Hungry for Words: Mostly Japanese

New Years Greetings Cards - Nengajou

About a year ago (around New Years...) I posted this article about New Years greetings. I'll like to expand on this a bit.

In person

The first time you see someone in the new year in person, you would say:

明けましておめでとうございます。

(あけましておめどとうございます　akemashite omedetougozaimasu) - equivalent to Happy New Year

今年も宜しくお願いします。

(ことしもよろしくおねがいします。　kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.) - I'll be indebted to you/relying on you this year too.

You will say this while bowing to the other person, even to people you might normally not bow to, like your family or friends.

Nengajou, New Years postcards

The equivalent of Christmas cards in the west but even bigger in volume, 年賀状　(ねんがじょう　nengajou) are New Year's greeting cards; in most cases they are postcards. You can buy postage-paid New Year　postcards, called 年賀はがき　(ねんがはがき　nenga hagaki) at the post office. (A bonus with these 'official' post office 年賀状　is that they are also lottery tickets; if a card you have has a winning number, you can win anything from a big cash prize to a stuffed toy and so on.　People who prefer to use their own postcards can even buy special stamps with prize numbers on them.)

You can write the above two phrases on a 年賀状 (明けましておめでとうございます。今年も宜しくお願いします）. A more formal greeting that is used in writing only is

謹賀新年　(きんがしんねん　kinga shinnen)

An even more elaborate greeting would be something like this:

謹んで新春のご挨拶を申し上げます。

旧年中はひとかたならぬお世話になり、誠にありがとうございました。

...which basically says the same as the first two simple lines.

Besides the greeting itself, you should put the date (January 1, year) and your name (and your family's name if they are co-signing).

It is considered to be more polite to handwrite your 年賀状, but even the average family might send out, and receive, more than a hundred of them every year. So many people print them. The popular home printing device Print Gocco was originally conceived as a device for printing things like 年賀状. Nowadays of course people print them out on their printers. Here is a page of templates that people can download and print out. Electronic 年賀状　are gaining in popularity, but most people do still send out paper postcard versions.

The Years End Big Cleaning (大掃除）

In the west, at the start of spring is the time to do a big cleaning. In Japan, 大掃除　(おおそうじ　o-souji), which literally means 'big cleaning', is at the end of the year.

大掃除 is not just about getting the house in order before relatives and friends come over on New Year's Day. It has a spiritual and religious significance. Cleaning ones living and working spaces, especially by getting rid of soot and dust (煤払い　すすはらい　susuharai),　was thought to show gratitude for the previous harvest and the good things that had happened in the old year, and make things pure and ready for the new year.

大掃除 used to start on or around the 13th of December, which is called 正月事始め（しょうがつごとはじめ shougatsu kotohajime), the day in which New Years events and tasks start. But nowadays most people leave it a lot later, even as late as　the 31st of December, which is called 大晦日　(おおみそか　o-misoka). I'm not sure I'm up to cleaning the windows and sweeping the porch at this time of the year, but I'll try to at least get the house vacuumed before the New Year dawns.

Vocaulary terms

• 掃除　(そうじ　souji) - to clean (a house etc.)
• 掃除　(おおそうじ　o-souji) - year's end Big Cleaning, or a major cleaning session at any time of the year
• 煤払い (すすばらい　or すすはらい　susuharai) - the ritual of clearing soot and dust
• 大晦日　(おおみそか　o-misoka)　December 31st or New Year's Eve

Hungry for Words on PlanetJapan.org podcast

Just a quick note (this is not a lesson!) - Hungry for Words is Blog of the Week on the informative and funny Planet Japan podcast. Doug and Jen, who are both Americans living in Japan, talk about a variety of offbeat Japan-oriented topics every episode. Go and listen!

Christmas present exchange in Japan

When my family moved back to Japan when I was 10 after spending several years in England and America, I was rather dismayed that I stopped getting many Christmas presents. My parents shifted to the Japanese tradition of お年玉　(おとしだま　otoshidama), money gifts at New Year's (more on that in a later post) and didn't put up a Christmas tree either. My mother did get a クリスマスケーキ　(kurisumasuke-ki, Christmas cake) from a local cake shop, but that was about it.

One thing that did keep my Christmas time spirits up was the プレゼント交換　(ぷれぜんとこうかん　purezento koukan) that took place at school. We were all assigned the task of coming up with some kind of present within a fixed budget (I think it was 600 yen), which we would exchange with the other kids in the class. The boys mainly settled for things like candy, cheap school supplies like pencils and notebooks, or toys and the like, but quite a few of the girls who were　very 器用　（きよう　kiyoh - good with their hands) went all out and made very nice handmade gifts - ぬいぐるみ　(nuigurumi - sewn stuffed toys or softies), 編みぐるみ　(amigurumi - knitted or crocheted stuffed toys), cute little bags, and so on. I, too, intended to make something handmade, and spent every spare hour poring over my mother's craft books.

But on the day of the Christmas present exchange party （クリスマスプレゼント交換会　くりすますぷれぜんとこうかんかい　kurisumasu purezento koukankai), I had nothing at all! I had procrastinated for too long. So I begged my mother to make me something, anything, before I had to leave for school. My exasperated mother quickly whipped up something, and hastily wrapped it for me as I whined my way through my morning routine.

When it came time for the big present exchange, I was very nervous. I hadn't actually looked at what my mother had made (I was too busy feeling sorry for myself) - I just knew it was light and soft. I nervously put it into the big box of presents, from which we all had to pick a present depending on the number we drew.

Finally, it came around to my present being picked. The one who got it was a boy. I looked at him nervously as he ripped open the wrapping paper, and drew out...

A big puffy woolly pompom. Not even a pompom made to look like an animal or something. A plain pompom. （ポンポン玉　ぽんぽんだま　ponpondama). I'll never forget the look of utter disappointment and disgust on his face.

Of course, I went home and berated my mother for her pompom. She snorted at me and said "what do you expect me to make in 30 minutes?" And she was right of course.

I hope you have a メリークリスマス　(merii kurisumasu) if you celebrate it!

Today's vocabulary:

• 交換　(こうかん　koukan) = to exchange
• 交換会　(こうかんかい　koukankan) = exchange party or gathering
• お年玉　(おとしだま　otoshidama) = New Year's money gift
• プレゼント　(purezento) = present
• クリスマス　(kurisumasu) = Christmas
• メリークリスマス　(merii kurisumasu) ＝　Merry Christmas
• 器用　（きよう　kiyoh) = adept, good with ones hands
• 縫いぐるみ　(ぬいぐるみ　nuigurumi) = sewn stuffed toy, softie
• 編みぐるみ　(あみぐるみ　amigurumi) = knitted or crocheted stuffed toy

Das Kapital manga version: Communism is sweeping Japan?

Today I'd like to go off tangent a bit with a bit of internet investigation. (I've included some vocabulary terms at the end.)

I am a fan of Rachel Maddow - I like her skepticism, even if I don't always agree with her views - and I subscribe to the podcasts of her MSNBC television show as well as her Air America radio show. I was just listening to the podcast of her Monday radio show, where she opened with the news about the losses posted by Toyota. She also said that a manga version of Das Kapital was "flying off the shelves in Japan". The implication being that communism was taking hold in Japan! Oh my! She said it with her typical cheery sarcasm, but this caused my sleepy and stuffed up (from my cold) ears to perk up, so I went digging for confirmation.

I'm sure she got this news tidbit from this AP story. Now first of all, as anyone who lives in Japan or knows about the manga market there, 6,000 copies is not exactly 'flying off the shelves' when it comes to manga sales. The person being quoted in the AP story is the publisher, so of course he would like everyone to believe that it's a huge hit for them (to be fair, for a small publisher I'm sure it's great). (Another thing that irks me about the AP article: the 'Just in time for Christmas' intro is ridiculous. But anyway.)

The publisher, East Press, puts out a series called 漫画で読破　(まんがでどくは　manga de dokuha). 読破　literally means to 'read and tear'; it means to read and 'get it'. In other words, they are rather like manga CliffsNotes. Besides Das Kapital, East Press has so far published 漫画で読破 versions of Mein Kampf by Hitler, Divina Commedia by Dante, The Possessed by Dostoevsky, and Il Principe (The Prince) by Machiavelli among others. A pretty eclectic list I would say. (The AP article does not mention this of course; they only mention one other work manga-ized by the publisher, a "communist novel, 'The Crab Factory Ship'".)

As I've written about before, manga are read by Japanese people from all works of life for a quick and entertaining version of all kinds of things. Manga versions of more 'difficult' books are not at all uncommon; they've been published for decades. And of course, there are deeply complicated, literate manga also. In other words, manga are a much more engrained part of Japanese literary life, especially for people of a certain age (I'd say people in their 50s and younger). Manga are not marginalized, 'just for kids' things like comic books are in the West. So really, a manga version of Das Kapital is not something at all out of the ordinary.

But the question is, has there been a surge in interest in communism in Japan? I haven't really seen any evidence of this from reading Japanese media sources. Consulting the Amazon Japan bestseller list (which may not be a totally accurate view, but nevertheless), the 漫画で読破 version of Das Kapital ranks at no. 244. Not bad, but not exactly sweeping the nation either. The Amazon listing only has 3 reviews, which are mixed. A quick surf around blogs talking about the book also yield mixed reviews - this blogger thinks it's a quick read, but 陳腐　（ちんぷ　chinnpu - shoddy). Still, it is the best selling version of Das Kapital, I guess because it's easy to read.

The point is, that I don't really see any kind of evidence that interest in Communism is sweeping Japan. There is a Japan Communist Party, which has been around for decades, but never in power. I rather doubt they will come in power any time soon either. They certainly didn't gain that much power when Japan's bubble economy burst in the '80s, when there were plenty of openings to do so.

Incidentally, no. 1 on Amazon Japan's list of bestselling books is this collection of Obama speeches with accompanying CD. I have not seen it myself, but I wonder if it might be an interesting learning tool for advanced Japanese or English language students.

I also think that manga versions of great works of literature and other great writings wouldn't be a bad idea in other languages either. A manga version of À la recherche du temps perdu maybe?

Some vocabulary

• Das Kapital in Japanese: 資本論　(しほんろん　shihonron). Karl Marx in Japanese is カール・マルクス (ka-ru marukusu)
• 読破　(どくは　dokuha): To read and really comprehend something
• 漫画　（まんが　manga): Often translated as 'comics' but more than that really - see above.
• 共産主義　(きょうさんしゅぎ　kyousanshigi): Communism
• 共産党　（きょうさんとう　kyousantou): Communist party
• ベストセラー　(besutoseraa): Bestseller
• 陳腐　(ちんぷ　chinpu): Old, shoddy, cheap

Mangled pronounciations of Japanese words

Until fairly recently, Japanese words were not imported much into English, as opposed to the hundreds of English words that have entered Japanese culture. In recent years though there are an increasing number of words that have entered into common use. However, in most cases the pronounciation of the words gets changed from the original.

(Pronounciation is 発音　はつおん　hatsuon)

One or two-syllable words are less likely to get mangled, though they can be sometimes. For instance 'manga' is pronounced without any particular emphasis on a syllable, but it's usually pronounced by English speakers with an emphasis on the MAN part. Here's my scratchy voice saying it correctly, then English-speaker style:

When there is a three-syllable or more word, for some reason English speakers always put the emphasis on the second or third syllable, never the first one. This is so prevalent that when Japanese people want to pretend to be (and making fun of 'gaijin', they do this themselves. For example, the correct pronounciation of my first name, Makiko, is MA-ki-ko with the emphasis on the first syllable. But most if not all English speakers, say it like ma-KEE-koh. That is, if they don't mangle it totally! (I've heard Makako, Mukoko, Mikiki, Mukaka, etc., always with the emphasis on the 2nd syllable.) This is just one reason why I usually prefer my shortened nickname, Maki, which is a lot less likely to get messed up.

One word that is totally messed up in English is shiitake (as in the mushroom.). It is pronounced SHI-i-ta-ke in Japanese, but has become shi-TAH-kay in English. I guess it's better to regard it now as a fully fledged imported word in the English vernacular and accept that horrible pronounciation of it. Anyway, here's how it is pronounced in Japanese vs. Nihonglish:

A couple more examples. Here's sa-shi-mi vs. sa-SHEE-mee:

And that Japanese name that makes English speakers giggle, Matsushita (I've tried to say the English-speaker version in the way Japanese people pretending to be gaijin might say it):

So, the lesson to be learned here is that if you want to get the correct pronounciation, never assume that the English version of the word is right!

The use of 困る (komaru)

The word 困る　(こまる　komaru), or in the past tense or as an adjective 困った　(こまった　komatta) is used in a lot of contexts. Normally it's translated as 'be in trouble', but it means more than that. I actually can't think of one single English word that is its equivalent.

So let's see how it's used. It quite depends on the context, and the tone in which you use it.

First, to indicate you are in trouble, when you might say "uh oh", "oh dear" etc. in English:

定期をなくしてしまった。困ったなあ。　(Teiki o nakushite shimatta. Komatta naa.)

• I lost my (train or bus) pass. Oh dear (I'm in trouble).

寝坊した！　困ったよ。　(Nebou shita! Komatta yo.)

• I overslept! Uh oh. (I'm in trouble).

Here's how to use it to indicate you are bothered by, in a dilemma, or embarassed by something.

マイケルにデートに誘われたのだけど、私はひろしが好きなのよ。困ったわ。　(Maikeru ni de-to ni sasowareta no dakedo, watashi wa Hiroshi ga suki nano yo. Komatta wa.)

• Michael asked me out on a date, but I like Hiroshi. I'm embarassed (in a dilemma / don't know what to do).

うちの犬はどこででもおしっこしちゃうのよね。　困った。(uchi no inu ha doko de demo oshikko shichau no yo ne. Komatta.)

• Our dog pees anywhere. Oh dear (embarassing, dilemma, annoying).

And here's how to use it to express anger/annoyance:

僕の自転車を勝手に借りないで！　困るよ！　(Boku no jitensha o katte ni karinai de! Komaru yo!)

• Don't borrow my bicycle without asking! You're bugging me! (inconveniencing me, bothering me)

Finally, here's how to use it as an adjective.

あの赤ちゃん、困った顔して可愛い！(Ano akachan, komatta kao shite kawaii!)

• That baby has such a cute frowny-face!

Here is a classic children's song called 犬のおまわりさん　(いぬのおまわりさん　inu no omawarisan) - The Dog Policeman (おまわりさん　is a familiar, sort of kiddy-way of calling a policeman.) See if you can pick up the phrase 困ってしまって　(こまってしまって　komatte shimatte), which means to be in a dilemma, in a pickle, not sure what to do, etc.

The dog policeman has to deal with a little lost kitten, who keeps on answering 解らない　(わからない　wakaranai) when asked, What is your name? Where do you live? In the end the kitten starts crying, so the dog policeman is 困った！

Here are the lyrics for the first verse, FYI.

迷子の迷子の子猫ちゃん　(まいごのまいごのこねこちゃん　maigo no maigo no konekochan)

あなたのお家はどこですか　(あなたのおうちはどこですか　anata no ouchi wa dokedesuka)

お家を聞いても　解らない　(おうちをきいてもわからない　ouchi o kiitemo wakaranai)

名前を聞いても　解らない (なまえをきいてもわからない　namae o kiitemo wakaranai)

にゃんにゃんにゃにゃん　にゃんにゃんにゃにゃん (nyan nyan nyanyan nyan nyan nyanyan)

泣いてばかりいる子猫ちゃん （ないてばかりいるこねこちゃん　naite bakari iru konekochan)

犬のお巡りさん 困ってしまって (いぬのおまわりさん　こまってしまって　inu no omawarisan komatte shimatte)

ワンワンワワン　ワンワンワワン (wan wan wawan wan wan wawan)

(Translation:

Little lost kitty

Where is your home?

Ask her where she lives but she says "I don't know"

Ask her name but she says "I don't know"

Meow meow meow

Little kitty just keeps crying

The dog policeman doesn't know what to do

Woof woof woof!

The best anime series for learning Japanese?

Periodically I'm asked, what is the best anime or manga for learning Japanese? I don't exactly keep up with every single anime series out there, and I suppose one answer is that the series that you like for their own sake are the best ones.

However, the problem with a lot of anime from the language learning point of view is that they are speaking colloquially. There's a lot of slang, improper sentences grammatically, not to mention the use of dialects and so on. A particular problem with some types of anime is the use of a kind of 'baby talk' which would be totally inappropriate for grown-up humans to use. With historical drama anime, there can be another problem - the use of archaic language that is never used in modern day conversation.

There's one anime series that stands out for me in just in terms of language use though: Fruits Basket. Taking its cue from the original manga series, the main characters and most of the side characters in Fruits Basket speaks in a very precise and courteous way　- 丁寧　ていねい　teinei. The dialect used is usually 共通語　きょうつうご　kyoutsuugo, or 'common language', the version of Japanese that is mostly based on the dialects of the Kanto region that was standardized throughout Japan by the Ministry of Education. In particular, the main character Tohru Honda (本田透　ほんだ とおる　honda tohru) speaks in a very polite way that would be considered ideal for a well brought up girl, which goes with her nature. You get to hear a lot of 敬語　(けいご　keigo), or polite ways of saying things, from her.

Another advantage of Fruits Basket is that there are lots of long, storytelling dialogues with complete sentences (when they are explaining the Curse and all that). These can be better to learn from than chopped up conversational bits and pieces. The Fruits Basket dialogues are at a rather advanced level of Japanese, but it can be worth listening to.

Older anime series that were aimed at are good for learning in another way: they too use more 'correct', standardized Japanese most of the time.

Do you watch any anime series to learn Japanese? What do you recommend?

The name order for Japanese Americans (or other people of Japanese origin)

The 'first' or given name in Japanese is 名前　(なまえ　namae), and the 'last' or family name is 名字 (みょうじ　myouji) or 性　(せい　sei).

You probably already know that in Japan, the position of the 'first' and 'last' name (in Western languages) is reversed. So for instance, Ayumi Hamasaki is called 浜崎あゆみ　(hamasaki ayumi).

The position does not change for non-Japanese names. So if your name is John Smith, you do not become スミス・ジョン (smith john), your name order stays ジョン・スミス. (You may notice the ・　betwenn the ジョン　and スミス; a delimiter like that is usually used between the first and last names of a foreign name to show where which is which.

But what about the names of Japanese Americans or other people of Japanese origin? For instance, the recently named Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, is a Japanese American. Do Japanese people call him Shinseki Eric? No they don't - his name remains in the order it's given in English, which is also spelled out all in katakana (エリック・シンセキ). (According to Wikipedia Japan, the kanji for his family name is 新関, but this has not been used at all in newspaper reports about him.)

I think this is a reflection in a way of the way Japanese people who live in Japan think of Japanese emigrants and their descendants. Once they leave, they are essentially no longer Japanese. The become people of Japanese origin (日系人　にっけいじん　nikkeijin), but no longer Japanese (日本人　にほんじん　nihonjin). I can't imagine a 日系人　achieving success in another country and that being regarded in the same light as a 日本人's success (in the way the success of Barack Obama was embraced as an achievement by 'one of us' by the people of Kenya for example, even if he's only half-Kenyan by blood).

For instance, in the 1992 Winter Olympics (ok, I'm dating myself), a Japanese-American figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi (クリスティー・ヤマグチ) was a rival of a Japanese figure skater, Midori Ito (伊藤みどり); when Kristi Yamaguchi eventually took the gold medal, no one in Japan embraced it as an achievement in ethnic-pride terms. It was just an American winning.

December, when even priests have to run

December (１２月　じゅうにがつ　juunigatsu) is also called 師走　(しわす　shiwasu). This was the name of the 12th month according to the 'old', or Chinese lunar, calendar (旧暦　きゅうれき　kyuureki), but it's been applied to the new, or Western calendar's (西暦　せいれき　seireiki) 12th month too (the one in use in Japan for all practical purposes.)

While there are old names for all the months, most Japanese people nowadays barely know them anymore. However, 師走 is still in use. It is made up of two kanji that mean Buddhist priest (師）and run (走）, and apparently means the month that is so busy that even a priest has to run.

December is so busy in Japan because New Year's (正月　しょうがつ　shougatsu, or the honorific term お正月　おしょうがつ　oshougatsu) is the big holiday of the year. Before the New Year can be welcomed in, one has to do a lot of things:

1. The house has to be cleaned of all the dirt and mess of the old year. In olden days, people even used to change out their clothes too to new ones. My mother still kept up this tradition in a way when we were growing up - on New Year's Eve, she'd hand out brand new underwear and pyjamas for us to wear! (She didn't throw away our old clothes though.)

2. Year-end gifts (お歳暮　おせいぼ　oseibo) have to be sent out to people you are obligated to such as bosses, relatives, community leaders, and so on. While there's another big gift-giving season in the summer (お中元　おちゅうげん　ochuugen), the year-end one is the main one.

3. One is obligated to go to a lot of year-end parties to 'forget' the old year, most of which are work-related. (忘年会　ぼうねんかい　bounenkai).

4. Finally, the cook of the family, usually the wife, has to prepare the New Year's feast. The cook/wife was supposed to take a rest from the kitchen for the New Year period (the first 7 days), which means she or he has to prepare a lot of well-keeping food beforehand. (In practice, a lot of people nowadays don't have New Year's food for the whole 7 days, and they order the special food, called お節料理　おせちりょうり　osechiryouri from a department store, specialist caterer etc. Nowadays you can order them online too.)

Add on top of that the more recently adopted tradition of the Christmas party (usually celebrated with friends or with a loved one, very popular time for a young couple to go to a fancy hotel for a night) and December really is a time to run around frantically.