maki.typepad.comHungry for Words: Mostly Japanese

Looking at Japanese society and culture through its language, with occasional forays into other languages. Home 2010.08.26 A translation of Satoshi Kon's last words I didn't think it really belonged here, so over on my personal blog I have posted a rough translation into English of anime director Satoshi Kon's last words . Aug 26, 2010 2:30:25 AM Comment 8 Reblog It 0 2010.05.14 The unwillingness to say "I", and My-Booms There's an interesting trend in Japan in the way people speak, that I noticed particularly when I was back there. Younger people in particular seem to be very reluctant to use the word "I" to refer to themselves. The Japanese word for "I" varies depending on who is saying it to whom, but the most commonly used words are 私 （わたし watashi) and 僕 (ぼく boku). Watashi is used by women (and girls) and men (the very polite way to say the same word/kanji is watakushi) and boku is used mostly by men and boys. Another word that can be used to point to onnesself is 自分 (じぶん jibun). If you translated jibun though, it would be closer to 'myself' or 'oneself' rather than I - in other words, it's more passive and third-personish than watashi or boku, which clearly do mean I. Here's an example sentence using both watashi and jibun. 私はラーメンが好きです。 (watashi wa ramen ga suki desu.) 自分はラーメンが好きです。 (jibun wa ramen ga suki desu.) Both mean "I like ramen", but the second sentence is more like "Myself likes ramen". 自分 has always been in regular use to mean oneself. However, recently many people use a turn of phrase that is even more passive, when expressing their opinions - 自分の中 (じぶんのなか jibun no naka), which means 'within myself'. In March, there were several news reports in the Japanese media about the difficulties soon-to-be college graduates are having getting 内定 (ないてい naitei), or internal pre-approval for a job (the step usually taken by Japanese companies prior to officially hiring someone) this year due to the bad economy. Young people were being encouraged by employment agencies and others to look at small and midsize companies and not just the large corporations, but one young girl expressed this sentiment, which is probably shared by many of her colleagues: 自分の中では大手企業を希望してます。(じぶんのなかではおおてきぎょうをきぼうしてます jibun no naka de wa ohtekigyou o kibou shitemasu.) A rough translation of this would be "I want to go to a large corporation" but a nuanced one would be "Within myself, there is a wish for a large corporation". Note the difference in tone - it's really quite passive...one could even say, depending on the tone, passive-aggressive. I never noticed people using 自分の中 so much say, 10-15 years ago. It must say something about the way people in their 20-30s and younger think these days. (Older people still use watashi, boku etc.) A boom within myself? Combining 自分の中 with a typical example of an English word that's incorporated into Japanese and takes on a different meaning from the original, is the phrase 自分の中でブーム （じぶんのなかでぶーむ jibun no naka de buumu) Directly translated it comes out to 'a boom within myself'. No, that doesn't mean that someone swallowed a bomb that went BOOM, or even that someone had a very spicy burrito and farted...um never mind. ^_^ It uses the meaning of boom as it's defined on this page - "a sudden increase in popularity". So 自分の中でブーム really means that "I am very much into/passonate about/obsessed with (whatever it is)". Example: 最近パンを焼くのが、自分の中でブームです。(saikin pan o yaku noga, jibun no naka de buumu desu.) - Recently, I am very into baking bread. This use of boom has been turned into it's own new combination wasei-eigo (Japanese-English) word マイブーム (maibuumu), combining "my" and "boom". Many people use that with 自分の中, e.g. 自分の中でマイブーム - a my-boom within myself. A "my-boom" tends to mean a short term obsessive interest in something, that eventually burns out. I guess you could say that people who are considered to be otaku are always having 自分の中でマイブーム, though it's not limited to those who might be defined as otaku. Though if you look at things a certain way, almost all Japanese people are otaku.... May 14, 2010 3:58:20 PM | japanese Comment 25 Reblog It 0 2010.05.01 Soushokudanshi: The Herbivore Man Periodically, I like to look at some popular slang terms in Japan. They may not necessarily increase your knowledge of the Japanese language in a meaningful way, but I think they provide some interesting or funny insight into the culture. Today's term is 草食男子 (そうしょくだんし）soushoku danshi The 'danshi' part means boy/boys or man/men. (Alternate: 草食男 (そうしょくおとこ) soushoku otoko) The 'soushoku' part has sometimes been translated as 'vegetarian', but the more accurate meaning would be 'herbivore'. Here are some herbivores in the animal kingdom: While this would be your typical carnivore: (Lion photo credit: Arno and Louise ) In Japan, a lot of credibility has traditionally been given to the concept of "you are what you eat", (and for UK readers, I don't mean in the Gillian McKeith way). A person who eats a lot of meat is supposed to be more stereotypically masculine and aggressive, while a person who eats a lot of vegetables and non-meat foods is supposed to be gentle and compliant, like a well behaved donkey or cow. So, a 'soushoku danshi' is the approximate Japanese equivalent of a metrosexual; someone who is gentle, refined, concerned about his appearance, kind or respectful to the females in his life. He might be more inclined to be perfectly okay with doing the dishes, or babysitting the kids. A soushoku danshi is typically in his teens to 30s - the younger generation, in other words. Sounds like the perfect modern man, no? Well not really. In that paradoxical way that females want their men to do the dishes but still be 'in charge' and 'manly' and all that, the soushoku danshi is also seen as weak, indecisive, spineless, and just not Man Enough. This past Valentine's Day, there were even 'soushoku otoko' chocolates, for female bosses to give to their spineless underlings to tell them to get a...um, spine. (see Valentine's Day in Japan ). An even more derogatory term for this modern Japanese man is お嬢マン (おじょうまん) ojou-man An お嬢さん (おじょうさん ojou-san) or お嬢様 （おじょうさま ojou-sama) is a refined, sometimes spoiled, young lady. 'Ojou-man' is the male version of a young spoiled lady - in other words, a refined being who is passionately interested things like his appearance and fashion. The soushoku danshi is alternately seen as the doom of Japanese society, or its future, mainly depending on the age of the person talking about them. Incidentally, the current Prime Minister, Mr. Hatoyama, is seen as being somewhat of a soushoku danshi for his so-far general inability to get much done. A modern Japanese man really has it tough. He's supposed to be kind and considerate, but still be manly and take-charge. He's supposed to be masculine, but woe on him if he smells bad . See also: Himono onna . May 1, 2010 7:59:46 AM | japanese Comment 3 Reblog It 0 2010.04.18 Osaka loves food, Kyoto loves fashion, and..Tokyo? New York is the City That Never Sleeps or the Big Apple. Chicago is the Windy City. Paris is the City of Lights. Sayings like this, that try to capture the spirit of a place in a short phrase, exist for Japanese cities too. A common saying about Osaka is 食い倒れの街 (kui-daore no machi), the town that loves to eat. 食い倒れ means to eat until you drop. This is probably true...Osaka is known for great, cheap eats and is the birthplace of famous street snacks like takoyaki and okonomiyaki . A lesser known saying takes the phrase and applies it to Kyoto. Kyoto people are generally held to be very おしゃれ (oshare, pronounced o-SHA-reh) or fashionable and well dressed. Therefore, Kyoto is 着倒れの街 (ki-daore no machi), the town that loves to dress up. Kyoto is famous for its beautiful woven kimono silks or Nishijin-ori. People in Kyoto still wear kimonos quite a lot in their daily lives, probably more than in other cities. An even lesser known saying apparently exists about other cities. Na...