo-no honsitu Akita Kimi-si, Imai Mutumi-si-ni kiku [The depth of the "semantic understanding" that humans, but not ChatGPT, can have: Interview with Kimi Akita and Mutsumi Imai, the authors of The Nature of Language]. Weekly Toyo Keizai [Weekly Eastern Economy] 2023/8/5: 88-89.

21 July 2023.

Imai Mutumi, Akita Kimi intabyuu: Tisei-to-wa, ningen-to-wa nani-ka [Interview with Mutsumi Imai and Kimi Akita: What is intelligence? What are human beings?]. Syuukan dokusyo-zin [Weekly readers].

5 July 2023.

"Gengo-no honsitu"-ga osiete kureru hito-no subarasiki kanoosei [Humans' wonderful potentials that the "nature of language" teaches us]. 10 minutes TV.

10 November 2022.

Taidan: Kotoba-o meguru husigi, nazo, omosirosa-ni sooguu-suru (Imai Mutumi x Akita Kimi [Interview: Encountering the mystery, enigma, and fun of language (Mutsumi Imai x Kimi Akita)]. Hattatu [Development] 172: Kodomo-no kotoba, saihakken! [Rediscovering children's language!]: 2-12. Kyoto: Minerva Shobo.

30 November 2011.

Gion/gitai-nado sono kazu 1500-go: Kansaizin-ga dobaat-to tukau "onomatope" [The number of Japanese mimetics amounts to 1500: "Onomatopoeia," which Kansai people use in bulk]. Yomiuri Family, 3. Osaka: Yomiuri Jyoho Kaihatsu Osaka.

June 2010.

Interview with JSPS Fellow in the U.S. JSPS San Francisco Newsletter, Vol. 18, 7. San Francisco Office of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.