What is "koto" used for?


I know "koto" means thing, but I've seen it used like this in my Self-Study
Japanese book:

_Nihon no koto ga yoku wakarimasu ka._

and

_Chiimu no koto o kangaete imashita._

Does this mean **Japan's thing** or **Team's thing?** I don't understand. Also
I can't use Kanji, just Hiragana.




There is 「こと」 that actually means "thing(s)" and there is 「こと」 that does not
mean "thing(s)".

> 「ふたつのことをかんがえています。」 means "I am thinking of two things."

The こと clearely means "thing". In the following sentence, however, こと does not
really mean that.

> 「すみこさんのことがすきです。」 = "I like/love Sumiko."

One could possibly translate it as "I like the things about Sumiko." but that
would not be natural English, would it? We just often prefer to speak more
indirectly than to say something like 「すみこがすきだ。」 all the time.

In neither of your two sentences, does 「こと」 really mean "thing(s)".

>   1. 「にほんのことがよくわかりますか。」
>
>   2. 「チームのことをかんがえていました。」
>
>

Sentence #1, unfortunately, is a mysterious sentence to us Japanese-speakers.
I could only guess what it would mean in the world of Japanese-as-a-foreign-
language. They probably want it to mean "Do you know a lot about Japan?" while
it could only mean "Does it tell you a lot about Japan? (referring to a book
or something)" to Japanese-speakers.

Sentence #2 makes perfect sense and it means "I was thinking about the/our
team."

In either case, I did not use the word "thing(s)" in my translations. I could
have used it but that would have only made my translations look wordy. e.g. "I
was thinking about things regarding our team."

You will keep encountering the structure "Noun + の + こと" for as long as you
study Japanese, and it will just mean "regarding (Noun)" most of the time.  




There is 「こと」 that actually means "thing(s)" and there is 「こと」 that does not
mean "thing(s)".

> 「ふたつのことをかんがえています。」 means "I am thinking of two things."

The こと clearely means "thing". In the following sentence, however, こと does not
really mean that.

> 「すみこさんのことがすきです。」 = "I like/love Sumiko."

One could possibly translate it as "I like the things about Sumiko." but that
would not be natural English, would it? We just often prefer to speak more
indirectly than to say something like 「すみこがすきだ。」 all the time.

In neither of your two sentences, does 「こと」 really mean "thing(s)".

>   1. 「にほんのことがよくわかりますか。」
>
>   2. 「チームのことをかんがえていました。」
>
>

Sentence #1, unfortunately, is a mysterious sentence to us Japanese-speakers.
I could only guess what it would mean in the world of Japanese-as-a-foreign-
language. They probably want it to mean "Do you know a lot about Japan?" while
it could only mean "Does it tell you a lot about Japan? (referring to a book
or something)" to Japanese-speakers.

Sentence #2 makes perfect sense and it means "I was thinking about the/our
team."

In either case, I did not use the word "thing(s)" in my translations. I could
have used it but that would have only made my translations look wordy. e.g. "I
was thinking about things regarding our team."

You will keep encountering the structure "Noun + の + こと" for as long as you
study Japanese, and it will just mean "regarding (Noun)" most of the time.  

