Hungry for Words: Mostly Japanese

Ganbatte! vs. Good Luck! vs...

Let's say your friend tells you they are about to take a driving test, go up to talk to a cute girl/boy at a bar, go to hospital for an operation, or climb up a cliff face. What do you say to them?

In English, most people automatically say "Good luck!"

In French you probably say "Bonne chance!" which means the same thing; in German it's "Viel Glück" (same again), or "Mach's Gut!" (make good!)

In Japanese the standard no-thinking-about-it phrase is 頑張って！　がんばって！　ganbatte! (or gambatte!) (alternatives: 頑張れ！　頑張れよ！頑張ってね！　頑張って下さい！）

In the west (at least in the languages I'm familiar with) you wish the person to have luck, which is a something that is bestowed upon them by the random forces of the cosmos. I have a feeling, though I may be off on this, that wishing someone luck evolved from the religious equivalents "May God be with you!" "My prayers are with you!"

Of course there are ways to say Good Luck in Japanese, but when you wish someone luck you are consciously choosing to say so. For instance you might say to someone who's bought a lottery ticket, ご幸運をお祈りします - ごこううんをおいのりします gokouun o oinorishimasu. I wish you (pray for your) good luck.

But the phrase that is automatically said in most situations has nothing to do with luck. The base form of the Japanese phrase is 頑張る　がんばる　ganbaru (gambaru) which means to strive, to try ones best. So 頑張って　means 'Go and try your best!' The onus is put on the efforts of the person or persons involved in the endeavor, rather than random forces or a higher entity.

A subtle yes interesting difference, no?

(The German Mach's Gut might be closer in intent to 頑張って. Not sure about the theatrical Break a leg! - does that mean that the actor tries so hard that he's supposed to break a leg, or just reserve-luckology, the equivalent of wishing someone bad luck?)

Heidi, Heidi in Japanese and German

Heidi is a children's novel written by Johanna Spyri, a 19th century Swiss author who lived most of her life in Zürich. Heidi became tremendously popular almost immediately; it's been translated to several languages, made into movies several times (most notabley perhaps in the English speaking world in a rather bastardized version starring Shirley Temple), and there was a Heidi musical that was popular last summer in Switzerland. But in the non-English speaking world, Heidi is probably best known via the anime series produced in Japan in the 1970s called Arupusu no sho-jo Haiji (アルプスの少女ハイジ). (Wikipedia English entry)

It's a bit ironic in a way that a Japanese anime has helped to make a Swiss classic (written in German) so popular. But the series really was of top quality, and it's no wonder that it is still shown on TV all over the world. (Except for the English speaking parts of course. Crap like Pikachuu and Yuugi-Oh can make it on the Toon channels but an old anime of a classic children's story...no no no.)

Since I'm a Japanese person currently living in Switzerland. Heidi is never that far from my mind. Whenever I talk to a new Japanese acquaintance, I can guarantee that Heidi will come up in the conversation. Heidiland, the area around Maienfeld in the Grisons (Graubünden), is a major draw for Japanese tourists. (Don't let that deter you from visiting the area though - it really is beautiful around there.)

Words of the year 2007: fake, w00t, and death tourism

It's that time of the year when various organizations around the world drum up a bit of PR for themselves by selecting a Word Of The Year, which is then picked up by news outlets looking for filler.

Let's do a short hop around the world. This year's kanji character of the year in Japan, as selected by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation in Kyoto, is the one pictured here. Read as Gi or (with an additional hiragana character appended) Itswari, it means "fake" or "lie". It was a year of fakery and lying in Japan, lead by several incidents of food companies using out-of-date ingredients and faking labels, embezzlement scandals, faked up reports on TV, and the like. Not a very positive kind of word to be the One for the year. Last year's word was Life, and 2005's was Love, so I guess you can mark Japan as Mood: Down in 2007. (Japanese news link)

Breasts 'n nipples, part 1: German

Behold, a very nice painting. It's called Portrait présumé de Gabrielle d'Estrées et de sa soeur la duchesse de Villars (Portrait presumed to be of Gabrielle d'Estrées and her sister the Duchess of Villars). It's at the Louvre, and was painted around 1594 by an unknown painter. The lady on the right is supposedly Gabrielle d'Estrées, a mistress of Henry IV of France.