間



A couple of weeks ago we looked at the phrase 手間 tema. Today we're going to look at the second of the kanji that form the word tema.


The character 間 is an essential one in everyday Japanese and with a wide variety of meanings.

Its Chinese-style reading (onyomi) is usually kan (but can, for certain meanings, be pronounced ken), and its Japanese-style reading (kunyomi) is aida or ma.

The fundamental meaning of 間 is "space between," "gap," "interval," "distance." However, it refers not only to space, but to time as well, meaning, also, "time between," "pause," "break."

Today we'll look at three very common uses of the character in Japanese.

1. 間も無く This is the ma pronunciation of 間, and the phrase here is pronounced ma mo naku meaning, literally, "without a gap/space." Its meaning in everyday Japanese, however, is "quite/very soon." You will always hear it at a Japanese railway station in the announcement Mamonaku densha ga mairimasu (word for word: "Soon train come", or, more idiomatically, "The train is about to arrive."

2. この間 This is the aida pronunciation of 間, and the phrase here is pronounced kono aida, meaning, literally, "this space."
Its meaning in everyday Japanese, however, is "last time," "the other day," or "recently." You will often hear, for example, Kono aida, domo or "Thanks for everything last time."

3. 間 The kan pronunciation is probably the most common usage of this character, but always in tandem with the period of time being referred to. "2 weeks" is ni shuu kan, ni being "2," shuu being "week" and kan being "space (of)." Likewise, "12 days" is juu ni nichi kan, "5 years," go nen kan, and so on. Read more about the intricacies of Japanese counting.

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道を聞く


The way Japanese addresses work makes finding one a potentially maddening task. The often narrow, winding streets that turn into pavements and back into streets again, the numerous cul-de-sacs you end up in, and the general sameness of the architecture can get you very lost.

Fortunately the system compensates by having a police box, or koban, often within a few hundred meters of wherever you may be, or, at least near a station for you to drop in to before you begin the hunt. Hopefully a police officer – keisatsukan, or, more colloquially omawari-san (literally, “one who does the rounds”) will be between doing the rounds, and will be able to help you.

Let’s look at a few Japanese phrases to do with asking the way.

First of all, “the way” is, in Japanese, quite simply “road,” or michi. “Ask” being “kiku,” the phase “to ask the way” becomes “michi o kiku,” literally “to ask the road.”

A Sumimasen ga, michi o kikitai desu
(“Excuse me, but I would like to ask the way.”)

B Doko made desu ka?
(“Where to?”)

A Kono Chuo ittchome, loku no yon made desu.
(“This 'Chuo 1-chome, 6-4'”)

B. Dewa, koko wo massugu itte, hashi ni tsuitara, wataranaide sugu hidari e itte kudasai.
("OK, go straight, then when you reach the bridge, don’t cross it, but go immediately left.")

A. Hai
(“OK”)

B. Ni sam byaku mehtoru aruitara, konbini ga miemasu. Soko wo migi ni magatte kudasai.
("Go 3-400 meters, and you’ll see a convenience store. Turn right there.")

A. Hai.

B. Sono hen tsuitara, mata dare ka ni kiite kudasai.
("Once you’ve made it to there, please ask someone again.")

A. Wakarimashita. Domo arigato gozaimasu.
("I got it. Thank you very much.")

B. Ie ie, ki o tsukete kudasai.
("Not at all. Take care.")


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夏ばて

Goya gourd. Photo by Dalgial

Summer in Japan is characterized by festivals, fireworks displays, and the wearing of the traditional yukata. However, on the flip side, being as hot and humid as it is, summer is also known as a season of fatigue.

If you’re a regular at a gym in Japan you will notice how it seems to empty out a little in July and August. The atmosphere inside the typical Japanese office is slightly oppressed in summer, with people taking more random days off work, and harried faces more the norm than in the cooler months. Look out from your balcony over the neighborhood on an early summer morning, and notice how bereft of the usual joggers the paths are.

A common word in Japanese for this state of summer lethary is natsubate (nah-tsu-bah-the), the natsu meaning summer, and the bate being a modified form of the verb hateru, meaning to be exhausted.

To make a verb of it: natsubate suru.

A commonly believed antidote to natsubate is the eating of the bitter gourd known as the goya (momordica charantia).

Natsubate o shitara goya o tabeyo!
If you’re feeling overcome by the summer heat, eat goya!


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老人

Age is quite a popular topic of everyday conversation in Japan and is much more freely discussed in Japan than in the West, in that "How old are you?" (Ikutsu desu ka?, or Nansai desu ka?) is by no means a social taboo.

A growing segment of the Japanese population is now over 65 years old (rokujuugo-sai). It is growing for two reasons: the number of children being born is rapidly declining, and longevity (nagaiki, literally "long living") is increasing.

A senior citizen is known as a rohjin, and an old people's home is a rohjin hohmu.

A recent problem with rohjin hohmu in Japan is that a growing number, while operating as de facto old people's homes, are not declaring themselves as such in order to avoid the expense of having to comply with the plethora of regulations that apply to them. They are often exposed in the course of government audits, putting themselves, the authorities, and, in particular, their residents, in a quandary.

Other age-related vocabulary includes: fukushi (福祉, welfare), kurumaisu (車椅子, wheelchair), and nenkin (年金, pension).

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定額給付金

The application form arrived from Tokyo.

After we complete the applications, return them to the government, and the payments are processed, my family will be 44,000 yen ($440) richer.

20,000 for my wife, who is Japanese. 12,000 for for my dual national elementary school age child. 12,000 for me, a US national with permanent resident status in Japan.

It has been called the most expensive electoral bribe in history. The applications for the 2 trillion yen ($2 billion) cash handout to all Japanese citizens - and foreigners with permanent residency - have been mailed out and are starting to arrive in mail boxes.

Prime Minister Taro Aso and his ruling Liberal Democrats (LDP) came up with the idea for the stimulus package last fall.

It has been derided however by opposition parties and local governors as meaningless. One forecast estimates that the ploy will increase domestic consumption by just 0.1 per cent.

All citizens are eligible - infants, criminals, and the very wealthy like Mr. Aso - to receive the cash.

That the payment is taking place just before a general election is also suspect in the eyes of its opponents.

The kanji for the payout is the very official sounding 定額給付金 (teigaku kyufu kin).

That literally means "fixed amount payment."

And on that note we are off to spend our payment and boost the Japanese economy!

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天気

Although the English might be renowned for always talking about the weather, you haven’t heard the Japanese! Perhaps, however, it’s less the actual weather they obsess about than the seasonal climate.

Never, ever - ever - in Japan is the temperature “just right,” or chodo ii. It is always either (grimacing) atsui, i.e. hot, or samui, i.e. cold. In other words, the Japanese love complaining about the climate more than actually talking about it.

So talking about the weather in Japanese is actually remarkably easy. Forget about grammar and sophisticated vocab. With atsui and samui - and the appropriate body language and grimaces - you’ve basically mastered it.

However, it you’d like to add a few descriptive touches, here are some extra words that might come in handy:

weather - tenki
climate - kiko
temperature - ondo
rain – ame (rhymes with lamé)
snow – yuki (rhymes with spooky)
wind - kaze (also "cold" as in "to catch a cold)
cloudy - kumori
sunny – hare (like “hurray!,” but with the stress on the first syllable)
muggy / humid – mushi-atsui (mooshy atsooey)
warm - atatakai

Example conversation

Mrs. Tanaka: Ohayo gozaimasu! (Good morning)

Mrs. Bando: Ohayo gozaimasu! (Good morning)

Mrs. Tanaka: Kyo wa honto ni samui desu ne. (It's really cold today, isn't it.)

Mrs. Bando: So desu ne. Honto ni samui desu yo. (Yes, it really is cold.)

Mrs. Tanaka: Kaze o hikanai yo ni ki o tsukete kudasai ne. (Please take care not to catch a cold.)

Mrs. Bando: Arigato gozaimasu. (Thank you very much.)

Mrs. Tanaka: Kotoshi wa toku ni hayatte imasu mono. (They are particularly prevalent this year.)

Mrs. Bando: Desu yo ne! (You're telling me!)

Mrs. Tanaka: Konna samui hi ga tsuzuku to nakanaka naorinikui mono desu shi. (And with the cold days persisting like this, it's very difficult to cure.)

Mrs. Bando: Tashika ni so desho ne. (I'm sure you're right.)

Mrs. Tanaka: Toku ni kodomo ga hiku to kawaiso desu mono. (And you feel particularly sorry for any children who catch it.)

Mrs. Bando: Tashika ni! (Without a doubt!) Atatakaku suru to ii desu ne. (It's good to dress up warm.)

Mrs. Tanaka: So nan desu yo. (So true.)

Mrs. Bando: Ne! (But isn't it just!)

Mrs. Tanaka: Dewa, dewa. Soro soro shitsurei shimasu ne. (Well, well, I'd better get going.)

Mrs. Bando: Hai, hai! (Very well!)

Mrs. Tanaka: O-karada ki o tsukete kudasai ne. (Look after yourself won't you.)

Mrs. Bando: Hai, domo domo. (Yes, thank you.)

Mrs. Tanaka: Dewa, shitsurei shimasu. (All right, goodbye.)

Mrs. Bando: Hai, shitsurei shimasu. (Goodbye)

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儘

mama is a word that crops up very frequently in Japanese conversation. It has two meanings:

1. the native Japanese meaning of “as is,” written in kanji as 儘, and,

2. the meaning of “momma," imported, clearly, from English, and written in katakana as ママ.

Today we’re going to look at the no.1 meaning of “as is" (儘).

Perhaps the most common phrases using mama are “kono mama,” or “sono mama,” or “ano mama” – respectively “just like this,” and “just like that” (sono and ano both meaning “that," but ano being a “that” that is more distant from the speaker than sono).

For example, at the supermarket checkout, when all you have bought is a pack of chewing gum:

Clerk: “Fukuro wa ikaga desu ka?” (Would you like a bag for that?)
Customer: “Iie, sono mama de ii desu.” (No, it's fine just like that. / No, it’s fine as it is.)

Another phrase where you find mama is in the term wagamama. Waga means “my, one’s own,” which, conjoined with mama means “just as I am.” To the Westerner, that might sound nobly unaffected and honest; but in Japanese it has the wholly negative meaning of someone who asserts their own desires and expresses their own personality traits without any regard for those of others, or, in other words, someone who behaves like a little child, ignorant or, worse, careless, of social mores and expectations. Boiled down to a single English word, it is usually translated as "selfish," although that really only expresses a part of its full meaning.

Another useful phrase using mama is mama-naranai. Naranai is the negative form of naru, which is the verb “to become". So mama-naranai means to “not work out the way you want(ed) it to”. For example:

Monogoto wa mama-naranai (Things never go just the way we want.)

By the way, you'll often hear mama pronounced mam-ma as a colloquial way of reinforcing the meaning.

Sono mama de owarimasho! (And without further ado, let’s leave off there!)

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今年の流行語「アラフォー」「グ〜！」

The words or phrases that best "reflect" the recent year in Japanese society were recently chosen at the annual 2008 U-CAN Awards ceremony.

First prize went to 「アラフォー」"arafo-," which is used to refer to a woman around 40 years old. Second prize went to 「グ〜！」, "gu~" (good).

"Arafo-" was the title of a television series that portrayed the lives of forty-somethings.

The second grand prize went to the very irritating 「グ〜！」. Edo Harumi, herself forty-something, is a "talento" whose only talent seems to be to make an odd face while giving the thumbs up sign and uttering 「グ〜！」.

Other words nominated included:

「居酒屋タクシー」(izakaya taxi). This refers to the cabs that offered a beer or two to bureaucrats on their ride home after a long day at the Ministry.

「上野の４１３球」(Ueno no 413 kyu). The Japanese women's softball team took the gold medal in Beijing this summer, mainly on the back (arm) of starting pitcher Yukiko Ueno. She threw a total of 413 pitches in three days.

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日本語のことわざ

It's Thursday, so let's take a look at a few more useful expressions.

ピンからキリまで（pin kara kin made）= from best to worst

You can shorten it to ピンキリ (pin kiri).

棚からぼた餅（たなからぼたもち、tana kara bota mochi）= an unexpected bit of good luck. The expression literally means "a rice cake on a bookshelf."

It can be shortened to たなぼた（tana bota）.

And for summer, even late summer:

生ビール（なまビール、nama biru）= A draft beer.

And for all those who dream of something else:

脱サラ（だつさら、datsu sara) = leaving the life of a salaryman and pursuing a different path.

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