Hungry for Words: Mostly Japanese

Osaka loves food, Kyoto loves fashion, and..Tokyo?

New York is the City That Never Sleeps or the Big Apple. Chicago is the Windy City. Paris is the City of Lights. Sayings like this, that try to capture the spirit of a place in a short phrase, exist for Japanese cities too.

A common saying about Osaka is 食い倒れの街　(kui-daore no machi), the town that loves to eat. 食い倒れ　means to eat until you drop. This is probably true...Osaka is known for great, cheap eats and is the birthplace of famous street snacks like takoyaki and okonomiyaki.

A lesser known saying takes the phrase and applies it to Kyoto. Kyoto people are generally held to be very おしゃれ　(oshare, pronounced o-SHA-reh) or fashionable and well dressed. Therefore, Kyoto is 着倒れの街　(ki-daore no machi), the town that loves to dress up. Kyoto is famous for its beautiful woven kimono silks or Nishijin-ori. People in Kyoto still wear kimonos quite a lot in their daily lives, probably more than in other cities.

An even lesser known saying apparently exists about other cities. Nagoya is said to be 貯め倒れの街　(tame-daore no machi) - the town that loves to save money, or another way of saying Nagoya residents are cheap. Osaka people are generally said to be rather tight with their money too, and often are called the Scots of Japan. (Just as in any other country, various regions of Japan take friendly snipes at each other all the time.) Nara is said to be 寝倒れの街　（ne-daore no machi) or the town that loves to sleep, since the shops there close up fairly early and there's nothing to do (according to some residents) at night.

I haven't really been able to find one phrase that is applied to Tokyo though. I've read 飲み倒れの街　(nomi-daore no machi) - the town that drinks until it drops, or 履き倒れの街　(haki-daore no machi) - the town that loves...shoes? (The last one is also applied to Kobe for some reason.) My favorite -daore phrase applied to Tokyo though is 行き倒れ　(iki-daore), which means to drop dead on the street. Tokyo is so crowded and so busy, that you do sort of feeling like dropping to the ground in exhaustion sometimes. ^_^

When to use -chan or -san, and other ways to address people in Japan

(Yes I know, I know, I will try to post more frequently.)

In Japanese conversation, the suffixes -san and -chan are used regularly when addressing other people - e.g. "Sato-san", "Kobayashi-san", "Mayumi-san", "Taro-chan"*. These are sort of the equivalant of 'Mr.' 'Mrs.' 'Ms.' etc. in English, but not exactly the same. If you have been studying Japanese for any length of time, you probably already know that there are some rules as to when to use -san or -chan, but just in case, here they are.

Use -san as the default

Whenever you are addressing someone, unless you become very close to them, you should always use -san. As a matter of fact, unless you are told otherwise by that person, you should always address them by their family (last) name + san. For example, if you met Taro Yamada**, you would call him Yamada-san unless he tells you to call him by his first name, Taro. Then, you would call him Taro-san unless you became very close friends with him.

For older people or people above you in station, use -san or their title/station

Any person older than you should always be addressed with a -san. However, if that person has a specific relationship to you, then you often use their title instead. For example, your teacher (先生　せんせい　sensei) is usually addressed as [their last name]-sensei; using =san would be regarded as being disrespectful. Native-speaker language teachers often tell their students to call them by their first names, but even then the natural inclination of a Japanese person is to attach a -sensei to that, e.g. Eric (Erikku)-sensei. Writers and other people held in high regard are often called -sensei too, even if they're not teachers.

People above you in a company are usually addressed by their title only, omitting their name entirely - unless you are talking about them in the third person. For example, let's say your division head (課長　かちょう　kachou) is called Hiroshi Suzuki. To his face, you would address him simply as kachou. When talking about him to someone else, you might refer to him as Suzuki-kachou.

Use -chan for children

Anyone who has not reached the age of maturity (20 in Japan) can be called -chan, usually using their first name, by any (older) adult.

Be cautious when using -chan otherwise

With the exception of addressing children, using -chan can be a bit difficult. Keep in mind that -chan is used to imply one of the following:

• as a term of endearment or intimacy
• to imply that the person you're addressing with -chan is somehow below you in some way

You can safely call people you are very close to (but not your elders) as -chan - your girl/boyfriend, your close friends, your younger siblings/cousins, your children/grandchildren/nieces and nephews. But -chan is also often used to address women/girls for example, up to the age of say 30 or so (the upper age limit is creeping up). Most Japanese female celebrities for example, unless they are ancient and revered, are called -chan by their fans. (Some younger male celebrities are also.) I could say a lot about the infantilization of women in Japanese society and such, but well, there it is.

When addressing a woman though, you should avoid using -chan unless you become friendly enough, if you wish to be polite. The only women who are straight out called -chan by strangers are those who are there to 'entertain' their clients (sexually or otherwise) - such as 'club hostesses', 'maids' in anime cafes, and so on.

Sometimes, a non-Japanese person will write an email or comment to me and attach -san or -chan. Maki-san is fine, but Maki-chan makes me flinch a tiny bit instinctively. No I'm not offended if you have called me Maki-chan in the past! But hey - you didn't know any better. ^_^; This is one of those subtle things that may be a bit hard to understand about Japanese societal mores, but I hope this has helped a bit.

Notes

*- Other name suffixes used are -kun and -sama. Briefly, -kun is used mainly to address boys/young men, and by superiors when addressing subordinates in company or school situations for both genders. -sama is a very formal suffix, used in well, formal situations, or in certain anime and manga etc. as a form of affectation.

**- "Taro Yamada" or 山田太郎　(yamada taro) is sort of the Japanese equivalent of John Doe in American-English - a generic male name. (The female equivalent is "Hanako Yamada" (山田花子　yamada hanako).

Umai and....

うまい　umai is a multi-meaning word, which generally means 'good'.

For instance, it can be used to say someone is good at doing something.

洋子はピアノがうまい　ようこはピアノがうまい　yoko wa piano ga umai - Yoko is good at (playing) the piano

It can also mean something tastes good or is delicious.

このラーメン、うまい！　kono ramen, umai! - This ramen is delicous!

A third usage is to say a procedure is (or should) go well.

ビルは今日真由美と初デートだ。うまくいくといいな。　ビルはきょうまゆみとはつデートだ。うまくいくといいな。 - Today, Bill has a first date with Mayumi. (I) hope it goes well.

However, there is one caveat for using umai. Except for the third usage, umai is considered to be a very informal and not-too-polite word. It should only be used by males in informal situations. If females use it, they are considered to be a bit rude or mannish. So, if you want to stay polite, you have to use different words:

For the first usage, 'is good at something', use 上手　じょうず　jouzu

Example: 洋子はピアノが上手　yoko wa piano ga jouzu

For the 'tastes good, delicious' usage, use 美味しい　おいしい　oishii

Example: このラーメン、美味しい！　kono ramen, oishii!

(An even more informal way to say うまい　is うめえ　umeh. I had fun for a few years telling The (Swiss) Guy that the word for delcious was うめえ, and watching my Japanese relatives doing a small double-take when he said it. I did get found out eventually...)

Opposite meaning words

The opposite meaning word for うまい　differs by the meaning.

うまい　(as in good at something) -- 下手　へた　heta

うまい　(as in delicious) -- まずい　mazui

As for the third meaning, while まずくいく　is not used as a phrase meaning 'go bad', まずい　is used to mean 'a bad situation', or simply 'uh oh' or 'oh no'.

Example: まずい、財布を忘れてしまった。　まずい、さいふをわすれてしまった。mazui, saifu o wasurete shimatta. - Uh oh, I forgot my purse.

Complain and grumble

Today's theme is complaining and grumbling - a common pastime on the interwebs, especially Twitter.

文句を言う　もんくをいう　monku o iu - To complain

ぶつぶつ文句を言う　ぶつぶつもんくをいう　butsubutsu monku o iu To grumble, complain.

Example: あの女はいつもぶつぶつ文句ばっかり言っている　 あのおんなはいつもぶつぶつもんくばっかりいっている。　Ano onna wa itsumo monku bakkari itteiru

• That woman is always/only (itsumo + bakkari) grumbling and complaining.

You might see some manga characters saying ブツブツ or ぶつぶつ... when they are grumbling under their breath.

On the Japanese version of Twitter, 'tweets' are translated as つぶやき、which means murmur(s) or whisper(s). But maybe calling them ぶつぶつ　might be more appropriate ^_^ (Actually I'm not sure why they did not use a more neutral word, or even just ツイッター, but that's another story.

(ぶつぶつ　has another meaning - to be bumpy or pimply or spotty. E.g. a if your face if covered with pimples, it's ぶつぶつ。Raw chicken skin is ぶつぶつ。）

More about Mendou, and Obama as English Teacher

Following up to the previous post, here's more about that word 面倒　mendou.

Since it means burden, responsibility etc, it can have negative connotation as I have explained. It can also have a positive meaning as banana pointed out in the comments.

面倒を見る　めんどうをみる　mendou o miru - to take care of something or someone.

Example: 私は病気の母の面倒を見ます。　わたしはびょうきのははのめんどうをみます　watashi wa byouki no haha no mendou o mimasu. - I take care of my sick mother. (Wasn't this the sob story of one of the American Idol wannabes this year? Anyway.)

Here's another positive usage of 面倒:

面倒見が良い　めんどうみがよい mendoumi ga yoi - to be considerate, caring （面倒見の良い、面倒見がいい、面倒見のいい　are also used)

Example: 聡はとても面倒見が良い男だ。さとしはとてもめんどうみがいいおとこだ。　Satoshi wa totemo mendoum ga ii - Satoshi is a very considerate guy.

There's a fine line between being 面倒見が良い　and being お節介　おせっかい　osekkai, which means being a meddler, busybody.

Obama as English teacher?

Previously, I expressed my skepticism about a report that a manga version of Das Kapital was a bestseller in Japan. There is however something else that is a bestseller: Barack Obama speeches. The book-with-CD sets published by CNN Express are dominating the English learning category on Amazon Japan for instance. The books contain the English text and Japanese translation of his speeches. The reviews say that Obama's speeches are great for learning, since they don't use a lot of very difficult words and his enunciation is very clear. (He also has a Middle America bland accent, which is easier than other accents for many non-English speakers to pick up on.) I guess this could be considered as part of the whole Obama-mania thing, but imagine the influence his speeches will have on a whole generation of Japanese kids who use them to learn English! It's either inspiring or scary, depending on which side of the political fence you stand on.

It's hard to imagine any Japanese politician with the same sort of universal appeal being used for Japanese learning materials though.