Japan Encounters its own Generation X

JAPANESE
POP CULTURE
& LANGUAGE
LEARNING
$5.50

Te~uka's ~

of lihree

Named

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vocabulary summary
From Kekkon Shiyoyo, p. 17

:.Ei'

teiban
kyoku
watasu
yukkuri
kemo sunt
kimeru
hiroen
modoru
kyt7kei
shun in
iyami
shigoto
raise t.Ht
ochitsuku
monku
uc hiawase
ippiJ-teki ni
danna-.wm a
rikai
isshii
saga.w
ynkl'i na
kenka stutt
akizu ni
.fhashin
shinri5
slrinpu
i

~~

(//1(/

t1ll

i!t-t
19>-?(IJ
~~tTl.>

i;k:.Y.>J.,

:t1H't~:
~J.,

fME!

]:if
1-\'~

fr~

*1;1]

ff;i?-?(

Jt1J

u t>{tb-tt
- 1i~%:

t..: lv t.t i'A

JII\Wt

~T

J: ~ :h \ t.t

tt lvn'i" J.>

~~ -n:
?!~
~f!ll
#[~

~-tt
J:) r~f (J)

!!1Hf-c J.>
Iii.@.
l&l:rt

~.g.(f.J~

:e;~-t

~.(~TJ.>

il'$
~r&:"tJ.>
~~

~IJ;Q;-t

.vhiawase
izen no
bakageteru
ztt boshi
:.u.~hiki

sugiJ-teki na
kurasu
raku
suziJ .Hatt
fuko
.fhippai mru
kako
jill.l'ei
kurikae.ru

standard/favorite
musical piece
hand over/pass to
in a leisurel y manner
consider/examine
decide
wedding reception
return (v.)
I coffee/lunch] break
supervisor
sarcasmtnack
work (11.)
precious/important
become calm/calm down
complaints/gripes
planning session
unilaterally
husband-(hon.)
understanding
all life long
seek
excessive
fight (v.)
without growing tired
photos
groom
bride
stomach (n.)
hole
happiness
former
is foo lish
bull's eye
diagram/graph (11.)
all-encompassing
live/make a living
pleasure/fun
envision/imagine
unhappiness
fail (v.)

From Selected Works o{lshii

j~Q)p

f:\'i\11*
i~~-tJ.,

liH"t

1Ht<fill~Ji

t>7l

Jj~!l~

I~Jj! -t J.,

From American
~:n

iT'

a~oo

;t
~If &:> -)

19> -) i.P It ' );\);

-) 7.> ~ "'

:::1...,. ~= -t 0
ii'i ~ J.,
~li

?Rr!!:
" \ Jj: il'

~<

fukushii suru
mazu
eiga
ai
katarau
yllkai-ma
uru.wi
koke ni suru
kieru
jitsu wa
tot.ru zen
inaka
tsuku

,n;:[;
{flf

n~ m

Mi
P.:f llN

>#
~:n
~A~

t.:.Y.>!:t.-:7.>

m=m

j? 'J
~H
~~-1>:

7 ')

11: -? 1.!"1::
j{ID

<

:f- ') .:'):A

?':>'-'

.1>" 'n'b &:> i'

~

il'-tt J.,

1::' <
ifrft
~. 'J

~lj

noi~y

1::-) -g- 0

~.4{1(

v;f-

make a fool of [someone)

disappear
actually
sudden ly/onexpectedly
countryside/home
arrive

ntt.:.'-'

Hisaichi~

haulc cry
corpslbattallion/unit
drift/wash ashore
travel expenses
earn
famine
continue
uprising
situation
[situation] becomes tense

Com~

48

appeal/charm (11.)
redhead
long ago
whiskers
topic
life
[school I period
physical education
violence
intelligent
be beneficial
jTVI program
fortunate

From Sarariiman Senka , p. 75

pu~t

review (v.)
first of all
movie
love (n.)
talk together
kidnapper

miryoku
akage
mukashi
hige
wadai
inochi
jigen
taiiku
bi}ryoku
chiteki
tame ni naru
bangumi
arigatai

..1.'-'
El

1::
_..,
~

1~'e/T 7.>

<

-m

li fe
repeat (v.)

From Cra yon Shin-chan, p. 34

toki no koe
butai
hyi}c/raku suru
ryohi
kasegu
kikin
tsu::.uku
ikki
jitai
seppaktt .1t11u

~) (/)-f:''

<1"7.>

<

senka
elum
ari
sene IIJ
hataraku
kiril(iri.w
t.wrai
aikawara!u
maka.Hrtt
doku
udai
/ttlliJ Sllrtl
1suyubi
mall.i
torino~oku

yowaku Sttrtt

()/0

7'1

fur a
shinlto
komaru

~ lJ -

1-

li!J.>

st:minar
picture book
aIll
industriously
work/labor ( v.)
grnsshoppcr
trying/painful
unchanged/same as ever
leave/entrust to
move aside
gt:neration
boil (1'.)
Mrong fire/flame
firewood
take away/remove
make weaker
sound (11. )
lpotllid
amateur/novice
be troubled

From A Visual GlossC!.D!...Qf Terms, p. 82

{i

-) L 7:>
li. iJf.Y)
t.: (/) tr
i 1:: 'b 1:

rtx-r o

1.. 7'!:
~ft

,'iJi.Y.>o

kubi
ushiro
nagame
/(/11011111

matomo ,;
chii111011 .\.llrtl
mtda ni
kyu_nl
takameru

neck
behind/in back of
view (11.)
request
straightforward! y
order [food] (1.)
wastefully
culture/education
heighten

The Vocabulary Summary is ((lkenfmmmaterial appearing in this issue ofMangajin. It's not alwa.vs poslible IOf?ive the complete
ranJ?e of meanings for a word in this limited space, .HI our ..definitions are baJed on the usage of the word in a parJicular story.

Mangajin 93

Japan's
Generat1onx
I

For better or for worse, the

younger generation has a new
outlook-and a new attitude.
WILLIAM MARSH takes a look
at the unpredictable,
fragile x-sedai.
"The authority of the family head, on which the whole structure was based, is no longer
what it once was, and there is much talk ofjuvenile delinquency, not to be dismissed even
though much of it seems alarmist. When and if the last uf the old sanctions gu, there is
no telling what will Jwppen." - Edward Seiden stic ker, J 957
larm signals:
The usual gaggle of dudes is hanging out in front of the convenience store. C rouching o n their haunches, splayed o ver their bikes, zigzagging in ragged loops on
their skateboards, they're all working hard at looking bored-and succeedin g.
You have to step around them to get into the store.
Cosmetics manufacturer Kanebo takes the nation by storm with a lipstick
commerc ial featuring rock ido l/actor Kimura Takuya. KimuTaku, as he is affectionately
known, wakes up in bed to find that his girlfrie nd has just finished applying a coat of
lipstick to his remarkably full lips. ln his shock he "trembles like a kitten," as one viewer put
it, but soon gives in to the fantasy and take$ up the lipstick. He wears it well and likes it.
Over the radio in a taxi the other day, I learned that a mother in her early twenties had
been arrested for neg ligence. She'd locked her two sons in the car while she went to play
pachinko. I didn' t catch whethe r it was the heat o r carbon monoxide, but the boys died.
Four youths, the oldest 18 at the time, abducted a high school g irl, imprisoned her in
a closet in one boy's house, abu ed her fo r forty days until she d ied, the n dumped the
corpse into a steel drum and poured wet concrete over it. When investigators asked one boy
what he'd been thinking as he and the ring leader poured lighter tluid over the girl and lit
it, be bristled. He to ld them in so many words that he hadn't been thinking, so they ought
~

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ga~e = (Mi"' L. ~ 'l -flY'. lso~oshii! ichigun dude= 1111 ~ -:> w kaikko I :AOR "' t.:. ~IJ. kidoua yatsu crou;hj
on one's haunches= L ~, 1Jt f.J' shagamu kinen = f-~ koneko bristle=' t ;, ;? ij~ 1:: {.: ~ keukagosJ,; 11i nam

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12 Mangajin

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to have the decency not to pester him

about it.
Onlookers who believed they knew the
boundaries of Japanese behavior have
been dealt countless shocks in the last
decade. Homicides are the surreal, exceptionally visible extreme. The political and
corporate elite's blunders and arrogance
regularly push the envelope of credibility, but are finally less unse ttling than
incidents that point to the emergence of
an apocalyptic generation gap.

a post-industrial economy. Those who

manage to find work they enjoy shine,
according to Nakano, and shed the
" lazy" image. It is also interesting to
note that, as conscious consumers, the
X -sedai tends to stress health a nd
lifestyle more and to shy away from
prescription drugs and tobacco.

Onlookers who
believed they knew
the boundaries of
Japanese behavior
have been dealt

DON'T TOUCH ME, YOU MIGHT HURT ME

countless shocks in
the last decade.

TROTTING OUT

THE

LABELS

It would be misleading to imply that mere

mention of X-sedai (Xill:1t. "Generation
X") makes the public tremble. To obtain
a diffe re nt perspective, let's turn to the
unique a nd hig hl y respec ted almanac
known a~ imidas (an acronym standing for
" Innovative Multi-Information Dictionary,
Annual Series").
Nakano Osamu, the sociologist from
H15sei University who annually writes its
shakai genslui (t033i. ~."social phenomena"') section. devoted five of his 1996

Japan's

Homicides are the

surreal, exceptionally
visible extreme.

kaku-ka~oku 110 "kaku" (#: ~ Q)

~J ,"the nuclear family's 'nucleus'")
Kids once looked after the ir parents in
hopes o f inheriting the assets of the

Generation

entrie to tracking the new generation :

dankai junili bunko (It!~ :J .:z. .::. 7- X
1t, " baby-boomer junior c ulture").
Japan's original boomers. says Nakano,
were strident rebels at school yet soon
me lted into mainstream salaryman
c ulture. The ir offspring. however,
prioritize quality time with their
fami li e s o r b y th e mse lves ove r
corporate loyalty. In one survey, four
in five newly hired males said they'd
be willing to ditc h o ne company to
work for another if the circumstances
were right.
junsui sluJhi sedai (~~n~<:tiH~ 11!:1-t, "the
p ure consumer g e n e r a tion ").
Ro boticall y purchasing brand-name
goods to impress neighbo rs and coworkers is out; mulling over function
and price carefull y and buying to
please o nese lf is in. This hi g hl y
mature. post-bubble consumer hate
bei n g to ld what to buy or being
patron ized with s pecial " Japanese"
versions of import goods.

latter; now they look out for number

one, and their parents do the same.
After that comes surakk7 (.A 7 '"/ iJ - .
that's right, from the 1991 American
movie Slacker). In the wasteland of the
post-industrial economy, go-getters get
nowhere. ''O K, so we'll do serviceeconomy gruntwork for low wages... is
the slacker response, " but don' t expect
us to get into a lather about anything.
and don't bore us wi th directions.
criticism, or advice. thank you."
X-sedai e mbraces all the traits just
mentioned. says Nakano. Despite its
negative media image, he believes this
low-wage generation stimulates the
moribund economy. Why? X-sedai
couples de lay h av ing kids, bo th
partners work. they channel more
income into consumption, and many
actually prefer jobs in fields like software development. networks systems.
video products, or the entertainment
business- sectors where Japan has
been weak but which become vital in

What strikes other com mentators about

membe rs of Japan's latest generation is
their treme ndous fragility. Allergies and
inexplicable new diseases run rampant.
bull yi ng c ulminates in s uic ide after
suic ide, more and more kids cower in their
rooms afraid to go to school. Recently the
pro m in ent dail y news paper A sahi
Shimbun ran an ll -pa1t series called "Kizu
t.wku no ga kowai" ("I ' m Afraid of
Be ing Hurt"), which consisted a lmost
entirely of anecdotes about the thick walls
these "'yasashisa sedai no wakanumutac hi" ("youngsters of the ' g e ntl e"
generation'') erect to protect the egg yolk
of the self from external shocks.
The series makes for painful reading
but has the ring of truth, even il" it sometimes seems to tie everything together a
little too ne atly. With Generation X,
implies the article. intimacy is always the
fi r~t casualty, for exposure of the self
could lead to rejection.
Reading the series. I found it hard at
times not to chuckle. A kid whose friends
drag him a lo ng as driver for their m mJXI
("meeting girls'') expeditions confides to
the re po rte r that he' d rather not go
because "kao ni jisllin ga naku, ukkll da"
("I got no confidence in my face, and it's
all such a ha~~le""), but his friends insist.
T hen he says this:
" Last spring, I did come up with a
girlfriend. But after she called me ten times
in one day, it seemed like getting involved
would be so heavy an obligation I got the
run~ and they j ust wouldn' t stop ...
Pathos o f another ki nd breaks through
as a 23-year-old recalls sl a~hing her wrists
three years earlie r at the thoug h t o f
another day at an office with nobody she
could talk to. She now has a child.
Sometimes her wrists ache and she thinks.
" If I'd just died then, f' d be happy now."
The vulnerability masks itself in odd

~pocalyptic ='Ill:'# t
1a
L

fill( i~ll',; f :t ~.:ill~ ':ib 't .J: 'J 1.: sekai o hametm-teki silllmat.1u ni oikomu ytJ 1w ditch= .R.iS -c ~ misuteru <l~ralt :oku/(o) gel
lather = iff! ( 1.: t:/:-? ""("It ' .J -t!" C ~ < a.w!tlaku 11i lllll/e sesu to hataralw cower in their ro<un~ =~~~~' 1: C 1.: .: (> 7.. heyani IO)ikomortt
-

14 Mangajin

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in~
-

ways. One is excessive fo rmality of

speech (as in use of the word "oraku"
when addressing a peer) which the
speaker may not consciously affect. One
informant told the Asahi reporter that he'd
rather speak normally, but the thought that
he m ig ht make another erro r prods him
to a'isume a protective stance: " If you use
polite form s, you can get by without
exposing yourself."
While the boys succumb to overkill on
keigo, the g irls assume a brash, gruff,
crude speech peppered w ith truncated
phrases. The results are incongruous.
Chatting with their closest fri ends, the
guys sound like receptionists; the girls
sound like Rruce Willis.
PRETTY BOYS, ASSERTIVE GI RLS

The gender ambiguities of the X-sedai are

complex. Until the economic bubble burst
in the early 90s, wome n in Japa n had
tremendous momentum . The range of
options available to them in respect to
lifesty les and c aree rs w as expa nding
annually.
But while female self-esteem soared,
the mostly invisible icon known <L'\ Daddy
the Salaryman co ntinued to work late,
behave like a vassal before his colleagues,
and o ffer less and less to the household
in terms o f experie nce or pe rspective. He
was al ways at work.
h goes without saying that as the dads
grew ever more nebbishy and the moms
ever more self-assured and fascinated by
their own lives, their sons and daughters
were watching.
Tod ay's g irls are bo mbarded from
several directions with a mixed message :
that they shouldn't be afraid to take sexual
matters into their own hands, but also that
a real man is one who will want to tic
them up and push them aro und. H igh
school g irls are. after all, the des ired
objects in the ads, the manga. and the
soft-core pornograph y that blankets the
nation. And after years of watching M<im
manhandle the stumblebum who shows up
late at night half in the bag and barely
able to undress himself, not a few girls
are glad to throw themselves at the first
authoritati ve male who crosses their path.
Meanwhile, boys who toe the line and
sacrifice childhood and adolescent plea-

sures to the holy grail of college prep can

hope to become ... a salaryman just like
dad.
Is it surprising that fe wer boys have
been taking the bait? At school (which
tends to be an extended e xerc ise in college prep), the bored kids have been getting more and more assertive. Teachers,
trapped in a grid of Ministry of Educa-

Japans

Generation

tion regulations, couldn't reinvent a more

rele vant c urriculum if they wanted to.
The frustration on all s ides builds.
Sc hool ro ughnecks who fee l they have
nothing to lose draw a line in the sand;
the teachers dance around it. Afterwards,
the teache rs c onsole the m sel ves by
picking on the weaklings among their
charges. the ones they can be sure will be
helpless to l'ight back. This reinforces the
already strong be lie f amo ng bullies that
m ight is rig ht. The self-a~surance and
independence of the average boy take an
acid bath. He learns to hide in the group
and slam-dunk easy targets like wimps or
homely g irls. Keep moving, do n't let that
spotlight fall on you.

While female selfesteem soared, the

mostly invisible icon
known as Daddy the
Salaryman continued
to work late, behave
like a vassal before
his colleagues, and
offer less and less to
the household in
terms of experience
or perspective.

When it comes to romance, therefore,

a huge proportion of the boys are
paralyzed by self-consciousness in front
of girls; a much smaller group are cocksure . scornful, and dismissive of them.
Rare r yet is the yasashii niichan ("the
gentle, brotherly ty pe") or nimaime
("charmer" ), who actually appreciates
girls as full-blooded human beings and

enjoys their company. The 90s version

may pierce his ear lobes and nose and
wear T-shirts and slacks that accentuate
his was p waist, his long legs, his slender
shoulders and throat. This w ill thrill the
g irls (some o f the m, at leas t) and be
recognized as one way to be cool by most
peers. KimuTaku, the lipstick-wearing TV
star, is such a character, and nobody's
stock in Japan is higher than his.
The key to the yc1sashii niichan's appeal to both sexes may be his versatility,
his multidime nsionality. KimuTaku and
his ort can function outside the proscriptive boundaries. That goes over big.
PATHOL OGY OF GENERATION X

Not every gene ratio n produces so ma ny

individuals who can be traumatized into
autism by miniscule setbac ks or failures
in communicatio n, or turn a blind eye
when potential ene mies gang up on
somebody else . Stepping in to he lp a
be leaguered peer, it might be argued, is
the best way to protect one's own positio n over the long run.
But is it easy? Is it the convenient
thing to do? The hi . tory of Japanese
society leading to 1996 encourages the
X-sedai to give short shrift to whatever is
personally inconvenient.
Fostering dependency in the consumer
(no t unlike the way mothers do in their
childre n) has been a powerful tendency
in Japan's service economy ever since the
hermetically sealed, zero-growth centuries
of the Tokugawa era. From 1603 until the
Meiji restoration o f 1868, just about the
o nly way merchants could distinguish
themselves from their competitors was to
(CIIIIIilltled 0 11 fJ1/{e 73)

.prod = '.>?
t.wt.wku I Jliij ilc i " J., .1higeki .1unt peppered with= - ~ ~If! L /:. - " wyo shiro truncat~d
;'\'~ !1\ L t:. ichibu ryaku shita
~ t.: fukan~~" Jill nebbish= 1,' < I; t.: L ikujimuhi I ~) ~ t, t.: ~'A tsumaranai hito stumblebum = fig ;IW; L niina.ri!i f M~ ;.._ /!. ~ l nrmdakure

<

=-

<

I+ ; t

Mangajin 15

Generation X
(raminuedfrom /)liJ?I' /5 )

demonsrrale grealer willingness to serve. When Japan turned

indu trial production of exports into the centerpiece of it economy
after 1945. the empha i on dependable ~ervice remained, but
machine took over: the country became a key factory ource
and testing ground for appliances that ''take care of you."
The indu trial society put the kibosh on the rural economy,
the extended family. and the tendency for one parent 10 make
childrearing a full-time job. Even the moLhers who do tay home
are so pampered by machines and lulled by promi es of
personal comfort that the sorry chore of saying no to a strident
boy or girl has become mendiYkusai-too much trouble. Mom
is namby-pamby, Dad is wi lly-nilly, reachers are hamstrung by
lradition. Every source of authority whose busine. s it is to help
kids form operating assumption aboul rhe world they're in i
asleep ar the wheel.
The appliances aren't.
In a sociely as hooked as Japan is on machines 1ha1 provide
service, lhe danger is that potential human partners (who
"selfishly" expecl reciprociry in a relationship) will ~eem to the
child 10 provide far less ati faction and payoff !han the
machines do.

The electronic embrace is total: portable phones, microwave

oven . word processors, stereos, massagers, computers, video
rape players and recorder . camera. air conditioners, washing
machine . vacuum cleaner. computer games, answering
machines. faxes. modems, vibrator .
"Persona l convenience" is also the motto of the new
community centers known as convenience stores. They wi ll sell
you everything from food to underwear, as well as copy your
documenrs. proces your bill . forward your faxes, and
expre~~-mail your package . Customers. male and female, tend
to ~pend most of their time in front of the magazine and
paperback racks, silen tly poring over publications from
companies whose definition of service means providing nudiry,
glamour. and explicit documentation of the scandalous
indulgence of "idols'' and power brokers.
When it comes to providing satisfaction on demand. how
can a mere human being in rhc role or boyfriend, girlfriend,
parent, or teacher compete with these tools?
They can'!.
William Marsh (marJhbil@gol.com) is writing a book for
Weatherhi/1 called Pop Japanese.

put the kibo~h on= f!. J.J ") -t!}., 1111' {/f({,\efll namby-pamby = ~e.\ (j(J t.: kllll.l'lui-leki 1111 I lli D01.J:
niekimnai I~'~' i?'lf lv 'lj, iikiiiJI'IIIlll hamstrung by= '(~ ~ ~J iL c ~- ' ~ - ni shil!llrarete iru

shU(ro~u-teki /Ill willy-nilly = :1): .z l;JJ Gt.t. ~ \

Mangajin 73

Kekkon Shiyoyo
Bokutachi no Shippai to Seiko

Let's Get Married

Hoshi sal o

Our Fallures and Successes

Mochiru

Kekkon Shiyoyo follows the story of the employees of a

Tokyo wedding hall called Ageha Bridal Garden. Such
wedding halls- known as " marriage factories" due to the
high volume o f ceremonies handled- are the sites of both
weddings and receptions. Wedding halls take care o f all
details o f weddings, including flowers, music. and food. The
hall may have different rooms set up fo r traditional Japanese
weddings and for C hris tian-sty le ceremonies. While many

couples choose to go with a traditional marriage ceremony, the

receptio n is typically a conglomeration of both traditions.
Much as the employees of Ageha Bridal Garden deal with
the business o f marriage on a dai ly basis, many of them are
dreaming o f their own wedding day. The relationships among
these employees-their failure and success stories-provide
ample fodder for manga. Be low is a description of the four
main churacter~ in KPkkon ShiylJyo.

Kosaka Shi'iko has recently begun

worki ng in the beauty ~ulon
department of the Ageha Bridal
Garden. She came to the company
having previously known Konno
Ma ato hi. whom s he is now dating.

Konno Masaloshi also works at

Ageha. He wa~ dating Kcnjo Sanae
and had even become cnguged to her.
Their relation~hip e nded , however.
and shortly afte rwurds Musatoshi
began dating Shoko.

Kcnjo Sanae is s till friend ly with

Masatoshi. though their breakup and
his ensuing relations hip with Shoko
have led to many uncom fortable
situations at work.

T ille: :{l:A.t:.t,

Kakicda is Sanae's boss at Ageha.

lu\'er>

though he would like their relationship to extend to a more personal level.

110

1t:

Atsui Yuru
hot

night

The Lovers' Hot Night

koihitn means "boyfriend/girlfriend/
lover": -tarhi makes it plural. and 110
makes it possessive.

Ke~kon Shiyoyo has be~n serialized in the monthly ~ "I 7 ::1 ~

0 Ho..;hisato Mochiru. All right:-<. rc:-.cncd. Fir:-.t pubh:-.hLJ in Japan in 199-+ hy

(J) ?.!l:~'

Koihitntnchi

:;

Shugn~u~an. Tll")'O.

7 .7.. .A !::' ')

"I "J

("Big Comics

Spirit~~

English translation righr, arr.mged through Shogakukan.

Mangajin 17

18 Mangajin

*Jlf:(1)
~ff
(1) L-(1)
rth
li V'1r1Jf"T: l J: -)?
Dewa
saikin no
teiban
no kono kyoku
wa
ikaga desho?
in that case/then recenr srandard/favorite that is this musical piece as for bow would it be?

Sanae: 't'li

' 'Tben how about this recent favorite?" (PL3-4)

Sound FX: !:::" -;~

Pi!

(effect of pushing button)

saikin ="recently,'' and saikirtno ="recent."
teiban refers to standard merchandise that sells steadily over time.
kyoku means "tune" or "piece of music." Kono kyoku ="this tune/music," and teibw1 no kyoku ="this tune/music that is
a standard/favorite number.
ilw.ga is a PIA equivalent of do ("whatlwbat way/how"), and deshO is the conjectural form of desu ("is/are"). lkaga
deslro (ka)? is a more poUte equivalent of do desu (ko)? (''How is it/How would it be?"). Using deshlJ ka instead of desu
ka makes a question feel less direct and therefore more polite.

Sanae: .i3~J~ L
0 -ironans/ti

.A.Wi

(1)
110

11_1'11)0
costume change of/nfLI!r entran~c:

't'li 1 J~.:r...AI-Vr<t.!~J., )i,

de W(l riklleSU/0 s/rite kulfamru kata,
for

rcque,L-(lo us)

1?v'

people are

iJj

~v-r:-9
11

deSII

J: o
_110.

many (explnn.) (emph.)

" Lots of cou les request it for their entrance after the costume cha ng~" (PL3)

o-ironaoslli (literally "changing/fixing the colors": the honorific prefix o- is almost always used) refers to the custom of
the bride and groom briefly withdrawing from their wedding reception to change into different wedding outfits. In the
more lavish weddings there may be several such co~tume changes. from one kimono to another and/or one gown to
another.
nyiijii refers to entering the site/venue where an event is taking place. Here it refers to re-emering the reception hall after
the change or clothes.
rikueswo is from the English "request." and rikue.wto sllite is the -te form of' rikue.1uto .ntru (''make a request").
Kudasaru by itself means "give to me/us." and is used when the giver is of higher status than the speaker (any customer
or client would be treated as being of higher starus). After the -re form of a verb. it implies the action b/was done either
to or for the ~pcaker.
rikrte.wto shitf' kudasaru is a complete thought/sentence ("(they] request! it] of us") modifying kata. a polite word for
"person/people."
n desu indie;ates she's making an explanation-explaining why she's suggesting this particular piece.

Bride: 3;3;, r~'k t !J.!!~J (1)

A,
"Bijo to Yajli" no
(interj.) beauty aod

Groom:

bca~t

[llJ
kyoku

-e--9 h o
desu

ne.

of/to piece/theme is (colloq.)

''Oh, it's the theme from ' Beauty and the Beast."' (PL3)
~17: t ~~ --:> "(' 7::.. ;I. -r: l J: 7
Bijo to Yajii rre
anime desllo?
beauty and beast (quote) animation i~, i~n't it?

" Beauty and the Beast ls an animated film, right?" (PL3)

a is an interjection showing reCQgnition.
ro between two nouns is Uke "and.'' Note, though, that it cannot be used for "and" between two clauses.
tte here is a colloquial equivalent of to iu rw wa ("as for what is called -"); when tte (or to iu 110 wa) follows a noun
like this. it often fills in for the topic marker, wa ("as for'').
anime is shortened from animeshon, the katakana rendering of the English word "animation." In the United States,
anime often refers specifically to Japanese animation, but in Japan the word refers to any animated feature.
des/W (and its shorter fonn desho) literally makes a conjecture, "surely/probably." but when spoken with the intonation
of a question it's like a tag question, "right?/isn't that so?"

C room: 11!L

1' ::..;.
floku. anime
Ume

m~ '

;>j:A-<:-t J: n

kirai

na 11 desu yo.

anime di,Jikelhate (cxpl;m.) (cmph.)

" I hate cartoons/anime.'' (PL3)

hnku is a relatively informal "1/me" u~ed by males. Wa, to mark hoku as the topic of the sentence, has been omitted. as
it often is in colloquial speech.
ga to mark anime as the subject of kirai ("dislike'') has also been omitted.
rwn desu is the form tl1e explanatory 11 de.1u (seen above) takes when it follows a noun. Although "dislike" in English is
a verb. kirai in Japanese is grammatically a noun that refers to the sentiment- not the act- of disliking. so it requires
nan dem instead of just 11 df'SLI.

Mangajin 19

iE 9il L.. J: ? J: Kekkon Shiyoyo_

l ~' b
"'[ ~' j)
ct ip "?
! tf' !
A,

':

20 Mangajin

<

"'0 li,
1r' 0 ;6> -lj;"./ '1'Jl( (J)
CD
:a- :Bill (.., v' t.: L ;t T <J) -r:,
Dewa,
ikutsuka sanpuru no shii-dli o o-walashi itashimasu node,
in that case/then seve~
samp(e (mod.) COs (obj.) . (hon.)-hand over because/so
"In that case we will loan you several s ample CDs, so
13= A:z:
.::.~":) (I') ~lf.t~~ ?"fU. lr>t,p1Jr't'L J:-) il'?
o-futari de
go-yuk!<.uri k:emii .nasaue wa ikaga dcshif k:a?
(hon.)~2 people together (hon.)-leisurely
if consider
how would it be?
"how would it be if the two o f y ou consider them together at your leisure?"

"Tben ~rhaps we could loan IOU some sample CDs .for you to consider at yonr leisure.". (PL4)
ikursu ="bow many," and ikutsuka ="several/a number of."
owatashi itashi~su is a very polite, PIA humble equivalent of watasu (''give/hand over [to]"-Qr here, " loan to").
kento nasaue wa is a conditional ("if'} form of kento nasaru, a PIA equivalent of kenUJ suru ("considerfevaluate").

c 'b .

Groom: lu- .

4-8

N-,
demo, kyi!
kimete shimawanai ro
nli.
(interj.) but today must decide/choose completely (colloq.)

"Mmm but we really need to decide today." (PL2)

ira ira ira is related to the verb iradatsu ("become irritated/impatient") and ira-ira suru ("be nervou.slimpatientlirritated/on edge").

FX: v' t? "' t? v> t?

Ira

Bride:

ira

ira (effect of being on edge)

~i3~..>!

\t'\t' n'lflv (:

Mii!
(exwsp.)

kat::en ni
shire
yo!
good extent to elease do/make (emph.)

L"f

kimere is the -re form of kimeru ("decide/choose"), and

shimawanai ro is a conditional ("if') form of shimau,
which after the -te form of a verb often implies doing
the action completely. Implied here is shimawanai ro
ikenai, which makes a "must/have to'' form of the verb.

.1:. !

Ji

"Sheesh! Enough already!" (PL2)

m~.

literally " now/already," is some times used as an interjection expressing exasperation/frustration/disgust.

ii kagen ni Jhire is the -te form of ii kat::enni suru, literally "make (it) w a good/appropriate extcnt"- implyi ng that that
"go()d extent" has al ready been reached or surpassed. The various command forms of the expression (the -re form is often used as a relatively abrupt request or gentle command) are like "That's enough 1/Stop it!/Cut it out"'
#eN'.>~ (J) 1:.
ffl~llll
i6'i6' ~
<J)?!
lk.kyoku kiment noni
twnjikan
kakaru
no?!
one piece decide in order to how many hours takes/requires (explan.-?)
"How manrhours does it take to choose u~t one piece?" (PL2)

Bride: - dtl

Groom: t!. ~ c
Datte,
but

t.:: ;

(J)

*lJl.t.t

~~1{:

t!.

.t o

boku-tachi no
daijl na
hir~en
da yo.
Ume-(plural) 's precious/important wedding reception is (emph.)

''But this is our once-in-a-lifetime wedding reception we're talking about." (PL2)
tWni after the plain, non-past form of a verb can mean "for the purpose of [doing]/in order to [doj."
kakaru refers to bow much time, money, effort, etc., something "takes/requires" in order to be completed/acquired.
using the explanatory no to ask a question is common in coUoquial speech, especially that of women.
the conjunction datte is used like "but'' when stating a protest/objection to what has just been said.
bok11 is an ''Jlme" used by male speakers, and -tachi makes personal pronouns into plurals, so boku-tachi is a "we/us"
used by male speakers. No makes it possessive: "our."

Bride: 1~

~= ~ J01j: "'
1-t:~ *~H? ~..> t:, >;>-) '
S/zigow ni modoranai 10 l(vilkei
owatduw.'
work
lo if don't return break will be over-(regret)
" l f l don ' t get bac k to work, my break will be over!"
" I have to get back to work before my_brcak is over!" (PL2)

.{E!RY.i'l.:f..
c 7.P ik~ lj: ~ {' "'~Ht v' !ttl
}){ t.:. < ~ !u it?~ 0) r: "
Mada hanaraha ziJtei
toka
kimenakya ikenai kvoku ga takusan aru
noni.
still presentation of nowers things like
must choose
p.ieces (s11bj.) many
exist even though
"Even though there are s till man y pieces we need to choose, like for the presentation or flowers ."

Groom: it:.

" But we still have to decide on the music for the llower presentation and all sorts of othet:_!hings." (PL2)
Bride: t~ 'IJ' G
a; Prfl ;O{ . . . ch - , 'b -j ::E.iT: 1.: 1 -\' ~ iii. h h r) "~' -J o
Dakara
jikan ga . . .
A,
because is so time (subj.) (inlerj.)

mo
(exa.~p.)

shunin ni iyami
hmredwu.
supervisor by sarc;~sm will be s;~id(regret)

"That's why I' m trying to tell you, I'm out of time. Ohh, geez now I'm going to have to take some
llack from my supervisor." (PL2)
modoranai is the negative form of modoru ("return/go hack"). and to makes it a conditional: "if l don't go back."
owatchau is a contraction of owarre shimau, from owaru ("[something) ends"). Shimau after the -te form of a verb can
imply the action is regrettable/undesirable.
hanaraba = "bunch/bou4uet of flowers." and zotei is a very fom1al word for "presenting/giving [as a gift!." Hanataba
zorei refers to a standard part of Japanese wedding receptions today. in which the hridc and groom each present the
other's parents with a bouquet of flowers.
to ka (often da 10 ka after a noun) is used when stating one or more of several possibilities, usually implying there are
other possibilities besides those stated -> "things like - :
kimenakya ikenai is a contraction of kimenakereha iknwi, a "must/have to" form of kimeru ("choose/decide"). This
modifies kyoku ("tune/piece/m usic''): ''piece(s) we have to choose."
( contimwd on nexr page)
Mangajin 21

_ _ _ *tl ~ L, J:

.(

'.t t :ltr

"';
0 r.:till,
B"f
t; !

-to~

"'<

22 Mangajin

t.t-t-=
"'
A
? tt
1:' IJ;
\, ' J:

? J: Kekkon Shiyoyo

.r.c*
"? "? I IJ;
t::

-r "t' ~

<0

{>

\. ' It

0 0)\,'fr

A.tt
t: f!

!? "'
!J:t
A.

-r
'

c tt -t-

"? . t t

c ':

IJ;. l:t
Jl 1:

~~?
~:t!

A.

[] rumli"unJ jmm pri'\'IOU~ ptl~f')

noni here means "even though," implying something like "even though we have a lot more to decide, you're talking o f going back to work'l"
dakara is literally "for that reason/therefore/that's why," often used idiomatically to mean 'that's why I'm saying/that's
what I'm trying to tell you.''
iwaredwu is a contraction of iwarete shimau, from iwareru, the passive form of iu ("say''). lwareru can simply mean "be
told [to do something]," or it can imply being the brunt of criticism/sarcasm/beratement, etc. Shimau again implies the action is unwanted.

Groom:

f1-

*W

!$:~~
t t',:> -t:. IJ~
f.t.Ad!.?!
hiroen
w dotchi ga
taisetsu
na nda?!
wedding reception between Which (subj.) precious/irnportanr (exp}an.-?)

t
-!lt.:-t:.QJ
Sh,1go~o boku-tachi no
work

and

our

..

"Which is more important-your work or our wedding?" (PL2)

t'-'{,t~61)~~-?

Dose

yamechau

a'!}'_way

~11:

t:.~f.t.\t\;()>0

kaisha

ja nai ka.

will quit company/job

is it not?

"You're going to quit that job anyway." (PL2)

Bride: t.t.~: J:!
?):Je t;r (#~1:> -::>l' 1!-::>t.: lv
Nani

yo!

tte

Takashi gtl yamero

what (is-em ph.) (name) (subj.)

quit

(quote)

ilia

t.~f.t.\t' 0

ja nai.

said (explan.)

is not

"What're ou saying1.! You ' re the one who told mej _should quit!" (PL2)
Masatoshi:
11? 1 11?, ~ A
1 "t' l;t
t!. 11? I) 1 i" iJ' t:> t$ -t:. :::)\.,' -r o

Mil mil,
tiJjit.\'11
mtlde wa mada arimasu
kara ochitsuite.
(interj.) appointed da~ until a~ for still exists/have because/so be calm

"Now now thete s still time before your wcdding_day. so please calm down." (PL3)
X to Y to dotchi ga - is like "between X and Y, which is - ." Dotchi is an informal dochira ("which Iof 2 itemsl").
asking a question with n da (after a noun, na 11 da) is mostly masculine and can sound quite rough.
yamechau is a contraction of yamete .rhimau, from yameru ("quit/stop"; when written with this kanji, it specifically means
"quit a job"). Shimau in this case gives the feeling that the action is already a foregone conclusion and irreversible. Yamechau
modifies kaisha ("company" -+ "job"): a company/job that you will quit."
ja nai ka ("is itnot?/does it not?") in this case is a purely rhetorical question; he's in fact making a strong assertion.
11ani yo (fern.) and nan da yo (ma~c.) can be used in a challenging or belligerent tone to take issue with what has just been said
or done.
yamem is the abrupt command form of yameru ("quit/stop").
tte is a colloquial equivalent of quotative to, and itttt is the plain/abrupt past form of iu ("say"). Tte mar~s yamero as the
content of what the bridegroom said.
ja nai is literally "is not," but implies the rhetorical question "is it not'?"; again, the rhetorical question actually has more the
force of a slrong complaint or accusation than a question.
mli mais a sofUgentle.-sounding interjection that's used to try to calm someone down: "Now, now/Easy now/Yeah, yeah."
arimasu is the PL3 form of aru ("exists''); mada arimasu here implies mada)ikan ga arimasu ("time still exists"--. "you still
have time").
ochitsuite is the-re form of ocltit.vuku ("become calm"); the -te form is being used as a request: "please calm down."

Sound FX:

1</

Ba11

Bang (sound or slamming vending machine buuon)

[I]

Sanae: m.t..tr? <

-::> -c .: - v'-? .::. t::: ?!

ChO-mukatsuku
tte
kO iu keto?I
ultra-nauseated/disgusted (quote) this kind of thing
"Is this the kind of thing you call ultra-disgusting?"

"Could anythi!lg be more totally gross?!" (PL2)

Saf!~: lj:tplj:,;, {;:j;? ~I') l,lj:v' <-Itt::,
:t'nJ
11'i1'1'J 5i-::>"C il?QJ ~ !
Nakanaka
readily

lwkkiri shilwi kuse ni,

monkrt
bakari
not be clear even though complaints/gripes only

itte,

ano otoko!

is saying that

man

"He can't ever seem to make up his own mind, and yet be does nothing but C~plplain, that guy!'' (PL2)
Masatoshi: :flllii~
QJ trsittHt l::t il?lv~ t lv t!. -::> -r o
Jlir{fen

no

uchiawase

wa

anna

mon da

tte.

wedding reception for planning ses&ion as for that kind of thing is (emph.)

"That's about the way it always is with these planning sessions."' (PL2)
1/e here is a colloquial equivalent of the quotativ.e pl:u:ase to iu no wa ("as for what is called/termed - ").
.: - "' 1 is an alternate spelling for .: ? "'? (kfi iu, "this kind of' ); many manga artists like to use katakaoa long marks

instead of adding hiragaoa for long vowels.

;
when nakunaka is followed by a negative, it means "[not] ea~ily/rcadily/quiekly." Hakkiri shinai is the negative form of
hakkiri suru ("[something] becomes clear"), so nakanaktt hakkiri shinai "[tiis miod/wiJll doesn't readily become clear''
....... "be doesn't/can't seem to make up his mind."
kuse ni means "even though/in spite of [some undesirable traitlcharacteristic/factj."
itte is the -te fonn of iu (''say''); the -te form hece implies something like "saying~, that guy's hopeless/a real jerk."
ltchiawa.~e refers to "planning/making arrangements" for some event, or to the meeting in which that planning takes place.
mon is a contraction of mono ("thing"). Anna mon da ='' it's that kind of thing" ...... "it's about like that.;; The colloquial ..
quotative lie here is best thought of simply as emphasis.
(continwul on next page)

Mangajin 23

~ ~ L,

At.>

f:t b t::
'?"/){A,

: t::
A.,~A.,
t::t
t~

!f. i; t::
t,::r)A.,

t: .,.. f:t
'?

J:

1: ~

t~

"' 0)
0) .Q t~

1:

1: b
'

'?

'"'('

L "'

t.>

'"'('-?0)

t:tt=
"'
? -'TA
~
'b

24 Mangajin

J: ? J: Kek kon Shiyoyo_ _

1:

lJ]O)

tb<

-;db

o:>-9:

f:t

-:>fl

I:J(O)

l:t.A

' t:.
'?

""(

? 'IJ t,
0

'?1.'

t~

"'f

J: '

f:t
....
'-

.t (J)

-;

..0.
'%t ..0.
c

-:>b

t~

-tt

"'f

-~*
,1)
~ 0)
1: l;t. ~

"'
f t~ ~
7) 0) "/){
'?

WJ:!15

""( ~
0

'"'('

tr..J

':

Sanae: -f tL t:: 'i 1.:? fl:

.!::

4Jtit~

.!::

.1::'-::> t

11~

j(t;J

'i lv t!.

Sore ni nani? Shigoto to

hiroen

to

dotchi

ga

taisetsu

nan da

that

and what

work

-::>

-o

ue?

and wedding reception between which (uhj.} is precious/important (explan.) (quote)

"And what was it? He said ' Which is more important-your work or our wedding'?" (PL2)
Sanae: 11:
1Jf ~~ Q ff'W- t.t 1v -c, .1::'- -r- ~ "' "' c
.~. '.) -c 6
0) !?
i-::> t.:. <!
Onna

ga

yaru shigoro

woman (subj.) does

work

name,

do demo ii

to

as for

unimponaot

(quote)

omoueru
no!?
is thinking (explan.n

mattaku!
(exasp.)

"As if he thinks a woman's work doesn't reall matter. Sheesh!" (PL2)

011110 ga yaru is a complete thought/sentence ("A woman does [it)") modifying shigoto ("work")-+ "work that a
woman does"-+ "a woman's work."
name can be considered a colloquial equivalent of nado ("something like"), or of an entire phrase like na.do to irt koto/
mono wa (literally "a thing/place/person/action that is something like -"). It's used as a colloquial equivalent of wa,
for marking the topic ("as for''), often with a feeling of belittlement.
do demo ii is an idiomatic expression for "is unimportant/doesn' t matter/can take it or leave it."
mallaku, literally meaning "completely/entirely.'' is often used as an exclamation of exao;peration.

Masatoshi: ...:. A

yokereba is a conditional Ci f/when"')

fo rm o f ii(\'oi ("good/finc");.fiaari ~~~
ynkrreba here implies not simply "if
2 pe"ons (f.ubj.) if are good/happy that wi th i~ good/fine (explan.) isn't it'~
"So Jon a~ the couple is happy, isn't that a ll that matters?" (PL2)
tht: two people arc good" but "if the
t1
;.,
two people feel good about it."
Masatoshi: ;ttJJJ1l!IJ
.\ore de ii (lit.. "is gcxKl/fi ne wi th
Boku-ra
dt' rovakaku
iu IIW1u/ai j~ nai.
that"') is an exp ressio n for "that 's
wedding hall sid~/our side on this and that say probl~m
IS not
cnoughllhat's good enough." N ja nai?
"It's not a problem regarding which w e shoultl say this and that."
here;: is spoken as a real question. so
" It's not our place to criticize." (PL2)
sore de ii njanai? = isn't that good
enough?"" "isn't that what muttcrs?"
:r~JIJ!m is normully read shiAijlif?OII'a and literally means wedding hall -,ide," whilt: hokura is an informal. masculi ne
"we/us''; applying boku-ra as the rt:ading for these kanji e.,sentiull y gives us the mcaning of "we who work for/represent
the wedding hul l."
royakak11 iu = "sny this and that/criticize/raise ohjcctinns: bok11 ra de royakaku i11 is a complete thoug ht/sentence ("wt:
critici7.elraise objections") modifying mondai ("problem/wncern"), andja nai in this case is a straightforward is not."
F11tari

yokereba

f?O

Sanae: ~(J) ~

1Jf

Ano oto/w ga
thlll

.wre

ii

de

-15~.11.: i~t.>t.;
ippoteki ni kirneta

mun (subj.) unihlterally

1J:

J:!

0)

no

ja nai"!

yo!

let

Onna

tl.:$

M't.>-c

decided (explan.) (cmj)IJ.) woman us for work

"'~
iro

1.:

wa shigoto yamete uchi

11i

..,-co
tte.

qult-und home in/at be/stay (quote)

"That guY. decided it unilaterally, you know! That she should ult her job and stay at home.'' (PL2)
Masatosbl: llll
0) .fT-t;{tb-tt- ~ -t;~'.>c ~..,f.::.<'?'-'~,
b-IJ'-:>t.:. J:.?~ .:c u?~o
d~

chollo

Ufta

kurai

for planning :.e ion at

a liule

met

only

Kyok.u no

rou~ic

uchiawase

de,

wakarta

yo na

with understood/know type

koto

iu na.

thing

don't say

"Don' t act like you know it all ust from havin met them briefl to plan the music." (PL2)
iro is the abrupt command form of iru ("exist/be in a place" for people and animate tllings). Uchi ni iru = "be at home''
"remain/stay at home."
ue indicates she is quoting what the man decided. The syntax is inverted: normally this clause would come first.
kurai de (''about/approximately") is often used idiomatically to belittle the significance o f the thing/action/amount mentioned just before it, so chouo atta kurai de means "from merely having met brieOy.''
wakaua is the pluin/abrupt past form of wakaru ("come to know/underst:md''). Kmo (lit., "thing") here es.<,entially refers
to "words/remarks." so wakarw yiJ na k.ota (a) iu ="say/make knowing-type remarks" -+ "act like you know.''

Masatoshi:

fAO)A

th(/)

A11o
that

!~L:. /~?f.:. (J)(::,

kanji
fe~ling

daua

llfmi.

t.:A.Ij:t~

lii:1JJ<7)l:}'i
!.t
koro u-a

t.!--:>1:

na hiw datte
woman
at"'

Oil/Ill

~aislm11o

early on

/.!.1-..,f.!./-..,
dandan

a~

tor

danna-.mma

(J)/:.6f>l:.

Jj?-f

1:.

ramr ni

o-uclri

111

110

husb~nd-Chnn.)

lor sake of

Chon.)-hom~

Pl.,
iru

~;

--:>-c

tte

in/at bc/,ta) (fern.) (<Juute)

;i) J:j(,: /;t~d:. /-..,f!.n

i11 yo 11i natta
11 da.

;btJf;j;;j;
11'111(11//IGI/Ia

was even though more and mor~ selli~IHle~s/willfulness say

so that

bec:1me

(~xptan.)

"At first, the woman was like 'l'U staY. home for my husband's sake,' too, but then she started insisting
on her own way more and more." (PL2)
claue here i~ a colloquial equivalent of mo. too/also:
the quotative tte marks damrasama 110 tame ni Ollrlri 11i iru wn a' what the woman said or implied.
kanji datta is the plain/abrupt past form of ka11ji da ("is the fecling that""), often used to state what something 'secms/
seemed like"
" itlsht: was like - :
wagamanw refers to "selfish/egotistic/willful behavior." and wagamama (o) iu (lit.. "say/speak selfishness"') is an exprcs
sion for " make st:lfish demands/insist on one's own way."'
- yo ni 1wtta is the past form of - yo ni naru. gctlbecomc so that

Sanae:

11~

Otoko ga

btJfii a-j
wagamanw

man (subj.) ~lftSimess

iu

tJ~

~"'

0)

J:o

kara

wami

no

yo.

say because is bad/at fault (explan.) (emph.)

"It's the man's fault for insisting on his way," (PL2)

(continued 011 11(').1 {Jllge)

Mangajin25

ii!i ~ '-' J: ? J: Kekkon Shiyoyo

-'---'--

--

IH+
~'

'IJI

A-"'

t:. ~ '\
'IJ A-

26 Mangajin

[!]lwoui...,df"""pn.W..1f"'~<J

Masatosbi:

tr:.

t!.-.> "'(

Onna datte

warui (lit., "bad/evil") is often used to

mean "i.s at fault/to blame." - ga warui =

~'-''o
warui.

"- is at fault/it's ...... 's fault."

woman also is bad/at fault

"The woman shares the blame, too." (PL2)
Sanae: ~, -? 1.1:' I')
Yappari

Masatoshi:

~anae:

a-

t! lv f.d~

Jl!!l~-

(f)

~ 1.>

rikai

no

aru dwma-sama

f.t ~ 7j: <1? -'\' t.: 66

o sagasanakucha dame

.J:..
yo.

after all understanding (subj.) has hu;band-(hun.) (ohj.)

must seek/find
(emph.)
" ln the end, a woman has to look for a more understanding husband ." (PL2)
1:.
~ L ( 7) o
lssho
saga.~hitem.
all life long be seeking
"Search your whole life long."
"Search our heart out. (PL2)
rikai 110 aru is a complete thought/semencc ("[hcl has understanding") modifying danna-sama ("husband").
saga.,allakuclw dame is a contraction of saga.mnaku te wa dame, a ''must/have to" fonn of sagasu ("seek/look for").
sagashiteru is from sagashite im. the abrupt command form of sagashite iru ("is seeking/looking for"), from sagasu.

<

J:.ltlt\~ i>l!l:~f,
J:.!
Jfffi;.tjo
1;;/v"IJ', f.tlv'e'~ !Ji1~t>"'( 1t..Q
Yokei rra osewa
yo!
Masatoshi nanlw, =ndenw kiite kurtru
excessive concern (is-emph.) (name)
as for whatever listens-( for you)

~~'~lv
dareka-san

ill..'-''
yasashii

t If < -tn:.~ttlt?
to lwyaku issho ni nareba?

kind/affectionate someone-(hon.) with quickly if get together

' 'Mind our own business! Wh don' t you just hurry up and tie the knot witb a certain someone
who' s oh so affectionate a nd who han~ _!)n your every word!" (PL2)
Masatoshi: i:3 ;t .i :: -t- J: 17- ~ :t:; iftlili t!. o
yokei 110 ="excessive/unnecessary," and o-sewa = "concern/
Omae koso yokei 11a o-sl'wa da.
care/favor," so yokei na o-sewa refers to unwanted concern/
you
(empb.) exce~sivc concern i
advice/aid. Yokei na o-sewa yo (or da) spoken to the med"You mind our own business! ' (PL2)
dling party is essentially like "mind your own business."
Co-worker: ~(f) :.A, t,. \-::> b 7 / '/J L. "'( ~ t,. \?
ltandemo kiite kureru ("[she] listens to whatever you say/
Ano futari, it.~umo kellka shitenai?
ask") and yasashli ("kind/gentle/affectionate") both modify
those two always
not fighting?
dareka-san ("Ms./Mr. Someone"-+ "a certain someone").
"Aren't those two always fighting?"
issho ni nareba is a conditional ("if/when") form of issho
''Do those two ever stop fighting?" (PL2)
ni nam ("become joined/get married"). To marks the thing
or person being joined/married. In colloquial l>peech, con
ditionul forms of verbs are often ul>ed for suggesting/urging an action: is~ho ni nareba ="why don't you get married?"
kenka shitenai is a contraction of kenka shite inai ("is/are not fighting"), negative of kenka shire iru ("is/are fighting''),
from the verb kerrka sunt ("fight'). Raising the intonational the end makes it a question: "are they not fighting?"

[!]

Co-worker:

1rr

naka ga ii means 'relationship is good/arc good

friends" and rwka ga warui means "relationship

do ka wartti 11 da ka.
relationship (su~p is good (explan.) or is bud (exP.lan.) or
Naka

ga.

iln

is bad/are enemies."
something like wakaranai ('"can't tell") is im
plied at the end: - n daka - 11 daka wakaranai
="can't tell if it's/they're - or ......"

"I can 't tell if they're friends or ene.m.ies.'

"I can ' t tell wbetber they like each other or bate
each othe r /' (PL2)

Sound FX:

<-t <i"

Kusu ku.w (effect of low, stifled laugh/giggle)

Masatoshi: J:

<

Yoku

~~-(!:.
akizuni

lt/vi.l'i"o

J:

fo:- o

knrka stmt

yo

nii.

yoku at the beginning of a l>entence can ex-

(emph.) (coiiO<j.)
well without growing tired tight
"It's amazing how we never seem to tire of fighting." (PL2)

Shoko: ~m ~ lvo
Komwsan.

(surname-hun.)
" Konno-san." (PL3)
Masatosbj:

Shoko addresses her boyfriend by his surname plus -san both at work and in private. lr
docsn 'tactually sound quite as stiff and formal as if an English-speaking woman addressed her boyfriend as "Mr. So-and-so," but today it has an increasingly traditionalistic ring to it as more women use their boyfriends' given names.

tf.+i? '{> 1-vo

ShiJko-clum.

dekimasu is the PL3 fonn of dekiru. which

means "be finished/become ready" when re-

(narnc-dirnin.)
"Shoko." (PL2-3)

ShOko: 7' 1

:X=- 7 / 1-

Dizuniirando

pres~ ~urprisc/amazement at the action/behavior mentioned.

akizu ni is equivalent to akinai de ("withoul
growing tired of'), from akint ("grow tired
of/bored with").

ferring to something being made/produced/

prepared.
(J)
II# (f) ?J.TI-, ~' R
no toki no shashin, f.tyii

't" ~

1 i"

J: "

dekimasu

yo.

Disneyland
of time or photos today will be ready (crnph.)
" The ictures from Disneyla nd will be ready today." (PL3)
Mangajin 21

*tim

28 Mangajin

t.,

J: ? J: Kekkon

Shiy~yo

Masatosbi: triJ:>f..:.o
Wakatra.
understood

~~ Ji!.
Konban mi
tonight see

t.:

IT<

ni

ilat
yo.
wW go (cmph.)

(purpo~)

J:. o

"OK. I'll come over tonight to look atjhem." (PL2)

walwtta is the plain abrupt past form of wakaru ("come to know/understand"). It's often used like "OK'' to indicate that
one understands a command or request- in this case an implied request/invitation-and will respond accordingly.
mi is the stern form of the verb mint (''see/look at"), and ni iku after the stem form of a verb means "go to [do the action]/go for the purpose of [doing the action]."

Shoko: li ~.-'
Hai.
ycs/OK

"Great." (PL3)

ITJ

Sound FX: ~v tfb ~b

Zawa zawa zawa
(sound of many voices

mixing i n crowded room )

Sanae: i.JJ: Il
Mainichi iromw
sltiwli .l'hinpu mitrru kedo,
every day ;Ill l ind, of brides and gr<Mllll~ see bulland
" I sec all kinds of brides and groom~ ever y day. and

frlj: ::_q) A ..,-(. ?1.- .\!!. ..,t:J~1o

daij5bu 110 110 ka Till ko11n hito
ue,
tsui
omotchau.
all right (cxphm.) I wonder this per.un (quote) (cmph.) think-(imolumnry)
" I in vo luntarily think, ' I wonder if this pcr~on is going to be all rig ht?'''

Sanae: ,kj:_):: /;;:<!)

"As I see all these dill'erent brides and grooms coming through every day, 1 can' t hel hut wonder
about some of t hem-whether they're really goi~make it." (PL2)
iro1111a is a colloquial equivalent of iro-iro 11a ("various/diverse").
mitem is a contra~.:tion of mite iru, frommim ("sec/look at'"). 0, to mark sltinro shinpu ("bride and groom") as the direct object of mim, has been omiued, as it often is in colloquial speech.
the conjunct inn kedo can mean dther "and" or "but" depending on the context.
daijiihu mt:ans "all right/okay" in the scmc of no cause for concern." u~ing it as a question implies there is cause for
conct:m: "'1<. it OK?IIs it safe?/Are you all right'!": if the question is conjectura l. a~ it is here. it becomes "I wonder if it's
,afe/1 wonder if they're all right."" Note that daijiibu is not alway~ the proper equivalent for English "all right": it's not u~ed
to express willingncs~ ("OK. I'll do it": use lrai or ll"(lkatta/ll"akarimw.lriw instead). when beginning an action (""All right.
here go"": u~c .\li or yoshi). or a~ ;ln exclamatory ''All right!" when you win the lottery or hit a home run (u'c yatta!).
daijiihu1wno ~a 110. ko11o hito is a complete 'cntt:nce in inverted 'Yntax: normal order would be ~o11o hiro (ll'a) daijobu
na no ~ana? ("I wonder if this person i~ all right?"). The quotative tte marks this sentence~ the ~pt:cilic conrcnr of
what she thinh (omotdwu).
r.wi as an adverb for actions implies the action is/was done inadvertently/unintentionally/involuntarily. In this case it
essentially emphasizes the same meaning included in nmmchuu.
omotdtau i~ a contraction of omotte shimau , from omou ("think"). Shimau a fter the te form of a verb cun imply the ac
tion occurred spontaneously/involuntarily.

Kakieda: li -i.lo

~U

;) t

ftl!A

(J)

.:c

't'

-t-A.t.ti: .(_,1L'Ct..:. ?,

1: 1\.

OO <

~o

Biika.
Mainichi
hito
no kntn de s01mani .rhinpai shiterara,
i
ni ana aku
zo.
fooVidiot every day other people 's things over that much
if worry
~tomacb in hole will open (emph.)
" Idior. if you worry that much about other people's concerns every day, a hole will open in your stomach."

" You idiot. If ou

ulcer." (PL2)

wo~mucb

about other people' s concerns every day you'll give yourself an

blika is a colloquial variation of baku ("fooVidiot").

ill! A means "another person/stranger/someone e lse" (or plural equivalenL~) whether it is read hito, as called for here. or
read tan in. which is its more proper reading. No makes it possessive: "another person 's/other people 's."
koto refers to intangible "things" (i.e., not material objects) such as ''questions/facts/matters/events/situations," so hito
no koro::: "other people's mat.ters/affairs/concems."' De marks this as the source/cause of worry.
shiupai shitetara ls a contraction of shinpai shite itara, a conditional ("if') form of shi11pai shite iru ("worry/be worried"). from shi11pai suru ("worry'').
ga . to mark ana as the subject of aku ("[somethingj opens"), has been omitted.
zo is a rough, masculine particle for emphasis.

Mangajin 29

*a* l

J: ? J: Kekkon Shiyi5y
'---o _ __

tiE~

-:>it if~

"( 'IJ) II !

.O!t*
(/)

':

0 )... '?

(;,"(

l:t

"'-r

'?

30 Mangajin

Sanae: t!.-? -r:, "t"" ~ttl!" h.lv ~

Datte,
but

~-tt

1:.

~-? -r: li L "'

O)o

dekireba minna shiawase ni

natte hoshii
mono.
if possible everyone happy
to want [!hem}to become becau~~e

"ButJ if it was possible, I really WOJIId like them aU to becom~y,_" (PL2)

Kakieda: I;J:I;J:-J o W.r)IJO) Je.~ ~i?. ct:l.l'< *i'i~ i;;.!vtP lf-n'l:f"'Co, "t"" ;ftfb::d.:-?1

~~ o

1:.

HohiJ. fun no Kenjo nara, tonlkaku kekk.on nanka balwgetem, de

owmtaro
ni
nii.
(interj.) former (surname) if it were anyway marriage thing like is foolish with prob. would have endedeven !hough (colloq.)
"Hm-hmm. [You say such a thingl even though if it were the former Kenjo, it probably would have ended
with ' Marriage is foolish anyway."'

''H

interesting that you should say that. In the past you probably would have just said that marriage is stupid~" (PL2)

dam! is often used in colloquial speech to introduce further elaborations or explanations, especially of a defensive nature.
dekireba is a conditional ("if/when") form of dekim ("can do/is possible")-+ "if possible."
nolle is the -te form of naru ("become"), and hoshii after the -te form of a verb implies the speaker wants another person
to do the action, so mute hoshii = "wantlthem] to become." Ni marks shiawa.ve ("happy") a.~ the desired result.
hoM is an interjection that includes a feeling of surprise and shows fairly strong interest in what the speaker has heard or
observed: "Hmm/well well/ahaa/interesting/ete.''
Kenjl5 is Sanae's sumame; Japanese speakers often use their listener's name when English speakers would use "you.''
owauaru is equivalent to owatta dariJ ("probably ended/would have ended''), from owam ("end'').

Kakieda: 3?'1!~

M~

~~J L-et ~'''

.\l;l.-J-r:o

bit

t.!.

~o

~~-

t.!.7, o

Shiawave 1w kekkon nara shite 11111 ii to

ollw//er/1 wake da na. Zuho.fhi dam.
happ)
marriage if it i~ is OK to du (<juule) are thinking situation b (coll\)(j.) bull's-eye right?
1'hc ~ituation is that you're thinking it'd be OK to get married if i t '~ a happy marriage, right? I hit the
bull's-cye. right?"

"So now you think it'd be OK to get ma rried if it's a happy marriage. Bull's-e e ri ht?" (PL2)
Sanae: niU!J"(
~-tt
~= (j;
~IJf-:1.'
hJ: o
Vare dalle
shiall'ase ni wa
unyon<!lcvcryonc happy 10 a' for

llfll'itai
wa yo.
become (fem. emph.)

wont~ 10

"Everybody wants to lind happiness." (PL2)

.vhite is the -te form of .wru ("do"). and te ""' ii means ''it's OK/tine to Ido the action]." so shiawase 11a kekkmr11ara shite
mo ii ="if it i~ a happy marriage it is OK Ill do it." To marks this as the content of what he says she's thinking.
' ll'ake da 110 {lit. "the situation is - . i,n' t it'Uright?") is often used when drawing conclusions or fig uring something
out: it often ha' a \Omewhat tentative. conjectural feeling. but here he's pretty 'ure he's right.
dam (colloquially shoncned from darci) literally makes u conjecture ("probably/surely''). but it's also used idiomatically as a tag quc~twn. like ''right?"
dare daue i' a colloquial "no matter who it i~..... "anyone/everyone...
naritai ~ ~the "want to" form o f nal'll ("become"): ni marks what you want to become.

*-tt

...,-c

[%1;\
tJ<:$1;1:..Ai?~"' -:>"'C iih-r:o
O)o
Kekkon iklJru shiawase 1/e
zushiki
ga ki ni iranai
tte
iuem
no.
marriage equals happiness (quote) diagrurn/graph (subj.) don't like
(quote) am saying (explan.)

Sanae: *li~

"I ' m lust saying I don't like the view of life that e uates marriage with happmess.''
Sanae: 3?'-tt
-? -c, b-?
*l;':{i-(J{J~
t 0) t. ~ ~ v'Q)-n, 1i- o

Shiawase rre. motto

h:tppincss a~ for more

sogo-rek/ 1w
all-cncompa~~ing

mono ja nai no ka nll.

thing I wonder if it ilin'l

" I think happiness is a more a U-encompassing thing.'' (PL2)

the first lie is a coUoquial equivalent of the quotative phrase to iu, which here can be thought o f more or less literally as
"that says.'' effectively making the equation kekkmr ikiJru shiawase into a modifier for UlShiki ("diagram/graph'')-+
"the diagnun lnf life] that says marriage equals happiness.''
ki ni iranai is the negative form of ki ni iru, an expression meaning ''to like/be pleased with.''
the second tte is equivalent to just the quotative particle to; itteru is a contraction of itte iru ("am saying"), from iu ("say'').
the third 1/e is essentially like wa ("as for") for marki ng the topic; it's a colloquial equivalent of the quotative phrase to
iui!IJ 1vt1 (literall y "as for what is called ..... "): shlawase tte ="as for happiness, .. .''

Kakieda:

Kakieda:

uc,-r

rr.Z-cl.>
~o
~A -r:
.::.c
(f)
I ~J
0'> (;.;;l.f1.pi'J :W.f~LrJ;t-J l.l'i?n
letI'm
11a.
Fuwri de k11rasu
koto
1w "rak11"
no llo bakari siizii shichimw1 karn.
IS ably/aptly '>aid (colloq.) 2 person~ rngt!thcr live thing/situation of pleasure/fun that is side
only envision-(sponl.) hecause
"l.!tgree with you there. People tend to envision only the fun side of living together." (PL2)
"'~ t!i~L"(h.~t . -f-)-f-')
WJL'-'
.::.c l.f1.J'IJ L.:~~ ~' -n'i? , /f~l.: ~t.tJ;t-J o
f::.a kekkollllrite miru to. .w} .w}
tmroshii
koto bakari
(interj.) if/when marry
thai much pleasurable/fun things only

ja11ai
kara,
fuko ni kanjichimau.
is not because/so unhappy feel-(regrel)

"Then when they actually get married, thev discover it's not always only fun things, so they feel unhappy.'' (PL2)
ietem is a contraction of iete iru, from ieru ("can say"). the potential form of iu ("say"). fete iru basically expresses
agreement with what has been said, implying, too. that it was well put.
ho means "side/direction," so raku 110 lui= " the side that is fun/the fun side.''
(continued onnexl page}

Mangajin31

iS !II}

J: ? J:

=t:
t) If tJ

Ke
::_:_:
k_:.:_:ko:..:..:.
n -=.
S:..:..:.
hiy~o-=--:.yo:.__

AW~

~JIT

li t (,
Ill
~

i' Q) fJ)
:1!tlr~

!k

(;q ':J
Q ~: .{
1~

"'
0

1,;

li

1;
0

32 Mangajin

_ __

~-E'M
i..&;?L-.
~L-~<i"
~"(?/;tQ

'\"->

=-

< "( "'-

~o Q)
tJ A~ li'
t~t

[!}(<fmtinurdfmm ptt\ lltUS pmwJ

sii:ii shichimau is a contraction of .fii: r1 .1hite shima11. from sii:o suru ("envision/imagine"). Shimau after the -te form of
a verb often implies the action take~ place spontaneously/ involuntarily. -Te shimau more typically contracts to -chau,
but it's not unusual to hear -cltimau instead.
iza is an interjection giving the feeling that the moment of truth has come: "now th<ll [the time 1 is actually here/then
when [the action 1 actually occurs.''
miru after the -te form of a verb often implies "try [doing the action]." hut here. with the help of i: a. it feels more like
"actually do ]the action] and see what it's like": to after a non-past vcrh can make a conditional ''if/when" meaning. so
i::.tl kekkon shitt! miru to= "then when they actually get married. they ~ee ..."
siisii followt:d by a negati ve means "I not] so frequently" or [noll ~o much all the time"-+ "not always:
fuko =unhappiness: and adding ni makes it an advt:rb. modifying kanjichimau (a contraction of kanjite shima11, from
k.anjiru, reel") "feel unhappy."

Sanae:

~itt~ A,

b Hl

"t:

mo sore

dl!

~ltY: tJ.:
/v I: L. J;?
shippai .1hita 11
desho ?
(name-hon.)lyou also that (ca~)
failed
(explan.) rigbt?

Kalcieda-san

"That's where ou went wrong, too, right?" (PL2)

(J) 1311:: ~=
ri6
Ore 1W kako ni hanashi

Kakieda: 1li!

pa.~t

1/me 's

to

talk

~1.> !v t:~>t~"' o li!J#.

t.= l:U::''b
j11ru n ja nal.
Zuboshi da kedorno

io

(obj.)

don't switch

hull's-eye

i~

~o
IW.

although (colloq.)

"Don't start talking about my past. You did hit the nail on tbc head thou b." (PL2)

again. she uses his name when an English speaker would use " you'' to refer to her listener.
the panicle de here indicates cause: sore de= "because of that.''
shippai .~hira is the plain/abrupt pa.~t fnnn of sltippai surn (" fail/make a mistake/goof up'').
desha (or deshO) literally makes a conjecture (''probably/surely is"), or with a rising intonation, a conjectural q uesrion.
Often it's a purely rhetorical question that expects Lhe listener to confirm the conjecture: "right?"
furu can me<~n switch/swing aside/move off course." and following a non-paM verb with a sharp n ja noi can make an
abmpt negative command: "don't - .''
keredomo =kedomo =kedo. all meaning "but/although.''

<

Kaldeda: t.fi~T o

<

II# lj:, 1J!tl L- 1j: v' 11# "t: t C.' i -? -?

-: A "C ~I? VC
!l) iJ'
'b .)5 ~ 1j: ~ -"t t.t o
Kekkon sum tolci wa, tanosllikunai ~oki demo do yarte Jutari de
kurasltitelcu no ka mo J..angaenakya lUI.
get married
time a.~ for
not fun
umes even in how 2 people together will live on (explan.-?) also mu.~t think (colloq.)

" When ou ct mar.ied, you also have to thjnk about how ou'll et through the tlmes that aren' t so
much fun together.'' (PL2)
Sanae: ~ t' iJt
1 <:; 11- o
r"f J1!;
<!)
rriJ 4
1.:
A 1+: i- !ll.x; t.:. 7.> 1j:- il? o
Sasuga
batsuichi.
Kotoha
110 hnshiba.vhi ni
jin.l'ei o kanjim
lUI.
as would expect once-divorced

words/remark~

of

end~

at/on

life

(nbj.)

feel

(colloq.)

''That's a once-divorced man for ou. I sense the wisdom of ex ericnce in our ever
ta1w.vhikunai is the negative fonn of tanoshii ("i~ pleasurable/enjoyable/fun").
kurashiteku b u contraction uf kurashite iku, from kurasu ("live" in the sense of goi ng through daily life from une day LO
the next). and iku after the -te form of a verb can imply the action progresses/continues into the future.
ka11gaenakyu is a coUoquial short form of kanf(aenakereha naranai, a "must/have to" form o f kangaeru ("think"). This
makes the complete, embedded que~tion tanoshiku11ai toki de11w dii yane fwari de kurashitekuno ka ("How will you live on
together even at times when it's not fun'r') into an indirect question: "You must think about how you will live ..."
sa.rugu implie!> the action/statementlresultlete. fits what you would eltpect of a per~on in the stated po!o.ition.
hatsuiclti h a \lang term for a o nce-divorced person. Literally "one cross out" (from batsu. the name of the x symbol
used for crossing things out, and ichi, "one"), it originates from how a woman's name gets crossed out on her husband's
family register when they divorce. A twice-divorced person is culled bat.nmi (''two cross outs") and so forth.

Kakicda: t!.-IJ' I?
{)akam

onaji shippai

bccau~e

it h " ' \:ltnc mb talc

ll'll

a~

niclo to k11rikae.wmai.

for t" icc

Will

not r~Jlt'at

"That's why I won't repeat the s ame mistake twice."

" That's wh I'll never repeat the same mistake

!!,gain." (PL2)
Kakieda : ...::.J!r t.

~...

Nido to

na. . .

nido means "two timcs/twict!'': 11ido to plus a

nt:gati vt: verb means "will no t [do the action) a
~econd time"
' 'will nt:ver do [it] again."
kurikae~a11ai is the negative form of kuriJ.ai'.HI
(" repeat'').

twice/again (colloq.)

"Never a ain." (PL2)

Sound FX:

:J /

:1 /

:1 /

Kou ku11 J..o11

Knock knock knock (sounc.J of Masatoshi knocking on Shoko' s door)

Shoko: (. - l ' o
llai.
yes

"Comi-i-ing!" (PL3)

the customary response to the dombell or a knock at the door i~ an elongated hlii called out in a raised voice.
Mangajin 33

? v 3 / [; A- "5

A- Crayon Shin-chan

71"5Cf&O~Iul~
w~~~0taJWElfl

~i

tt.

..
..

34 Mangajin

Title: :t 7

Ora

to

Ume and

rJ: t;, ~ 1v I;:I:

Akaiwa:

Kiichan

wa

mother

as for

Ma:u
eiga
"Furimukeba
fiN of all movie if/when turn around

~~
3
m, ~~9
0-tomodachi na no
yo
Hen, Sono Kyli
(hon.)-friends (explan.) (emph.)collcction No.9
Mom and I are F riends, Story~
Be~~~

ora is a variation of ore, a rough, masculine word for "rtme."

klichan is an informal equivalent of okiisan ("mother").
hen refers to a "compilation/collection" containing a number
o f articles/stories/episodes, and sono ichi, sono ni, sono san,
sono yon, etc. (literally ..the first/second/third/fourth of that")
is a relatively common way of designating the sequential
place of a story or episode in the collection.

IT] Sound FX:

Voki

Soihite,
and then

~ofun.

"Five more minutes." (PL2)

aw before a time word means "I that much more time] remains/is left" until something begins/ends/ol:curs.

f.!. o 4-B

.A-7:/.:J.- Jv tsukejiiru
t><:hcdule

o
(obj.)

'b ? - J!f WI L -r:t3::? o

mo

icltido

ocha

o
(obj)

"Ampachiino "
AI Pacino

resutoran
rc~taurant

r.::-c

7'1 7- .,

nile

dina.
dinner

at

' 'Then it's dinner at the Ita lian resta urant ' Alpacino. " ' (PL2) - --

rnorc/rcmaining 5 minute~

So
da. Kyii IW
that way is today of/for

diehard

( hon.)-t~a

/!(Irian
Italian

frJv,~ -:1- -JJ

pounding in nervous antic ipation)

J; C
57fo

~?

mite, sono ato

i-311~

"First of all we'll take in the movie ' Die

Ha rd Yet_Again,' and afterthiii we'll talk
about love over tea." (PL2)
Akaiwa: ~ t.., -c, 1 5' 'J 7 / v ;c. r 7 /

Thump thump thumJ! (effect of heart

Akaiwa:

~O)f-t.

~}j.~;Q~t?
~ :: ~..JI,>"( ;if; I?-) 0
nomi-nagara ai ni TSltite kararau.
while drinking love about talk together

doki doki

Aro

J!-c

(obj) sec-and after that

~ :f ~ :t

" :t

Daihiido"

fukushii shite ok6.

mure one time shall rc"ciw-(ahead)

"I know. I 'll review mY. lan for today

one more time." (PL2)
Akaiwa: ~lv-tt, Wt.>'CO) 7'- ~
Nanse,
after all

hajimete tUJ deto

first
date
t!.
'b A,
tj: 0
da
111011
na.
is because/(empb.){colloq.)

"After all, it is our first date." (PL2)

soda (literally, "lit] is that way") is often used like an exclamation at the beginning of a sentence to express a sudden realization/thought/idea. like "Oh, I know/that's it!'' or when
suddenly remembering something, "Oh yeah."
before a number or amount means "fthat many/that much}
more"; iclli = "one," and -do is the counter suftix for "times/
occasions,'' so mii ichido ="one more time."
jr1kushii is a noun for ''review Ia lesson/plan/schedule]," and
fukushii suru is its verb form (shite is the -1e form of suru).
okt1 is the volitional ("Jet's/1 shall'') form of oku, which after
the -te form of a verb implies doing the action ahead of time/
as a preparatory measure.
nanse js a contraction of nanise, a colloquial variation of
nanishiro, whicb is a conjunction that can take on a variety of
meanings depending on its context: ''at' any rate/1 mean/you
know/after all, etc."'
hajimete = "for the first time," and hajimete 110 = "the first - ."
da mon is a contTaction of dn mono. which at the end of a
scmence essentially means " because it is [as stated/described]." Na adds emphasis: "it i.f -."

maw= "first of all/to begin with."

jitrimukeba is a conditional ("if/when'') form of furimuku
("tum/look around"). and Dailliido is from the Engli~h "Die
Hard" "Whenever you turn around, it's Die Hard" -+ " Die
Hard Yet /\gain."
mile is the -te form of mim ("sec/look at"): the -1e form here is
being used a.~ a cominuing foml. "see and - ."
r ha (''tea") almost always get~ the honorilic prefix o-. In cases
like this it often carries the generic meaning of "something to
drink" (nun-alcoholic).
nomi is the stem of 11011111 ("drink"). and -nagara i' u verb suflix
meaning "while Idoing the action]." so nomi-nagam =''while
drinking."
katarau (''talk/converse together") implies conversing intimatel y.
we interpreted the name of the restaurant. ''Aipacino: as a word
play on the name of that well-known actor.
nile marks the place where nn event takes place/will take place.

Akaiwa:

L, -r 1

li .. .

So.rhite I yoru wa .. .
and then night as for

"And then, toni~"

mo

Mangajin 35

IJ v 3 / 1.., A-

t>

A- Crayon Shin -chan

~:z:.t

h.-Tv
"('

A,

(J)

1;\

t:t

36 Mangajin

':

t::
.:z.

t::T'f
.:z. I I
I 1- 1-

OJ Shin--chan:

li rl. tt ~ L -c ~ .0 o
Hamigaki shite nem.
brush teeth-and go to bed

''Brush your teeth and go to bed_:" (PL2)

hamigak i .rhite is the -te fonn of hamigaki (o) .mru. whlch can
serve as a verb for "brush teeth." Another way to say "brush
teeth" is lw o migaku ("teerh'' + (obj.) +''pOlish/clean").

!}] Shin-chan:

~li 1.: -t ~ :1 ::1 L 1&: ~ "(> o

neru mae ni oihikko shinakya.
(interj.) go to hed before pee/tinkle
must tlo
&'.>.

Moshika shite
yiikai-ma?
perchance/possibly a kidnapper

''Could you be a kidnap per ?" (PL2)

Akaiwa: .AOO~
(/) ~~~' .: C: 19>? t.J:!!
Hitogiki
no warui kow yii na.
other's hearing is bad thing don't say
"Don't say things that ~ound bad to olhers."

t.l J.,

"Pi

down! Someone could get the

wrong Ideal" (PL2)

A.

"Oh, before you go to bed ou have to

go tinkle." (PL2)

t.:.

Akaiwa: -t'?

~.l.

71'~"'"

Sii
da ne, a lw ha lm.
that way is (colloq.) (laugh)

"That's true, isn ' t it? Ha ha ha ha."

(PL2)
mae ni after a verb means "hcfore the action is done/ takes
place."
o.1hikko is baby-talk for "urine,.. and nshikko ~11m is its verb
form ("go pee/tinkle"'). Shinakya i.-. a colloquial contraction of
shinakereha ikenai. a ''must/have to' " form of sum.

[!] Shin--chan: t.t ;,__ 'IJ>

moJhikashite (or mosllika shitara/moshika sl/ru to) is a phrase

that means "by any chance/is it possible that."
yakai refers to the act of "kidnapping," and -ma is a suffix for
denoting a person who does a criminal/anti-social action, so
ylikai-ma ="kidnapper."
hitogiki no warui literally means "sounds bad when heard by
others"--. ''scandalous/embarrassing."
~ ~ ya is a non-standard spelling of "' ? (iu, "say"). Na after the plain, non-past form of a verb can make an abrupt
negative command/prohibition: "don't - ."

Akaiwa : .: t Ln' I? -TKore kara

from now

.1+1?

i1iJ '.)

Nanka
yii?
something business
"Did you have some business with me?"

" Did you want something?" (PL2)

Akaiwa: -t- ? -~; n r;, n' r;, 1v -r: ~ t.:. ;,__ t! 1:> :f!!

nanka is 11 contraction of narrika (''something/anythi ng"), and y/J

is short for yiiji (" matter to attend to/business"), so nanka yo? is
literally "some matter of business?"
smchi is a colloquial sochira (''that side/direction''); both words
are often used to refer to one's listener, "you." (Cf. the use of
kotchi and kochira for "lime" or "we/us."')
o karande is the -te form of karamrl. whlch literally means "coil
around/entangle in"; here it's being used idiomatically to refer
to the way Shin-chan drew Akaiwa into a conversation. Kita is
the plain/abrupt past fonn of kuru ("come"), which shows that
the action was directed toward the speaker.
o the coojecrural dan1 (''probably/surely") often gets shortened to
daro in colloquial speech. Ga can be used for emphasis after
sentences ending in conjccturnl daro or desha, making them actually into fairly strong assertions; this is not the "softening" ga
we often see.

8] Shin-chan:

~ 1.: ~> ? "'( ;,__

Nani
what

Akaiwa:

\'OIIen

arc doing

" What are ou doing'?" (PL2)

~/.,(:{>
L"'( i~ ~- J: o
Namrimu
shiteni
w.
(not) anything not doing (e~ph.)

" I' m not doin an thing." (PL2)

yauen is a contraction of yaue iru ("is/are doin g"). from yaru
(an informal word for "do"). The explanatory no is often used
to ask questions in colloquial speech.
nam1imo is a colloquial nw1imo. wh ich is followed by a negative to mean "not anything/nothing."' Shitene is a masculine/
slang contraction of shite inai ("is/am not doing"). from sum
("do").

f i .., -c ~c u

-t;

L ~> o

L '? "

Slri!

Shi!

' h iHl

~hoo

" I have a date now so lease go awa

Shoo. Shoo." (PL 1-2)
~in-chan:

li li ;) '

-r- r "
deto.
date

Hoho,
(interj.)

"Ahaa, a date." (PL2)

kore kara can mean "from now on." or ~imply " now."
iuete is a contraction of illl' ite. the -te form of iul' iru, from
iku ("go"). fue im ml!un~ " has gone 10 n place untl remains
there," and the -te form can make an informal/abrupt request.
so aulri iuete means "(please) go over there and stay there" or
simply "go away.'"

[2] Shin--chan:

?- 1Deto

-r- r
dlto,
date

date

~:::.:z.-

~:::..:z.-0

hya
hyii.
(teasing sound/whistles)

"Ada

a date woo wool" (PL2)

Akalwa: ?.Q~Ii' 'l;t, ~* o J:-tt J: o
Urusai
noisy

na,
mo.
Yose yo.
(colloq.) (CXliSj>.) quit (emph.)

''Sbeesh be ulet! Cut that out!" (PL2)

Akalwa: ' ' :1 ' ' 'J ' ' ~
Hahhahha!

(embarrassed laugh)

(J) ?

no?
(explan.)

n' I?

~ -1;.: lv !.:.

deto na 11 da
kara
date (cxplnn.) bccam.e/so

ardri
iul'fe.
over there/away please go

Sotchi
kara lwrande /..ita n daro gal!
that side/you from approached (expl.) surely (emph.)

" You're the one who approached me!"

(PLI -2)

19>-? n'~t'l;it'?

Shin..chan: b L i.l' L -c

urusai literally means "noisy/bothersome,'' and it's often used

li ke English "Be quieti/Shut up!/Simmer down!'"
na after an adjective adds colloquial emphasis.
yose is the abrupt command form of yosu ("quit"). Yo adds
fair ly strong emphasis to requests and commands.

[II Shin-chan: rDetu

date

-c Jj: 1.: ?
ue nani?
(quote) what
~)

" What's a date?" (PL2)

Akaiwa: ;f v ::I?" t:: ~ :h -c lv (J)

i.I'Jj:?
koke ni sareten
tw kana ?
being made a fool (explan.) perhaps
"Am I perhaps being made a fool?"

Ore,
lime

' 'Is he making fun of me?" (PL2)

tte here is a colloquial equivalent of to iuno wa ("as for what is

called - '').

(m lllinued 0/1/lexr pafo:e)

Mangajin 37

? v 3 / [., A- "5 -t> A- Crayon Shin-chan

~l~> tn~ ~
~ :> {>

t~ Jl:.t 'IJ
~ :> (,

tJ::

-r:

"' *i>

;{> .{-?(J)
~
-~~::
T
"? l.,
-r:

"'

-t-1>

?
t::.

I I

t 'IJ

\,'

(,

::l ~ 1F:.
~ .{- ~~
::Y
~

<

J:tt:th~ "?

1.'

'.(~~

-=> tt'3

t:: -t- "/;

q) ;

':

38 Mangajin

"'

-r:

-~
?

[] (nmtinued from pre\ious pasw)

Shin-chan: .: /...., ~_: t::> Li -

koke ni suru is an expression for "make a fool of [someoneI."

Sa reTen is a contraction of sarere iru ("is/am being made")
from sareru ("be made"), passive fom1 of suru ("make/do").
ka na asks a conjectural question "I wonder if/is it perhaps
(that) - ?"

(greeting)

"Hello-" (PL3)
Shiraka\\'!'!: "Jh, .: /...., ~_: lJ (;:):- o
A,

A,

siJ
da.
(interj.) that way i$

Mada
still

"Oh, !~~." (PL2)

soda (lit. "it is that way") is again being used idiomatically
~

Ano

r ,

:t 7

sli.

iSOf?ashii

kara,

busy

because/so

(interj.) (colloq.) 1/me

t ;) 1\ii ') -c t
nul
now

It> I,>')

kaerre mo
if go home

Shirakawa: ml\?
Dare?

ii 1

who

OK

" Who' s this?" (PL2)

"You know, I'm kind of busy, so is it

OK if 1 go home now?" (PL2)
Akaiwa:

Akaiwa:

~t
one

1Jfo

hikiromerene

daro

ga.

;, not detaining

surely (cmph.)

raising a new topic and wishing to draw the listener' s auention to it. It can he variously like "say/you know/incidentally/
by the way."
-re mo ii? with the intonation of a question is an informal
way of asking permission.

Shin-chan: t. "( o

(name)

shiranai is the negative fonn of shiru ("learn/come to

know"). but more typically it serves as the negative of slzitte

im ("'know").
Shinnosuke is"Shin-chan's fltll given name. Taking the first
part of a person's given name and adding the diminuti ve
-chan is a very common way of form ing a familiar name for
the person, used especially by family and close friends.

Yiikai saresiJ

in that case/then

about to be kidnapped
''I was about to be

ni mura
be(am~

0) ,

no.
(explan.)

kidnapped."
"He was going to kidnap me." (PL2)

-?t:. <o

Ttaku.

Shirakawa: il ?!

(exasp.)

E?!

" Sheesh!" (PL2)

" What?!" (PL2)

ja (lit. "in that case/then," from dewu), serves as a casual/informal "goodbye."

ttuku is a contraction of muttaku (literall y "completely/entirely"), which is often used as an exclamation of exasperation.

:J:5 -t

<t:t -:' -c

-:f J.

/ t:t ~ v' o

osoku nalle
gmrlenlw.mi.
(nume-hon.) having bee. late-(cause)
(apology)

Akaiw~:

Shinnosuke.

Vmc

''I' m Shinnosuke." (PL2)

"B e then." (PL2)

Akaiwa-san,

Ora,

Shin-chan: ~ ;J i.l'v' ~hi"? f: ~ ~-> t:.

Ja.

Shirakawa: ;Jf,'f!i ~ !v,

not know

Shin-chan: :t7, l...lvO)-fiTo

ano .m or 0110 sli is a warm-up phrase used when deliberut.cly

8J

shiranai.

not know

(PL2)

froml>eginning

iJ I LX .tl.:J6 -c i~ - t!.:?

" No one's keeping you to begin with!"

(PLl-2)

~a:

~c.>~v', ~l?~v' .,

Shirtmai,

"!don' t know him, I don' t know him."

Dare mo ha}ime kara

M

no?

"You' re still here?'' (PL2)

-b'.lt Lv' iJ' ~>,

ora

ira

was here (explan.)

kon.nichi wa is the standard daytime (mostly afternoon) greeting, like 'hello/good day/good afternoon."
ira is the plain/abrupt past form of iru ("exist/be in a place/be
here").

to show he has suddenly reali1..ed/remetnbered something.

Shin-chan: "Jh (J)

kormichi wii.

" Oh, hello-" (PL3)

Akaiwa: it.:.' v>t:.
O)?

-t- 7 t!. o

Shin-chan: j),

Konnichi wi'i.

" I'm sorry to be late, Akaiwa-san_"

(PL2)
"Jh,
r'lJII ~ fvo
A,
Shirakawa-san.
(interj.) (namc-hon.)

Akaiwa: iii
Ne
root~

.:c

~
t ~v'
~-)~ !!
ha mo nai koto y li na!!
also leaves also nut have thing don't say

i>

mo

" Don't say baseless things."

"Don' t be ridiculous!" (PL2)

natta is the past forrn of -- so ni naru, which connects to the masu stem of a verb to give the meaning "almost [do the action]/(the action I almost [occurs]." In this
case we have the stem of tht: two-word verb ytlkai .mreru
("be kidnapped"). passive form of yiikai suru ("kidnap").
ne mo ha mo nai is litera lly "has no roots nor leaves" and is
an idiomatic expression for "groundless/baseless."
~ so ni

"Ob, Shirakawa-san." (PL2)

osoku is the adverb form of the adjective o.wi ("slow/late"),
and naue is the -re form of naru ("become,"). Osoku naru =
"become late/he late," and the -re form is being used here to
indicate the reason/cause of what follows (i.e., her apology).
gomen nasai is one of the most common ways to express an
apology ("sorry"), so osoku mllte gomen nasai = "sorry for
being late."

Mangajin 39

'7

3 /

L, A- 1.:> ->:> fc Crayon Shin-chan

- --

m
y

:&< {>

~7

? ? i

"/)

1 A,

:2

1> ~ .. -t0

.. (/)

J:

'- ?

......

'-

..

:>

~t,

l:t

...

A,
~

40 Mangajin

*.:: :: 7
~ , t:t ~~ iiliH 1
~ .. \' 1: a;. 1.t
~' 1:
1" t..,

t)

*1>
v

OH

Akaiwa:

~0) 't!:,

.:Hfiilt> t.!. iJ' fJ

1\j; -;:~

-c

J: .,

Ano sa,

onegai

kaette

yo.

da

kara

[J( conrinued)

J!..!! ~f.: 1-Tn' ~ IHLI.. .

Dakara kore kara mukae ni iktmakireba . . .
therefore from now meet (purpose)
must go

Shirakawa: t.! iJ' t:> .:: tt..iJ' I?

(intcrj.) (hon) -request is because/so go homc(cmph.)

''Look, I'm begging you, please go hom e."

(PL2)
Shin-chan: 'i\li.::,
J: ., ;t 7 It'{- 'b~ L.. v' fv t.!. 'b fv.,
yo. Ora
r.o home (emph.) lime

Kaeru

isogashii

am busy

"So I have to go meet them now." (PL2)

1 if.~ ~
t:!. l . ..
fL .

n da mon.
(expl.) because

presxion is used to emphasi?.c how important the request is to

the speaker, so it's something like saying "1 beg you."
kaette is the -te form of kaeru (''go/come home"); the -te form is
being used as a relatively abrupt request or gentle command.

Shin-chan: t ~, o
Ja.
in that case/the n

"Bve." (PL2)
Akaiwa: !;l:
Ho

"Whew." (sigh of relief)

sum?

kiss

do

Akaiwa:

P-

n';,

Ji

kara, kierol!
llecause disappear

OK

fonn, here spoken with the intonation of a question.

shinai ro. A ha ha ha.

mu~t treat wi th ~ar~
(laugh)
" More than a date . you must take good
care of your pare nts. Ha ha ha h a."
"Taking care your parents is more

or

~, 1i'~ ;1: L.. J:-) tJ''?

Ha lw... Sa,
ikinwshiJ
ka?
(laugh)
(inte1j .) shall go
('!)

important than a date. Ha ha ha ha."

J'l'.. .

(PL2)
FX: V' ;t - /.,

" Hah hah .. Well, shall we go?" (PL3)

(intt!rj.)

~i;l:

~;).,

jitsu a

ne.

Hie- n (crying inside)

,fj;':F;~/v . . .
Akai11a-~an

a~tual ly (~oll oq.)

Shirakawa: ::.:61)/v;J: ~ v'o

.. .

(name-hon.)

Gomen nasai.

"Ah, actually, Akaiwa-sa~" (PL3)

sa (or sa) is often used like " well now/all right/come on to
pn:pan: oneself for action or to urge the listener to action.
ikimashiJ is the volitional ("let" s/! shall") fonn of iku ("go'').

Ka makes it a question: ''shall l!we go?''

j irsu =''truth/ fact." and j irsu wa ="as for the truth/actually."
Jirw wa is often used to show reserve/reluctance when beginning to s peak about something unpleasant/embarrassing.
ne in the middle of a sentence is a kind o f verbal pause .

IT} Shirakaw~:

~-? ~
~f!i:
Sakki
totsuzen
a while ago suddenly/unexpectedly
1t' ~ il'

o:>

plijtJl iJ' G 'lltiiiS-c'

inaka

no

l}'iishin kara denwa de

from got call-and

"I'm really SO!:rJ..!" (PL3)

rai.~et.wni
tai.~er.w

[2]

shinai ro is a colloquial ''must/have to'' form of

ni sunc (''tn:asure/trcat with care"').

"'"' .::
~ .Q
J: .,
Sono uchi
ii koio
ttru
yo.
i.n lime/someday good thing will occur (emph.)
" !n time, something good will happen."

Shin-chan: {-0)-? "IS

rJ.:;iu.- -c

~ 1.: ~ ~~t..:J L
eki ni tsuita" to.
came to Tokyo-and now statiO)! at arrived (quote)

A,

ima

"Just now, out of t he blue, m y parents

from the country called to say they'd
<;orne up to Tokyo and had just arriyed at
the ~tation." {PL2)

" You'll have better luck next time."

(PL2)
FX: ''7!'7
Ha(t1 hafu

(effect of taking a bite of sometbjng too

hot and trying to cool it by puffing vn it
with his breath as he chews)

country/home of/from parents

"Jokyo shite

71\J\J\ o

rai~~trsuni

"that's OK/neve r mind.''

kiero is the abrupt command rnnn o f k.ieru (''disappear/
vanish").

~'

yori,
I:JOI)'IJSh in
n1nr.:: than (hon.)-parents

Atm.:t...~v'C o

ii kara (literally "because it's OK/tine") is an expres~ion for

A.

~, .., "'' fv t!. J: , -t 1.-- (J).:.. 1:: ;J: c) "

A.
ii 11 da
vo, ore no koto 110m.
(int.erj .) OK (cxpl.) (cinph.) t/mc about if it is

{)iffO
date

kisu is from the Eng lish " kiss,'' and ki.1u (o) suru is its verb

Shirakawa:

''Oh, if you arc conccmcd uhout me, it's

OK."
"Oh, never mind me." (PL2)
f'- ]' J: IJ,
,::'ji!ljl,l

iFf~:? !!

"Never mind that! Get lost!" (PLl-2)

Akaiwa:

~lime

them, so . I . . ." (PL2) i

"Are ou going to kiss her ?" (PL2)

Akaiwa :

and/so

is

jokyiJ, written wifh the kanji for "up" and "capital," refers to
travelling "up" to Tokyo from any outlying area, whether it
be North, South, East, or West (more than commuting dis- .
tance is assumed). Ji5kyi5 shire is the -te form of jlikyii suru
("travel up to Tokyo").
tsuita is the plain/abrupt past fonn of tsuku ("arrive").
mukae is a noun fonn of mukaeru ("meet [a rraveler/visitor)"), and ni marks it as the purpose of going.
ikanakereba narwwi is a "must/have to" form of i/..11 ("go");
naranai is often omitted in colloquial speech.
-buri after a time word means that much time has passed since
an action occurred or a certain condition prevailed; it implies
the interval has been quite long for the context.

Shin-chan: 4'-7- -t;:,?

Kisu

shi. . . Watashi . . .

l year interval

"It's been a wh_ole~year since l've sey!l

'Sure, I'll go. I'm busy anyway." (PL2)

onegai da kara is literaiJy ' 'because it is my request"; the ex-

lchinen-buri da

Akaiwa:

~ i fv 'b -? 1 ::1 ~-) il'?

Nikumtm ri/(J ikko kuu ka?
meat bun more l~otint eat (?)

"Will you eat another nikuman?"

" Want another nikuman?" (PL2)

nikuman are steamed buns filled with a seasoned meat-andvegetable mixture, best when eaten hot out of the steamer.

Mangajin 41

(?~~o (?~ @
le.J~~~

Title: i;J!-F~ ~
Shiohi-gari
tidelands hunting/!l_athering

Digging Shellfish/Clamming

Gal Gag World

~

by

shiohi = shiohigara, which refers to the "tidelands/tidal flats" when the

tide is out.
-gari is from kari (k changes tog in combinations), which can refer to
hunting game, gathering shellfish, as wcU as going to pick wild berries/

~?~l~~<

fiJIIIft:

I Sato Ryosaku

JJ=f~D

m~hmoms/etc.

II]

Proprietor: 1 -< 1 1 A'i.'i.

*-" ..r.

~if> o

lmairhi
ninki
ne
Ill/.
not quite popularity not have (colloq.)
Tt doesn't quite have [the desired] popularity."
" It's just not drawing the crowds." (PL2)
~

;., c. n'

-t :- ~l

Nantoka

>a:- ...

yangu

-siJ o ...
somehow
young stratum (ohj.)
"Somehow [1 have to attract] the young social

stratum."
"Somehow I need to find a way to appeal to the
youn~eneratio!'h" (PL2)

imaiclri (usually followed by a negative) implie~ that something come' up

a little short/docs not quite make the grade.
ninl..i = "popularity." and ninki ne is a dialeclfslang equi valent of ninl..i
( Rfl} nai (''not have popularity/lack popularity"). lmaichi ninki ga nai =
" not qui te have (the desired I popularity."
the elongated nlf add~ emphasis. showing quite Mrung feeling about the
observation.
the suffix -so i' used widely to indicate particular social clus~es or groups.

Pro rietor: ~ -?
Si1

thm way

f.''

da!
is

' 'That' s itf' (PL2)

Sound FX:

;J~ :--

Pon

(effect of pounding fist in palm)

.fo da (literally, ''it is so/that way") is often an exclamation expressing a

sudden realizatioo/thoughtlidea,lik.e " Ob, l know!Thafs it!"

Sign: l- t.: .7J. :\, ;

Slrijimi

-1- '\" -

Kyardul

Clam Catcher
Customer : 'b ~_, C. {j, 1;,
Motto

more

migi. migi.
nght righ1

" More to the right. To the right." (PL2)

Sound FX: if Gil

1 ~--------------------------~

~ ~----------~~~--~----~

42 Mangajin

Whrrrr (whining or crane unit)

slrijimi ("corbiculae/frcsh wmer clams'') arc a favorite target of "clamming'' throughout Japan, and are most commonly served in miso soup.
They're quite a bit \muller than clams (hamaguri). typically only about an
inch or so in size.
kyatchli is a katuJ..una rendering of the English word "catcher."

~~)J!)oEJ!~@
~W~~~

Gal Gag World

~

by

Saishin

newest/cutting edge (mod.) h~bit

~

OJ

Sound FX : -7 -7 -7 IJ IJ 1 IJ
Ta Ill ta lata Ia Ill

Tap ta p ta p tap tap tai!...!!!P (effect of jiggling knee/

tapping toe or heel)

Sato Ryosaku

A: ~11) .7-t: t:l!v -c

~'JiO)?E?

1-----=--~, 1

[_ 0

..

Cutting-Edge Habit?

!:.?~.~~(

fiJI-f15 I

Ano kuse 1wn

that

@"jb0
/ ~

1!:

>

,-

iu

m?:(~? .

shittt!ru?
know

"Do you k~ow what that baJ.?JL~ called?" (PL2)

?ill ? -c 7.> t> .1: " 1:::: :,..- >F- ..:t.::\ lJ "t'" L .t?
Shitteru

wa yo.

Binbii

(fern. emph.) poverty

HSur~ I know.

,;i

v-? tr

re

ka
habit what (quote) say/call (?)

know

/?

11)"" 1 +!.?
" no ktise

Title: :!&if

yusuri desho?
shaking

right?

It's called ~llinbo yusuri, right?"

(PL2)

'

Sound FX: 7 7 7 7 7
Tata ta taw

Tap tap tap tap tap

nan is a contraction of nani ("what"), and te is a colloquial equivalent of
quotative to; nan te iu =''is called wbat.."
shiueru ls a contraction of shitte iru ("know"), from shiru (''learn/come to
know"). An abrupt question ending in ka followed by shiueru makes an
indirect question: "do you k:now what/when/who/how - ?"
wa yo is a colloquial combination that gives distinctly feminine emphasis.
binbiJ yusuri refers to jiggling one's knee/leg compulsively, which, depending on how the person is sitting, often involves tapping one's heel or toes.

12]

Sound FX: 7 7 '1 7 7

Tara ta 1a Ia

Ta tap tap tap taj! (effect of tapping tinger)

A: l-t, ~~ 7-t: ~!v -c '-''7 -IJ''!
Ja.

a11o kuse

then

that

IIlii/

re

iu

ka?

hahit whlll (quote) say/call (?)

"Then what 's that habit called?" (PL2)

B: :r...-? 9?11C, Ij: ' v'o
t:?

Shira11ai.

huh/wh;lt

not know

" Huh'? I don't know." (PL2)

A,:

that

A:

?"C It'-) t,Lit' J:: o

tte
iu
rashii yo.
shaking quote say/call it seems (emph.)

~tl., ~'7;\ .:L::\

Are,

1)

rrutusu yusuri
mou~e

"It's apparently called mo~ yusuri." (PL2)

t:tAJ.:.--:> "C
;~'J:J/ 7'-i.>. t!. 'b!v l- -o
Nantatle

pasokon

bam.u da nwn

whatever one says personal computer boom

n~.

is because(c.olloq.)

"Whatever you say, it's really a computer boom."

" Well, we really ~e in a computer boom." (PL2)

!!:

* ;..r" ::t?

Honto?
truth

" Really?" (PL2)

Sound FX:

7 7 7 7 7 ?' ?'
'Ta ta Ia rata tara

Ta J!1ap tap tap tap tap ~P.

~
10

.,.

r./)

"'

-"'

"'
"',..,

10

0::

~~~~--~------~~~~~

rashii follows the plain form of a verb (present or past) .and implies a conjecture based on something heard, seen, ot read - "is avparently/seems to
be/J unden;tand that ~ ."
hon.to (a colloquial lw.nt{]) means "truth; ' but wi.th the intonation of a question it becomes "Js that true'!/really?"
pasokcm is shortened from ~~- '/ 7 iv .:::r / It"'-- (! - (piisonam
konpyiitl1), the cumbersome li:atakana rendering of the.E nglish "personal
computer"; b11mu is from the English "boom."

Mangajin 43

~~)JJ;)oe;:?~@
~W~ll9~

Tit~: ~F".l ~=
car in

Gal Gag World

by

"{"

Shanai nite

In The Car

Guv: ;f,

';I !

Ne.1

I SatO Ayosaku

(into:rj.)

"Come on!" (PL2)

Girl: 7 ...
A ...
(interj.)

"Oh." (PL2)
Girl: Y" j.
Dame

t!.-=>

-c

I!,

*f.t <A-o

da

tte

ba,

Kimura-kun.

nor permiued is (quote) (emph.) (name-fam.)

" I said no., Kimura." (PL2)

L:~~lt'...

Guy: "'"'
li

ja nai!

l!ood/fine/OK is nor

:f,o

N~!

(colloq.)

It's OK, isn't it? Right?"

"Come on! Wh not?" (PL2)
ue ba is used like the emphatic tag, "I sny." It's actually a colloquial contraction of 10 ieba, the quotative particle 10 plus the -ba fonn of iu
("say"). Since the -ba form makes a conditional "if/when'' meaning, - tt~
ba literally means "if I say," implying an emphatic "if l say - ,I really
mean - ."
ii ja nai might look like "[it I is not good,'' but it's actually a colloquial
short fom1 of the rhetorical ii ja nal (desu) ka, "(it) is goocVfinc/OK, is it
not?" Spoken with a falling intonation. ii ja nai is an idiomatic expression
used to counter objections the other perwn has raised, so it corresponds
variously to ''What's wrong with that?/So what?/Why not?/etc."
ne spoken by itself after another sentence is like a redoubled effort to
press the point home and get the listener's agreement ("right?/isn't that
so?/don't you think?").

Sound FX: 11 -1Kachi

Click (effect of hitting button)

Computer: .:.~t

J: IJ ;t,

)lli.A~LI:. "t'To l!.A.~ll:: "t'To

yori saki, shinnya kinshi desu. Shi11nyll kinshi desu.

this/ben: from ahead
no entry
is
no entry
is
Kore

"No entry ahead. No en1ry."

''Do not roceed further. Do not proceed." (PL2)

G.J!!: "''Th- o
lkenl.

'h--}-~

Kiinabi

(/) .. .
no .. .

dam/oops car navigation sy~rem of/on

" Oops, [I hJt the button) on the CarNav." (PL2)

Girl: 7';~ o
Pu!

44 Mangajin

(stifled laugh)
a round, red sign with a hori<~:ontal white bar like the one shown here is the
international traffic sign for "no entry."
lwre yori = kor~ kara (lit. "from this") - "from here.'' Using yori sounds
quite a bit more fonnalthan using kora.
saki often refers to an area up ahead on the same road or path -> kore yori
saki= "ahead from here" or just ''ahead."
shilmyii is a noun referring to the act of entering/advancing into a place ->
"entry.'' Kinshi means "prohibition." but - kiluhi is often equivalent to
" - prohibited" or "no-," so shinnyl1 kinshi =entry prohibited/no entry.''
ikenl = ikenai, which can be used as an inteljection/exclamation of chagrin
or alarm wben something goes wrong, like "Drat!/Oam!" or "Oops."
kilnabi is shortened from kllnabigeshon shisutemu, the full katakana renderi ng of the English "car navigation system."

~~)Jba~~@
!Wc==aa9~

Gal Gag World

~

by

Title: :J- /X
Jiinzu

Jeans
FX: ,,_;;
8711

~~~ ~ ;~<

fiJIIIf15

I Sat6 Ry6saku

Ta-daa!
Teacher : ~ "

1":> ~ ~' ;t

L f.:."

Katchaimashita.

~----/.A

bought-(impul,ively)

" I went and bought them!" (PL3)

klllclwimasllira io, a contraction of kaue shimaimashita. the PL3 past form
of katie .1himau. from kau ("buy/purchase''). A past form of shimau after
the -te form of a verb can express the feeling that the speaker did the action impulsively/without being able to help himself.

Teacher:

1) -

J '{ 1

:J.. ~:: /

-r- :; :; - /X!

Riibaisu

binteji

Levi's

vintage
e jean~"

"Lev1's vinta

Teacher: <tl:

20JJP-J

Kin

1)

jiinzu!
jeans

nijiiman-en nari!
is

money/cnsh 200,000

''200,000 cash!" (PL2)

when amounts of money are written on receipts, checks, etc., it's customary
to place the kAnji <6: kin (meaning ' 'money") before the amount and il! nari
after the amount. He's verbalizing that sty le here a. a way of dramati7.ing
how much he paid for the jeans (at current exchange rates, aJmost $2,000).

Jt, .f;lt -, -:- .. .

Se11.1ei. m re
tie .. .
(c,clam.) t~ach~r that <quotc)/a., for

Student :~ --) ,

tl-.'.

" Wow, sir! Those a re .. ."

Teacher: /'?

N?

" Hunh'?" (PL2)

Mudcnts adore~~ I heir teachers by the title .~rnsei rathe r than by name.
the 4uotutivc trf' here j, essentially a coii<Xjuial e4uivalcnt of the topic
marker, wa ("a~ for"). ller sentence continues to the nex t frame .

Student:

~ /7-

:J ;l :J- /X !
o-jiinw.'

Binti!ji
vintuge

(hon.)-~eans

" Vintage 0 -leans." (literally, "vintage honorable

jeans," but we couldn' t come up with a translation
that actually conveyed the Japanese word play-sec
note below)

Student: 7.

r-t J

IJ:

A,
"o" 1m
(imcrj.) "o- a.' for

~' C:> ij: "' tJ'o

iranai ka.
not need

(?)

"Oops, I guess l didn' t need the o-." (PL2)

Sound FX: X
Zu

(slapstick effect)
the student, perhaps recognizing the high value of the jeans. instinctively
adds an honorific o- to the word. In doing so. she inadvertantly winds up
saying what sounds suspiciously like "ojin," a somewhat derisive slang
term for a middle-aged man-thus the teacher's extreme reaction.
imnai is the negative form of im ("need").
the question indicated by ka is purely rhetorical.

Mangajin 45

t
o

&_, If J:!
ageyo!

(obj.)

raise

baulc cry

;tit' ;tit' J:i - !

Ei
ei
o!
(battle cry)

" Raise your battle cry! Ei ei o!" (PL2)

Ishii Hisaichi Senshu

Infantry:

SELECTED WORKS
of ISHII HISAICHI

ll<3Q))ii
Toki no koe

J.-J..-;;f--!

o!

(battle cry)

"E eo!"

ageyo is an abrupt corwnand fonn of agem (''ralse").

the kana combination ~ "' (ei) in this case is supposed to be pronounced
as two distinct sounds X. and v', and not simply as a long .t, but the
battle cry raised by this infantry apparently ha~ only long l sounc.b, without any i sound.

IT) Commander :

t:.: 1-v n'

t.!. -t'u 'b -) - & t:: ~ ! ;t t.' ;t t. '!3- !

A. :.-

Nanka
hen da ;;o. Mo idtido ja.
somehow ~!range 1s (em ph.) mnrc I lime b

t.:i ei li!
(battle cry)

"I hat d idn' t sound__right somehow. One more time!

Ei ei 0!" (PL2)
nanka is a contraction o f nanika, literall y "something"; but at the beginning of a sentence or clause it's often used a' a ..softener," like ..somehow/
vaguely/kind of - .'' Nanka hen da ="is somehow/vague ly strange.. -+
..doesn't sound right somehow.''
mii before a number mc:ans " Ithat many I more,'' idzi = ..one: and -do is
the counter suffix for .. times/occasions/repeti tions.'' so mo ilhido = ''one
more time:
it's not unusual for older males tu useja in p lace of da ("is/arc")-especially those in po~ition~ of authority.

lnfan!J:!:

A A

E e

0!
li!

(battle cry)

"~

A_Q!"

it turns out the footsoldiers were actually speaking Eng lish and saying
" A A 0 ." The standard Japanese pronunciation of the Engli~h lette.r A is
J.- (e), and not J.1 (ei)-even though the latter would be c loser to
the English pronunciation.

f... A,

t~' .1; ~ '"? f:>

Na11

da.

(j:?

aitsu-ra wa?
whal j,farc thn'c guys a' for

" What are those guys?" (PL2)

Lieutem!!Jt:

~~A

ffil~

~c--t o

Caiji11

bmai

dP.I'It.

foreigner corpslbalallion/unit is

"The ' re the foreign bri adc." (PL3)

im*l L.t.:
O)c M IJ (J) Ji~'f!t
Hwlchaku .1hita

node kaeri

110

ryohi

were washed :l~hore because relum for travcle~pcn~es (nbj.)

t.l-tt ~f.:\,' lv f.!.

kasegitai
w;mt to c;1m

11 da

c. n'c

to ka.

(cxplan.) (hearsay)

"Seems the were washed ashore from a shi~e~

~nd wanted to earn their return travel fare/' (PL2)
aitsu is a fairly rough word for "that person.. (more often male than female. hut it can be c:ithcr) and adding -ra makes it plural. " those guys:
wa marks ait.mra as the topic. The ~yntax is inverted: aitsu-ra wa
would nonnall y come ti rst.
buwi retcr~ to a military unit of unspecified size.
lzyrlchaku sltira is the: plain/abrupt past form of hyoclwku suru (''drift/
wash a~horc").
kaeri i~ a noun form of the verb kaeru ("go/come home .. or return
home''). Kaeri nn ryohi ="travel fare for their return home."
kasegitai i~ the ..want to .. form of kwegu ( ..earn money'').
- to ka implies ~ . to ka ilia, which literally is like "said -- or something/
said something about - .. ): to ka often indicates that the speaker has heard
the infomlation not di rectly from the source but from ~omeone else.

46 Mangajin

*'i:ltl.f
-~ -c'-t -f!
tsu:::ukeba ikki desu zo!
lord without change famine (subj.) if continua~ uprising b (empb.)

Advisor: J!!i!

:: o:> i i

M.Ul tJt

Tono! Kono mama J..ikin

Ishii Hisaichi Senshfi

ga

''My lord__. if the famine goes on like tbis, there's

sure to be an ikki." (PL3)
Lord: ~ 1: :;? 1 ''/ .:\'-?!

SELECTED WORKS
of ISHII HISAICHI

Nani!?
what

lkki?
(indeterminate)

.-

" What? An ikki?" (PL2)

kmw mama= "unchanged from this," and tsuzukeba is a conditional ("1f/
when") form of tsuz.uku ("continues/persists/goes on''), so ko)w mama
tsuzttf..eba = 'if [something] goes on like this."

Lord:

~A- t!.'! t' -J \, -) .: t t!. ;;?

Nan dct ? Diiiu
kow da.1 ?
what is whal kind of thing is

" What do you mean? What's going on?" (PL2)

Advisor: !-! / t.: fo:o i.P b Uti 1~:/v tJr, $-!L~ l.i
Pin 10 kvnai
nor come clear

kamo shirema.1en
mny po"ihly be

jillli H'a
but situalion "' for

f?C/,

-t- ~l'i t' .;: -rc: -I;JJJ.Q vu~ 1.> oYci ~

.wrl'horlo made ni sl'ppaku shite oru no desu.
thm degree o' far a>

has h<:come tense

(cxplan.)

"You may not realize it, but the situation has

grown ust that tense." (PL3-4)

t.7l ~ j

~~~
L 1# \.

~-t::_O

t'

Jb. '. . .

( <:'7: '"'-I I t

0)

~. ~

'l" ~ '-''

-r.

pin to J..onai is the negative form of pin 10 kurtt (kuru= "come"). a colloquial cxprC\\ion for having ~omcthing come <.:lear in one, mind a' 111
gelling a JUke, recognizing a face, understanding an cxpla :uinn/rc:Nm.
sensing ~nmething hy intuition. having a hunch. etc.
J..anw .\hirema.Hn i~ the PL3 form of kamo .1/rirenai ("might be/ma} JXl~''
hly be (that)").
~l'ppaJ..u ~lute om is equivalent to .1eppaku shi1e irtt ("ha' hccomc tcn,c'').
from reppaJ..u .suru ("Ia ~ituation] become' tense").

L.

J:>l. ~'
~

./

Lord:

$\o ~'{.- ~o ~tic -~t.J'"t;,o - *lol.Jl!} ..

lkki.
lkki ichiytl. Jkki.
lkki-uchi. lkkyo ryiiwku.
(various words beginning with ikki)

-~(, (ikki) u~ually occurs as the adverb ikki 11i, which means 'in a 'ingle
go/all at once."

ikki ichiyt7 is literally ''one rejoicing and one lamenting" "now rejoicing,
now lamenting"; the expression is used to describe feelings that swing back
and forth between joy and sorrow because of changing circumstance~.
~~ (ikkl) is a noun for " missing/failing to capitalize on an opportunity :
ikki-uclri ="one-on-one/man-to-man combat."
- >p. ikkyo is a c lose synonym for -~ (ikki."in a single go/allot once'').
Ry/Jtoku means " two henetits," so ik/...'}'0 ryoroku is literally "two benefits
at once/from one action." lk/..:yo ryoroku is the expression that was used
before -:n_:.~ (isseki nid riJ, literally, ''one stone, two birds'') was
adopted from the English expression "kill two birds with one stone''; today both expressions are used.

n', .t-;G7)il !l?!

Wlipum
kn. onore wa?!
word procew1r ( ?l ) ou as for

Advisor : 'J - -jtJ

" What a re you- a word processor? (PL 1-2)

Sound FX:
'B
c:y

;f."'J ;;

BoJ..a!

.Bonk (effect of rap o n head)

.c

C(j

:;;:
:E:
'-'

.~ U-!-+-""9'>o.J

J:

wilpuro is the Japanese word for "word processor.'' shortened from ll'llclo
pum.\'f'.\'Sli. rhc full katakana rendering of rhc English term. In Japan the
tem1 usually refers to dedicated word-processing hardware rather than to
a software application. Because Japanese has a large number of word~
that sound the !>arne but are written with different kanji (as frame 3 illu~
tratcs). a key function of Japanese word processors is to offer the user a
menu of alternative~ from which to select.
0110re can mean ei ther " I" or "you"; when it's used for "you" it usually
has a derisive/insulting tone.

Mangajm 47

~ American Comics~/////#~//////#////////////#//////#~

Colin atulllobbr. lQ I~~0 Universal I''"'' Syndictllc.

[!]

~alvin:

All right< re,crved. Keprmtcdfuan,lmed h)

"What do you find attractive in women. Hobbes?"

7' 7-., ];((f) A (/) t~ "' ~ t.:. 0 (:

* "/

Hobbu.fu,

011110 110

(name)

IIito

woman

's what

t.

lllI)A."C'\

dii it1

110

~ind

tokoro

ni

(Q\'Iifv ~d lfObbr~ -

pcrm"<ion nf Edttnn. Pre" Sci'\ tee. , Y

mh

~ ~ t::.J.> ?

miryoku

kanjiru?

of place/aspect in appea.l/chnrm (obj.)

J.\.

J,.t)L(

feel

J,')J.( (~

ziiA,.

.t-1(1

find f<*-t~IJ q ~ill '->m& t: .Q I - find attractive r.tiiJJ t ~ t: .Qflf}J(fJt! .m-? J o

tokoro is literally "place," but it's also used Idiomatically to mean "situation/manner/aspecVcharacterlstic."
questions in colloquial speech are often formed simply by raising the Intonation on the last syllable.

[g)

!:lobbes: "Well. I've always been oartial to redheads."

~-J
t.!. ~, 7JJ; 'f; 1.
/4' iJ'~) H~ t:t!vt!. ,
SiJ

da

11a.

tlkliR('

un

11111ka~/Ji

kam .l'llki na 11 da.

thllt \\ a)' b (colloq.) red hair a<. for lnng ago 'ince

I've = I have.

like

(cxplan.)

bepartialto .. . l - t'~!.:~HN - il{~~t..:J "

;.

,., ~

I' !:

~ ~(

~ _:

I T ' ,

*' II, t

r,;r-

redhead r~<l?~~r,Jt-~A/>t{:O>AJ
Redheaded !ii" O>)f~~.;.j ~f
[;<l?j ,
s~ dana is a phrase used when pondering an answer/response, like "well, let's see .. ."
mukashi kara is literally "from/since a long time ago," often implying "always."

@]

Hobbes: uWith green eyes... I like green eyes."

1::1

Me
eye~

1;1

't". . .

fAA

wa midori de . . , midori

{/)

no

as for green is/are-and green that arc

ld

me
eye.~

1Jf "'"' t.lo

ga

ii

ne.

(subj.) good (culloq.)

"I like ..... could also be translated as - ga suki da, but - ga li is often a more natural way to express a preference
or choice.

!fobbes: "And whiskers! Long whiskers!"

.f ~ L iJ' C) U' t f ! f.[: It ' [)'I Y !.!_!
Sure kara
and :tlso

~a l v in:

hiRe!

Nagai hiRe dn!

whi~ker-

long whi, ke r' is

"Let's change the subject."

~6~ ~
Wadai o
wpic

tc: ;{_ J: -)

kae1o.

(obj.) 'hall change

whiskers !i , xr~Jvo)liJ3U'tff~>cf.,ib1J~. ;(,:t~>dtQ)t]'lfO).:.c o

kaeyo is the volitional ("let's/1 shall") form of kaeru ("alter/change/switch").

48 Mangajin

~##~

' V'~ American Comics'//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////~

COA.C.\-\ n\INI<.S
'.J\0\..EtK.E. IS fl..ROO\C..

4
C"ulloi11 ami 1/ohbts. 0 1990 Universal Pre" Syndicate. All righl> reserved. Rcprintedltran,Juted by perllli'-i<>n ofEdito" Press Sen tee. NY.

OJ

Bully: "You've got two pedods to live. Iwinky."

ii.> t

mo

ato

.t3ll!I <1:> 1fli

Omoe no inodli
your

life

ni-jigen

dake

(emph.) remaining 2 periods

only

t.

Twlnky liTwinkies c
\I;

2 ~~R t.: ~t t!. -f', -" ~ i:> J: :::.. o

....

t.

1tt.1l. ") t..

t.\.

l.. .t~Cit~~t.l ._)r,~

hmaclwko.
pip-squeak.
~ t.t

~f,tt l

.bbJ,bl:~i?n'"'.::.

<o

J. .,., ~

to live liif'~;;a)Q)~~liaJOtJffi#.;"t'period l:il'il'o 11

zo.

is (emph.)

"'? 13~TQ)Jiij.r,(~qi:J* 1.,,

lY-'*I.:ffl~tl.> o Twinklec ~ ~
.a.. f

da

f~~m/""-~~

c nC,,

t;.~A

J:..::. J

~ ~Q)

t:lf .J..

fd:.~ ""(It (I? ft.) 7.>~1i1Jilf21~~Ra?oJ a

Bull : "Then it's gym class. and I turn you into hamburger casserole!"

n'

-f <7:> ft:
Sono aro
that

li f*ff t!.
t) , I~J t!. !v .:: 1:
L.. "C -t~ ~ !
wa ra iiku da kom, niku-dango ni
shire yam
after a, for phy~ cd i' because m~ar pany
to do/mak~-( ror you)
,. ~

I) ..

'b a-?" Gym IJ: gymnasiumi1)B/'r.,

.,
hamburgeriJ:, 1\/J{-:t/ - ~.: ~lU)i', 1=--15t~J(!)-::c'bJ11i"o 1tH.:, Jd::-:.""Civl!/d.::tft,O)otJ t=.c\i- make
IP"
.,4.
. t!
hamburger out of. .. ~ c' c 'b i'ii''-''' hamburgerl;t I~') -?It""(~ J ~ t c "\ ~ e- L. !.: J: <i4:!:1?t1. 0 .3~o
l
.t.
l
\
1. \
,
<!-,

gym class I, 1-!>'ff"t', physical education(~ I., ""C P.E./phys ed) c

~ ,..

' .. ~[I).. i

'~

-t (

'

r:~f,.J

I)

,6\

casserole IJ:, *-l.fll.fflQ)In~~?,~Q).:. c 't", ..:C(!)~?,~I:~J, ~~. -1--;(,

't'

,.

!.. ..

~~ J .,

J-{.7.

'

7~1j: c~

It (1..111..

,,

;t 2t' i <7).,#;f;t~ Jdt

""( ::t - 7' / -r:-:!1[: <1H!fi.(!)Jft'iJtJ1:{F:M: 'b casserole t " ' ~ ~

- ni shlte yaru is from - nl suru, which implies "make [something) into - ." Yaru after the -te form of a verb often
implies that the speaker does the action to or for the listener: "I'll make you - ."
-~--~-~~--

[!]

CalvJn: "I hate gym class,"

f*ff ~ lv-IJ' *-:>.lt'f!.o
Taiiku nanlco
phys ed

daikkirai.

as for

hate

nanka Is a colloquial nado ("something like"); here it's essentially equivalent to wa ("as for"), but with a feeling of
derision for what comes before it.
/.!\6t}

there Is a small -? (tsu) in **'"' (dalklrai, "greatly/absolutely hate") for added emphasis.

C alvin: "Coach thinks violence is aerobic."

':1 - -f '.d:.~, z:)J
~ :L7D~7"A 'IJ'
Kochi
ttara,
bi'iryoku o
earobikusu
ka
coach

a,,

for

violence (obj.)

ttara is a contraction of

aerobics

"l;t.iv'IJ' t.:_
nanka

da

or something

.J&l,-:;'{"~

lvt.:.'

iJ'~o

to

omotteru

n da

kora.

is (quote)

thinkl;

(explan. ) because

to lttara, "if you say -.., ; in colloquial speech it's often used in place of wa ("as for")

when saying something negative about a person.

~ 1.'

thinks (that) J:.J. T U.:think

4d""C.~.:-

(7)

H A':J~a c

....J~il .

{l- .1

JJ~

~ o 1; ~Jl!li "t'coachilr.r;r, ')

~-~l 1

-z-"' 1.> .::. c (!) P-rti=o

Mangajin 49

H ilS LOOK':> LIK A N

FORTON ATEl"r', T H.Rf A R

OTH E.R THING-S O N

INTl:LLIG- NI AND
INFORMATW PROE, RAM

0 1993 Paws. All righl' rc<erved. Dislnbutcd by Universal Pre;s Syndicate.

SIX:~

[!]

"}]-fl)
Kachiri (sound of hitting the remote control button)

Garfield: "This looks like an intelligent and informative program."

:. tL C;t j;Ui'J9 "t' t::. J 1:
~ I') -t-? 7j:
:ffi:k:fl
Kore wa
1hi~

chiteki

as for ime lligenl

looks like

de
i~-and

tame

nan so 11a

benefil lolof

r- (/) t. ~ 1:. ld..l.J 1~ ~) ~

ni

,\t 1~ <t.'

seem~ like

I? L.. " I

t!.

bangumi da

il will become program

~o
na.

is (colloq.)

Informative r~.t#.~ /.iff~9~ J - I t..; V){:~ ~J "

tame nl narlso is from the expression tame ni naru (lit., "become of benefit" - "be beneficial"), and sl5 na after the
stem of a verb Implies "seems/looks like it will (do the action)."
.u.

program .::.::"C'!j:rv\::"(/)

J..

r:rlU!I.J

~ffii' o

SIX=~

"}] 1-')

Garfield: "Fortunately. there are other things on."

1111.1: ~ :J:@ 1Jf ~ .Q (/) li ~ ~ 1Jff,: It~ :::_ ::d.:o
Hok.a ni mo bangumi go Olll no wa
arigatai
/cotta.
besides

also program (subj.) eltist (DOID.) as for

r;~,.

fortunately

t,: .:

c. 1: J

fortunate

lhin&-is

L.d ~. (

111.('11>

there are other things on; on (J) '->C. (JJTV"/Jf~ll& ts tt. -cIt\ .0 o Things li..C t: fiJi' o

1111'

1l4<'...

rfli (JJ:JUil t

~ '? "C

lt .OJ 0
hoka "other, and adding ni makes It like "besides" ... holes nl sru = "exist besides [this)."
no Is a "nomlnallzer" that turns the complete though/sentence that comes before It ("there are other
programs besides ir) Into a noun, and ws marks that noun as the topic: "as for there being other programs
besides It,
artgatsi kotta is a contra~ of arlgatai koto da ("Is a thing to be grateful for" - "Is a fortunate thing").

L----~~

50 Mangajin

'

I.

COOKING CORNER

Nothing but
Noodles
Hot or cold, menrui is
the perfect summer treat.

ummer is noodle season in Japan. This is not to say

that vast quantities of noodles are not consumed at other
times of the year. But with temperatures parked above
30' C and the country sweltering under its subtropical blanket
of humidity, appetites start to wilt and enthusiasm dwindles
for rice and other bulkier foods. T his is when noodles come
into their own.
In most accounts, the world of m enrui (~m) i usually
divided into two princ ipal categories- although this ignores
ramen ( 7- :J. / ). the crinkly Chinese-sty le noodles now fully
assimilated into daily Japanese diet (as well as the increasingly
popular Italian pasta connection). Wheat flour noodles, such
as udon. (-? t ' A.), are usually considered a food of Japan's
south and west; .\'Oba ( ~ li), made with varying pro portions
of buckwheat flour, is mainly associated with Tokyo and the
mountains of the northeast. Within each of these two genres,
however, are numerous subdi visions, depe nding both on the
way they are made and the way in which they arc served.
These days, both types are well represented througho ut the
country and consumed with equal gusto throughout the year.
The fundamental dec ision is always whether you want to
eat your noodles hot or cold. Even at the peak of summer, there
is no shortage of people who choose their soba or udon in the
kake style-served in a steaming savory broth, with or without
such adornments as tenpura, raw egg, natti5, or the g rated
mountain yam know as tororo.
Most people, however, are not looking to break further
sweat a.s they eat, and so the most popular form of summertime
noodle is always the chilled style known generically as mo ri
soba or hiyashi udon. The noodles are cooked, then strained
and cooled, and piled up on a bamboo tray (giving the
buckwheat version its alternate name: seiri5 soba). This is then
dipped in a piquant soy-based sauce to which chopped negi
(green onions) and wasahi (horse-radish) have been added. If
the noodles are topped with a sprinkling of finely cut nori
seaweed , the dish is called zaru soba/zaru udon (the zaru is
the bamboo basket in which the noodles are strained): if you
also want a small serving of tenpura with it, ask for ren-wru.
This is m enrui cuisine at its simplest, but often its most
satisfying. When the noodles are te-uchi (+fl i? ), the dough
freshly rolled and cut by hand, they are considered one of the
most sought-after foods by Japanese food connoisseurs. They
60 Mangajin

are also remarkably refreshing when the heat is on.

Among the wheat noodles, udon and its chunky country
cousin ki.~himen (a wide, flat variety mostly eaten in the central
region around Nagoya) are often considered bulky and difficult
to digest. Much more appropriate for summertime eating is
the finer, more delicate hiyamug i (~ t:, "cold wheat"). As the
name implies, this is intended to be served chilled (indeed, it
is never eaten any other way)- not on a bamboo tray, like
mori soba, but fully immersed in ice water. Besides its obvious
cooling properties, hiyamugi is usually g iven an e laborate
arrangement to provide maximum visual impact: with its
multicolor garnishes o f lish, fruit, egg, and vegetables it can
resemble a submarine rock garden- in effect, a kind of
underwater salad.
The archetypal summer noodle- a nd a common gift in
the mid-year ocl11lgen g ift-exchange season- is .~omen.
Although often considered a more delicate form of udon and
hiyamugi (much as, in Italy, vermicelli are an ultrafine form
of spaghetti), somen is, in fact, made by a quite different
process. Stretched rather than cut (the best of them are known
as te-nobe ("hand-pulled"), government standards specify each
thread must be no more than one millimeter in diameter.
Somen is also the basis for one of the most intriguing and
amusing summer pastimes, the custom of eating nagashi somen.
As with so many forms of Japanese cuisine, it is not the taste
that is remarkable so much as the ritual and setting. The scene
might look something like this: a quiet mountain glade, a
lakeside garde n, or even your backyard; a wide-brimmed, red
paper parasol to provide shade; the cicadas in full drone; the
lazy incense of mosquito coils. Leng ths of freshly hewn
bamboo have been split and joined to form a primitive channel
from the nearest water source, which could be a mountain
stream, a favorite spring, or perhaps just the local mains.
Copious quantities of noodles are cooked in readiness, and
dipping sauces are prepared. When everyone is assembled, the
somen is tipped into the simple aqueduct. As the noodles flow
downstream, the waiting diners scoop them out with their
chopsticks. ft is hardly a strenuous form of fishing (or eating),
but at this time of year enjoyment is every bit as important as
nutrition.

Robbie Swinnerton is the food editor of Tokyo Journal.

Chilled Summer Noodles

Ingre dients
300 g (10 oz.) dried hiyamugi or somen wheat noodles
chilled water (preferably purilicd or spring water)
ice cubes

Tsuyu (dipping sauce)

5 cups dashi (cooking stock) made from katsuobushi
(bonito flakes) and/or kombu (kelp seaweed)
1 cup shoyu (soy sauce)
4 Tbsp. mirin (sweet cooking sake)-if unavailable.
substitute 4 tsp. sugar
Yakumi (dipping spices)
Any or ull of the following:
finely chopped scallions, toasted white sesame seeds,
grated ginger, fine-cut nori seaweed, chopped shiso leaf

(serves four)

Garnish
8 cooked shrimp. with shell and vein removed but with
tail still allached
30 g (1 oz.) wakame seaweed (soaked to reconstitute,
and chopped coarsely)
4 leaves green shiso (perilla hhis is mainly a visual
garnish, so green maple leaves or other similar foliage
can be substituted
8 pods of mange-tout snow peas. lightly blanched
4 young scallions. chopped into S-cm ( I/2") lengths and
briefly blam:hed
8 slices carrot (carved into llowerettes, if desired), lightly
cooked
4 slices kiwi fruit
l mandarin orange, sliced into eight segments (with
peel sti II auached)

Pre paration
I . First mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce, bring slowly to a boil , then quickly remove from the heat and
let cool down. Refrigerate before serving.
1 . Heat 2 liters ( 1/2 gallon) water in a large pan. When it comes to a vigorour- boil. slowly slide the noodles imo
the water and stir well to prevent them from sticking to the side or bottom of the pan.

l . When the water returns to a boil, add a cup of cold water. Repeat twice. If cooking sumen. drain and rinse
immediately. If cooking ltiyanw~?i, bring back to a light boil. and cook for 5 minute until the noodles are just
slightly softer than al dente. Quickly drain noodles in a colander and rinse under plenty of running water umil
well cooled.
4 . Di vide the cold noodles among the indi vidual serving bowls (wide, shallow bowls arc best, preferably glass).
Cover with chilled water and add a few icc cubes. In eactL bowl place 2 cooked shrimp, some scallions or
mange-loU! , a small portion of wakame seaweed. a shiso (or other) leaf. slices of carrot and kiwi fruit. and
mandarin orange segments.
5 . Serve dipping sauce in separate small bowls, with the yakumi (dipping spices) on small side dishes. Each person
should sprinkle some of the spices into the sauce, before dipping the noodles in and proceeding to slurp.

Note s
Both dipping spices and noodle garnishes can be as simple or as elaborate as you choose. Other ideas might include cuts
of chicken-breast meat. kamaboko fish cake, fu (wheat gluten cake), slices of bamboo shoot. wedges of apple. etc.
Although hiyamugi and somen arc the most delicate of Japanese noodles. and best suited to this summer treatment. regular
wheat udon works equally well as a substitute. In the Chubu region of Japan, around Nagoya, thick, flat kishimen noodles
are also eaten this way. However. cooking times have to be adjusted-longer for the thicker noodles. just a couple
minutes for the ultra-fine siimen.
~If

you have access to the Internet, Osaka Gas has a page filled with Japanese recipes in English:

h ttp : //www . osakagas .co.jp/ webcooking/ index_e .htrnl

Mangajin 61

Humorous Haiku

SENRYU

Poems submitted by our readers

Illustrations by Anthony Owsley
it~:

i "C'

Ore ni made

tLtk/J{*~
reijo ga kuru

JJ!?tRtr
senkyo-mae

Even one like me

receives a gracious thank-you note
when an election pends.
by

so

males, so ort ni made ;:: ..e\'en It) me:~

reijti"' "!hank-you note." and reijo ga

kum = a lhank-y\lU nule 'omes." The
Japanese lirerally says "even to me a
!hank-you nole 'omes'' _, "even I
receive/even one like me receives a
rhank-you nole."
the s uffi -mal' means "before [lhc
event 1." so senho-mae ="before Ihe
election"-+ "wht:n ~n eb:riun pends."
rhe pen name Mukansilin -lw means
litentlly "indifferen l observer."
presumably a non-voter.

.f!if:r!.IJ{i!R (Mukanshin-ha)

Furu arne me

;Z.:::.U'v'~T~

mi~u

lm.wku = " water shortage."

Tokyo had more rdin than usual during
the rainy season this year. However. the
mounolin reservoirs that supply
neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture (inc.
Yokohama) had so little that the area
was forced to ration water supplies.
Residents were led to wonder whether
the heavens were showing partiality.
Omachi Komachi is a play on 'Jff,JIf
(Ono Komaclu), a legendary beauty who
lived during the Hcian Era.

= ucvcn to,~' and ore is an

I)!~ [$j ~

fitru "' "[rain/snow/hail] falls.'' and

jitm Will!= "the falling rain."
l'kohiiki"' "favoritism/partiality." and
ekohiiki ,1'1/rn =''favor/show partialiry:
the suffix -busoku is fromfuJoku
("insuffiden~y/shortage"),

ni mtui

infurmaUruugh word for "Ume" used by

ekohllkl suru

7./(/f',@
mizu-busoku

Even falling rain

shows its partiality:
water shortages.
by A:illftl-lll/ (Omachl Komach1)

]-.'' .::.. -

Shidonii e

nx3t~~~~

seika o nokoshi

!W:k1-T <
seika yuku

Going to Sydney
a legacy of triumph;
the Olympic torch.
by

lft t.:J\ f-ft (Chiyo ni Yachiyo)

e marks the destination of the a~tion

y uku. an alternate pronunciation of iku

("go" ).
t&!l< .Hiku refers to the "accomplishments/fruits" of an endeavor. whi le
the homophonous !'U-: seika (lit.. " holy
name'') is the name for the Olympic
torch.
nokushi is the stem of noko.l'll ("leave
b<'hind"): rhe stem is being used as a
modi tier that indicates the manner of
the nex t mentioned action: "the
Olympic torch goes... leaving behind a
legacy of triumph ... What's interesting
about the poem is the play between the
two meanings of seiku: one proceeds to
Sydney. the other is left behind.
Chiro ni Ym:hiyo. loosely " thousands
and thousands of years: is a phrase
from Japan' s national anthem .

We'll send you a Mangajin T -shir t if we puhlish your senryu. Send to Scn.ryu, M ang. ajin, I nc .. PO Box 77 18S. Atlanta. GA 303
~7~
(or to senry u @mangaj in.corn). A l l J apanese submissions wi ll be translated into English and vice ver~a.
jtjtv_)-j-Q) il l tJ111 ~ .t3$1J v' t-.: t.:v 't-.: h 1.:: l.ii~lffii A T :/ 1' ; ~ i!l;.hl_ L i L ~i!JtiJ: SenryO. Mangajin, Inc. , PO Box 77 188. Atlanla. GA 30357
( V-.: I.iii T f - Jv (" senryu@mangajin.com)o l,d3, H :<f~itl.: d: {, flt~IJ:~ii;!H.:, %61H.: d: {If,(~ IJ B +~ni.::~~J,tfii;c~;;R L :1: -to

Mangajin 63

:t~t~~ ~ J.- 11 Poketto Sutorii

Pocket Story
.{lp. t .,

..,. :J. ~

by Mori Masayuki
The artfully drawn and poetic "Pocket Story" tales are the work of Mori Masayuki. Using
various styles-line drawings, woodblock-like etchings, and watercolor paintings-Mori gives his
manga a distinct feel and style. Light on dialogue, the images are the focus of these tales. In
fact, sometimes no dialogue is used at all.
The story presented in this issue tells of a young girl, a new pair of shoes, and a dream. It is
typical of the simple yet charming tales which are Mori's trademark.
Mori has expressed his hope that a person can sit down with the
three books of the "Pocket Story" series and read through them in
the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee. He feels that the reader
should be fulfilled in some way upon finishing them.
The author promises that if
his pocket should become
filled once again with
beautiful things which need
to be shared, he will draw
more "Pocket Story"
manga. In the meantime, it
is his wish that all of our
pockets be filled to the
brim with wonderful things.

The "Pocket Story" series was originally published

in the monthly magazine :::1 ~ :; '7 -=E - =- / '/
("Comic Morning"). The books include the serialized manga as well as additional colorized manga
drawn specifically for the set.

Mangajin 65

- - - - - - - -- -- - - --

~7 :.~

1- .A 1- - 1J - Pocket Story

.fir

'I
~

+t
:a.

66 Mangajin

- - -- -- -- -- -- --

~-.

,~-,

C1)

ltt:
l

;1;,0

+:.

"

Title: ~7 ':I ~A ~- ;- 24
r*(1)ttJ
~ - ":') '7-!t.:L~
Pokeno
SutiJrii Nijiiyon "Suzu no Kutsu"
Saku Mori Masayulci
Pocket Story 24
'~l!qes wttb Bells" by Mori Masayuld

[D

Narration:

1X

(1) T<iZJ.-:::>.:: 1.:, UR:tt~"'

Yoru no

mmikko

7-f~

-nr

ni, nemurenai kodomo ga

night of corner/nook in/at can' r sleep

"'i Lf.:o
imashita.

child (subj.) existed/there was

In a little cranny of the night, there was a child who could not sleep. (PL3)
sumikko is an informal equivalent of sumi, which when speaking of physical areas refers to an "unobtrusi'ie comer/
"comer/nook/cranny." Here it's being used poetically with an abstract "area."
edge/fringe area"
the particle ni is used to mark the place where something exists.
nemurenai is the negative form of nemureru ("can sleep"}, the potemial form of nemuru ("sleep"). II modifies kodomo
("child") nemurenai kodomo ="a child who can't sleep."
imashita is the PL3 past form of iru ("exist/be in a place" for people and animate things). - ga iru is often like English
,;there is - ,"so - ga imashita = " there was - ."

[!}

Narration: v\ 'i 1;!: - All: {t/v"t"'I.M't1i' l&~ t' lv tJ~ , aflj.,

'IJ1
Jijjl.-\f.:
(1)-t"'T o
lma wa usho ni suntk illlli
otlJsan ktlra, okMrlmono ga
todoita
no desu.
now as for together
is not living
father
from present/gift (subj.)had arrived/been delivered (explan.)
From her father, who did not at present live with them, a gift had arrived.
A packgt bad come from her father, who no Ioyer Hved with tbem. (PL3)

issho ni "together with," or in many cases simply ..with."

slllllk inai is the negative form of sund~ iru (wis livinJ!residing"), from sumu ("residellive in a place").
ima wa --~~ iMi can mean either " is not [doing the action]at present" (implyina the action may resume at a later time) or
"is no looaer [doing the action]" (implying the action is not expected to resume). We chose tbe latter simply because it
seemed to work better in English, but it may weU be tba1 the tidher is merely away on extended assignment in another city.
imo wa issho ni sund~ iiiiJi is a complete thouglttlsentence ("as for now, [he) doesn't live together with [them]") modifying ot6san ("father'') -+"father who does not now live with them."
todoita is the plain/abrupt past fonn of todolcu ("[something] anives/is delivered").
no d~su is used because an explanation is being offered-why the little girl can't get to sleep.

Narration: 'J' ~ ~

n;

(J)

Chii.w-na suzu
small

no

-:> "' t.:.

tsuita

tk

(1)

aki

no kt1t.w de.ru.

it 't'T o

bells (subj.) anached autumn of/for shoes is/are

"It was [a pair of) autumn shoes that had small bells attached."
In it was a air of a utumn shoes, with littlejin e bells on them. (PL3)
chiisa-na is an alternate form of the adjective chiisai ("small").
suzu refers to the kind of bell that is spherical and usually quite small, with a little pellet floating loose inside to make it
jingle. Larger bells that are what we think of as "bell-shaped," open at the bottom and with a dangling clapper. are
called kt111e (written i4!) or beru (from the English "bell").
tsuita is the plain/abrupt past form of tsuku ("[something] sticks/attaches to"). Chiisa-na .w zu no tsuita is a complete
thought/sentence (''small bells arc attached") modifying aki no kut.m. Tn the modifying sentence, no marks suzu as the
subject of tsuita; in modifying sentences, the subject is often marked with no instead of ga.
aki ="autumn," and no allows it to modify kwsu ("shoes")-> "autumn shoes/shoes for autumn."
de.ru is non-past, but it's not unusual for English narrative conventions to call for it to be translated in the past tense.

8:)

Narration: J&li~'S"'Iv i)t

r~,

JfLI.-\

ga "Yoru, atarasllii btsu

Obilchan

1' J&-? L'S"'t!~U

o

oroshiclta dalrw!"

to

8':>f.: (1)~,
itta

nip
new
sboa (obj.) IDIIICD'tputdowll (quote) said
Grandma had said, "You mastll't break In new lboes at nlsht!" so
pandma

(subj.)

node,
becausdso

oroshicha tltJIM is a contraction of oroshite wa dalrw, a "must not" form of orosu, which is literally "lower/put down"
but is also used idiomatically to mean ''use/wear for tbe fU'SI time."
itta is the plain/abrupt past fonn of iu ("say").

Na rration: ~
asa

-nr

ga

1~'S~ L

<c

machidoshikute,

morning (subj.) is eagerly anticipatcd-(cause)

the girl could hardly wait for morning to come, and

machidoshikute is the -te form of machidoshii, which implies the person "eagerly anticipates/can hardly wait for [something]." Note that in Japanese, machidiJshii is an adjective; it can be used to describe either the thing that is so eagerly
awaited or the eager/impatient feelings of the person waiting. The te form in this case is indicating the cause o f what
follows (next panel).

Mangajin 67

*' J:r "/ t-

--------------------------~

68 Mangajin

t-- IJ -

Pocket Story

[!]

L"t"v~.O

o:>'t'Ta

Dolci-dolci
siUte iru IW thsu.
(tbumpina PX) is doin8fmakiog (explao.)
"her beart was thump-thumping."

her heart tlllllllp-tbumped with anddpatioa. (PL3)

doii-dold siUte iru is tbe propaaive ("is/are - ing") form of dolci-dold suru, an PX-based verb that means "[one's
heart) beals faaclpounds" (either in eager anticipation, as here, or in nervousness/fear).
t10 thsu again indicates an explanation is being offered-why the little girl can' t sleep.

Sound FX: f' 1J / 1- 1) /

Chirin chirin

1)

chirin

Jingle jingle jin~ (sound of bells on shoes)

[!) Souad FX:

7 'J ::..- 1- ') ::..- 1- ') ::..- 1- J /

Chirin

ciUrin

chirin

chirin

Jinlle Jbyde Jlnate Jllllle

8:]

Sound FX:

+ ') /
Chirin

Jingle

(!]

Souad FX: 1- ') ::..- 7 ') ::..- 1- ') /

Chirin

chirin

ciUrin

Jinllei.lnlk J!nlle

Sound FX:

+ J/
1

Cltirin

f' 1)

::..-

cltirin

1
)

chirin

Jingle lingle lingle

Book Review
(COIITilllll'dfrom pllf(t! 54)

But much of what is presented must be taken with a grain of

salt Why, for example, would a half-Japanese boy be admiued
to the premier Nazi prep school? And can a boy so small for
his age really overpower a large adult man?
Enjoyable and educational, Adolf gives insight into the
manga craze in Japan, but it is a far cry from what the
salary man and the student are reading on trains. Adolf is so
different, in fact, that even the Japanese bookstores treat it as
a normal novel rather than a comic book. Still , readers will
understand the power of the visual component of manga and
will see how serious topics can be treated well in this medium.
Readers wi ll also experience the overwhelmingly frequent use
of mimetic/onomatopoeic words in manga to describe actions
and sounds. Somehow, baffling words like bratta. chirrup,
fwoosh, sclmor, hsh, klakketa, tmp, and kritsh seem natural
in context.
Unavoidably, there are some gestures and some ironies that
may escape the reader who has not spent significant time in
Japan. But the meanings of the hand-waving, the fact that
someone is wearing a school uniform, the depths of bows, the
sounds of insects. etc., are not vital to understanding the story.
mimecic words = lfi~ .ilf girai-go onomatopoeic words
\,' woke IW wakaranai

It is unfortunate that some of the rich meaning may be lost.

but the story remains intact.
Oniki Yuji' s translmion is superb. beautifully projecting
strong emotions and subtle implications. But striving to be true
to the Japanese content results in a few cumbersome, unnatural
phrases. There are also several examples of uncomfortable (if
not simply erroneous) grammar and at least one spelling error.
These imperfections should have been screened more carefully
to allow the high quality of translation to shine through.
The very few weaknesses in the story and its presentation
do not detract greatly from the impact of the book. It is
insightful, compelling, and just plain great reading. Even the
fact that the book was originally released as a serial is usually
not too distracting. But caveat emptor: at the end, the serial
nature of the work is unavoidably clear-we learn that the story
continues in another book. Adolf' An Exile in Japan. Let's
just hope that we aren't forced to wait too long for resolution
of the cliff-hangers.

TJ Donohue is an engineering consultant and freelance writer

based in Denver, Colorado.

=lf<P' ~If gisei-gn I lliU l ~It gion-go bafning = + uf 1!1 fo: fukukai

IW

I~ (J) fJ fp G t.:

Mangajin 69

~?-

:; 1- A 1- - J- Pocket Story

----~~---------------------

tJ
t)

IJt

!!

10 Mangajin

ft
tl
;t

'(i;:

A..:

1?

t::.
0)

*
!?

~:

i;tJ
~

A!!

[!]

Father: t'tlt'.:ro
Reiko.
(name)

"Reiko." (PL2)
SOundFX: 7'- I};_, 7" 1) /
Chirin

chirin

~ln&le

Reiko: ~ '..> ?
!?
what?/huh?/yes?

"Yes?" (PL2-3)
Sound FX: :t-J /
Chirin
J in gle

Reiko: ~-, J3jt~.lv!l

'-'1.:
fi:lv'"C't.:
">:t-7!
otosan!!
Koko
ni
sundeta
n{)?!
father this placeJbere at wereJhave been living (explan.-?)

A,
(interj.)

''Oh, Dad! Is this where you've been Uvin&?'' (PL2)

ii is an interjection of recognition.

sundeta is a contraction of sunde ita, past form of sunde iru ("is living/residing"), from sumu ("reside/live in a place").
For most verbs, the place where the action occurs is marked with de, but the place where one lives/resides is marked
with ni.
she uses the explanatory no to aslc a question by speaking it with a rising intonation; it's quite common to ask questions
with no in colloquial speech. especially among female speakers. Elongating it gives the feeling of an exclamation.

Reiko:

~ft

Kutsu ne. . .

arigato!!

shoes (colloq.)

thank you

''As for the shoes, thank you."

"Thanks for the shoes!" (PL2)

the <:olloquial panicle ne or nl is often insened in the middle of a sentence to draw the listener's anent ion to what
comes before it. The effe<;t can be essentially similar to marking the preceding as the topic ("as for - .")
arigato is a shon encd. and more casual, arigato ("thank you").

ReJko: li ~ !

~ 1:' 1
Hora! Mite!
here

look

" Here! Look!" (PL2)

hora is used to call a person's atte ntion to something, like " here!lthere!llook!lsee!/watch!"
mite is the -te fonn of miru ("see/look at"); the -te form of a verb is often used as a relatively abrupt request or gentle
command.

Reiko:

~lt .., !!

Are!!
(imerJ.)

" Huh?" (PL2)

are? is an inlerjection of surprise/bewilderment when something is not a~ expe<;ted or does not go as expected.

Mangajin 71

72 Mangajin

Reiko: t'f.!

~It' -:> ! !

Suzu!

Nail!

bells not existlnot present

"The bells! They're not there."

"Tbe bells! They're gone!" (PL2)

nai is the negative form of am ("existfbe present" for inanimate things).

Father:

h~'

J- , ti

Reiko,

~, o

hura.

(name)
here
"!_ler~eiko."

(PL2)

again, hora is for drawing the listener's attention to something.

Sound FX: 'f 1J ;.; 'f 1)

Chirin

;.;

chirin

~e jingle

fulund FX:

1
)

Chiri11

1
)

(sound of bells)

chiri11

Jingle jin~ (sound of bells)

Narration: B 1VO ~

t,

Me::.amem to,
awak.en

;f)(
aki

Q'J f:lii "'C" L t.::o

no ame de.l'hita.

when autumn of rain

When she woke u

Narration: ~ b IJ

was

an autumn rain was falling. (PL3)

Owari
end

J beEnd
mezamem = "awaken," and ro after a non-past verb can make a conditional "when meaning .... " when she awakens/
awakened" (tense is detennined by the main verb).
no allows aki ("autumn") to modify arne ("rain").
deshita is the p:L~t form of desu ("is/are"), but here it stands in for the verb fillte ita ("was falling." past of fime iru, from
fitru. "Lrain/snow/hailj falls").
owari is a noun form of uwant ("rsomethingl ends/finishes").

Mangajin 73

-tt 7

I) -

:...-

W f:}

33
c 0
6

74 Mangajin

Salaryman Senka

Title: -IT 7 ') - ~ / .Wf-+

Sarariinum

sarariiman is a word coined by the Japanese from the English "salary'' and "'man." It
refers to salaried male e mployees of a company-usually white-collar office wOrkers.

Senka

Salaryman Seminar

senka (lit., "specialized course") is essentially equivalent to "seminar"-tboogb the Joan

words seminii and zeminiiru are also used for "seminar" in Japanese.

Arrow: *~*

Ehon

Picture Book

[!]

~arration: ~ "? ,_,'

Atsui
hot

:t
natsu

"t' tJ

~ lv t.:. t:> ~:: li

1
}

demo

J:i+;JJ.

arisan-taclri ni wa natsu-yasumi

'{)t

-'> IJ t

ga

1t1vo

arimnsen.

summer even if it is ant-{hon.)-(plur.) for summer vacation (subj.)

not exist

Even in !he hot summer, for !he ants !here is no summer vacation.
Even at the hottest peak of summer, the ants Rot no vacation. (PL3)
Narration: Wl
.If..< iJ' t:> 1t-:> 1t t tCb ~ t t.. f.:o
Asa

havaku kara

morning early

sesse to

hatarakimashita.

from industriously

worked/labored

They labored industriously from early in the morning. (PL3)

in children's books and when adults speak to children, the honorific -.tan is often added to the names o f animals. H there
were only a single ant here, we might translate ari-san as ..Mr. Ant."
the suffix -tachi turns nouns referring to people and animals into plurals.
arimasen is the PL3 form of nai ("doesn't exist/there is none"), which is the negative form of aru ("'exisllhavdtbere ia").
hayaku is the adverb form of /royal ("early/fast"), and asa hayaku is an adverb phrase meaning "early in the morning";
kara makes it "from early in the morning."
sesse to implies doing an action "diligently/busily/industriously."
hatarakimashita is the PL3 past form of the verb hataraku ("work/labor [at a job1"). Like the English " work,'' halaraA:M
can also mean "function," but it cannot be used to refer to "working" at a hobby or other pastime.
.::\'- 1).:f'')A.~Ivt..:-1:,

Na rration: i_-(!);:7,
Sono koro
about that

kirigirisusan-wchi

time/me<~nwhile gra~shoppcr-(hnn.)-(plur.)

li illlf<t:>Vn,tt..t..:o
wa asobi-kurashite imashitu.
as for were pending days playing

Meanwhile, the grasshoppers were spending their days havin fun. (PL3)
asnhi is the stem of a.wbtl ("playn1uvc fun/goof off"), and kurashite ima.rhita is the PL3 past form of kurashite im, from
kura.w ("puss/spend one's dnys"); asobi-kura.1u ="spend one's days at play/having fun/goofing off," and asobikurwhite imasllita = "[they] were spending their days playing/having fun."

Narradon:

~'{)f"(

-/Jf

:t L f.:o

Yagate
fuyu
ga kimashita.
soon/by and by winter (subj.)
came

Soon winter came. (PL3)

kimaslrita Is the PL3 past form of kuru ("come").

Narration: i ')t:A.J..:t?
Arisan-tachi

li

:5'l

wa

IWIJII
~ummer

anl-(hon.)-(plur.) as for

fi!J,.,t..: .t:;7'J,If"t"
lwtaraita okage de
worked

thank~

~-=><IJ

.ib't:lv"t"<C:>t..iLt.:o

yukkuri

a sonde kurashimashita.

to leisurcly/comfonable manner playing

spent days

Thanks to havin worked hard durin the summer, the ants spent their days enjoying themselves in
comfort. (PL3)
hawraita is the;: plain/abrupt past form of the verb hawruku ("work/labor'").
okage refers to " indebtt:dness (the o- is actually honorific, but cannot be dropped in this use), and okage de means
"owing to/thanks to." Nat.m hataraita is a complete thought/sentence ("[they I worked in the summer") modifying
okage. giving the meaning "thanks to having worked during the summer."
yukkuri can mean "slowly/without haste," or it can mean "in a relaxed/comfortable manner" depending on the context
and the nature of the verb it modifies. Here it is the latter.

asonde is the te form of asobu ("play/have fun"), and kuraslrimashita is the PL3 past form of kurasu ("spend one's
days'") "[they] spent ltheirl days having fun/enjoying themselves."

[!]

Narration: l..iJ'lSlrikashi
but

li
J: ifilv"t'ltf..:.i)-IJ'~f"t' t"C(> ?(:,,_,1
~
1: ~,_,tLf.: 0
wa natsu asonde ita okage de totemo tsurai
me
ni aimashita.
grasshopper-(hon.)-(plur.) as for summer were playing thanks to very trying/painful experience witb
11JiCt
:\'- 1J.:"1J.A~Ivt..:-1:,

klrigirisusan-tachi

But thanks to having played during the summer, the grasshoppers met with very painful experiences."
But the grassbop~rs suffered a great deal because they bad goofed off during tbe summer. (PL3)
3030

Yoroyoro

(effect of staggering abollt weakly)

complete thought/sentence ("(they) were playing jo the summer") modifying okage, giving the meaning " thanks to having played during the summer" --> "because they h ad played during the ..summer." As this shows, okllge
- can be used for assigning blame or stating the cause of a negative result as well as for giving credit for a positive one.
- me ni aimashita is the PL3 past form of- me ni au, which means "have a - experience" (usually a bad one). Au meaDS
" meet." so the phrase literally means "meet with a - experience."

TII.IISU asonde ita is a

Mangajin 75

--'
1'-r
f ~a/aryman Senka
-------~~~7~)~7~-~-~~~

76 Mangajin

<b?v I
Atsui natsu
hot

't'{)

st? ~lvt-::4:, ~:l

demo

1ilf*Ji.,

otosan-tachi. ni wa natsu-yasumi

summer-even ifitis- -fathet-(plur.)

ga

for summer vacation (su~j.)

arimasen.
oot_exi~t

Even in the hot summer, for the daddies there is no summer vacation.
Eve.n at the hottest peak of summer. the daddies got no vacation. (PL3)
~
If- ( '/)> C;, -tJ:--? -t!:" C 'IJ ~ ilrf.:o
Asa
hnyaku kara sesse to hararakimashita.
rooming early from indusuiously worked/labored

They labored industriously from early in the morning. (PL3)

~: /f.';J,

Basu

Bus
otiJM.m ("father/dad'') in this case essentially refers to middle-aged and older salarymen.

Narration: -t (J).: 7)
Sono koro
{ierwmn-tachi wa asobi-kurashite imashitu.
about that time/meanwhilt: OL-(hon.)-(plur.) as fnr were spending days playing
Me~nwbile,

the OLs were spending their days having fun. (PL3)

"OL ," always writte n with capitalized Roman characters but pronounced 15eru, is a "word" coined by the Japanese from
the initials of the English words "office lady"; it refers to young female workers who handle most secretarial/menial
tasks around an office.
~1Jf'l

'/)t

i L.. f.:o

Yagate

fuyu ga kimashita.
soon/by and by winter (subj.)
came

Soon winter came. (PL3)

8::]

Narration: .t:;c ) ~AJ:.-1? i;l:

Otosan-tachi
fathcr-(plur.)

iP:>v'n';bc,-r

-tt ~) -ttc

~ti;t1~

wa
aikawara::u
sesse to hatarakimasu.
a~ for unchanged/same ns ever industriously
work/labor

The daddies continued to work industriously as always. (PL3)

Sign: ;\:;.
Basu

Bus
aikawarazu ("unchanged/in the same manner as always") modifies the combination se.ue to lwtarakimasu (''work industriously"; hatarakima.w is the PL3 form of hataraku, ("work/labor").

[II

Narration: -fV')._:.:t_, OL~Ad:.i?

'

ii;~t>il':bt?"f

~L..<

J!lv"t"

< t:>T V')"t'l...t.:o

Sorw koro oerusan-tachi WCI

aikawarazu
tanoshiku asonde kurasu no deshita.
meanwhile OL-(hon. )(plur.) as for unchanged/swne as evec enjoyabl~ playing spend day$ (explan.)

Meanwhi1e tbe OLs continued as._ always to spend their days baving fun. (PL3)
aikawarazu modifies tanoshiku asonde kurasu ("spend [their] days playing enjoyably/having fun").
ranoshiku is the adverb form of the adjective ranoshii ("pleasant/enjoyable/fun/merry'').
no deshita is the PL3 past form of the explanatory no desu. Adding this gives a somewhat heightened "literary" feel. No
deshira could be thought of literally as ''it was the case-that .._ ," or "the situation was that .._."

Mangajin 77

78 Mangajin

1f 5 1) - 7 /

liJ t4 Salaryman Senka

- - -- - - - -

Oldtimer: fiJHlf/> L

iJ'v'?

Hangli-meshi

ffJ.ilfl> L

7J: G

kai? Hango-meshi

ht~

L 1:

nara watashi ni

mess kit rice/fond (?) mess kit rice/food if it is

Time

;1: iHtlJ: ~ "''"

makasenasai.

to leave/entrust-(command)

"Is it mess-kit rice? If it is mess-kit rice, leave it to me."

"Cooking rice with your mess kits, eh? In that case, leave it to me." (PL2)
a hangiJ is a "mess kit/ri<.:e cooker" for use over camp tire$. Made of aluminum, they have a bent-oval shape when
viewed from above and are about 7 or 8 inches tall, with a shallow tray nested under the lid where other food can be
warmed/cooked double-boiler style while the rice cooks in the main compartmem below.
meshi can also mean " meal," but here it's being used in its original meaning of "cooked rice."
kai is a colloquial ka, for questions. but with a softer, friendlier feeling.
nara after a noun makes a conditional " if it is" meaning.
makasenasai is a relatively gentle command form of the verb makaseru ("leave/entrust to"). Ni marks the person to
whom the matter is entrusted, so watashi ni makasena.~ai ='' leave it to me."

Oldtimer: t' ~ ~ ~ v',

t' ~ ~ ~ lt'o

Dokinasai.

dokinasai.

move aside-(commaod) move aside-(command)

"Step aside, step aside." (PL2)

dokinasai is a relatively gentle command form of the verb doku ("move aside/out of the way'').
Oldtimer: ,: h ~ '\' )(
Kore
this

ja

hi

<i? 't' o

iJf

~~ v ' o

ga

yowai. Saisho wa
tsuyobi
ni shinakucha.
i s weak beginning as for strong fire/flume must make it

if it is fire (~ubj .)

JrHJJ

l.i

1.tltk

!.: L 1j:

"As things are, the fi re is too weak. At the beginning you must make it a strong fire."
"Your fire is too small. It has to be bigger at first." (PL2)
kore ja (lit. " if it is this") has such idiomatic meanings as ''at this rate/under the present circumstances/as things are/with
the situation ut hand, etc.''
.wisho = " the very beginning," and .mishu wa = "as for at the beg inning" - " at tirst."
- ni shinakucha is a colloquial contraction of - ni shinakute wa (ikenai), a "mustlhuve to" form of - ni suru, which
means "make it - ."

Oldtlmer: ;:-)v\-?

.:.t

1;1:

(J)

i!tft

koto

wa warashi-ra no

sedai

t>t..:L..t,

iJf
ga

~J...d..:-::>"C

""::)j31t'

nanrarte

tsuoi

tJIv

tlo

kan
ne.
this kind of thing as for I/me-(plur.) 's generation (subj.) say what you wiWafter all is strong because/so (colloq.)

Ko-iu

"As for this kind of thing, our generation is after all the strong one, so ..."
"After all, for this kind of thing, it's my generation that really knows how it's done.'' (PL2)
-ra is an informal suffix rhat makes nouns and pronouns referring to humans (and a few other special ca~es) into plurals.
no after a personal pronoun makes it possessive, so wmashi no= "my" and watasfti-ra 110 ="our."
1111ntatte is a colloquial equivale.n t of nan to itte mo, an expression like "no matter what you say/say what you wjJVwheo
aU is said and done/after all."
tsuoi is a corruption of rsuyol ("strong"), andkan is a corruptions of kora ("because/so").
ha11go were standard military equipmem during World War II and before, but they have seen only much more limited
use in the years since (mainly by campers and mountain climbers), so men of the WWII generation would be amo.ng the
most familiar with their use.

Mangajin 79

80 Mangajin

-if 5 1J -

:..-

!1: f Salaryman Senka

'[1]:

Oldtimer:

::.a:> J: H.: :S>-:::> t ? "t.:.

futti5 suru
boil

Kono ylJ ni
in thi~ wa)'

5Alxo

j; "Z" li
made wa

isuyobi.
. until as for strong fire/flame

!'Until they boil, a strong fire like this."

''Until they ~me to .a boil, the fir e should be strong,
. ~e this."

...s-.-:::. t

? L t:: f:, X'!\'-

Frmi'J shitara

maki

io

~ <i" o.,
yowciku suru.
fire (obj.) mak~ weaker

9 L- t I) <0 i"v' "t" ;k

sukoshi torinozoite hi

when it boils

~
o

"

f.trewood (obj.} a little remove-and

"Then when they reach a boil you remove some of the firewood to dam pen the fire." (PI..2)

made after a verb meanS" "until [that action takes place]."

fuuo shitara is a conditional ("when") form of futti'J suru ("boil")-+ "when it boils/when they boil."
torinozoite is the te form of torinozoku (''take away/remove"}. The -te form here is being used to indicate the manner
of the next mentioned action.
yowaku is the adverb form of the adjective yowai ("weak"), and yowaku sum means "make it weak/weaker": hi o
yowaku suru = ''make the fire/flame weaker" .,.... "reduce the flame/dampen the fire."

I! ~:-: ~r
pichi pichi

Old timer: '\-' iF-r:

Yagate

v' -) iJ

1::

iu

ro

oto

-IJ~
J?O

L -c

< z, o

shire kuru.

soon/by and by (sputtering FX) (quote) say sound (suhj .) stans m:curring

"Soon a sputtering sound will start to occur."

"Pretty soon it' ll start sputtering." (PL2)

the quotativc to iu marks pichi pichi as the specific nature nf the otn ("'sound'").
oro ga suru ="a sound occurs/is made." and oto ga shire is its-re form. Kuru after the -te fom1 of a verb often indicates
that the action is "beginning/starting to occur," so oto ga shire kuru= "a sound begins to o~cur."

I2J

To

Oldtimer : L."t".::.f.t\'

Shlte konai
na.
doesn't start occurring (coli?'~.)

''Hmm. no sputterin~ ' (PL2)

YoungMan: 7?' t -:::>"'C /h.t.:.C:J t'?\:'1" 'IJ>'!
Futa toue mitara do desu
lid if remove and see how is

ka?
(?)

"How would it be if you took off the lid to :;ee?"

"Maybe you should.take off the lid and check." (PL3)

shire konai is the negative form of sllite kuru, and here implies ow ga shite konai ("sound doesn't begin to occur").
o, to markfttta (")jd") as the direct. object, has been omitted.
rntte is the -te form of toru ("take off/remove"), and mitara is a conditional ("'if/when'') form of miru, which after the -te
form of a verb implies "try [doing the action I" or "do (the action I and see."
dti desu ka after a conditional form is like "how would it be if - "-essentially a way of making a suggestion: "why
don't you - /maybe you should ._ ."
Futa wa
donna
koro ga
atre mo
rone wa ikenai
1111.
lid as for whnt kind of thing (subj.) even if occurs must not remove (explan.)

Oldtimer :

" You should never open the lid [while the rice is cooking], no matter what." (PL2)
~n-1i;l: -t":h 1.!.
-IJC>
~,:.
::l n
/\1\/\/\/\o
ShirolO

wa sore da

kara

knmaru

yo.

amateur/novice as for that iii/are because/so is a problem (emph.)

Ha ha halw ha.
( laugh)

"As for novices, because they are that way, it's a problem. Ha ha ha ha ha."

"That's the problem with novices. Ha ha ha ha ha." (PL2)

donna koto ga aile mo is an idiomatic expression for " no matter what happens.''
torte wa ikenai is a "must not" form of turu ("take off/remove'").
shiriJ/o refers to an "arnateur/novice/greenhorn"- anyone without the proper training or sufticient experience to make
them an "expert/professional" at the activity in question.
komaru basically implies "be faced with a problem/be caught in a fix/become distressed," hut when it's used to describe
another person it usually means that person is the source of the problem/distress.

(i]

-c:t

YoungMan: ;:_:(i.
Kore
this

"ft"'IJ>'!

demo desu ka?

evet~ if it is i ~ l t?

"Even if it is this, is it (so]?"

''Even in this case?" (PL3)

Bags: 7 1 :A 7 1 :A
Raisu

Rice

Raisu

Rice

Mangajin 81

~~~J~ftffl~!~~
Zusetsu Gendai Yogo Binran

OJ

~ lift!.IJ6

Narration: lt
BIJ

1: "'(

kokoku dairiten

nite

a certain/unnamed advenisement agency at

A Visual Glossary
of Modern Terms
77 "J ? A

At a certain ad agency
Yama-chan: ~ '
1::1 t,
:::$- ~ f.:.

-e-to

A,
dtJmn,
gobusata
desu.
(interj.) (greeting) first time in long time is
''0~ there, long time no see." (PL3)

<,w.l 1J /!'\=.-

Co-worker: .1: - ,

Yo,

'/J J. 7 "'? ~

(J)

LlJ? ~ lvo

kameraman

no

Yama-chan.

(JUeeliog)

by Deluxe Company

cameraman

"

who is (oame..<Jirnin.)

''Hey! Hit isn't Yama-cban the cameraman!" (PL2)

domo, essentially an intensifier, also serves as an all-purpose word of greeting that can be either formal or quite informal depending on the context.
gobusata desu is a less fonnal equivalent of gobusata sllite imasu, a greeting used with someone you have not seen or heard from in a long time.
yiJ is an informal greeting. "Hi!!Heyi/Yo!" used by male speakers.
Yama here represenl~ the first kanji of his surname. which could be Yamada
or Yamazaki or Yamanwto, etc. It's quite common for adult friends/associates to call each other by the first kanji (or syllable) of their surname plus
the diminutive chan.

Co-worker : t;;.;..., t!.-, 111"1?~>/v ,

Na11

dli.

what

is

Yama-tlum.

'! '.) ,':!:\

L:~ lj:"''o

makkuro

j anai ?

{namc-dimin.) {emph.)-hlack

i, not

" What is it, Yama-chan? You're completely black, are

you not?"
"!:le~hat's with that dark tan, Yama-chan?" (PL2)

-:> {ma) is an intensifying prefix, which when used with color~ implies "red
as red can be/black as black can be," etc.
ja nai literall y looks like " is not," but this is a rhetorical question: "you are - ,
are you not? (Yes, you are!)" makkuro ja nai ="you're completely black."

[I]

Yama-chan: ~ - , ;:. :::. ;..., t;:., o 7

Yi1.

koko 11 toko,

(interj.}

recently

If ::>1.1

-e,

bakka

de,

roke

location only/all alike {cause/reason)

"WeU,late!J it's been one location [shoot] after another,~ ."

Yama-chan: ~"' ./... It ' -::> "t, 1 ' '7 1 i b -::> 't ,
Guamu
Guam

Hawai

mawatte,

went-and Hawaii

itte,

toured-and

~~
kesa

.-::>"tl~ lv ~~ .l: o
kaette kita n desu
yo.
this morning came back (explan.) (emph.)

"l went to Guam, travelled around Ra~aii. and.

~t got

home this momin .'' (PL3)

yahere is contracted from iyii, which often serves as a "wann-up"/hesita-

tion word like "well."

kalw n tolw is a colloquial expression for "recently."
roke is shon for rokffsllon. from the English " location."
bak.ka is a contraction of bakkari, a colloquial bakari ("only/all alike")here implyjng all hls work recently has been on location.
itte is from iku ("go"); mawatte is from mawaru ("go around/tour'').

[IJ

Co-worker:

-e b .

J; riif \ fi'

Demo, omae. kuhi

but

you

neck

7r /7-~ 3/

jande.1hon
foundation

(/)

l..7.) ,

ushiro

/10

of behind/back

.}.)-t:,"(J.>
ochiteru

'lfo
ze.

has come off (emph.)

"B.J!!,_you know, here on the back of our neck

your foundation has rubbed ofL" (PL2_) _
~arration:

J;RfiJ!i

(/)

tll:W-

1.'~6 0

Kyoshoku 110 sekai de aru.

affectation of world

is

It's a world full of affectation. (PL2)

ochitem is a contraction of uchite iru ("has fallen/rubbed off'), from
ochim {"'come/fall/rub ofr '). Ze is rough, masculine emphasis.
82Mangajin

~~~Jlf-\:ffl~~~~

:t v

Zusetsu Gendai Yogo Benran

A Visual Glossary
of Modern Terms
T7 J 7A

cf$!)

(f)

1J '/-

Ore no
Jlme s

rizoto
resort

-s

>b .r:, IV~:.:z; .-:::x :<J>:A::T }v

wa mochiron . YJTsU luJSutttt:U. sa.
as for o[ course
Y oulb Hostel {eli!Pb.J

u-

''My vacation resortjs a Youth Hostel, ofcounel'

(PL2)
sa gives authoritative/confident emphasis at the end of a sentenee in informal speech, usually taking the pta~..-e of daldesu ("islare")i this use is
most!y masculine.
~
i

11/JCC. -

liJ

KOichiro: ;;l ;;l .

tj: !J"66

v' v' $~ t.!.o'

(J)

D,

nagame no
ii heya da.
(exclam. ) view (subj.) good room is

by Deluxe Company

" Ahh, a room with a great view." (PL2)

nagame no ii is a complete thought/sentence ("the view is good") modifying
heya ("room" ). In modifying clauses, no tJften marks the suhject instead of ga.

Koichiro:

A 7- Jv <J)
Yiisu hasutem
no

:.:z;- A

Youth Hostel

.:5' -

~0

gitii
sa.
guitar (colloq.)

v 7 v - :,. 3

of/at

:,-

rekureshon
recreation

"~

to

.:(. li

ieba

(quote) if/when say

7777
Fufufufu
(laugh)

"And for recreation at the Youth Hostel, I take

along my guitar.. Heh heh heh heh!' (PL2)

Girls: .A-:T:f - !1

:J - 1-fP-~.4J!

(imagined) Stdeki- 1!
KOichiro-salll
wonderful/briJliaol
(name-bon.)

''Oooh ou're so_cool, Koichiro!" (PL2)

..

..c:

to ieba is literally a quot.ative "if you/1 speak of.'' but it's often essentially
the same as the topic marker wa ("as for - ").
sureki is a highly versatile word for expressing enthusiastic approval/admiration; when applied to a person it. can mean " wonderful/nice/cute/
handsomeJmacho/lovely/talentedlbrilliantlcooUhip,'' etc.

.2g
"
"e

u..

-5,
-5

t::

8J

Grandpa: .1":)5(.~/.._,
Oniisa11,

fj.; t;J)I'JO)iJ~L, I
"Yagiri 1111

waw.~hi "

older hru.lhuddy (traditi on;JI ballad

~
c:

f.:.q)tJ 1 o
rwwmu

till~)

yo.

request (o:rnr,h.)

"Hey buddy, do Yagiri no WatasiJi for us.' (PL2)

Na rration: ")' c.'~ (J) ::L- :J.. 7. 7 Jv 1:

lmadoki no

yiisu hosuteru ni
llxlay's
Youth Hvstds
to
V / 7" 0) -'\-!" ->t Jv ll .: lj: v 1 (J) -r: ~ 0 t..:. o
yang u no gyaru wa
ko11ai
no de aua.
young who arc gals ns ror don' t come (cxplan.)

~
....
c:
w

..

He discovered that young women don' t go to Youth

Hostels these da s .
~HfJ:: 1
q)
)i k
-/){ v ' 0 !iv ' ...

u..
"

A.wbi-)fizu
no karagata ga
ippai ...
good at play who are people (subj.) is/are full

{3.

..c:

.2g

......c:"'

~
.5

0.

.5

"3"

:;:;

::>
0.
~

u:::

.,;

"<:

:!
!!

!I

..c:

"'

"I:

:;;:

They're full of people who know how to have a

good time on the cheap.
o-nii.wm (or just niisan) literally means "older brother." but it's often used
as a generic tem1 of address for young men in their upper teens and twenties (approximately- the older the speaker, the older he's likely to apply
o-niisan)-+ "young man" or "hod/buddy."
lwnai is the negative form of kuru ("come" ).
no de atta is a past form of explanatory no cia, so it's literally like "it was the
case that ~ ." Using the past form here gives it the feeling that that's what
proved to be the case when he got there .
asobi is a noun ~orm of asobu ("play"-including such things as taking pleasure trips) andjozu = "good/skillful at"; adding the suffixji1zu to an action
noun can mean the person is good at finding low-cost deals in that activity.

'rrJ .

Note:

~.::. 7 ~: :.

A%.. t!.-t-? -r:~l.>o

;.,
c:

=
v
0

"><
"

"i)

<Ql

Mangajin 83

~ ~~JJ! ft ffl ~~@ ii

Zusetsu Gendai Yi5go Binran

A Visual Glossary
of Modern Terms
7-'7 y? .A

~':

1J /1'\.=.-

by Deluxe Company
CaUer : " ' "'

tJ'?

li

J:

ka?

i3 -

Yoku

<

J{l~Ht o

::tv t!!!

kike.

Ore da!!

good/OK (?) we!Vcarcfully listen

1/me

is

" OK, now, listen carefully. It's me!!" (PL2)

307]t! ~t f'f-::> ""( {-> 0
0

Sanjuppun dake
30 minutes

matle yaru.

only will wait(for you)

"I'll wait j ust 30 minutes." (PL2)

~..

J!
.c

* "'

30
71- v

"'

t:. -jp
tt
// J:
1"" ffl
:to
~ "?
!l
'f.
-r: I
0/J

'C:

':::0

t:.~

~
Q

ii ka is literally the question "is it good/OK?," but it's used when beginning
admonitions/instmctions like " All right now. listen up!"
yoku (the yo is elongated here for emphasis) is the adverb form of iilyoi
("goodltine/OK' ') - "[do the action] well/thoroughly/carefully."
ore is a rough, masculine word for "Ume."
mane is the -te form o f matsu ("wait"), and yaru after the -te form of a verb
means the action is done for the benefit of someone else~here the listener.
The implication is that the caller is doing the listener a special favor by
waiting that long .

[I]

.c

29

u."

:.,

.0
M

g:

t.: 0

-r t *~~nut

tatte mo konaureba
if
30 minutes- when passes if don't come.
;b iP -:> '"( J.,
t!. 7;) f.t o
wakatteru
daro
na.
know/understand probably/[lJ su~ right?

you know what will happen." (PL2)

moshi plus a conditional form combine to give the meaning qf "if."

tt

tatte mo is tbe "even when" form of rarsu ("[time] pa.~ses"), and lconalulreba
is a conditional "if' form of konai ("not come"), from kuru ("cqme'')-. "if

.~

?.

JO?t

b L..

Moshi sanjuppun

" If you don't show up in 30 minutes. I presume

<

~b

.c

"'tfig_

pauer:

[you] don't come even when 30 minutes pass."

t: :h

0 fp

Il
~ .Q

.:
=

!"

.:
1l
~
:0

"c.

"'

u::
]
t

"~

;'!

.c

c:
"'
<

c.
E
c

u
0

><

~"'
IQI

84 Mangajin

wakatteru is a contraction of wa.ka1te iru ("know/understand").

Sound FX: 7!7 "\' /

Gachan (sound of setting down handset)

Boss:

t t.: 2T Fl (J) Llfffi t!o ~ "I 7 7- !!-if I ::J t!-::> ""C J: o

Mara nichome no Yamada da. Mikkum piza ikko da lie
yo.
again 2 chOme of (name)

i~

mixed pizza I count is (qte) (emph)

"It's Yamada in Ni-chome again. He wants a mixed

pizza." (PL2)
Employee: t:: ~ L -r i t t ~:: ilX L. ~ 1t' /,J!. , 7 1 'J lJ:?
Doshite
why

matomo ni chiimon shinai n da,

strdightforwardly

not order

ait.m

wa?

(explan.) that guy a~ for

" Why doesn' tj hat guy just or der normally?" (PL2)

most Japanese streets don ' t have names; instead , sections of town have
names, and are subdivided into numbered chome ("blocks"-though typically
they will have a number of smaller streets/alleys running through them),
which are in turn divided into numbered banchi ("sub-blocks" which may or
may not correspond to street/alley divisions within the larger block), and finally each indi vidual house/ lot is numbered as well. This system accommodates the fact that few Japanese cities are laid out on a grid.
da tie indicates that he's quoting what the caller said.
chilmon= "order [for food/merchandise/etc . J," and chiimon suru is its verb
form, "order [something)." Chiimon shinai is the negative form of the verb.
aitsu is a contraction of a no yatsu ("that guy/fellow"). The syntax is inverted; normal order would be Aitsu wa doshite matomo ni ...

~~5t!J[1~ffl~~~J[
Zusetsu Gendai Yoga Binran

m>
Borf

A Visual Glossary
of Modern Terms
7'7 y '7 A

c. ~m

(efft of appearing out of thin air)

. Angel: ;J-1 7 r:J- J,

Koichiro
yo,

~ 1J /!~=--

(name)

{address)

"0 KOJchiro,"
t.. ~~:. }J

.a-

muda ni jinsei

wastefully

sugoshite wa ikaii

zo:

must not pass

(emph.)
''you must not pass your life in v~ pursuits."

by Deluxe Company

~: 4-8
Kyo

life

:itli.:t...-z-lv:!J ~ ~o

li

j:;

(obj.)

;t ~:. "'"'

wa omae ni

today as for you

ii

a-o

.:c ,/

mono

;l;lj' J:

{PL2)

-?

ageyo.

to good/fine things (ol>j.} shall give

"Today I shall glve you some wonderful thlnWi-!"

(PL2)
yo after a personal name when addressing someone directly is similar to

"0" before the name when addressing someone in English.

sugo.5hite is the -te form of sugosu ("pass [time]"), and ikan is a masculine
colloquial equivalent of ikenai ("no good/won't do"); sugoshite wa ikan is
essentially a "must not" form of sugosu.

.. zo is a rough, masculine particle for emphasis.

ii mono (lit., "good/fine thing") often carries the nuance of "something everyone wants to have."
ageyi1 is the volitional ("Jet's/1 shall") form of ageru ("give [to someone)").

1.: wowow (/) 7::J- 'f' t.: ~ ~

AnJro: BS 7 /7-JBii-esu antena

110

dekiJda

.i~

broadcast satellite antenna and satcll. station of

de~;oder

ts

ni

wau-wau

"Her e's a satellite dish and a WOWOW decoder-"

(PL2)
- antena is a katakana rendering of the English word ''antenna." and dekiida
is a kutakana rendering of "decoder.''
ni can be used to mean "and'' between pairs of th ings that belong together
or that are typically spoken of together.
WOWOW is a private ly-owned satellite TV station.
Ja is used by many older male speakers as a substitute for daldesu ("is/are").

Angel: l.., -:::> ;6'~

Shikkari

f.Xit

kyJyo

o takameru ga

.~~ '-'

1Jf J: lt'o
yoi.

fmnly/tboroughly education/culture (obj.) heighten (subj.) is good

"[Use them toJ thoroughly heighten your knowledge."

"Use them to broaden your horizons." (PL2)
shikkari is an adverb meaning "in a finnlstrong/diligentltborough manner.''
ga yoi after the plain, non-pasl form of a verb makes a relatively gentle
command.

[i]

Ki.iichiro: if> ~.;, ,

-r,

-:>
7 ]...- !:::' -J;t ~ v'o
malle, terebi ga
nai.
(interj.) wait-(requcst) TV (subj.) not have

A,

" Oh, wait, I don' t have a TV." (PL2)

NHK
1' T o
Bill Collector: i? b- "
Chiwii.
Enu-etchi-ke desu.
(greeting) (TV station name) is

"H' IIo-o-o. I' m from NHK." (PL3)

matte is the -te form of the verb matsu ("wait"); the -te fonn of a verb is
often used to make infonnal requests in colloquial speech.
chiwii is a contraction of konnichi wa, the standard daytime (mostly afternoon) greeting, like " Hello/Good day/Good afternoon."
N HK is Japan' s commercial-free , quasi-national TV station, funded
through the jushin-ryo ("reception/viewing fee") that it is authorized to collect from all TV owners for regular over-the-air programming. Owners of
BS antennas/dishes are assessed an additional fee on the presumption that
they watch N HK's two unscrambled satellite stations. NHK' s bill co llectors have a reputation for keeping a sharp eye out for any newly installed
BS equipment as they make their monthly rounds through neighborhoods.

Mangajin 85


pop Japanese

Sorry, Wrong Number

"panting, gasping voice"), while
All incoming telephone calls may be
r
tho se w ho in s i st on verball y
divided into two basic categories.
sharing with you tidings of the
There arc the ones you are happy to
( / f10S/If.l'
imminence of their arrival in the
receive-and the other ones.
land of ecstasy are known as
Of the latter category, the most
"itteru" goe (~T ~.> "( J.> PI, "'I' m
benign arc m eiwaku denwa (i~ ::E;
going! I'm going!' voices'').
~ iit'i ): annoyance calls. The classic
As I discovered when my wife and
perpetrator of meiwaku demva is the
I tried to retaliate against a pranksalesperson who rings you up unsolicster a couple years ago, both the
ited. A related meiwaku is the stranger
phone company and the Ministry of
who shows up on the doorstep, stabPosts and Telecommunications have
bing the button of your illlailon ( 1 :/
been loath to step in and protect
~ ;f; :/ ). or intercom system. (Since the
victims, doubtless regarding intersubject is telephony, let it be noted that
infalum systems are tremendous ly
vention as a sticky, no-win situation
for themselves. (Here the difference
popular in Japan, the country where
between a culture at the mercy of
nobody but Ishihara Shintaro can say
lawyers and one at the mercy of
no. To a namby-pamby housewife. the
bureaucrats becomes c lear.) The
intalum is magic: it helps her avoid
phone company flack actually came
opening the door to all those pushy
right out and told us that the rig hts
purveyors of cosmetics, new religions,
shoe repair, or o rgan lessons. At the
of corporations and others to call
individuals outweighed the rights of
very least, the illlahon helps her avoid
sa id individual s to screen out
opening the door without first brushing
unwanted calls. We were then
her hair and ~ huftling the larger hunks
advised to get a nijii bango C . :!1!
of irreducible not. am that typically clog
-ll'i ~- . "two-tier number") -in shon.
Japanese entries. In the land of the
meek. this is major counterinsurgency.)
to pay fo r two lines. preserving our
official, or " up-fro nt ... number (1< 1'!'f 0, omote bango) but
Phone calls placed by a friend. relative, or acquaintance
can nchieve meiwaku status if the party persistently makes them
adding a back-up, or " rear," number (~:ffl: 0, ura bango). For
at inopportune moments like the dinner hour or the middle of a mere seven dollars a month extra. we could switch our omotethe night, or just too often. At long last the gloves come off:
bangiJ off at g iven moments so that callers get a phone com"Hakkiri ilte, rneiwaku desu yo!" ("Putting it plainly, this is
pany recording saying we' re unavailable, then tell all who
gelling to be a pain in the ass!")
require the info our back number, thus thankfully eliminating
The most common type of unwanted telephone call is, of any social discomfort that identifying and screening out the
course. the wrong number. Known as machigai denwa (rdl )!i\
source of harrassment might cause our service provider.
~ 'lll: a!i . "mistake calls"). these inevitable jerkings of a
We d id it.
stranger's chain pro vide splendid opportun ities for the
In May 1996, the government began taking modest steps
to reverse this stance in the name of individual puraibashii.
perpetrators to prove exactly how polite they really are.
Before moving into the area of phone mischief carried out That the Eng lish word "privacy" was used to convey the
by amateurs, the point shou ld be made that sagiya (;it W\ ~)
concept speaks volumes.
- professionals who practice such forms of fraud (.wgi) as
In a technological twist not quite possible a few years back,
e nticing e lderly couples to invest their savings in dummy
the party who had been harassing our home at all hou rs inadcompanies-make liberal use of the telephone to introduce
vertently identified himself. It was a film director I'd broken
the mselves and their schemes. Like the ir counterparts
with. One day he called our house with his keitai denwa (ijl;
elsewhere, Japan's con men assemble an advance profile of 1iflil~, "portable phone"). but punched the wrong button when
the ir gull (kamo. or duck. in Japanese), which helps them to
he heard our ru.wban den wa (ffJ '1' :ffl: 'l il i?i. "ans wering
machine") kick in. Waiting for us on our return was a full
seamlessly execute their shin 'yo sagi ('ill Jfl iltltt). or confidence
game. Anybody can pick up the phone, of course, including
cassette of desultory conversation from the car where he was
location-hunting. l played the tape for some m utua l
teenagers and bored misfits of all ages, which brings us to the
acquaintances, and, lo and behold, our phone stopped ringing
all too familiar world of itawra denwa (v' t.: T C:. ';'[~;';): prank
calls. The ones where you answer and are met with silence are
at three in the morning.
called mugon (il!Ti ri, "no words") denwa. Your basic heavy
breather on the other end is tagged an umeki-goe (llljl t! ?',
William Marsh is a freelance writer based in Tokyo.

1\@! l'fos!(;

g~

92 Mangajin