11 Jun
30 Mar
ADMINISTRATORS' NOTE:
We're doing our best to prepare for, and hopefully, to help you prepare for the 日本語能力試験１級, but please remember: 1級, by its very nature, consists of grammar that is difficult, highly nuanced, and most of the time, rarely used in regular conversations. That's why it's important that you use our posts as references, to be compared with other study sources, and even more important that you CHECK THE COMMENTS after each post. We're lucky to receive corrections and clarifications from native speakers and other foreigners more knowledgeable than we, and they don't always make it back into the body of the post. Thanks, and 頑張って！
1級 Grammar 11-15:
Rerunning points 11-15, revised explanations and examples, hopefully less half-assed and more accurate than before.
11. ～が早いか
~ no sooner... than
~ as soon as
There are two things that seem to separate 「が早いか」 from similar ２級 points 「かと思うと」 and 「～か～ないかのうちに」. First, all of the book's examples for 「が早いか」 describe things that occur in an objectively short time span:
"As soon as she heard the news, she turned pale."
"As soon as the bell rang, the kids cleared their desks and left."
"As soon as my son had stuck his head in the door and said 「ただ今」, he dropped his backpack and ran off to play."
You can literally imagine all of these things happening in a matter of a few seconds, while the old examples for 「かと思うと」include "Christmas has just ended and it's already New Years." Or "As soon as I finish this job, the boss will give me another one." for 「～か～ないかのうちに.」 I get the sense that the old grammar points lend themselves better to subjective ideas of how fast time has passed. 「が早いか」 seems designed for things that can be objectively established as happening almost at once.
Second, according to the book sentences that include 「が早いか」 end, most often, with verbs in the past tense. The others are not so restricted.
You use it by adding it onto the dictionary form of a verb.
Ex. 散歩に行こうと決めるが早いか、雨が降ってきた。
12. ～からある
~ as many as
~ more than
「か らある」 gets defined as 「もある」, to be used especially in cases when you want to emphasize how large the number is, relatively of course. It seems straightforward enough.
Ex.言語500種類からあるインドという国は歴史が長く、深い文化を持つ国です。
13. ～きらいがある
~ to have a tendency to
I don't know whether or not it's related, but the fact that 「きらい」 is a part of this grammar point makes it easier to remember that it's only used to express a negative judgement about that tendency. Also, it's not used to talk about things like "a tendency to get sick," or a "tendency to miss work" (use ～がちだ for those), but for talking about the essential nature of a person.
Often used in the same sentence as phrases like 「ともとすると」 and 「とかく。」 Use it with the dictionary form of a verb, of following a noun + の.
Ex. インターネットで、簡単に仲間と連絡のやり取りはできるし、色んな情報をすぐ調べることもできるので、本当に便利なものだと思います。しかし僕みたいな若者は、ともするとインターネットに頼りすぎるきらいがあるでしょう。
14. ～極まる ・ ～極まりない
~extremely
~ exceedingly
We've talked about 極める in our other posts. It means "to take something to the extreme," and can be used to talk about "mastering," or "perfecting" something. In this case, it only gets used negatively, and only shows up in writing, according to the book. It expresses a very STRONG judgement.
極まりない is like a stronger version of 「嫌だ,」 or 「不愉快だ.」 It expresses the same idea.
The format for it is : （な形容詞 ・ 名詞１）＋極まる＋名詞２
or: （な形容詞 ・ 名詞１）＋極まる ・ 極まりない (and you can end the clause here, or add another めいし）.
This ones a bit hard, so here are some book examples.
その小説を読んでみたが、平凡極まるストーリーで、がっかりした。
I tried to read that book, but the story was so extremely cliche that I was disappointed.
電車が近づいているのに、踏切を渡るとは、危険極まりない。
Crossing the tracks while the train is approaching is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
And mine:
Ex.授業妨害や苛めなどのような失礼極まる行為を許せません。
15. ～ごとき ・ ～ごとく
~ like
~ as
～のような
～のように
This is another one that is only used in writing, and is a very formal way of saying things. Besides that, it doesn't seem very difficult.
名詞 （with or withoutの）+ ごとき + 名詞
or
名詞 ＋ ごとく ＋（形容詞・動詞）
Ex. 皆様のごとき日本人が私たちの変な日本語をいつも丁寧に訂正して下さることに感謝しています。
We're doing our best to prepare for, and hopefully, to help you prepare for the 日本語能力試験１級, but please remember: 1級, by its very nature, consists of grammar that is difficult, highly nuanced, and most of the time, rarely used in regular conversations. That's why it's important that you use our posts as references, to be compared with other study sources, and even more important that you CHECK THE COMMENTS after each post. We're lucky to receive corrections and clarifications from native speakers and other foreigners more knowledgeable than we, and they don't always make it back into the body of the post. Thanks, and 頑張って！
1級 Grammar 11-15:
Rerunning points 11-15, revised explanations and examples, hopefully less half-assed and more accurate than before.
11. ～が早いか
~ no sooner... than
~ as soon as
There are two things that seem to separate 「が早いか」 from similar ２級 points 「かと思うと」 and 「～か～ないかのうちに」. First, all of the book's examples for 「が早いか」 describe things that occur in an objectively short time span:
"As soon as she heard the news, she turned pale."
"As soon as the bell rang, the kids cleared their desks and left."
"As soon as my son had stuck his head in the door and said 「ただ今」, he dropped his backpack and ran off to play."
You can literally imagine all of these things happening in a matter of a few seconds, while the old examples for 「かと思うと」include "Christmas has just ended and it's already New Years." Or "As soon as I finish this job, the boss will give me another one." for 「～か～ないかのうちに.」 I get the sense that the old grammar points lend themselves better to subjective ideas of how fast time has passed. 「が早いか」 seems designed for things that can be objectively established as happening almost at once.
Second, according to the book sentences that include 「が早いか」 end, most often, with verbs in the past tense. The others are not so restricted.
You use it by adding it onto the dictionary form of a verb.
Ex. 散歩に行こうと決めるが早いか、雨が降ってきた。
12. ～からある
~ as many as
~ more than
「か らある」 gets defined as 「もある」, to be used especially in cases when you want to emphasize how large the number is, relatively of course. It seems straightforward enough.
Ex.言語500種類からあるインドという国は歴史が長く、深い文化を持つ国です。
13. ～きらいがある
~ to have a tendency to
I don't know whether or not it's related, but the fact that 「きらい」 is a part of this grammar point makes it easier to remember that it's only used to express a negative judgement about that tendency. Also, it's not used to talk about things like "a tendency to get sick," or a "tendency to miss work" (use ～がちだ for those), but for talking about the essential nature of a person.
Often used in the same sentence as phrases like 「ともとすると」 and 「とかく。」 Use it with the dictionary form of a verb, of following a noun + の.Ex. インターネットで、簡単に仲間と連絡のやり取りはできるし、色んな情報をすぐ調べることもできるので、本当に便利なものだと思います。しかし僕みたいな若者は、ともするとインターネットに頼りすぎるきらいがあるでしょう。
14. ～極まる ・ ～極まりない
~extremely
~ exceedingly
We've talked about 極める in our other posts. It means "to take something to the extreme," and can be used to talk about "mastering," or "perfecting" something. In this case, it only gets used negatively, and only shows up in writing, according to the book. It expresses a very STRONG judgement.
極まりない is like a stronger version of 「嫌だ,」 or 「不愉快だ.」 It expresses the same idea.
The format for it is : （な形容詞 ・ 名詞１）＋極まる＋名詞２
or: （な形容詞 ・ 名詞１）＋極まる ・ 極まりない (and you can end the clause here, or add another めいし）.
This ones a bit hard, so here are some book examples.
その小説を読んでみたが、平凡極まるストーリーで、がっかりした。
I tried to read that book, but the story was so extremely cliche that I was disappointed.
電車が近づいているのに、踏切を渡るとは、危険極まりない。
Crossing the tracks while the train is approaching is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
And mine:
Ex.授業妨害や苛めなどのような失礼極まる行為を許せません。
15. ～ごとき ・ ～ごとく
~ like
~ as
～のような
～のように
This is another one that is only used in writing, and is a very formal way of saying things. Besides that, it doesn't seem very difficult.名詞 （with or withoutの）+ ごとき + 名詞
or
名詞 ＋ ごとく ＋（形容詞・動詞）
Ex. 皆様のごとき日本人が私たちの変な日本語をいつも丁寧に訂正して下さることに感謝しています。
28 Mar
This is an awesome video that a student named Kenichi made as his final thesis project. Not only is it great on a graphic design level, but the content is pretty interesting. Check it out. English version available on Vimeo if you want it.
Japan - The Strange Country (Japanese ver.) from Kenichi on Vimeo.
Japan - The Strange Country (Japanese ver.) from Kenichi on Vimeo.
17 Mar
さんかんしおん
san kan shi on
Pretty much everything about winter weather pisses me off, but nothing gets under my skin quite so much as the big Spring Tease we're suffering through in Japan this year.
It was a brutally cold winter and the first time in 4 years I've seen snow stick in Saga. And it didn't just stick, we had 13cms. And after that it started getting warm, I stopped wearing gloves and long underwear (お爺ちゃんパンツ, as my girlfriend calls them), then BAM! Snow again!
Then it jumped up into the 20s last week, but today and yesterday, I was back to using the はる ほっかいろ that keep me alive during the worst parts of winter.
Talking about this weather with my co-workers, I found out that not only is this weather an annually expected phenomenon, BUT there's a 四字熟語 for it.
Definition:
冬季に寒い日が三日ほど続くと、そのあと四日ほど温暖な日が続き、また寒くなるというように7日周期で寒暖が繰り返される現象
Translation:
Specific to the transition between winter and spring, cold weather that gets warm for a few days, then cold again.
Literally: 3 days of cold, 4 days of hot.
What's more, generally the cold days during a 三寒四温 period are characterized by clear sunny weather, and the warm days are gray and wet. Absolutely true of this week!
For your practical purposes, you can stop reading here. If you're a "knowing stuff" dork like me, please read on.
The original expression comes from China of course, by way of Korea, because the phenomenon is much more common there. This is due to what's called the "Siberian High," a collection of cold dry air. It goes through cycles of growing weak and strong, which are thought to cause the vascillation between warm and cold as winter ends and spring begins. However, Japan feels the effects of not only the Siberian High, but also the Pacific High, equally dry, but subtropical, so not cold.
Because Japan deals with the two, 三寒四温 is not as regularly occurring as it is in China or Korea. It's more of a "Will it happen this year or not?" kind of thing.
Also of note, in recent years the phrase has started to be used to talk about the beginning of spring when the air pressure alternates between high and low, and warm weather starts. While you can't call this incorrect, it's not the original meaning.
As far as examples of use go, this one is pretty much a stand alone thing. Like if someone said "It's so cold today, but it was warm yesterday," I'd be all like "三寒四温。" The End.
san kan shi on
Pretty much everything about winter weather pisses me off, but nothing gets under my skin quite so much as the big Spring Tease we're suffering through in Japan this year.It was a brutally cold winter and the first time in 4 years I've seen snow stick in Saga. And it didn't just stick, we had 13cms. And after that it started getting warm, I stopped wearing gloves and long underwear (お爺ちゃんパンツ, as my girlfriend calls them), then BAM! Snow again!
Then it jumped up into the 20s last week, but today and yesterday, I was back to using the はる ほっかいろ that keep me alive during the worst parts of winter.
Talking about this weather with my co-workers, I found out that not only is this weather an annually expected phenomenon, BUT there's a 四字熟語 for it.
Definition:
冬季に寒い日が三日ほど続くと、そのあと四日ほど温暖な日が続き、また寒くなるというように7日周期で寒暖が繰り返される現象
Translation:
Specific to the transition between winter and spring, cold weather that gets warm for a few days, then cold again.
Literally: 3 days of cold, 4 days of hot.
What's more, generally the cold days during a 三寒四温 period are characterized by clear sunny weather, and the warm days are gray and wet. Absolutely true of this week!
For your practical purposes, you can stop reading here. If you're a "knowing stuff" dork like me, please read on.The original expression comes from China of course, by way of Korea, because the phenomenon is much more common there. This is due to what's called the "Siberian High," a collection of cold dry air. It goes through cycles of growing weak and strong, which are thought to cause the vascillation between warm and cold as winter ends and spring begins. However, Japan feels the effects of not only the Siberian High, but also the Pacific High, equally dry, but subtropical, so not cold.
Because Japan deals with the two, 三寒四温 is not as regularly occurring as it is in China or Korea. It's more of a "Will it happen this year or not?" kind of thing.
Also of note, in recent years the phrase has started to be used to talk about the beginning of spring when the air pressure alternates between high and low, and warm weather starts. While you can't call this incorrect, it's not the original meaning.
As far as examples of use go, this one is pretty much a stand alone thing. Like if someone said "It's so cold today, but it was warm yesterday," I'd be all like "三寒四温。" The End.
4 Mar
So yesterday was Hina Matsuri in Japan.
Hina Matsuri, is referred to as both "Doll Festival" or "Girl's Day" in English, and no, not because of any sexist business about girls liking dolls. The festival is held to pray/hope for the healthy and happy upbringing of female children, and the dolls represent the Japanese Imperial Court, in traditional Heian dress.
The dolls are believed to be able to contain bad spirits, which leads us to today's bit of trivia.
Today many younger Japanese families don't keep up with this practice. About half of the female students in my classes report that their households don't set up the dolls. A handful find the dolls themselves creepy and weird.
But the families who do still have a set of dolls that they display, usually keep one set year round, putting them out for the festival, and taking them down soon after.
The original tradition, still practiced widely, is called "hina-nagashi," in which straw dolls were placed on a boat and set afloat on a river, carrying the bad spirits away with them. In modern cases where putting a bunch of straw and wood in a publicly or commercially used river is not a good idea, some shrines send the dolls out to sea, collect them, bring them back in, and burn them.
I suspect that the families who re-use the often expensive dolls instead of burning them or sending them away, hope that a year in the closet between use will give them time to digest the "troubles" that they are supposed to absorb. But the knowledge that you're NOT supposed to keep them around may live on in a popular superstition. It's one that I just learned about this year, and it inspired the entire post: If you don't put away your Hina Dolls in a timely manner, you won't be able to marry off your daughters!
The origins of this superstition seem pretty old, but from what I've found online, it seems like they have their roots in two places. The first is just what I said above. Moving your troubles into the dolls doesn't help you any if you keep them around after. The second is more interesting for fans of words.
It's kind of a play on the multiple meanings of the word 片付く(かたづく； katazuku), which can made into the transitive verb 片付ける、meaning "to clean up," or "put in order" which is what you have to do to the dolls. But it can also mean "to be married off," which is what you can do with your daughters, if you clean up the dolls on time!
「雛人形を早く片付けるほど娘が早く実家から片付く！」
So yesterday was Hina Matsuri in Japan.Hina Matsuri, is referred to as both "Doll Festival" or "Girl's Day" in English, and no, not because of any sexist business about girls liking dolls. The festival is held to pray/hope for the healthy and happy upbringing of female children, and the dolls represent the Japanese Imperial Court, in traditional Heian dress.
The dolls are believed to be able to contain bad spirits, which leads us to today's bit of trivia.
Today many younger Japanese families don't keep up with this practice. About half of the female students in my classes report that their households don't set up the dolls. A handful find the dolls themselves creepy and weird.
But the families who do still have a set of dolls that they display, usually keep one set year round, putting them out for the festival, and taking them down soon after.
The original tradition, still practiced widely, is called "hina-nagashi," in which straw dolls were placed on a boat and set afloat on a river, carrying the bad spirits away with them. In modern cases where putting a bunch of straw and wood in a publicly or commercially used river is not a good idea, some shrines send the dolls out to sea, collect them, bring them back in, and burn them.I suspect that the families who re-use the often expensive dolls instead of burning them or sending them away, hope that a year in the closet between use will give them time to digest the "troubles" that they are supposed to absorb. But the knowledge that you're NOT supposed to keep them around may live on in a popular superstition. It's one that I just learned about this year, and it inspired the entire post: If you don't put away your Hina Dolls in a timely manner, you won't be able to marry off your daughters!
The origins of this superstition seem pretty old, but from what I've found online, it seems like they have their roots in two places. The first is just what I said above. Moving your troubles into the dolls doesn't help you any if you keep them around after. The second is more interesting for fans of words.
It's kind of a play on the multiple meanings of the word 片付く(かたづく； katazuku), which can made into the transitive verb 片付ける、meaning "to clean up," or "put in order" which is what you have to do to the dolls. But it can also mean "to be married off," which is what you can do with your daughters, if you clean up the dolls on time!
「雛人形を早く片付けるほど娘が早く実家から片付く！」
18 Feb
As soon as I heard this at work today, I knew it had to go on this site. It's exactly the kind of language trivia that keeps me fascinated with Japanese, despite its unforgiving brutality.
(1級 studies are not progressing well)
狐の嫁入り
きつね の よめいり
kitsune no yomeiri
Fox wedding; sun-shower
Looking at both the literal translation and the application of this expression side by side, you can imagine how quickly I went running to the internet to find out what was up with this. I got all kinds of folklore-y goodness.
Turns out that this is, as Japanese wikipedia calls it, a "strangeness" of a tale that has been handed down since at least the beginning of the Edo Period (1603) and is known all over Japan, with the exceptions of Okinawa and Hokkaido, where marriage between foxes has yet to be legalized.
On certain nights, just before you fall asleep, you might see a procession of red glowing, flickering lights in the woods, a phenomenon called 狐火 in Japanese: "fox fire." Similar to what we call St. Elmo's fire, or will-o-the-wisp, it can usually only be seen from far away.
Japanese people used to say that the lights were made by a procession of 提灯 (hanging lanterns) carried by foxes on the way to a wedding (except in Tokushima-ken, where they figured the somber atmosphere was more likely that of a funeral procession).
There's even an actually recorded (which is not to say true) incident of a wedding during the Edo Period, in which a ferry-master was paid a large sum of money to commission and prepare numerous boats to ferry guests, procession style, over to the wedding. Everything went of without a hitch, but the next day, he found that all of the money he received had turned into leaves. People said that the wedding had been between the families of two Inari-shrines, famous for employing tricksy foxes as spirit-messengers.
So there's all that.
And then the connection to weather? Well, according to the folklore, strange weather heralds fox nuptials. Depending on the region, the exact kind of weather can be different (rainbows in Kumamoto, hail in Aichi), but raining while the sun's out is mostly widely accepted as the sign, hence the expression.
What I want to know is, if the foxes have to get married when the sun's out, what's the deal with the lantern processions at night?
As soon as I heard this at work today, I knew it had to go on this site. It's exactly the kind of language trivia that keeps me fascinated with Japanese, despite its unforgiving brutality.(1級 studies are not progressing well)
狐の嫁入り
きつね の よめいり
kitsune no yomeiri
Fox wedding; sun-shower
Looking at both the literal translation and the application of this expression side by side, you can imagine how quickly I went running to the internet to find out what was up with this. I got all kinds of folklore-y goodness.
Turns out that this is, as Japanese wikipedia calls it, a "strangeness" of a tale that has been handed down since at least the beginning of the Edo Period (1603) and is known all over Japan, with the exceptions of Okinawa and Hokkaido, where marriage between foxes has yet to be legalized.
On certain nights, just before you fall asleep, you might see a procession of red glowing, flickering lights in the woods, a phenomenon called 狐火 in Japanese: "fox fire." Similar to what we call St. Elmo's fire, or will-o-the-wisp, it can usually only be seen from far away.
Japanese people used to say that the lights were made by a procession of 提灯 (hanging lanterns) carried by foxes on the way to a wedding (except in Tokushima-ken, where they figured the somber atmosphere was more likely that of a funeral procession).
There's even an actually recorded (which is not to say true) incident of a wedding during the Edo Period, in which a ferry-master was paid a large sum of money to commission and prepare numerous boats to ferry guests, procession style, over to the wedding. Everything went of without a hitch, but the next day, he found that all of the money he received had turned into leaves. People said that the wedding had been between the families of two Inari-shrines, famous for employing tricksy foxes as spirit-messengers.
So there's all that.
And then the connection to weather? Well, according to the folklore, strange weather heralds fox nuptials. Depending on the region, the exact kind of weather can be different (rainbows in Kumamoto, hail in Aichi), but raining while the sun's out is mostly widely accepted as the sign, hence the expression.What I want to know is, if the foxes have to get married when the sun's out, what's the deal with the lantern processions at night?
22 Dec
いく どうおん
iku douon
Today's yo-ji jukugo is so straightforward and easy to understand that the only thing I can possibly do to make it more interesting/challenging is throw a bunch of synonymous 四字熟語 at you. Different phrases, but they're saying the same thing. How appropriate.
Before that though, while I'm still basking in how clever I am, let's check the definition.
Definition:
多くの人が、同じ言葉を口にすること。また、多くの人が一致して同じ意見をいうこと。
Translations:
1. In unison
2. Unanimously
The kanji make this one clear enough: different mouths, same sound.
SYNONYM TIME:
異口同声 (いくどうせい；ikudousei) and 異口同辞 (いくどうじ; ikudouji) get away with just switching out the last kanji, to become "different mouths, same voice" and "different mouths, same language" respectively. But if you're a Rikai-chan user, you'll notice that these don't enjoy the same recognition that 異口同音 does, so don't expect them to work well in conversation.
Then there's 衆目一致 (しゅうもくいっち; shuumokuicchi) which is used to mean a consensus of opinion, or something widely agreed upon, or widely admitted.
And we'll finish out with 満場一致 (まんじょういっち;manjyouicchi) which also means "unanimous."
Things that I'm paying close attention to:
The reading of 異, which features in a handful of 1級 熟語.衆, which also is important for 1級, in that it gets used a lot for things that are in the public arena, like politics and business, in which direction 1級 content tends to lean (you know, when they're not focused on video games).一致, appearing in two of the synonymous yo-ji, used to mean "agreement," or "union." And coincidence. Not the 偶然 style coincidence, but an act of coinciding.
例文：
騙されやすい先生：先生は宿題があったと思っていたが、教室では異口同音に「なかった」と言われて、やはり出すのを忘れたみたい。
Easily-fooled teacher: I thought you had homework to hand in, but if EVERYONE in class is saying that there wasn't any, I guess I forgot to assign it!
いく どうおんiku douon
Today's yo-ji jukugo is so straightforward and easy to understand that the only thing I can possibly do to make it more interesting/challenging is throw a bunch of synonymous 四字熟語 at you. Different phrases, but they're saying the same thing. How appropriate.
Before that though, while I'm still basking in how clever I am, let's check the definition.
Definition:
多くの人が、同じ言葉を口にすること。また、多くの人が一致して同じ意見をいうこと。
Translations:
1. In unison
2. Unanimously
The kanji make this one clear enough: different mouths, same sound.
SYNONYM TIME:
異口同声 (いくどうせい；ikudousei) and 異口同辞 (いくどうじ; ikudouji) get away with just switching out the last kanji, to become "different mouths, same voice" and "different mouths, same language" respectively. But if you're a Rikai-chan user, you'll notice that these don't enjoy the same recognition that 異口同音 does, so don't expect them to work well in conversation.
Then there's 衆目一致 (しゅうもくいっち; shuumokuicchi) which is used to mean a consensus of opinion, or something widely agreed upon, or widely admitted.
And we'll finish out with 満場一致 (まんじょういっち;manjyouicchi) which also means "unanimous."
Things that I'm paying close attention to:
The reading of 異, which features in a handful of 1級 熟語.衆, which also is important for 1級, in that it gets used a lot for things that are in the public arena, like politics and business, in which direction 1級 content tends to lean (you know, when they're not focused on video games).一致, appearing in two of the synonymous yo-ji, used to mean "agreement," or "union." And coincidence. Not the 偶然 style coincidence, but an act of coinciding.
例文：
騙されやすい先生：先生は宿題があったと思っていたが、教室では異口同音に「なかった」と言われて、やはり出すのを忘れたみたい。
Easily-fooled teacher: I thought you had homework to hand in, but if EVERYONE in class is saying that there wasn't any, I guess I forgot to assign it!
17 Dec
So every once in a while, the 1級 book will throw an expression at us that we ought to be aware of.
This is one of those.
Can you guess which grammar point it complements?
二足の草鞋を履く
にそく の わらじ を はく
To wear two different pairs of straw sandals.
Now... I was initially confused about why you would ever wear sandals, or any shoes for that matter, on only ONE of your feet, but then someone pointed out that 足 is actually the counter for PAIRS of legs. 靴一足 is one pair of shoes, which makes much more sense.
My book explains that this is used for someone who's working two jobs at the same time, and gives the example, 「姉は日本人に英語を教えるかたわら、外国人に日本語を教える仕事もしている。」
But, when I looked into the origins of this weird little phrase, I found that it is actually should be used in cases where those two different occupations should be incompatible. 「二足に草鞋を履く」 was coined during the Edo Era, to talk about constables (捕吏） who moonlighted as professional gamblers or vice versa.
Click the pic on the right for some 江戸時代博打.
While it seems like this information might limit the ways that you can use this phrase, remember that Japanese society generally does not condone holding more than one job, so while being an eikaiwa teacher for two different companies probably wouldn't earn you a ｢二足に草鞋」 admonition, being a teacher by day and a bartender by night would definitely qualify.
Teacher and a porn star? (Despite what the vast quantities of video evidence seem to suggest...) FROWNED UPON.
This is one of those.
Can you guess which grammar point it complements?二足の草鞋を履く
にそく の わらじ を はく
To wear two different pairs of straw sandals.
Now... I was initially confused about why you would ever wear sandals, or any shoes for that matter, on only ONE of your feet, but then someone pointed out that 足 is actually the counter for PAIRS of legs. 靴一足 is one pair of shoes, which makes much more sense.
My book explains that this is used for someone who's working two jobs at the same time, and gives the example, 「姉は日本人に英語を教えるかたわら、外国人に日本語を教える仕事もしている。」
But, when I looked into the origins of this weird little phrase, I found that it is actually should be used in cases where those two different occupations should be incompatible. 「二足に草鞋を履く」 was coined during the Edo Era, to talk about constables (捕吏） who moonlighted as professional gamblers or vice versa.
Click the pic on the right for some 江戸時代博打.
While it seems like this information might limit the ways that you can use this phrase, remember that Japanese society generally does not condone holding more than one job, so while being an eikaiwa teacher for two different companies probably wouldn't earn you a ｢二足に草鞋」 admonition, being a teacher by day and a bartender by night would definitely qualify.
Teacher and a porn star? (Despite what the vast quantities of video evidence seem to suggest...) FROWNED UPON.
15 Dec
ADMINISTRATORS' NOTE:
We're doing our best to prepare for, and hopefully, to help you prepare for the 日本語能力試験１級, but please remember: 1級, by its very nature, consists of grammar that is difficult, highly nuanced, and most of the time, rarely used in regular conversations. That's why it's important that you use our posts as references, to be compared with other study sources. Before you leave a comment, please check the message posted here.
Thanks, and 頑張って！
1級 Grammar 6-10:
6. ～かぎりだ
Very ~
Extremely ~
とても～
非常に～だ と感じる
Well, well, well, かぎり... we meet again. This time, though, we find it in probably its simplest form yet - tack it onto an い-type adjective (one that describes your emotions), and voila! While it's not a very common usage, it is very easy to use. There's nothing else to it.
Ex. 彼のお嫁さんはモデルとして、大成功して、お金持ちになりました。羨ましい限りです。
7. ～が最後...
If A happens, then B will definitely happen.
Even though you're literally saying "A is last," A actually starts things off in this chain of events. And once A's gotten rolling, B can't be stopped... and B is going to be something bad. While degrees of "badness" are relative (this expression works for "Once he starts talking about movies, he won't stop," as well as "Once I push this button, the lethal injection procedure will commence."), it's generally used for special emphasis. It gets tacked onto a verb in the past tense.
Ex. ダイエットしつつ、彼女は我慢強くなってきましたが、甘いものを食べだしたが最後、一日中食べ続けるから、最初から食べさせないほうがいい。
8. ～かたがた
while in the process of ~,
～のついでに
A very formal phrase used in letter writing or the most formal greetings. It's not that hard to understand in terms of usage, but everywhere you see it, it's bound to be surrounded by 敬語: 御 honorifics, like お世話、 ご相談、お礼、お詫び、and formal verbs like 伺う、参る、and 致す。 We're going to post book examples on this one, because, well... I'm not capable of coming up with one that's as good as the book's on my own. :(
かたがた follows a noun.
Ex. 先日はたいへん失礼いたしました。今日はお詫びかたがたご相談に伺いました。
Ex. この度はたいへんお世話になりました。来週にでもお礼かたがたご報告ぶまいります。
9. ～かたわら...
doing ... in addition to ~
doing ... while doing ~
～しながら
Whatever you list first is the main activity, and the second part is...secondary. But in spite of that, BOTH things are done continuously - ie jobs, volunteering, studying, etc. You would not use this phrase to say "I bought some ice cream while walking around the park."
Use with a verb in the dictionary form, or with a noun and の, like so:
Ex. 日本で就職のかたわら、日本語を勉強しています。
10. ～がてら
While A, B.
When A, B.
One of many expressions that can be essentially boiled down to しながら, but here's are the elements that set this apart:
～がてら is used for trivial things that are over and done with quickly, so it's the perfect choice for buying ice cream while walking around the park. You wouldn't use it for anything big or permanent.
It's used when the situation in A presents the opportunity for B, like watching a movie with subtitles is a chance to learn some new vocab, or going for a jog is a chance to remember the way to the post office...Most of the time, A involves moving around: coming or going.
Ex. 今朝、会社に通いがてら、携帯でお母さんに誕生日のメールを入れました。
There's 5 more down. See you next time.
We're doing our best to prepare for, and hopefully, to help you prepare for the 日本語能力試験１級, but please remember: 1級, by its very nature, consists of grammar that is difficult, highly nuanced, and most of the time, rarely used in regular conversations. That's why it's important that you use our posts as references, to be compared with other study sources. Before you leave a comment, please check the message posted here.
Thanks, and 頑張って！
1級 Grammar 6-10:
6. ～かぎりだ
Very ~
Extremely ~
とても～
非常に～だ と感じる
Well, well, well, かぎり... we meet again. This time, though, we find it in probably its simplest form yet - tack it onto an い-type adjective (one that describes your emotions), and voila! While it's not a very common usage, it is very easy to use. There's nothing else to it.Ex. 彼のお嫁さんはモデルとして、大成功して、お金持ちになりました。羨ましい限りです。
7. ～が最後...
If A happens, then B will definitely happen.
Even though you're literally saying "A is last," A actually starts things off in this chain of events. And once A's gotten rolling, B can't be stopped... and B is going to be something bad. While degrees of "badness" are relative (this expression works for "Once he starts talking about movies, he won't stop," as well as "Once I push this button, the lethal injection procedure will commence."), it's generally used for special emphasis. It gets tacked onto a verb in the past tense.
Ex. ダイエットしつつ、彼女は我慢強くなってきましたが、甘いものを食べだしたが最後、一日中食べ続けるから、最初から食べさせないほうがいい。
8. ～かたがた
while in the process of ~,
～のついでに
A very formal phrase used in letter writing or the most formal greetings. It's not that hard to understand in terms of usage, but everywhere you see it, it's bound to be surrounded by 敬語: 御 honorifics, like お世話、 ご相談、お礼、お詫び、and formal verbs like 伺う、参る、and 致す。 We're going to post book examples on this one, because, well... I'm not capable of coming up with one that's as good as the book's on my own. :(
かたがた follows a noun.
Ex. 先日はたいへん失礼いたしました。今日はお詫びかたがたご相談に伺いました。
Ex. この度はたいへんお世話になりました。来週にでもお礼かたがたご報告ぶまいります。
9. ～かたわら...
doing ... in addition to ~
doing ... while doing ~
～しながら
Whatever you list first is the main activity, and the second part is...secondary. But in spite of that, BOTH things are done continuously - ie jobs, volunteering, studying, etc. You would not use this phrase to say "I bought some ice cream while walking around the park."
Use with a verb in the dictionary form, or with a noun and の, like so:
Ex. 日本で就職のかたわら、日本語を勉強しています。
10. ～がてら
While A, B.
When A, B.
One of many expressions that can be essentially boiled down to しながら, but here's are the elements that set this apart:
～がてら is used for trivial things that are over and done with quickly, so it's the perfect choice for buying ice cream while walking around the park. You wouldn't use it for anything big or permanent.
It's used when the situation in A presents the opportunity for B, like watching a movie with subtitles is a chance to learn some new vocab, or going for a jog is a chance to remember the way to the post office...Most of the time, A involves moving around: coming or going.
Ex. 今朝、会社に通いがてら、携帯でお母さんに誕生日のメールを入れました。
There's 5 more down. See you next time.
4 Dec
ADMINISTRATORS' NOTE:
We're doing our best to prepare for, and hopefully, to help you prepare for the 日本語能力試験１級, but please remember: 1級, by its very nature, consists of grammar that is difficult, highly nuanced, and most of the time, rarely used in regular conversations. That's why it's important that you use our posts as references, to be compared with other study sources. Before you leave a comment, please check the message posted here.
Thanks, and 頑張って！
1級 Grammar 1-5:
Technically we already posted 35 1級 grammar points a while ago, but we were kind of half-assing them. Now that we've got about another year of Japanese experience under our belts, and actually intend to take 1級 next year, we're going to start fresh. Bear with us while we get back up to speed.
1. ～あっての
... It's thanks to ~ that ... exists.
... would not be without ~.
... is nothing without ~.
This would be an excellent bit of grammar to incorporate into your going away speech since it is most commonly used in indicating appreciation or a indelible relationship between people or groups. "It's thanks to my family that I'm here today, I would be nothing without all of you helping me, etc." In AあってのB, B could not exist if A was removed from the equation.
Most of the examples I've come across use this to end sentences：
AあってのBである。
AあってのBです。
The book does include one example where it's used to modify a subject, like so:
Aあっての私だと、感謝しています。
Ex. 読者の皆さんあってのデーリー四字である。ありがとうございます！また一緒に文法を勉強しましょう！
2. ～いかんだ ・ ～いかんによっては
based on ~,
depending on ~,
is up to ~ ～次第だ
You should recognize ～次第だ from 2級, and while these two points are very close in meaning, I think you use ～いかんだ to talk about specific results, not decisions. "Depending on the boss's evaluation, we may or may not adopt this policy." 'Depending on your test results, you may admitted to the hospital immediately." While it might be cool to use 次第 to say "Whether or not we go on a picnic next week depends on the weather," I don't think いかんだ or いかんによっては could be used there.
The book explains: in BはAいかんだ or AいかんによってはB sentences, B is a result that changes in accordance with the conditions of A.
In the picnic example, a picnic depends on the weather, but it's not a result of the weather. It's an independent entity. Adoption of a policy however, could not be done without the boss, or his or her evaluation. Admission to the hospital is one possible result of the medical test.
Ex. 面接の結果いかんによっては、転職はできるかもしれません。
3. ～いかんによらず ・ ～いかんにかかわらず
Regardless of ~,
This one is made a lot easier if you happen to remember that にかかわらず is a grammar point all by itself. See if you can remember what it means. If not, just click the link and browse around, but it should shed some light on this usage - in this case, it reverses いかん by itself. Also, as I imagine will be the case for a lot of 1級 grammar, it falls on the formal side of Japanese.
This was a grammar point I was told is so old and formal that today, it's pretty much only used used in a phrase that means "No refunds: 理由のいかんによらず、返金されない。"
Ex. お父様の許可いかんによらず、結婚します。
4. ～うが ・ ～うが～まいが ・ ～うと～まいと
Even if A~, ...
Whether A or not A, ....
The ～う in the following few points means that you're using the volitional form of a verb there. In the case of ～うが, it means "Even if A happens," as in "Even if I get home late, I always pack my lunch for the next day before going to bed."
Whip out ～うが～まいが when the occurence or non-occurence of A is irrelevant to what comes next in the sentence. You can use it to say "We're gonna go to the movies, whether or not you come," but you can also use it to say things like "Whether you come or not, it doesn't matter to me."
What's tough about this point is the nuances of the construction: In the case of AうがAまいが, the first occurence of verb A will be the volitional form, whereas the second occurence will just be plain old dictionary form (like 行こうが行くまいが).
Also, do not confuse this with the extremely similar ～うか～まいか of 2級 past. The か one is used when you're wondering about whether A should or should not be done, whereas using が or と means that neither option is changes things.
Ex. どんなに遅くまで働こうが、部長は気づいてくれない。
Ex. 2 君は私のこと、愛してくれようがくれまいが、私は君のこと、ずっと愛する。
5. ～うにも～ない
can't do A even if you tried/wanted to do A.
For when there is something one would like to do, but can't since something is interfering. It has a pretty strong meaning, but seeing as one of the example sentences reflects on how a book is so difficult, you couldn't read it even if you tried, I'd say you can be a bit relaxed with it. Another note that Nirav reminded us of, the second occurence of the verb in this phrase should be in the potential form ( 食べられる、読める and the like).
FINALLY, it should be an external force that is preventing you from doing the thing you want to do.
Ex. (courtesy of Nirav!) 毎日新しい四字が書きたいけど、仕事やら学校やらで忙しいから書こうにも書けない。
We're doing our best to prepare for, and hopefully, to help you prepare for the 日本語能力試験１級, but please remember: 1級, by its very nature, consists of grammar that is difficult, highly nuanced, and most of the time, rarely used in regular conversations. That's why it's important that you use our posts as references, to be compared with other study sources. Before you leave a comment, please check the message posted here.
Thanks, and 頑張って！
1級 Grammar 1-5:
Technically we already posted 35 1級 grammar points a while ago, but we were kind of half-assing them. Now that we've got about another year of Japanese experience under our belts, and actually intend to take 1級 next year, we're going to start fresh. Bear with us while we get back up to speed.
1. ～あっての
... It's thanks to ~ that ... exists.
... would not be without ~.
... is nothing without ~.
This would be an excellent bit of grammar to incorporate into your going away speech since it is most commonly used in indicating appreciation or a indelible relationship between people or groups. "It's thanks to my family that I'm here today, I would be nothing without all of you helping me, etc." In AあってのB, B could not exist if A was removed from the equation.
Most of the examples I've come across use this to end sentences：
AあってのBである。
AあってのBです。
The book does include one example where it's used to modify a subject, like so:
Aあっての私だと、感謝しています。
Ex. 読者の皆さんあってのデーリー四字である。ありがとうございます！また一緒に文法を勉強しましょう！
2. ～いかんだ ・ ～いかんによっては
based on ~,
depending on ~,
is up to ~ ～次第だ
You should recognize ～次第だ from 2級, and while these two points are very close in meaning, I think you use ～いかんだ to talk about specific results, not decisions. "Depending on the boss's evaluation, we may or may not adopt this policy." 'Depending on your test results, you may admitted to the hospital immediately." While it might be cool to use 次第 to say "Whether or not we go on a picnic next week depends on the weather," I don't think いかんだ or いかんによっては could be used there.
The book explains: in BはAいかんだ or AいかんによってはB sentences, B is a result that changes in accordance with the conditions of A.
In the picnic example, a picnic depends on the weather, but it's not a result of the weather. It's an independent entity. Adoption of a policy however, could not be done without the boss, or his or her evaluation. Admission to the hospital is one possible result of the medical test.
Ex. 面接の結果いかんによっては、転職はできるかもしれません。
3. ～いかんによらず ・ ～いかんにかかわらず
Regardless of ~,
This one is made a lot easier if you happen to remember that にかかわらず is a grammar point all by itself. See if you can remember what it means. If not, just click the link and browse around, but it should shed some light on this usage - in this case, it reverses いかん by itself. Also, as I imagine will be the case for a lot of 1級 grammar, it falls on the formal side of Japanese.
This was a grammar point I was told is so old and formal that today, it's pretty much only used used in a phrase that means "No refunds: 理由のいかんによらず、返金されない。"
Ex. お父様の許可いかんによらず、結婚します。
4. ～うが ・ ～うが～まいが ・ ～うと～まいと
Even if A~, ...
Whether A or not A, ....
The ～う in the following few points means that you're using the volitional form of a verb there. In the case of ～うが, it means "Even if A happens," as in "Even if I get home late, I always pack my lunch for the next day before going to bed."
Whip out ～うが～まいが when the occurence or non-occurence of A is irrelevant to what comes next in the sentence. You can use it to say "We're gonna go to the movies, whether or not you come," but you can also use it to say things like "Whether you come or not, it doesn't matter to me."
What's tough about this point is the nuances of the construction: In the case of AうがAまいが, the first occurence of verb A will be the volitional form, whereas the second occurence will just be plain old dictionary form (like 行こうが行くまいが).
Also, do not confuse this with the extremely similar ～うか～まいか of 2級 past. The か one is used when you're wondering about whether A should or should not be done, whereas using が or と means that neither option is changes things.
Ex. どんなに遅くまで働こうが、部長は気づいてくれない。
Ex. 2 君は私のこと、愛してくれようがくれまいが、私は君のこと、ずっと愛する。
5. ～うにも～ない
can't do A even if you tried/wanted to do A.
For when there is something one would like to do, but can't since something is interfering. It has a pretty strong meaning, but seeing as one of the example sentences reflects on how a book is so difficult, you couldn't read it even if you tried, I'd say you can be a bit relaxed with it. Another note that Nirav reminded us of, the second occurence of the verb in this phrase should be in the potential form ( 食べられる、読める and the like).
FINALLY, it should be an external force that is preventing you from doing the thing you want to do.
Ex. (courtesy of Nirav!) 毎日新しい四字が書きたいけど、仕事やら学校やらで忙しいから書こうにも書けない。
3 Dec
Hey everyone,
」ののへ、
つもいただき、がとうござす。
Thanks for always reading and checking out the site.
本日より、１のにつてのをてます。
Starting soon, well be updating the site with new JLPT１級 Grammar Posts.
おまた。
Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long.
のに、「」とうをに、でのをにたと思す。
Just like in the past, we'll be using the "
ののごやなやなどをてますが、１のにのにつて、がます。
We're always excited to have your cooperation and your kind comments or correction, but when it comes to commenting on the 1級 grammar posts, we have a request.
１のはに、にたとてますので、できるだけ、のとを載せたいと思っています。
We take our studies very seriously, so we will try as hard as we can to make sure we don't post any mistaken or misleading examples or explanations.
１のとは、がにがですので、のやのまたはのにでは、のをごくださいますようます。
1級 grammar though, consists largely of expressions that the average person does not use. So if you're not a Japanese teacher or someone with special knowledge of either Japanese grammar or the format/contents of the JLPT, please refrain from offering corrections.
よくですが、「」ののが「」とうにつてをた、とても」とうで「だ」をたをにまた。
It's a common phenomenon, but to cite a specific example, some time ago, when Daily Yoji contributor Brett wrote a post about the word "かぎり," as used to mean "very; extremely" he posted the example sentence "嬉しいかぎりだ."
に対し、「「」とうはそういう使い方ではなくて、「何々の」とうをます。」とうをいただきまた。
In response to that, we received a comment explaining that かぎり doesn't mean "very" it means "during."
かながら、１を、その「とても」とうをなけばまので、ながら、そのは,にもにも、逆でた。
However, for the purpose of studying １級, we are required to learn かぎり as "very" (かぎり as "during" is a usage covered in 2級), so I hate to say it but that comment, well-intentioned though it was, was actually counter-productive for us as well as our readership.
同じに、にずとう表現をたをがうと、のでてのにたら「にず」はてあまりてので、そのはたがとたもます。
Along the same lines, the other day I was trying to make an example sentence using the point "いかんによらず" but when I consulted my Japanese friend studying at the desk next to me, I was told that "いかんによらず" is too old, and not commonly used, so I shouldn't try to use it in a sentence.
そのにと、たり、てたり、のにはま。にを与えます。
When dealing with those kinds of comments, you get confused, frustrated, and it's in no way encouraging. It actually has a negative effect on motivation.
だから、そのをとて、少のでも、ももてたら、ごとごくださいますようます。
Because of this, we hope that you'll recognize that we're trying to remember these grammar points, and even if there's something slightly awkward about our examples, if the meaning and the usage of the grammar point is not mistaken, we ask for your understanding, and your leniency.
でまた。
Sincere apologies for going on at such length.
こからも、よろくます。
We look forward to our continued relations.
Thanks,
Jeff
」ののへ、
つもいただき、がとうござす。
Thanks for always reading and checking out the site.
本日より、１のにつてのをてます。
Starting soon, well be updating the site with new JLPT１級 Grammar Posts.
おまた。
Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long.
のに、「」とうをに、でのをにたと思す。
Just like in the past, we'll be using the "
ののごやなやなどをてますが、１のにのにつて、がます。
We're always excited to have your cooperation and your kind comments or correction, but when it comes to commenting on the 1級 grammar posts, we have a request.
１のはに、にたとてますので、できるだけ、のとを載せたいと思っています。
We take our studies very seriously, so we will try as hard as we can to make sure we don't post any mistaken or misleading examples or explanations.
１のとは、がにがですので、のやのまたはのにでは、のをごくださいますようます。
1級 grammar though, consists largely of expressions that the average person does not use. So if you're not a Japanese teacher or someone with special knowledge of either Japanese grammar or the format/contents of the JLPT, please refrain from offering corrections.
よくですが、「」ののが「」とうにつてをた、とても」とうで「だ」をたをにまた。
It's a common phenomenon, but to cite a specific example, some time ago, when Daily Yoji contributor Brett wrote a post about the word "かぎり," as used to mean "very; extremely" he posted the example sentence "嬉しいかぎりだ."
に対し、「「」とうはそういう使い方ではなくて、「何々の」とうをます。」とうをいただきまた。
In response to that, we received a comment explaining that かぎり doesn't mean "very" it means "during."
かながら、１を、その「とても」とうをなけばまので、ながら、そのは,にもにも、逆でた。
However, for the purpose of studying １級, we are required to learn かぎり as "very" (かぎり as "during" is a usage covered in 2級), so I hate to say it but that comment, well-intentioned though it was, was actually counter-productive for us as well as our readership.
同じに、にずとう表現をたをがうと、のでてのにたら「にず」はてあまりてので、そのはたがとたもます。
Along the same lines, the other day I was trying to make an example sentence using the point "いかんによらず" but when I consulted my Japanese friend studying at the desk next to me, I was told that "いかんによらず" is too old, and not commonly used, so I shouldn't try to use it in a sentence.
そのにと、たり、てたり、のにはま。にを与えます。
When dealing with those kinds of comments, you get confused, frustrated, and it's in no way encouraging. It actually has a negative effect on motivation.
だから、そのをとて、少のでも、ももてたら、ごとごくださいますようます。
Because of this, we hope that you'll recognize that we're trying to remember these grammar points, and even if there's something slightly awkward about our examples, if the meaning and the usage of the grammar point is not mistaken, we ask for your understanding, and your leniency.
でまた。
Sincere apologies for going on at such length.
こからも、よろくます。
We look forward to our continued relations.
Thanks,
Jeff
27 Nov
いかんせんばん
ikan senban
Do you guys know the word 後悔 (こうかい； koukai)? Or the verb phrase 後悔する？ 後悔 is "regret" and as always, adding する verbs it into "to regret." So what about "regrettable?"
後悔的 doesn't really get used very commonly, so if you want to say that something was regrettable, like Brett's decision to sing Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" at Karaoke, you could use the first half of today's yo-ji、遺憾（な）to do the trick: ブレットさんの音域が狭すぎて、極めて遺憾な演奏でありました。
So, with 遺憾 as "regrettable" and 千万 stepping up to represent an extremely large quantity, we've got a yo-ji that means:
Definition:
残念で仕方ないこと。非常に心残りであること。くちおしくてならない。
Translations:
1. HIGHLY regrettable.
2. Deplorable.
3. Mortifying.
It's worth noting that while all of these translations could be applied equally to Brett's singing, you can use 遺憾千万 in lots of other situations as well. The Yoji Databank has a good example with: 「よかれと思い、君に忠告したつもりだったが、逆に恨みを買うとは遺憾千万だ。」 I particularly like the phrase 「よかれと思う: to have good intentions; to mean well.」
Sadly, I have a lot of memories that I look back on as 遺憾千万. Most recently, I was filling out an application at a job interview, and thanks to a combination of nerves and a really crappy clipboard, my 字 were coming out all 汚い. So to help correct that, I took a magazine off of the waiting room table, slipped it in between the clipboard and the paper, and finished filling it out. Unfortunately, when I was all done, I forgot to take it back out and 雑誌がはさんだまま返しました。The girl who was interviewing me noticed it, and noticed that everywhere I had pressed down hard in the attempt to write clearly, the 字のなぞりは雑誌の表紙に残っていました。
She was not pleased.
I like to think of this 四字熟語 as it compares to 言語道断.
Note though, that 遺憾千万 carries a connotation of うらみ (resentment) on someone's part.
Today's example will be a simple one, and hopefully easy for you to use.
例文：お前がそれを理解できないのは遺憾千万だ。
It's beyond regrettable that you can't understand that.
ikan senban
Do you guys know the word 後悔 (こうかい； koukai)? Or the verb phrase 後悔する？ 後悔 is "regret" and as always, adding する verbs it into "to regret." So what about "regrettable?"
後悔的 doesn't really get used very commonly, so if you want to say that something was regrettable, like Brett's decision to sing Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" at Karaoke, you could use the first half of today's yo-ji、遺憾（な）to do the trick: ブレットさんの音域が狭すぎて、極めて遺憾な演奏でありました。So, with 遺憾 as "regrettable" and 千万 stepping up to represent an extremely large quantity, we've got a yo-ji that means:
Definition:
残念で仕方ないこと。非常に心残りであること。くちおしくてならない。
Translations:
1. HIGHLY regrettable.
2. Deplorable.
3. Mortifying.
It's worth noting that while all of these translations could be applied equally to Brett's singing, you can use 遺憾千万 in lots of other situations as well. The Yoji Databank has a good example with: 「よかれと思い、君に忠告したつもりだったが、逆に恨みを買うとは遺憾千万だ。」 I particularly like the phrase 「よかれと思う: to have good intentions; to mean well.」
Sadly, I have a lot of memories that I look back on as 遺憾千万. Most recently, I was filling out an application at a job interview, and thanks to a combination of nerves and a really crappy clipboard, my 字 were coming out all 汚い. So to help correct that, I took a magazine off of the waiting room table, slipped it in between the clipboard and the paper, and finished filling it out. Unfortunately, when I was all done, I forgot to take it back out and 雑誌がはさんだまま返しました。The girl who was interviewing me noticed it, and noticed that everywhere I had pressed down hard in the attempt to write clearly, the 字のなぞりは雑誌の表紙に残っていました。
She was not pleased.
I like to think of this 四字熟語 as it compares to 言語道断.
Note though, that 遺憾千万 carries a connotation of うらみ (resentment) on someone's part.
Today's example will be a simple one, and hopefully easy for you to use.
例文：お前がそれを理解できないのは遺憾千万だ。
It's beyond regrettable that you can't understand that.
13 Oct
やろうじだい
yaroujidai
や is for 「やった！」 As in, 「やった！このや行シリーズがやっと終わるみたい！」
Today will be the last Yojijukugo post that starts with や、ゆ、or よ! Maybe not the last one FOREVER, but I think we've got enough to smack the smile off of any uppity bangumis that wanna tell us WE don't know Yojijukugo.
(Though, while we're still here, I'd personally like to request that Nirav make a KN^4 post on 余裕, cause seriously, that business is complicated!)
Today's entry is a great one to know as a foreigner in Japan, because I think it aptly describes the attitude that many of us are prone to adopting when we forget that we're not as awesome as Japan can make us feel.
Also, I found the PERFECT picture for this. BOOM!
Definition:
自分の力量をわきまえず、仲間うちで威張ること。知識も力もないのに尊大にふるまうことのたとえ。
Translations:
1. Getting a big head about being a big fish in a small pond, while forgetting that the world is mostly ocean.
2. Using your strength to be the boss of your microcosm, in a way that fails to acknowledge your real worth in the macrocosm. (What's your worth in the macrocosm NOW, fish?)
3. Act with reckless arrogance.
自大, using the kanji for "oneself" and "big" are apparent enough. 夜郎, rather than being ateji for 野郎、is actually the name of a very tiny independent country that we call Yelang in what is now China. The king of Yelang, upon receiving an emissary from the Han Dynasty (yeah, THAT Han Dynasty) displayed remarkably poor judgement (as well of a lack of knowledge about what the Han Dynasty was) and made some unfortunate boasts.
I don't know how accurate this story is, as the accounts of said king also include a Taketori Monogatari-esque birth...
Use 夜郎自大 with になる。Or you can say of someone or something: 夜郎自類である。
例文：
この学校の六年生の態度はやばいですね。行動を正してやる先輩もないし、夜郎自大になってしまいました。来年は中学生になることを知識してないみたい。
This school's 6th graders are rough, huh? With no older students to keep them in line, they've gotten recklessly arrogant. It's like they've forgotten that they're gonna be middle school first years in just a year.
yaroujidai
や is for 「やった！」 As in, 「やった！このや行シリーズがやっと終わるみたい！」
Today will be the last Yojijukugo post that starts with や、ゆ、or よ! Maybe not the last one FOREVER, but I think we've got enough to smack the smile off of any uppity bangumis that wanna tell us WE don't know Yojijukugo.
(Though, while we're still here, I'd personally like to request that Nirav make a KN^4 post on 余裕, cause seriously, that business is complicated!)
Today's entry is a great one to know as a foreigner in Japan, because I think it aptly describes the attitude that many of us are prone to adopting when we forget that we're not as awesome as Japan can make us feel.
Also, I found the PERFECT picture for this. BOOM!Definition:
自分の力量をわきまえず、仲間うちで威張ること。知識も力もないのに尊大にふるまうことのたとえ。
Translations:
1. Getting a big head about being a big fish in a small pond, while forgetting that the world is mostly ocean.
2. Using your strength to be the boss of your microcosm, in a way that fails to acknowledge your real worth in the macrocosm. (What's your worth in the macrocosm NOW, fish?)
3. Act with reckless arrogance.
自大, using the kanji for "oneself" and "big" are apparent enough. 夜郎, rather than being ateji for 野郎、is actually the name of a very tiny independent country that we call Yelang in what is now China. The king of Yelang, upon receiving an emissary from the Han Dynasty (yeah, THAT Han Dynasty) displayed remarkably poor judgement (as well of a lack of knowledge about what the Han Dynasty was) and made some unfortunate boasts.
I don't know how accurate this story is, as the accounts of said king also include a Taketori Monogatari-esque birth...Use 夜郎自大 with になる。Or you can say of someone or something: 夜郎自類である。
例文：
この学校の六年生の態度はやばいですね。行動を正してやる先輩もないし、夜郎自大になってしまいました。来年は中学生になることを知識してないみたい。
This school's 6th graders are rough, huh? With no older students to keep them in line, they've gotten recklessly arrogant. It's like they've forgotten that they're gonna be middle school first years in just a year.
29 Sep
やーーーーーー
Yeah, we're still rolling with the や行 over here, and today that means a great word to know for your Japanese traffic accidents, subway suicides, dolphin slaughterings, arsons... what else is morbidly entertaining?
野次馬
やじうま
yajiuma
Rubbernecker; Gawker;
Spectators of something not intended for spectating (see explanation below).
Baseball game: × Motocross rally: ×
House fire: ○ Car accident: ○Indulge me by letting me give you a quick explanation of where this one comes from. The 野次 bit can be used on it's own to mean to heckle or to jeer (used like this: 野次を指す） but they're actually 当て字, chosen to fit the meaning of this phrase a little bit better.
The original phrase actually began as 親父馬 （おやじうま; old man horse) which was what you called a horse that was too old to be used for either riding or labor, but which, for some reason, you haven't yet shipped off to the 糊 factory.
An old useless horse, just standing around taking in the scenery then became a metaphor for people with no business being involved in something, loafing around, scoping it out anyway. It kind of connotes blowing off your own responsibilities (responsibilities like driving your car at a reasonable speed) to indulge in something undignified (gawking at a flipped k-car on the side of the road, for example).
I'm not sure if rubbernecker, or rubberneck is an Americanism, but now that I've been in Japan, I can't ever hear it without thinking of the original rubbernecker, 轆轤首。
Yeah, we're still rolling with the や行 over here, and today that means a great word to know for your Japanese traffic accidents, subway suicides, dolphin slaughterings, arsons... what else is morbidly entertaining?
野次馬
やじうま
yajiuma
Rubbernecker; Gawker;
Spectators of something not intended for spectating (see explanation below).
Baseball game: × Motocross rally: ×
House fire: ○ Car accident: ○Indulge me by letting me give you a quick explanation of where this one comes from. The 野次 bit can be used on it's own to mean to heckle or to jeer (used like this: 野次を指す） but they're actually 当て字, chosen to fit the meaning of this phrase a little bit better.
The original phrase actually began as 親父馬 （おやじうま; old man horse) which was what you called a horse that was too old to be used for either riding or labor, but which, for some reason, you haven't yet shipped off to the 糊 factory.
An old useless horse, just standing around taking in the scenery then became a metaphor for people with no business being involved in something, loafing around, scoping it out anyway. It kind of connotes blowing off your own responsibilities (responsibilities like driving your car at a reasonable speed) to indulge in something undignified (gawking at a flipped k-car on the side of the road, for example).
I'm not sure if rubbernecker, or rubberneck is an Americanism, but now that I've been in Japan, I can't ever hear it without thinking of the original rubbernecker, 轆轤首。
27 Sep
Morning, yo-ji fans. Continuing on in the や行 vein, today we bring you three useful yo-jis that scholars (at least, one amateur scholar that I know of) like to refer to as "The Russel Series."
勇往邁進
ゆうおうまいしん
yuuoumaishin
Definition:
困難をものともしないで、ひたすら突き進むこと。
Translation:
Pushing forward, without regard for difficulties or distress.
Think of this one as in the same league with 猪突猛進, but without the negative connotation. Use it with する。(I found this tiger/Great wave picture and thought it was too awesome not to include it in this post. Look at that tiger, ignoring the fact that there's a giant wave coming and that tigers are not ocean creatures. He's gonna do his best anyway. The pic comes from this blog.)
優柔不断
ゆうじゅうふだん
yuujuu fudan
Definition:
ぐずぐずしていて決断の遅いこと。決断力に乏しいこと。
Translation:
Indecisiveness.
I'm not sexist or anything but, some sources also translate this yoji as: effeminacy. Hah. Use it as a な adjective.
用意周到
よういしゅうとう
youi shuutou
Definition:
何事にも用意がすみずみまで行き届き、手抜かりのないこと。
Translation:
Thoroughly, completely prepared, having left nothing out.
Maybe you could think of this along the same lines as one of the two interpretations of 正々堂々？ You can use it as a な adjective, or with に。A 用意周到な旦那 is not necessarily a 亭主関白, but a dude could be both, right? A 四角四面 guy on the other hand, would definitely like this 四字熟語。
勇往邁進ゆうおうまいしん
yuuoumaishin
Definition:
困難をものともしないで、ひたすら突き進むこと。
Translation:
Pushing forward, without regard for difficulties or distress.
Think of this one as in the same league with 猪突猛進, but without the negative connotation. Use it with する。(I found this tiger/Great wave picture and thought it was too awesome not to include it in this post. Look at that tiger, ignoring the fact that there's a giant wave coming and that tigers are not ocean creatures. He's gonna do his best anyway. The pic comes from this blog.)
優柔不断
ゆうじゅうふだん
yuujuu fudan
Definition:
ぐずぐずしていて決断の遅いこと。決断力に乏しいこと。
Translation:
Indecisiveness.
I'm not sexist or anything but, some sources also translate this yoji as: effeminacy. Hah. Use it as a な adjective.
用意周到よういしゅうとう
youi shuutou
Definition:
何事にも用意がすみずみまで行き届き、手抜かりのないこと。
Translation:
Thoroughly, completely prepared, having left nothing out.
Maybe you could think of this along the same lines as one of the two interpretations of 正々堂々？ You can use it as a な adjective, or with に。A 用意周到な旦那 is not necessarily a 亭主関白, but a dude could be both, right? A 四角四面 guy on the other hand, would definitely like this 四字熟語。
20 Sep
ゆうゆうじてき
yuuyuu jiteki
Ahhh, yet another yo-ji that speaks to the me that I wish I was... (bonus points if you can remember some of the others). And it gets us one more や行 yo-ji, which is our goal for a little while.
Definition:
世間のわずらわしさから離れ、ゆったりと自由気ままに過ごすこと。
Translations:
1. Getting away from it all (as a way of life.)
2. Living life free from worldly troubles.
I like to think of this one as having to do with a hermetic lifestyle, going off to live in the mountains, a la Spider Jerusalem, and while it wouldn't necessarily HAVE to go hand in hand with 自給自足, they would look pretty nice together, don't you think?
Try attaching の afterwards to say things like 悠々自適の生活 or 悠々自適の人生. You can get away verbing it with に過ごす or する、 but both of those usages seem less common (とくに「する」).
例文：
悠々自適の人生を手に入れるために田舎に引っ越して来ました。しかし、実際に都会での歯車の存在より、畑で野菜作りの方が面倒くさい。
I moved out to the country side to start living a quiet, peaceful life away from the annoyances of the world. But trying to raise your own vegetables in the garden is actually more of a pain in the ass than being a city drone ever was.
ゆうゆうじてきyuuyuu jiteki
Ahhh, yet another yo-ji that speaks to the me that I wish I was... (bonus points if you can remember some of the others). And it gets us one more や行 yo-ji, which is our goal for a little while.
Definition:
世間のわずらわしさから離れ、ゆったりと自由気ままに過ごすこと。
Translations:
1. Getting away from it all (as a way of life.)
2. Living life free from worldly troubles.
I like to think of this one as having to do with a hermetic lifestyle, going off to live in the mountains, a la Spider Jerusalem, and while it wouldn't necessarily HAVE to go hand in hand with 自給自足, they would look pretty nice together, don't you think?
Try attaching の afterwards to say things like 悠々自適の生活 or 悠々自適の人生. You can get away verbing it with に過ごす or する、 but both of those usages seem less common (とくに「する」).
例文：
悠々自適の人生を手に入れるために田舎に引っ越して来ました。しかし、実際に都会での歯車の存在より、畑で野菜作りの方が面倒くさい。
I moved out to the country side to start living a quiet, peaceful life away from the annoyances of the world. But trying to raise your own vegetables in the garden is actually more of a pain in the ass than being a city drone ever was.
19 Sep
19 Sep
I'm doing some Japanese YouTubing now, so that will show up here. I'm planning on talking language stuff and Yoji stuff, so if you're interested check them out. The other ones will be cooking and food related, so if you want to hear me talk about restaurants and recipes in broken Japanese, よろしく on those too.
Thanks.
Thanks.
18 Sep
ようしつ こひ
youshitsu kohi
I was watching a Quiz Bangumi on TV the other night, and anytime they're focused on either kanji or the Japanese language, you can guarantee a 四字熟語 question or two. Sometimes even a whole category. So I was psyched when they announced that the next game was for a team of contestants to name as many yo-jis as they could... that begin with a character from the や行.
I didn't know a single one. Stupid や行。 To my credit, the players couldn't think of more than two, but I can't get over the burning shame of such a poor showing, so I'm taking steps to revenge myself on that show.
Step one: Post a bunch of yoji that begin with や、ゆ、よ。
Step two: Consume my own bile.
Step three: Wage total warfare against their kingdom.
For a detailed explanation of why steps two and three are necessary, please see 会稽之恥/臥薪嘗胆.
So today we start with 羊質虎皮： The quality of a sheep, the skin of a tiger. Kind of like the complete opposite of a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Definition:
羊が虎の皮をかぶる。外見は立派だが、実質が伴っていないことにたとえる。見かけだおし。
Translations:
1. Sheep in wolf's clothing.
２．All bark, no bite.
3. Looks great, but lacks substance.
We've covered all kinds of things that you can associate with 羊質虎皮. Do you remember any of them?
How about the extremely rarely used あだ花, that we included in our flower trivia?
Or what about some of the opposites in regard to 能ある鷹は爪を隠す?
This is a yo-ji that's hard to get into sentences, but when you do, try using it with になる、or very plainly. Like ｢あの人よく言うけど、羊質虎皮だ。」
例文：
Aさん：あの政治家はただ美辞麗句を並んでいると思わない？
Don't you think that politician's just making a bunch of flowery, meaningless statements.
Bさん：うん。キャンペーン中だから、特に羊質虎皮になっているって感じだ。
Yeah. Especially since he's in the middle of campaigning. He's really putting sheep into tigers over there*.
*A better translation might be "He's really putting on airs."
youshitsu kohi
I was watching a Quiz Bangumi on TV the other night, and anytime they're focused on either kanji or the Japanese language, you can guarantee a 四字熟語 question or two. Sometimes even a whole category. So I was psyched when they announced that the next game was for a team of contestants to name as many yo-jis as they could... that begin with a character from the や行.
I didn't know a single one. Stupid や行。 To my credit, the players couldn't think of more than two, but I can't get over the burning shame of such a poor showing, so I'm taking steps to revenge myself on that show.
Step one: Post a bunch of yoji that begin with や、ゆ、よ。
Step two: Consume my own bile.
Step three: Wage total warfare against their kingdom.
For a detailed explanation of why steps two and three are necessary, please see 会稽之恥/臥薪嘗胆.So today we start with 羊質虎皮： The quality of a sheep, the skin of a tiger. Kind of like the complete opposite of a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Definition:
羊が虎の皮をかぶる。外見は立派だが、実質が伴っていないことにたとえる。見かけだおし。
Translations:
1. Sheep in wolf's clothing.
２．All bark, no bite.
3. Looks great, but lacks substance.
We've covered all kinds of things that you can associate with 羊質虎皮. Do you remember any of them?
How about the extremely rarely used あだ花, that we included in our flower trivia?
Or what about some of the opposites in regard to 能ある鷹は爪を隠す?
This is a yo-ji that's hard to get into sentences, but when you do, try using it with になる、or very plainly. Like ｢あの人よく言うけど、羊質虎皮だ。」
例文：
Aさん：あの政治家はただ美辞麗句を並んでいると思わない？
Don't you think that politician's just making a bunch of flowery, meaningless statements.
Bさん：うん。キャンペーン中だから、特に羊質虎皮になっているって感じだ。
Yeah. Especially since he's in the middle of campaigning. He's really putting sheep into tigers over there*.
*A better translation might be "He's really putting on airs."
9 Sep
You might know about the Mr. James ad campaign going on in Japan right now, but I'll sum it up briefly: Mr. James is a foreigner as Japanese people imagine foreigners (the harmless, non-violent type anyhow). He's white, he's a Japan-loving dork, and he recites random non-sequitors in laughably bad katakana, demonstrating his basic inability to "get" the real Japan.
I've gotten tired of getting up in arms about this kind of stuff, but there are a lot of people who've been offended by it. You can reference the threads on JapanProbe.com or debito.org to get up to speed.
I couldn't help but think about how this commercial leaves McDonald's WIDE OPEN to a reversal of their own publicity, for the benefit of another fast food giant. So Brett and I made a silly little video. Below is the video, along with a copy of a letter that I've drafted to Mos Burger, and which long time friend of the Daily, Nirav, has translated into knock-you-on-your-ass Japanese.
Please forgive the quality of the video, but if you support the idea, comment away on the YouTube page. Maybe someone will notice it.
Thanks!
You are most likely familiar with the current advertising campaign for McDonald's in Japan, featuring "Mr. James." You may not be aware that the character of Mr. James is one that many foreigners, especially those residing in Japan, find to be very offensive. His katakana-Japanese pronunciation, and Nihon-otaku appearance have made many foreigners feel that they are at best, being portrayed in a poor light, and at the worst, being openly mocked. This advertising campaign contributes to the already widespread image of foreigners as goofy, hapless, and unable to connect to or understand Japan on any real level. It has instigated petitions and boycotts against McDonald's both domestically and internationally. I believe that these actions will probably have very little effect on either McDonald's financial situation, nor on the way of thinking that gave birth to these commercials. However, I do think that this situation presents a unique opportunity for the Mos Burger Corporation.
Instead of focusing on foreigners as bizarre and unable to function normally in Japanese society, what about an advertising campaign featuring a foreigner who, as many of us are, is well-adjusted to daily life in Japan? Softbank, for example, has had great success with its foreign spokespeople. Japanese citizens and many foreign residents alike find the "White Family" advertisements amusing, and few complain that they are in poor taste. This is because they portray foreign characters no differently than Japanese characters. In the world of these commercials, Big Brother's race is not a focal point. He is merely a member of the family, and the fact that he lives, works, and functions in Japanese, in Japan, is treated as natural.
I've imagined, and created a rough draft of a potential advertisement for Mos Burger that works as both a light-hearted spoof of the "Mister James" campaign, and as a statement of affirmation to the foreign community in Japan. A character similar to Mr. James, excited about Japan but essentially clueless, is befriended by another foreigner who is a long term-resident of Japan. The second foreigner offers to show him an insider's view of Japan, which includes steering him away from the American-owned McDonald's, and into the Japanese-born Mos Burger. Within just a very short video segment, Mos Burger can assert its identity as an authentic "Japanese" Hamburger Shop, establish itself as willing to befriend Japan-savvy foreigners, and turn the publicity of the McDonald's campaign to its own advantage.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this letter, and I hope you'll consider this proposal seriously. I look forward to hearing from you.
涼秋の候、ますますご繁栄のこととお慶び申し上げます。突然のご連絡で、またお忙しい中、誠に恐縮です。
すでにご存じのことかと思いますが、このたび、日本マクドナルド株式会社におきまして、「ミスター・ジェイムズ」と名乗るキャラクターを主人公とした宣伝キャンペーンが施されました。ミスター・ジェイムズキャンペーンは、多くの外国人、とりわけ日本在住の外国人に不適切かつ不愉快とされています。ミスター・ジェイムズの片言の日本語や「日本オタク」ぶりから、外国人を侮っている、さらに言うと堂々とあざけっている、と批判の声が後を絶ちません。浅い程度にしか日本語もしくは日本文化を理解することが外国人にはできないというステレオタイプをさらに広めるとされているこのキャンペーンは、日本国内外で著名運動やボイコットにもつながっているのが事実です。これからの運動で日本マクドナルド株式会社、もしくはこのキャンペーンを生み出した考え方に有意的な影響が及ぶとは思いがたいですが、貴社にとりましては、この状況を好機と言えるのではないかと存じます。
ここで、使い古された、どことなく勘違いをしている「変な外人」ではなく、実例もかなり存在する、日本の暮らしに通した外国人を主人公とした宣伝キャンペーンをご提案させていただきたく存じます。こういったキャンペーンは過去にもいくつかありました。たとえば、ソフトバンクモバイル株式会社の「ホワイト家族」キャンペーンは、日本人にも外国人にも受けいれがよく、批判の声がほとんどありません。これは、外国人である「お兄さん」キャラクターは、家族の一員として日本人の親戚とは変わらず、日本語で職を持ち、日本語で暮らしていることが当然のように扱われているからに違いありません。
誠に恐れ入りますが、こちらでミスター・ジェイムズを気楽にパロディしながら、日本在住の外国人が登場するCMの台本を作成いたしております。「ミスター・ジェイムズ」に似通った、日本が好きではあるけれどまだ青いという外国人が、長年日本に在住し、日本に通しているもう一人の外国人に日本での暮らし方を教わる一環として外国発のハンバーガーではなく、この日本で生まれたハンバーガーを食べさせられるという設定です。数十秒の映像で、貴社の「ニッポン発のハンバーガー」という良さと、日本に通した外国人を受け入れる寛大さを一石二鳥でアピールし、「ミスター・ジェイムズ」キャンペーンで起こっている騒ぎを貴社にとりまして有益なように利用するができるはずです。
以上長文にて変失礼いたしました。お忙しいところを誠に申し訳ございませんが、何卒ご検討の程、どうぞよろしくお願い申し上げます。
I've gotten tired of getting up in arms about this kind of stuff, but there are a lot of people who've been offended by it. You can reference the threads on JapanProbe.com or debito.org to get up to speed.
I couldn't help but think about how this commercial leaves McDonald's WIDE OPEN to a reversal of their own publicity, for the benefit of another fast food giant. So Brett and I made a silly little video. Below is the video, along with a copy of a letter that I've drafted to Mos Burger, and which long time friend of the Daily, Nirav, has translated into knock-you-on-your-ass Japanese.
Please forgive the quality of the video, but if you support the idea, comment away on the YouTube page. Maybe someone will notice it.
Thanks!
You are most likely familiar with the current advertising campaign for McDonald's in Japan, featuring "Mr. James." You may not be aware that the character of Mr. James is one that many foreigners, especially those residing in Japan, find to be very offensive. His katakana-Japanese pronunciation, and Nihon-otaku appearance have made many foreigners feel that they are at best, being portrayed in a poor light, and at the worst, being openly mocked. This advertising campaign contributes to the already widespread image of foreigners as goofy, hapless, and unable to connect to or understand Japan on any real level. It has instigated petitions and boycotts against McDonald's both domestically and internationally. I believe that these actions will probably have very little effect on either McDonald's financial situation, nor on the way of thinking that gave birth to these commercials. However, I do think that this situation presents a unique opportunity for the Mos Burger Corporation.
Instead of focusing on foreigners as bizarre and unable to function normally in Japanese society, what about an advertising campaign featuring a foreigner who, as many of us are, is well-adjusted to daily life in Japan? Softbank, for example, has had great success with its foreign spokespeople. Japanese citizens and many foreign residents alike find the "White Family" advertisements amusing, and few complain that they are in poor taste. This is because they portray foreign characters no differently than Japanese characters. In the world of these commercials, Big Brother's race is not a focal point. He is merely a member of the family, and the fact that he lives, works, and functions in Japanese, in Japan, is treated as natural.
I've imagined, and created a rough draft of a potential advertisement for Mos Burger that works as both a light-hearted spoof of the "Mister James" campaign, and as a statement of affirmation to the foreign community in Japan. A character similar to Mr. James, excited about Japan but essentially clueless, is befriended by another foreigner who is a long term-resident of Japan. The second foreigner offers to show him an insider's view of Japan, which includes steering him away from the American-owned McDonald's, and into the Japanese-born Mos Burger. Within just a very short video segment, Mos Burger can assert its identity as an authentic "Japanese" Hamburger Shop, establish itself as willing to befriend Japan-savvy foreigners, and turn the publicity of the McDonald's campaign to its own advantage.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this letter, and I hope you'll consider this proposal seriously. I look forward to hearing from you.
涼秋の候、ますますご繁栄のこととお慶び申し上げます。突然のご連絡で、またお忙しい中、誠に恐縮です。
すでにご存じのことかと思いますが、このたび、日本マクドナルド株式会社におきまして、「ミスター・ジェイムズ」と名乗るキャラクターを主人公とした宣伝キャンペーンが施されました。ミスター・ジェイムズキャンペーンは、多くの外国人、とりわけ日本在住の外国人に不適切かつ不愉快とされています。ミスター・ジェイムズの片言の日本語や「日本オタク」ぶりから、外国人を侮っている、さらに言うと堂々とあざけっている、と批判の声が後を絶ちません。浅い程度にしか日本語もしくは日本文化を理解することが外国人にはできないというステレオタイプをさらに広めるとされているこのキャンペーンは、日本国内外で著名運動やボイコットにもつながっているのが事実です。これからの運動で日本マクドナルド株式会社、もしくはこのキャンペーンを生み出した考え方に有意的な影響が及ぶとは思いがたいですが、貴社にとりましては、この状況を好機と言えるのではないかと存じます。
ここで、使い古された、どことなく勘違いをしている「変な外人」ではなく、実例もかなり存在する、日本の暮らしに通した外国人を主人公とした宣伝キャンペーンをご提案させていただきたく存じます。こういったキャンペーンは過去にもいくつかありました。たとえば、ソフトバンクモバイル株式会社の「ホワイト家族」キャンペーンは、日本人にも外国人にも受けいれがよく、批判の声がほとんどありません。これは、外国人である「お兄さん」キャラクターは、家族の一員として日本人の親戚とは変わらず、日本語で職を持ち、日本語で暮らしていることが当然のように扱われているからに違いありません。
誠に恐れ入りますが、こちらでミスター・ジェイムズを気楽にパロディしながら、日本在住の外国人が登場するCMの台本を作成いたしております。「ミスター・ジェイムズ」に似通った、日本が好きではあるけれどまだ青いという外国人が、長年日本に在住し、日本に通しているもう一人の外国人に日本での暮らし方を教わる一環として外国発のハンバーガーではなく、この日本で生まれたハンバーガーを食べさせられるという設定です。数十秒の映像で、貴社の「ニッポン発のハンバーガー」という良さと、日本に通した外国人を受け入れる寛大さを一石二鳥でアピールし、「ミスター・ジェイムズ」キャンペーンで起こっている騒ぎを貴社にとりまして有益なように利用するができるはずです。
以上長文にて変失礼いたしました。お忙しいところを誠に申し訳ございませんが、何卒ご検討の程、どうぞよろしくお願い申し上げます。
27 Aug
いっきとうせん
ikki tousen
Continuing with the "One/Multitude" theme we started with 八面六臂, let's take a look at another yoji that describes one person taking on a considerable amount of work, albeit in a slightly different vein.
Definition:
一人で千人の敵に対抗することができること。人並みはずれた技術や経験のあること。
Translations:
1. Strong enough or skilled enough to take on an army.
2. Being extremely formidable in your field.
There are actually a number of other 四字熟語 that have the same meaning, so if you think you might be able to use this one, consider varying it up with yojis like 一人当千（いちにんとうせん）、蓋世不抜（かいせいふばつ）, or 万夫不当（ばんぷふとう）. But don't expect the average person to recognize all of them, necessarily. From what I can tell, 蓋世不抜 is pretty rare, and 一人当千 seems most common, but not most correct. A google search for it will bring up about 6 million results, but it will also bring up the "もしかして：" prompt which will ask you if maybe you meant... you guessed it, 一騎当千.
Also, I like to think of these alongside the family of 天下無〇 yojis that Brett posted on forever ago.
See what you can do with it.
(NOTE: One thing that you SHOULDN'T DO with it is a Google Image Search, on account of it seems to be the name of a manga that is either naturally pornographic, or lends itself to pornography of the 同人誌 variety.
例文：
熊さん： 一騎当千のアンドさんには適う訳ないやん！
アンドさん： それは確かにそうだよ。。。。 ペンペン。
いっきとうせんikki tousen
Continuing with the "One/Multitude" theme we started with 八面六臂, let's take a look at another yoji that describes one person taking on a considerable amount of work, albeit in a slightly different vein.
Definition:
一人で千人の敵に対抗することができること。人並みはずれた技術や経験のあること。
Translations:
1. Strong enough or skilled enough to take on an army.
2. Being extremely formidable in your field.
There are actually a number of other 四字熟語 that have the same meaning, so if you think you might be able to use this one, consider varying it up with yojis like 一人当千（いちにんとうせん）、蓋世不抜（かいせいふばつ）, or 万夫不当（ばんぷふとう）. But don't expect the average person to recognize all of them, necessarily. From what I can tell, 蓋世不抜 is pretty rare, and 一人当千 seems most common, but not most correct. A google search for it will bring up about 6 million results, but it will also bring up the "もしかして：" prompt which will ask you if maybe you meant... you guessed it, 一騎当千.
Also, I like to think of these alongside the family of 天下無〇 yojis that Brett posted on forever ago.
See what you can do with it.
(NOTE: One thing that you SHOULDN'T DO with it is a Google Image Search, on account of it seems to be the name of a manga that is either naturally pornographic, or lends itself to pornography of the 同人誌 variety.
例文：
熊さん： 一騎当千のアンドさんには適う訳ないやん！
アンドさん： それは確かにそうだよ。。。。 ペンペン。
25 Aug
はちめんろっぴ
hachimen roppi
I'm gonna skip the whole "OMG、 you've been gone forever stuff" and just... post a yo-ji. Enjoy.
We've discussed the various significances of the number 8 here before. But when it shows up in 四字熟語 like 四通八達 and 八方美人, you can usually assume it's being invoked to mean a multitude, or quantity that covers all possibilities. All directions.
So 八面 is eight faces, or all sides. But what about the other half of today's yo-ji? Six elbows, written with a rare kanji (elbow is most often written in kana, ひじ, and even when it's not, it's mostly written using this kanji: 肘) is a reference to six-armed Buddha statues, which, more often than not, wield a variety of instruments.
So what can you do with eight faces and six arms? Frickin' ANYTHING.
Definition:
一人で数人分の働きをすること。色々な分野で活躍すること。
Translation:
1. Good at everything.
2. Skilled in all fields.
3. Handling the workload of many by one's self.
4. Versatile.
I wouldn't reccommend saying it about yourself, unless you want to be accused of some 自画自賛, but if someone says it about you, try to work that lethal combo of Nihongo-skills and Japanese-modesty, like today's example sentence.
例文：
Aさん：お姉さん、日本語も上手だし、料理もうまいらしい、スポーツもカラオケもできるという話を聞きましたが、本当に八面六臂の活躍ぶりはすごいですよね。
Bさん：それほどでもないです。八面六臂というより、まさに器用貧乏って感じです。
はちめんろっぴhachimen roppi
I'm gonna skip the whole "OMG、 you've been gone forever stuff" and just... post a yo-ji. Enjoy.
We've discussed the various significances of the number 8 here before. But when it shows up in 四字熟語 like 四通八達 and 八方美人, you can usually assume it's being invoked to mean a multitude, or quantity that covers all possibilities. All directions.
So 八面 is eight faces, or all sides. But what about the other half of today's yo-ji? Six elbows, written with a rare kanji (elbow is most often written in kana, ひじ, and even when it's not, it's mostly written using this kanji: 肘) is a reference to six-armed Buddha statues, which, more often than not, wield a variety of instruments.
So what can you do with eight faces and six arms? Frickin' ANYTHING.
Definition:
一人で数人分の働きをすること。色々な分野で活躍すること。
Translation:
1. Good at everything.
2. Skilled in all fields.
3. Handling the workload of many by one's self.
4. Versatile.
I wouldn't reccommend saying it about yourself, unless you want to be accused of some 自画自賛, but if someone says it about you, try to work that lethal combo of Nihongo-skills and Japanese-modesty, like today's example sentence.
例文：
Aさん：お姉さん、日本語も上手だし、料理もうまいらしい、スポーツもカラオケもできるという話を聞きましたが、本当に八面六臂の活躍ぶりはすごいですよね。
Bさん：それほどでもないです。八面六臂というより、まさに器用貧乏って感じです。
26 May
And lo, from a sea of darkness and nonpostings, he did bring unto them five grammar points most noble.
I know grammar is not the most exciting thing, but as jljzen88 (name drop!) mentioned recently, the test is only a month and change away. July 5th, to be exact. Even if we were to pump out grammar posts at a rate of 10/week, it wouldn't be enough to cover everything in the book. Complicating this is the fact that nobody here on the Yoji is taking 1kyuu this summer, so the "well we're gonna have to do it anyway" factor is nonexistent. We do appreciate the fact, however, that some of you are taking the test, and would benefit from a little extra study wherever you can get it. And do that end, we will endeavor as best we can to keep up with grammar until at least the day of the test.
Good luck, and godspeed!
31) ～っぱなし (っ放し）
just left ~ing.
~たまま
Finally, another grammar point that is actually intended for conversational use! When something is just left passively in a certain condition, っぱなし is your man. Employ it with the ~ます form minus ます, and, mister, you have yourself a sentence.
Ex. 昨日の夜、僕は窓を開けっぱなしにしておいた。冬だったらそれしてもべつにいいけど、最近蚊がどんどん増えている。もう何匹もアパートに入ってしまった。。。
32) ～であれ ・ ～であれ～であれ
Even if ~
Whether ~ or not,
~ても
Aaannnddd we're already back to grammar that is better left on the page. At the very least, anybody who is endeavoring to pass 1kyuu will have no problem understanding this one. Although it's simple enough to use once, if you want to construct a "whether or not" sentence, make sure to insert "の" before each use of であれ, and you'll be sailing.
Ex. 豚インフルエンザのせいで日本が超恐慌している。旅行するのであれ、しないのであれ、そのウイルスが日本に来るから、そこまで激しく反発するの点は何だろう?
33) ～てからというもの
Ever since ~, x has persisted/happened
When something has occurred that is a long-lasting (though not necessarily permanent)
Ex. ジェフは常勤として働き始めてからというもの、デーリー四字をほとんど書かなくなった。俺も。。。
34) ～でなくてなんだろう
If that/this isn't ~, then what else could it be?
I've never used this one, but I have ALWAYS wanted to since learning it. It has a wonderfully simple construction with a fun, emphatic meaning... that is unfortunately hindered by the fact it most commonly appears in writing. Curses!
Ex. 昨日の記事はこのブログの一ヶ月ぶりぐらいだった。それは「四字熟語干ばつ」でなくてなんだろう。
35) ～ではあるまいし
Since it's no longer the case that ~, ...
~ no longer being true, ....
~ では ないのだから
As formal as most of its 1級 brethren, here is another to the long list of phrases slipping "あるまい" in there. I don't think we have managed to use these phrases in many sentences outside of examples, so those savvy on a bit of studying would be wise to just through "あるまい" into the search bar and go nuts.
Ex. ペンギンではあるまいし、問題を暴力で解けない。悔しいな～
I know grammar is not the most exciting thing, but as jljzen88 (name drop!) mentioned recently, the test is only a month and change away. July 5th, to be exact. Even if we were to pump out grammar posts at a rate of 10/week, it wouldn't be enough to cover everything in the book. Complicating this is the fact that nobody here on the Yoji is taking 1kyuu this summer, so the "well we're gonna have to do it anyway" factor is nonexistent. We do appreciate the fact, however, that some of you are taking the test, and would benefit from a little extra study wherever you can get it. And do that end, we will endeavor as best we can to keep up with grammar until at least the day of the test.
Good luck, and godspeed!
31) ～っぱなし (っ放し）
just left ~ing.
~たまま
Finally, another grammar point that is actually intended for conversational use! When something is just left passively in a certain condition, っぱなし is your man. Employ it with the ~ます form minus ます, and, mister, you have yourself a sentence.
Ex. 昨日の夜、僕は窓を開けっぱなしにしておいた。冬だったらそれしてもべつにいいけど、最近蚊がどんどん増えている。もう何匹もアパートに入ってしまった。。。
32) ～であれ ・ ～であれ～であれ
Even if ~
Whether ~ or not,
~ても
Aaannnddd we're already back to grammar that is better left on the page. At the very least, anybody who is endeavoring to pass 1kyuu will have no problem understanding this one. Although it's simple enough to use once, if you want to construct a "whether or not" sentence, make sure to insert "の" before each use of であれ, and you'll be sailing.
Ex. 豚インフルエンザのせいで日本が超恐慌している。旅行するのであれ、しないのであれ、そのウイルスが日本に来るから、そこまで激しく反発するの点は何だろう?
33) ～てからというもの
Ever since ~, x has persisted/happened
When something has occurred that is a long-lasting (though not necessarily permanent)
Ex. ジェフは常勤として働き始めてからというもの、デーリー四字をほとんど書かなくなった。俺も。。。
34) ～でなくてなんだろう
If that/this isn't ~, then what else could it be?
I've never used this one, but I have ALWAYS wanted to since learning it. It has a wonderfully simple construction with a fun, emphatic meaning... that is unfortunately hindered by the fact it most commonly appears in writing. Curses!
Ex. 昨日の記事はこのブログの一ヶ月ぶりぐらいだった。それは「四字熟語干ばつ」でなくてなんだろう。
35) ～ではあるまいし
Since it's no longer the case that ~, ...
~ no longer being true, ....
~ では ないのだから
As formal as most of its 1級 brethren, here is another to the long list of phrases slipping "あるまい" in there. I don't think we have managed to use these phrases in many sentences outside of examples, so those savvy on a bit of studying would be wise to just through "あるまい" into the search bar and go nuts.
Ex. ペンギンではあるまいし、問題を暴力で解けない。悔しいな～