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MANGAJIN
ThaJoy of 8
Japanuu Bath
Top &rnady Tearn: DownTown ~amutal ftorn Outat ~paea .
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CONTENTS No. 63, March 1997
Features 12 Soaking in the Sentii Confessed bath freak Rick Kennedy describes the pleasures of the local public bath-an experience many Japanese themselves can no longer enjoy. page 12
16 Going Downtown In 1989 theirfirst TV show was a ratings flop, but today members of the comedy duo Downtown are the highest-paid entertainers in Japan. Mark Schilling explains why.
Manga 19 Manga Shorts • 1m :J ?
i~@
50 Mad about Diijinshi Thanks to cheap printing
Hundred-Year Senryii, Happy Day, President Ponpoko, Yarikuri Co. , and Selected Works of Ishii Hisaichi.
29 After Zero • 7 7
~
and lax copyright laws, manga ''fanzines" are a major phenomenon in Japan. Mary Kennard guides us through one of the biggest dojinshi events.
- 0
"T he Devil 's Seeds" comes to a shocking conclusion.
64 American Comics • 7
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1)
tJ (f) it@
Dilbert and Garfield-in Japanese.
67 Minori Densetsu • 7-J- (f)
~ f~m
Minori' s all set to launch her career as a freelance writer- until she gets some alarming news.
Departments 9
Brand News: Yutopia really exists, right outside Tokyo.
54 Book Review Samurai from Outer Space, by Antonia Levi.
55 On the Bookshelf
page SO
Recently released books about Japan.
62 Cooking Corner Nori and hand-rolled sushi.
page 20
Miscellaneous 5 6 7 18 94
Publisher's Note Letters Bloopers Warning & Pronunciation Classifieds
Language Learning 86 Basic Japanese: Contractions, Part 1 You won' t find them in the dictionary, but there's no need to get uptight about contractions.
92 Pop Japanese William Marsh explores s lang of the 1960s.
93 Vocabulary Summary Words from this issue of Mangajin.
Mangajin is a made-up word combining mango ("comics/cartoons") and jill ("person/people"). It sounds almost like the English word "magazine"
as rendered in japanese-magajin. All of the Japanese manga in Mangajin were created in japan. by Japanese cartoonists. for japanese readers.
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LETTERS
Letters to the Editor
Mangajin welcomes co/111/lellls by let· ter.fa.x, or e-mail, although we resen •e the right to edit for clarity or length. Please address correspondence to: Editor, P.O. Box 77188. Atlanta. GA 30357 (
[email protected]). D :ifs:~l:f(l)f:,t,JHJ .A:W\i!I!"'C"T o II +:
Japanese joking around T think that it wou ld be useful to occas ionally include a sec ti on on simple tongue twiste rs and jokes. It really gives learners confidence if they can pull off a joke in another language. They don't have to be sophisticated to be successful. For example. one of my Japanese friends asked me the following: Je no naka ni. donna tokoro ni wa hoki5 ga nai? ("In what pan of the house is there no direction?"). The an!.wer il>: toire ("the toilet"). Why? Kitanai! (''dirty l ~ t,: 1d: "'],'' or, for the purposes of a joke, " no North l ~tld:'-'' 1 "). A NNE P A RSONS
Glenside, SA. Australia
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In the manga translations, underlined bold lines should be reserved for the Japanese pronunciation instead of the English meaning. This wi ll discourage the tendency to read the Eng!ish meaning of the manga, and it will lead the eye to the "sound" of the nihongo conversations in the manga. I think that would be better for learning Japanese. STEPHANIE NG Wolverhampton, England
Jibun or ... ? I e njoyed Basic Japanese o. 59 on various pronouns for "you." I know you could not include all the alte rnatives. but perhaps you will be inte rested to hear the answe r I received when I asked a Japanese fri end what pronoun I should use for " you" when talking to him. My friend, a college student born in Kansai , told me to use "jibun." Of course this is also the reflexive pronoun, whic h can cause confusion for me. When the subject of my poorly constructed Japanese sentence is unclear, my frie nd ofte n asks "Ore? Jibun ?" ("Me? Or you?") That
baffled me the first dozen times! M tCIIAEL CRo, 1 via e-mail Translation Editor Wayne Lammers replies: This last example is a peifectly normal use of j ibun. As we often point out in our notes: jibun = "oneself"or " me/myself. " ''he/himself, " "you/ yourself. " " they/themse lves, " e tc. , depending on the context. If your subject wasn 't clear, it 's entirely natural for your listener to ask back, " You mean me ? Or you/yourself?" or "Are you saying that a bow me? Or about yourself?" Jibun is always context sens itive (so, for that matter, is everything else in language). It 's possible there's a stronger pref· erence for the use ofjibun fo r "you " in the Kansai dialect, bill it's ha rd to say. I suspect your f riend's recommendation reflects something mo re specific in the ll'liY you posed the question or the context of the discussion. There are lots of times in the flow of conversation when j ibun is indeed the best wo rd to use for the equivale111 of "you. " Bill since it 's so context sensitive. it 's obvio usly not a good cho ice unless you 're sure you kno w what you 're doing. It 's probably best 110t to f ollow your friend 's advice fo r general purposes, although it may indeed have been the correct advice fo r the particular context. Better to choose one of the other options offered in Basic Japanese No. 59.
Websites of the moment Things long and thin: Can you use chopsticks? This page, produced by a Japanese specialty hashi shop, contains photos. legends, and lore about those ubiquitous utensils: http://www.egg.or.jp/hyozaemon/ They're not chopsticks, but could possibly be used as chopsticks in a pinch: Pocky! Fittingly, there are two pages dedkated to the tasty treat beloved by Japan's foreign population. http://www.jurai.net/-pocky/ pocky.html and http://www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/graves/ pocky.html
The
a By Rit;k tannetJv
12 Mangajin
~orne people decide to live in a particular
;;;::1 neig hb o rh ood
because it has a good school or a good delicatessen or is a straight-shot commute to work. We decided to live in Hiyoshi, just over the Tokyo border in Yokohama, because Hiyoshi has a very good public bath. My wife and I are bath freaks. I try not to talk about it too much. I notice that when I tell a friend that I have discovered a particularly noteworthy public bath-sento (}lHJJ), we call them- l get back a wary smile, as if I had just put in a good word for a compelling new religion. It must be admitted that the institution of the bathwhich was once considered the cornerstone of civilization in some parts of the world-is fading. This is true even in Japan, the preeminent bathing society. Tokyo has lost 500 of its roughly 2,000 sentO over the last decade as it has gotten harder and harder to run a bath as a business, even with a government subsidy. Real-estate developers tear baths down, effectively ripping out the social heart of the community, and put up in their place boring but profitable apartments, each with a privatebut lonely-bath, its pastel plastic tub so small the legs of the bather must be jacked up in a fetal position against the chest; hardly a natural position to relax in. Many young Tokyoites have never been to a public bath. When they go on the annual company excursion to a hotspring resort and are encouraged to soak with their colleagues in a communal bath before and after the /~-·- -......... evening banquet, they don't know what ->iliiiii_iiil'.... to do, never having taken a bath in public before. The more modest of them are said to wear bathing
suits into the bath, an action as unfeeling as a winemake( s wearing boots to treat the grapes. The best way to understand the transformational effects of a Japanese bath is to go through the procedure. A bath takes an hour and a half if you rush it; if you take your sweet time it can last the whole day. Gather up your bathing gear-soap, shampoo, scrub brush, c lean underwear and socks, and maybe something not too demanding to read after the bath. Move in a leisurely fa hion to your bathhouse of choice. pay your ¥370 at the counter, and slide open the door appropriate to your sex. (If you can't read the Japanese for "Me n·· and ''Women,"' now is the time to learn.) Find a locker and take off your clothes. Enter the tiled bath area with its inevitable mosaic of Mo unt Fuji on the back wall and take a shower, just to wet the surface. The n pick up one of the wash basins from the stack in the corner and pull up a little stool to one of the scrubbing stations equipped with spigots for hot and cold water, a mini-shower, and a mirror. Now show your mettle by demonstrating just how thoroughly you can lather and scrub yourself. A dedicated scrubber can take 20 minutes to work up a lather as thick as whipped cream while scrubbing down every square millimeter of the body, possibly fini hing off with an invigorating rough brush to get the blood flowing. Rinse the soap off, and you are at last ready to immerse yourself in the bath. Jt will be hot, but not actually boiling. The government has decreed that the water must be at least 40°C ( I 04°F). The muscles cannot resist this heat and almost immediately begin to melt. After a minute even the jaw muscles, your body's toughest, slacken, and your mouth may ease open. The bath itself is likely to be a jacuzzi, with bubbling water giving off steam as it swirls around you. Particularly sybaritic hot baths are molded to fit the body, so you lie back as if lounging on an underwater chaise lounge, while resting your neck on a chromium pipe kept cool by the cold water coursing through it, a chilled towel across your brow. You soak in this bath for
r l
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AI Tolcyo's Fuji·no·yu, oJI is quiet before 1116 firo cll5/omer arrives. Each bother takes o p/oslic bucket onJ stool to one of the spigots lor the rery imparlanl pre-saok scrub.
a minute or two and emerge slightly wobbly, as if your heart has been taken out and massaged. . Then you plunge into the cold bath, which your body first reacts to as if it were being e lectrocuted. The cold bath, a recent innovation in Japan, is as cold as the North Sea, and the body naturally protects itself by beginning to shut down after a few minutes, so it is necessary to get out before you drift away entirely.
Make sure you go through the right curtain or you'Bfimi yourselfin an embarrassing situation. (At this both, it's men on the leh, women on the right.}
Then back into one of the hot baths, perhaps a variation on your first hot bath, such as one which pummels you with a powerful stream of water, as from a fire hose, or one which tickles you with an electric current. Or you might want to wander into a place where, when you push a button. a tream of water pummels your head and shoulders from above or visit a room with the steamy atmosphere of a tropical rain forest. with recorded birdcalls in the background adding to the illusion. Each sento is different. Then back into the cold bath. You stagger from hot to cold, back and forth, maybe five times, until the difference between hot and cold is only academic- you cannot really feel the difference. Your body now seems to be floating in some soft metaphy ical pace, and it is impossible to think linearly. This is as clo e to total relaxation as it is pos ible to get without actually dying. In the minds o f mo t Japanese, however, the cia ic bath is something a bit different: a place where a natural hot spring gushes out in a bamboo grove and a beaker of sake tloats on a tray at your e lbow. Through the vapor lingering over the water, you make out several comely members of the opposite sex. Then it begins to snow ... Several years ago, the Tokyo Metropo litan Government decided that these outside baths, called rotenburo, were not necessarily sinful and decreed them legal in the city itself, although men and women were not allowed to share the same rotenburo. Almost immediately, the more imag inative public baths installed rotenburo, so now it is easy to bathe outdoors right in the middle of the c ity, often in a little bamboo grove,
• jack up= liP L l. If~ oshi·agem I 1fr f) V.. -c ~ oritateru • unfeeling= M (!) ~ v' jo flo flai • spigot = t\':: I I jaguchi • meule = ~l!\l kigai • lather (v.) = .fij?((l)/1Q ~it J., sekkenno au·a o 11111'11 • lather ( 11.) = .(j~ -tt J., tanno saseru • be wobbly= ,I., I? ,I., I? t' ~fum-jura sum • pummel = t~ t.:. < wwk11l j!J!ff~.j- J., renda S llrll • tickle =
<'
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Mangajin 13
while the s now drifts down. The rotenburo is the finale to any visit to a pubic bath. The water in the rote nburo is not as hot as in the baths inside the building, so bathers can stay in as long as they like, lulling the mselves to the edge of consciousness. The water of the rotenburo is often perfumed with herbs, a diffe rent o ne each day of the week. After the bath, you will want to spe nd a few minutes contemplating the bath 's little garde n, possibly while s ipping a good Japanese lager from the sake s hop aro und the corner. Then perhaps it's time for a session in the bath's massage chair, where a ¥ 100 coin slipped into a slot will send vibrating mechanical fingers up and down your
s pine for five minutes. Then, by all means, enjoy a platte r of sas himi , which sometimes the local s ushi s hop will deliver to the bath. There is inevitable attrition as the old-style Spartan public baths in the cities fail to accom m odate the m selves to an affluent new urban gene ration, which has to be s hown tha t a visit to a public bath can be a ric her experie nce than a quic k showe r at home. It is a job as difficult as re forming video-watc hing couc h po tatoes into info rmed moviegoers. But the re are abunda nt signs that the bath indus try has a lot of life left as it moves to adapt. The bookstores are full of illustrated guides to the best baths, the Tokyo Bath Association publishes a glossy
Mixed bathing? Before World War II, people living in towns in the countryside bathed together as a matter of course in one huge village bath, which was sometimes as large as a tennis court. When the war ended, the American Occupational Forces clomped into Japan with their muddy boots and, professing horror that the sexes were bathing happily together in the same water, prohibited this entirely natural community activity. But there are still some places in the back of Japan' s beyond that never got the word and where there is still a single bath for all comers. It is surprising how devoid of licentiousness these few remaining great old baths are, however. As the rural population ages, your companions of the bath in the countryside are likely to be jolly, voluble grandmothers. monthly, and in Tokyo there are a numbe r of bathing c lubs whose members make an excursion to a ne w bath every week. It is s till true that of all countries in the world, Japan has most successfully managed to integrate the ritual of the bath into daily life. Rick Kennedy, a 20-year resident of Tokyo. has been raking baths for as long as he can remember. The website he is associated with, Tokyo Q (hllp:/lwww.sonet.orjpltokyoql), includes a rundown on Tokyo's best public baths. • platter = ~
1J fr :b 1t moriawase • attrition genshO • licentiousness = h. t.!. I? lj: -tT ~ midara na koi • jolly= Ill.}~\ lj: yoki na • voluble = ~;liiJ.t ~ 1J: hanashi-zuki na
= i~ :'J..'
14 Mangajin
Kings of Comedv Are
owntown bg Mal'~ Schillinl
J
apanese TV comedy, foreig n (and not a few Japanese) viewers o ften complain, appeals to the lowest common denomjnator. The gags and skits are dumb, crude, or outright offensive, while the performances are amateurish, with the comics cracking up at their own jokes. True, all too true, and yet the kings of Japanese comedy in the '90s are two aggressively cool dudes who have long affected disdain for the ·uncool masses and have built their careers by discarding the traditional safety nets of their craft- venturing out before live audiences week after week with only their talent for improvisation to save them. In the process they have defined a no-holds-barred style of comedy that recalls Robin Williams in its free-associating flights of fancy, Richard Pryor in its trash-talking earthiness, but is, finally, unique to them. The duo of Matsumoto Hitoshi and Hamada Masatoshi, known as Downtown, work a lot of g igs that have little to do with real comedy, but are common status signifiers for successful Japanese comics. Together they have hosted prime-time infotainment and variety shows and served as TV pitchmen for a convenience store chain. Separately, each has writte n a best-selling collection o f comic essays. Hamada, the straight man of the duo , has starred in TV dramas and cut two millionse lling pop records with super-producer Komuro Tetsuya. These extracurricular activities have been handsomely rewarded. In 1996 Matsumoto had the dubious honor of paying more in income tax than any other entertainer in Japan: ¥263.4 million. Hamada was second on the list at ¥236.4 million. Though Hamada feigned embarrassment to the press when their tax payments were made public, saying that he and Matsumoto were just " two klutzes who couldn't find any loopholes," their'rankings were widely recognized proof that Downtown reigns as the king of not only comedy, but of the Japanese entertainment world. Although raking in more yen than most of its colleagues, • disdain= fiJI keil!etsu I ~1fT J;. sagesumi • pitchman = CM .Y
16 Mangajin
v/
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Downtown is still do ing the heavy lifting of the profession: live stand-up comedy. That makes them unusual indeed among Japan's comic e lite, who spend most of their on-air time as highly paid tarento ("talents," or celebrities) on variety shows only ta ngentially re lated to comedy and have long since distanced themselves from their stand-up roots. Downtown, however, carefully nurtures those roots and regards stand-up as its raison d 'etre. Instead of a funky underground club, its main venue is a weekly show called Caki no Tsukai Ya Arahende!! (7i of 0){~ It'-? A../v t:, "This Is No Job for Kids!!"). Debuting on a Kansai station in October 1989 and moving to the national NTV network in October 1991 , Caki has long been the most unusua l and- its many fanatically loyal viewers wou ld claim-the hippest comedy show on Japanese television. Their genius was nurtured in Amagasaki, a suburb of Osaka. where Matsumoto and Hamada were born in 1963. Although the boys went to the same e lementary school, they did not become friends until they entered junior high. Matsumoto was hardly a diligent stude nt-he later reminisced that he spent more of his adolescence in coffee shops than classrooms-but he was already a budding comic: his stagehand father often took the family to perfonnances of manzai, mkugo, and comic stage plays, and the young Matsumoto eagerly memorized the gags and routines. After graduating from high school, Matsumoto was determined to become a comedian ("Comedy is what saved me ," he later said. " Making people laugh was the reason for my existence ... [Without it] I'd probably be a middle-aged man selling superballs"). Hamada, on the other hand, toyed with the idea of becoming a motorboat racer. After failing the exam for the motorboat-racing association's school , Hamada happened to run into his old friend, who persuaded him to apply for the training school of Yoshimoto Kogyo, the Kansai's
shii emu taremo • klutz =
c.' 1.: doji • budding= ~~ til L TJ' Itt.:. me o dashi-kaketa
biggest talent agency. Hamada agreed, figuring that by going back to school he could goof off for another year before getting a real job. The boy!> were accepted and began their career!> a!> comics. It wasn't obvious at first that tho'>e career!> would be brilliant. After their first-ever television appearance. host Yokoyama Yasushi-then one of the most popular comedians in the country-stormed over and told them they knew nothing about the an of man:.ai. ''You guys are ju~t a couple of punks talking." he sneered. Given this experience. it was not surprising that the boys never auached them,elves a~ apprentices to a senior comedian. then s tandard practice. Matsumoto picked the name Downtown out of a magazine because it was g ive n as the English translation of shitamachi. the pre-modern working-class heart of the city, w here entertainment for the urban masses first tlourished. T he Kansai region. where Yoshimoto Kogyo had three theaters, is where Downtown got its s tart. performing for bored housewivc!- who often paid more attention to their hox lunches than the chatte r on stage. Eventually. however. Downtown developed a s trong following among teenage girls who liked their looks (M atsumoto. in particular. has since developed a reputation as a womanizer). their stylishly casual fashion'>. and. most of all. their brand of comedy. which may oca'>~ionally have been crude but was always ultra-cool. B y 1987, they had their first regular show, an afternoon program on a local station that featured Downtown's stage act at a landmark Osaka theater. In 1988 they began appearing as regulars on their first Tokyo TV s how. "Re11ren!! Tokimeki
Kurabu" ("Passionately!! Heartthrob C lub") and a radio show, "Rolfe Yan Sutli No. I·· ("Lotte Young Star No. I"). ln October 1989. ··caki no Tsukai Ya Arahende!!" premiered. Downtown had finally made it to the big time. Airing at II PM on Sundays, Gaki begins with a short comic sketch. In one, an off-camera Matsumoto solemnly discusses the dangers of parking without a concrete wheel stop, as Hamada slowly, inexorably backs a car through the walls of an apartment-building set that has been constructed in a real parking lot. The panicked occupants. including a dentist and nu r'>e fornicating in lfttt it •••ztl? the dentist's chair. Monzoi (it :t) is a style of comedy e~cape unharmed. involving a duo------a straight man (tsukkom1) but after Hamada and a clown (boke)-exchanging witty parks his car and dialogue. Although it has been popular calmly exits. it throughout the nation during its long seems to explode in history, manzai is chiefly associated with a roar of flames. the Kansai region, which includes O saka, Thi~. we see from Kyoto, and Kobe. Hamada's startled expression, wasn't in the script. Then Matsumoto s trolls on camera w ith a canary-eating look on his face: the explosion- made by igniting a ring of powder around the parked vehicle- was a practical joke on Hamada. Following that sketch comes the main event of the 30- minute show: Appearing on stage before a live audience. M at~umoto and Hamada essentially wing it for the rest of the (continued on page 81)
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Mangajin 17
Downtown (cominuedfrom page 17)
program, relying only on viewer postcards drawn at random from a box for inspiration. This, as Matsumoto insists, may sound easier than dreaming up routines or rehearsing skits, but it isn't. "Young guys who want to be comics tell me they want to do improv like Downtown. I say 'go ahead and try it," but they can't do it; they're just two guys standing around talking." After working together for so long, Matsumoto and Hamada are completely in ync with each other's comic rhythms, creating a ceaseles fl ow of wisecracks, put-downs, and freeassociating stories that may appear out of the ether, but are often hilarious in their spot-on timing and off-the-wall inventiveness. The one doing most of the free-associating is Matsumoto. A master of improvisation, Matsumoto can instantly create fully realized characters, from a fairylike creature called Exciting to a resolute turd which refuses to be flushed. Playing himself, Matsumoto is possessed of an infinite variety of comic attitudes. from Jack-Benny-like foppishness to Eddie-Murphy-like aggressiveness, switching from one to another with an abruptness that itself is a source of laughs. Though ostensibly the straight man. Hamada is as much an actor as reactor, constantly prodding his panner to new heights of outrageousness. With his boyishly round face, Hamada looks like a cute kid in a grown man's body. But there is nothing childish about his comic attack. Unlike fSllkkomi, who live up to their names (tsukkomu literally means to thrust or shove) by constantly- and predictably- hitting their panners upside their heads, Hamada's favored weapon is his tongue, which is as fast and sharp as any in Japanese show business. At the same time. he is a gifted physical comedian who can get laughs by fran-
tically leaping, gazelle-like. across the stage or by squatting, his back to the audience, in a heap of feigned embarrassment. During the ir improv sessions on Gaki, Downtown is not playing the assigned roles of boke and tsukkomi so much as simply playing-with words. personas, reality itself. Mentioning a contestant who had won a banana-eating contest on a recent TV special, Matsumoto conjured up the image of a human banana. " If you stepped on him, you'd slip," he said. "And the insides would come :.quining out." Or once. out of thin air. he began spinning the tale of an imaginary surfing expedition to New Zealand, during which he rescues a local boy with a high fever by riding him to the doctor's on his surfboard. The laughs came from Matsumoto's seeming obliviousness to Hamada's skeptical snorts, mocking questions. and remon trating raps on the head, as Matsumoto blithely told one outrageous lie after another. This style of free-form humor, which respects no boundaries or taboos. may have become Downtown's comic signature, but it was not always popular. When they started the show in 1989, ratings were abysmal. Even the studio audience was sitting o n its hands: used to the broad, obvious gags of so many Japanese TV comics, they didn' t know what to make of these two speedrapping madmen. But instead of changing their act, Matsumoto and Hamada persisted-and succeeded in educating the audience to appreciate their brand of humor. Five years after its stan , the show's ratings had passed the 20 percent mark and Matsumoto was being proclaimed hi generation's comic genius.
Mark Schilling 's book, The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture, will be published in April by Weatherhi/1. This article is an edited excerpt from that book.
• turd = lf"t !IH' f!ll gesu-yaro • foppi;,hncss = 1<\ JfJI. t) kidori I "\'- -+T kiza • gazelle-like= ff +! Jv Q) .1: ? 1.: ga:em no yo ni • squirt out = ( i&: W~ ~- 7-. ~:IX Q) b Q) 7J{j Plt ~ lfl L ""[ ( J., {ekitai ya pesuto-jo no mo1iO ga) fukidashitl' kum • remonstrate= v' ~ t> J., isamem • blithely • 111-ir!i 1.: kaikatsu ni I ·j! j\ "t' heiki de • abysmal = ~ ii t.: :f ~ > kyoku1a11 ni wami Ill fii f.. sairei 11a Mangajin 81
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hairstyle bath duty/obligation heavy handmade remaining work written estimate/quote break/chip off pathetic/disgraceful combine with purchase (v.) for starters loan (11.) application boillheat (water) feel dizzyllightheaded hallucinato ry sounds lots/straws head of the household excluded person test for poison (v.)
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genchi haken suru jiidai na shippei hassei sunt higai moyo zenmetsu zenryoku gen 'in kyiimei suru tatsu moto-moto jindai cho oyobu seifu sekinin tou shidai ni gai-teki na tsumari hoshii nom in shiigeki kabuka kyiiraku suru teki issai kinshi suru aitsugu keikoku suru sochi geki-teki ni jinko
the locale/spot dispatch (v.) serious/major disease appear/break out damage (n.) appearance total destruction/loss full strength cause (n.) investigate [time] passes originally serious trillion reach/extend/amount to government respons ibility question (v.) gradually external in other words guarantee farmers attack (n.) stock price fall rapidly enemy entirely prohibit follow one after another warn device dramatically population
- «<:"tl.> fl·'RH11!t.: ~1: ,.,\';
JEf1>
-? t~
-'f,IJI,Jjl t~1
.1;1.>
1t11iiRT 1.> li'J'T J rjJ\rj
jjlfVt"tl.> {Uti
UMtt
t 1 't 1.> if-.::.- t r:
If,( Jill
~ft"t 1.>
i.!l!.l.: )iL t1.1.>
hlcln"t 1.>
il'i ;t :t 1.>
itten suru himitsuri ni in bel shotai ISIIIIIOri fushigi ubau SCirl/ kakusaku suru }'1/fi/SII no uhau tasse i suru fukusllli baisho mo keru to~hi -goto ni genri henka suru gyak11 ni a rent hr}Chi sum kie-saru
suddenly change secret I} plot/conspiracy true identity/nature intention mysterious/odd steal leave scheme (1•.) forgive know-how attain/achieve revenge reparations make a profit year by year principle c hange (v.) on the other hand become ruined abandon disappear/vanish
From Minori Densetsu R.ilfl L. ~c·J~ .:.~"t
J:-f(l)
1!\lffi -~5}
*i:f4 L. (1) <· ~Of
hi'iflll
:t:3i:Hf~
-1' ~~) 11£.ill 'L t? ill~ ;c~
11 ') ~-t
i't if( lj: r~ t> '-'
~"'~"?
fi11P.E"tl.> -1' illt t)
JlHe
'iJ"((l?-f~
1/fif-
f'F*
~Tl.>
rr1.~
-it~ ~~.t l.> ~L.f:~ ..Jlllj:
~1
ifJ~\
mitoshi kiji konasu yoso no irai tobun kytlryii shinogu yachin tain o ogesa fudosan-ya tachi11oki jodan hikkom kichii na shimeru aisats11 I OSl/11 suru fuwatari johatm mo te-a.wbu keiji sakka tsuba suru koi hanayome s/111 gyiJ
I!0/1111011() akirameru ISIItSIIIIIU bokuto/su na mayou yllki
0
67
o utlook article handle/write from other places request (11.) immediate future salary bear up/manage rent (11.) no npayment/arrearage exaggerated realtor/developer eviction joke move/ relocate precious c lose ( v.) greetings/formalities go bankrupt default ron a loan] evaporate/disappear toy with/take advantage of revelation author spit (v.) act (n.) bride training real thing give up envelop/enfold na'lve/unsophist icated vacillate/be undecided courage
The Vocabulary Summary is taken from material appearing in I his issue of Mangajin. It 's 1101 always possible to give the complete range of meanings for a word in this limited space. so our "deji11ilions" are based 011 the usage of the word in a particular story.
Mangajin 93
Hyaku-nen Senryu
[D
Woman 1: t:. ~a.,
a.,~ "t' ~ 0
ato de
Jii (interj.)
ne.
later (colloq.)
"Well see ou later." (PL2) Men: B -j o
0.
~ffi.&*
yes/right
Coda Yoshiie
" YeR..''
Noren: 17:.
9'} Otoko
(partially hidden) Onna
Women
Men
• this group is probably on a company-sponsored trip to a hot-springs resort. Though mixed bathing in such places was common in the past, in mosl cases today, the bath areas for men and women are separate.
fillt.::
.:
onaji
""'""' ""'
.."
same
0
.."e ..
.s::
Cl)
.s::
-5
1l
~
Woman 2: -t--7
~
.s::
"' c
' C:
]
but
00 c:
0
>..
""' {:
"
" 2"" en li'
~ .: c:
! .:
'0
i.i:
'B c: ~
.. 1:! ~
.E
·c:
< .:!
:c ~
>-
;8
" 0
lv
t.:: -t> 7j: It\
11
ja nai
won't go (explan.) is not
......."
Q.
~o
ne.
-f-?
'b
so
mo
(J) 0 110.
(?)
" But I' ll bet today is one da he won' t be tha t wa ." (PL2)
.:
"
J: yo
today only as for that way (emph.)
\, \ 7'.1' 7j: \, \ ikcmai
UJ
i'l
so
"t' 'b "t 0 f.! It !;i Demo kro dake wa
g
~
:0
ieba
that way if say that way (is-emph.) (colloq.) " Now that ou mention it,~" (PL2)
.2 ;;
'Z"'
'-'xl! -f?
So
+
I~ )lt ~ if ..t. 11 ~
u
--:1
....
IJ~
f)
.:r ~~
'-"
• kimete-ru is a contraction of kimete iru, from kimeru ("decide"), but this use is based on the idiomatic expression kimatte iru. meaning ''[something] is 'right on"' or ''lsomeone] looks dashing/cool"; - de kimete iru implies "makes himself look cool/dashing with - ." • ieba is a conditional " ir' form of iu ("say"), so so ieba is literally, "if you ~ay that" - •·now that you say that/now that you mention it." • so wa/mo ikanai is an expression like "that is out of the question'' or "can' t very well be that way."
Yano:
~·
L..t..:
(J)?
Do shita no? what did
(?)
''What' s the matter?" (PL2) Ki:a
otoko I
flashy/showy man
lffl t:.
~
onaji l«1mi same
hair
Jura -agari demo bath just after even
( ~~-=f)
(Tamiko) (name)
The cool_, nasby guy Even after a hot bath No hair out of lace. - Tamiko • do shita no= do shita no (''What happened?/What's wrong?/What's the matter?"). • -agari is a noun suffix meaning "fresh from/just after"; it is essentially the noun form of the verb agaru in its meaning "be ftnished/come to an end."
Mangajin 19
~ E3 (ctHAPPY Kyowa Happy · Matsuura Seiji
1~5mii l) LJ
Valentine's Day in Japan is marked by the phenomenon of "duty chocolate," as we have explained before in Mangajin ("A Taste of Culture," No. 24). It's a time for women to give gifts of chocolate to men- especially for "office ladies" to give to male co-workers and bosses. The majority of these gifts have absolutely no romantic feelings behind them but are merely cases of Ols feeling obligated to give chocolate to every man in their office so no one will feel dejected.
~:
;-> v/71 :;,.- 7- 3 ::1 Barentain Choko 500 ~ 1000 fil Gohyaku kora sen en
OL 1:
Valentine's Chocolate ¥5~1000 {E:~ ii'VII ' II' ft t • .. . Zenbu
kawaii
kedo .. .
all
are cute
but
''They're all cute, but .•. OLI: .:Pf'J:I)
(J)jj -!Jt v'v' tezukuri no ho ga ii
l: 'l"~v'?
/v n
ja nai?
handmade (compar.) good (explan.) isn' t it?
" wouldn't handmade ones be better?" (PL2) OL 2: i- 7 t.l.o So
ne.
that way (is-colloq.)
" You' re ri ht." (PL2) •
no ho ga is used in making comparisons. It is attached to the greater of the two items being compared- here the comparison being between handmade and ready-made. ~
OLs: liv', -'f 3 ::I! IH', c' 7-t"o Hai.
choko.
Hai,
dozo.
here
chocolate
here
please
' 'Here, have some chocolate! Here, have one." (PL2) • hai is often used when holding something out for someone to take or look at, like "here." • diJzo is used to mean "please," but in the sense of granting a favor or request, rather than asking one.
G] c o-worker:
.:n -=>"C ~7-3 ::1 Kore tte itachoko this
~ 5-}~tt.: o
waketa
as for bar chocolate (obj .) divided
t!lt L:'r iJ: '-'' (!) ? dake
)a nai no? only/just is not (explan.- ?)
" Isn' t this 'ust a chocolate bar up?!" (PL2) OL: ~l.!R 7J: lv t! ir G i-tt't" + 71!! Giri na n da
lit
kara sore de jiibun!!
duty (is-explan.) because with that enough
" It's a duty, so that's eno ugh!"
" It's only duty chocolate, so what do you ex ect!" (PL2) • tte (a colloquial equi valent of various quotative forms)
often serves to mark the topic, like "as for - ." • sore de jt7bun (lit., ''[it' s] enough with that") is an expres-
sion for "that's enough/that's good enough."
20 Mangajin
~ E3 ~ctHAPPY Kyo wa Happy
m)ifittL )t_; · Matsuura Seiji Title:
~ -1? ~ lv
tr G
Ai-clum
Kara
(name-dim.) from
From Ai-chan
[!]
E nvelope: ffi'Ptt
""-
Tanaka-kun e (name-fam.) to
To Tanaka-kun • -kun is a more familiar/informal equivalent of -san ("Mr./ Ms.), used mainly with male peers or subordinatesthough in a corporate setting, superiors use it with subordinates of both sexes.
Tanaka: it; -::> ! '£ -1? ~ lv iJ' G t.!! A!
Ai-chan
kara da!
(illlerj.) (name-dim.) from
is
"Ooh! It's from Ai-chan!" (PL2)
[i] Co-worker:
t ~,
i3 Jt; ~.:!! o-saki ni.
Ja,
(interj.) (bon.)-fm;t/ahead
" Well, good nighL" (PL2) • o-saki ni is short for o-saki ni shitsurei shimasu. lit. 'T m being rude by leaving before you." It is a standard way to say good-bye when leaving before others.
Note: :::.Jl)
~~~
Kono this
:::.angyo
~?
t 1.-'"f! yattoite!
remaining work do-(request)
~0
i31il.-'! Onegai! please
Ai. (name)
Please finish up this work! Ai. (PL2) Document: J.Ul'i !iMirsumori-sho ~
E1--------~. ~ ~
i
j
~ ,... .0
~
.:
Estimate/ uote Tanaka:
< +--::> ! Kuso! (expletive)
"Damn!" (PL I) • :::.cm gyo (literally "remaining work") implies working late in order to finish a job that didn't get done during regular work hours. An element of urgency can usually be as~umed. though not always . • yauoite is a contraction of yatte oite, the -te fonn of yaru ("do") plus the -te fonn of oku ("setlleavelput in place). Oku after the -te form of a verb can mean to go ahead and do the action. • onegai is from negau. "to request," and is often used as an equivalent of "please."' In this use, the honorific prefix o- i obligatory: the PL3 fonn is onegai shimasu, so onegai by itself feels quite informal. • mitswnori = "estimate/quote,.. and the suffix -sho means "document... so mitsumori-sho refers to a written estimate/ quote/bid.
Mangajin 21
al~®2l~B!~
Title:
:::1
Choko
Duty Chocolate
Ponpoko Shacho 'i f..., '5 t. 1..' t.> s · Hashimoto lwao
+3
~J.lll.
Giri
• giri means "duty/obligation," and choko is short for chokoreto, the Japanese rendering of the English word "chocolate."
OJ
OL: l\1' Hai, here
-~ gm duty
+3
:::1 0
choko. chocolate
''Here. It's duty chocolate." (PL2) FX: ;f-1 Poi (effect of tossing the box)
0
FX: "?J.>~ Tsururi (effect of box slipping out of his hand) FX:
:::1.]..
Goto
Plol! Man: !> -:> !:: Otto
.;
"Oops."
""~
.g
m
...'5
..
"" e ::0
OL: ib-! A! (interj.)
.."t ..
-5
"Ob no!"
-g
Arrow:
~Itt,:
Kak.eta
~
"' .E
Broken
'I:
c:
• kaketa is the plain/abrupt past fonn of kakeru ("break/ chip off').
·~
-;;; c:
g
OL 1:
~
"'"',.,"0 ...""',;
~J.lll.
~
'Av't.:.
Giri
o
kaila
lv~T -:> "C -o
n desu
lie.
obligations (obj.) broke/failed (explan.) (quote)
"The sa he broke his obli ations!" (PL2)
0
I'd:~
""
ltl'd:v'o
.g~
Nasakenai.
.c
"What a dis race!"
...'5,.,
pathetic/disgraceruI
-o
g:: He,
·=
(interj.)
"il..
~
:E
Mo
::0
Q,
-
anymore
u"':: -o f:l,
~
..
!')
""'I: < ~
0
'5 E
:c
:£
no kuse ni
ne.
in spite of being (colloq.)
ikichli ikenai can' t go on living
wa
ne.
(emph.) (colloq.)
" How can he go on living?" (PL2)
"~
l
man
" Really? He should be ashamed of himselfl" (PL2) t,- ~~"S~ibv'ltl'd:v' ::b tlo
~
·= -g
0
otoko
~
I,\
I g:
1'1~
.n l,\5 0~ 4.135
0
22 Mangajin
• kaita is the abrupt past form of kaku ("neglect/fail in"), so giri o kaita is the past form of giri o kaku, meaning to " fail in one's social duties/obligations." The humor is in the misunderstanding between giri-choko ga kaketa ("the duty chocolate broke''-as seen in the previous frames) and giri o kaita. • ~ no kuse ni means "in spite of being ~ ," here essentially implying " he did such a despicable/outrageous thing in spite of being a man! He should be ashamed of himself!" • ikichli ikenai is a colloquial contraction of ikire wa ikenai, ("can' t go on living"), from ikiru ("live") and ikenai ("can't go," negative potential form of iku, "go").
~~~2}~~~ Ponpoko Shacho
_-_g
Title: - {i lsseki
'j: G '5 C. \.' t.> 13 • Hashimot o lwao
NichO
one >lone two birds
Two Birds with One Stone OL: ~ -, "' < b
sa.
iku
.1: -!
yo!
wa
(interj.) will go (fern.) (emph.)
''OK, here goes!" (PL2) Man I : i:l? ! .ff i ~ iJ'o 01
Mame-maki ka.
(inrerj.) bean-scauering (?)
"Oh! It's IIUlme-maki!" (PL2) • mame-maki takes place on Setsubun , the last day of the year on the traditional Japanese solar calendar, around February 3. On this day, beans-usually soybeans-are scattered inside and outside the house to drive demons away. The same ritual is performed at many offices as well.
!J: -f c -
OL: .t-3 t: Oni
sora.
wa
demons as for outside
o
< r;t ? f:>- o
h.. Fuku
wa
uchii.
fortune a:. for inside
' 'Demons ou-u-t! Good fortune i-in!" Man 2: 177! /rete!
" Ouch!" Man 1:
l'l"''
Ha ha ha!
• oni wa soto.fuku wa uchi is the customary chant when scattering beans in mame-maki. • ire (with the re repeated) is a variation of itai ( ..ouch").
Man].: 7- 3
:::1 ~- Jv?
Choko
boru?
"Choco-balls?" O L: ;
c
;lfttl"Cl.>
(J)
.1: !
to kanere-ru
no
rot
with combined (explan.) (emph.)
" I' m combinin with Valentine's." (PL2) ih' t t:> :&~ 1- 3 ;:J t.!. t.l' c, ! A.
mochi giri
choko da kara!
(intcrj.) of course duty chocolate i\ because
"Oh of course, it' s just d uty chocolate." (PL2) • kanete-ru is a contraction of kanere iru ("is combined with"), from kaneru ("combine with" or "double as"'). • moe hi is a slang abbreviation of mochiron ("of course").
Mangajin 23
~@~@
I)
~~;n~~~~~~ Yarikuri Company by !;1: L> t t 1.' b s • Hashimoto lwao
••
Title: :f!!!:,l.· Mushin detachment/withou t mind
Without Mind
:IJ 1
• in ordinary u~e. mushin (lit.. "without mind/mindless") refers to ''detachment.'' including the detachment of being completely absorbed in an acti vity to the point of being oblivious to other things; in Zen Buddhism, 11'111Shi11 is one of the goals of meditation-attaining a state of complete naturalness in which one is freed from the mind's usual habit~ of discriminative thinking.
Monk: t.J- ':/ Kii!
" Kaa!" Sound FX: I!;,. Pishi
Whack! (effect of "awakening stick" hitting trainee' s shoulder) • kii is one of several shouts customarily uttered when thrusting/swinging/striking at someone or something with a weapon or tool. Other common shouts are ei! and yii! in Zen Buddhism. a flat stick known as a kyosaku or keisaku ("cautionary/awakening stick"), about four feet long and slightly wider at the tip, is used to help those performing zazen ("sitting meditation") stay alert and to keep them from nodding off.
Monk: ?!lli,L• Mushin
1.: 7j: .0 ni naru
(J)
t
110
.ot> o
ja.
without mind become (cxplan.)
"You must become wit hout mind." (PL2) T rainee: '' 1 o Hoi. ycs/OK
?•l.'i: ~'
c 1: 1.,
t.t
1
" "" ~
·=
-")
11
"Yes sir." (PL3) 11i marks the result of the verb 11aru ("become") so 11i naru as a unit is equivalent to the English "become." ja is used typically by o lder males as a substitute for da ("is/are"), so 110 ja is equivalent to the explanatory no da.
Monk: !i-, Ho,
.::.v'-:>
!i
koitsu
wa
;fl!r;,(., l:lj:? t .0 lj: - o mushin ni nattom nli.
(interj.) this fellow/guy as for without mind has become (colloq.)
"Aha this one has become without mind." (PL2) hiJ is an interjection showing interest/mild surprise, like "Really?/ Well. well/Hmm.'' • koitsu is a contraction of korw yatsu ("this guy/fellow''), a rather rough way of referring to another person. • natloru is a contraction of natte oru, which is equivalent to natte iru ("has become"), from naru ("become"). Men in positions of authority/ respect often use oru in place of iru for-te iru forms. • the contraption on the wall is a pachinko ("pinball") machine. some Japanese corporations send their employees to a temple for a brief period of zazen training as part of their orientation when frrst joining the company or at various other transitional points in their careers. The trainees in this strip would appear to be of this kind. rather than men who expect to become monks.
24 Mangajin
~~~~
~ ';!!/ !R (===::~ c::=a~~i: Yarikuri Kanpanii by li ~ tJ t
L1 h
s • Hashimoto lwao
Title: 1 :;,-
~, ·;;
$' -
r
lmiineuo
The Intern~ Yarikuri: i?.t-::>C: Chotto a liule
lifi"h' -::> f.:. takalwua
-?1? 1:
'b
kedo.
uchi
mo
de
was high/expensive but my house at too/also
1 /7- :.f, ·;;
llf). l...f..: /vf!o o kiinnl shita n da.
~
~
lntiinelto Internet
Manag~:
Itt',
(obj.) purchased (explan.J
"It was a bit e~nsivc, but we bQ!!ght [a computer to et on the Internet at our hou too." (PL2) U-o Hii. (interj.)
" Well well." (PL2) ..; ~
..2 '---~-J.-
J" ~
e"'
-=
~ ~
r--------~
• takalwtta is lhe plain/abrupt past form of wkai ("is high/expensive"). • uchi can s imply be a generic term for "house,'' but in many contexts it specifically means "my/our house." Uchi de= "at our ho use,'' and uchi de nw = "at our house, too.·· • konyll shita is the past form of konyii suru ("purchase''): o marks lllliilletto as the direct object, so he literally says "[we I purchased an/ the Inte rnet." • lw is an interjection showing interest/mild surprise, like "Really?/ Well, weU/Hmm.''
Yarikuri:
~"( , .:.;It
Sate,
l" kore de
(i ntcrj.) I hi'
t.:.7> t tokoro to
L'7>kl;; irmma
with variou..,all kinds of pla~cs with
::1/$'7~"("~7.>
-f' ~o.
l.ontaklllo
dekiru
~ontacl
can do (emph.)
.
"Well then,n ow I can contact all kinds of places." (PL2) • .wte i~ frequently used to signal that the speaker is about to begin something. • kore de is literall y "with this ... often meaning "now." • iromw is a contraction of imiro na (''various/diverse"). • konta~uto i~ fro m the English word "contact.'' ;md konwkuto dekirtt is the po tential {"can/be able to") form of komakwo suru {"conJact"'). • ;:o is a rough. masculine particle for emphasis.
Yarikuri: i 'f, Mazu fir;t
t IJ th .i 'f ... toriaezu ... for ~tarters
" Let's see for starters ..." • toriaezu introduces what will be done as an immediate measure pending further action, "for now/for starters/as a stopgap."
Yarikuri:
H\'1.: (/) JI1 L.. _i6h t.3.o
~'7>1v~
t:::..7> 1.:
iromw
wkom ni slwkkin
'.triou.J;tll ~md' of pl;~ce' "it'~ application~
Ill
lmtn'
110
miJshikomi da.
for applicauon
i'
to all kinds of place~ for loans ...
" I ' II apply to a ll kinds of places for loans." (PL2) • .1/wl.l.in is wiucn with kanji meaning "borrow" and "mo ney" and is a noun for "borrowing money/taking o ut a loa n" or for the re~ulting "loan/deb!." • miishi~omi i~ a noun form of the verb miishikomu ("apply").
Mangajin 25
~ 'L~ ,'0~~ ''Silji I s h ii H i saichi Sensh U
SELECTED WORKS of ISHII HISAICHI The Over-Heated Bath The family in this manga lives in a home with an old-fashioned tub. Though some Japanese baths today are filled from the start with hot water, the traditional method has been to fill the tub with cold water which then circulates through an attached heater until it reaches the right temperature. With older model heaters that lack thermostatic controls, it's not unusual for the water to become overheated. Bathers first soap up and rinse off outside the tub and then get in to soak, so the tub itself is filled only once each night, with each member of the family using the same' water in turn.
,
Mangajin 26
Motber: ~ '~:> 'l:> o .: C:,
~-IJ'Ivo b-1;> L..l§ ~ ~ bo akan. Wakashi-sugi ya wa. (exclarn.) as for this won't do healed e~~:cessively is (fem. colloq.)
Achichi.
Kora
"'ucb! This won't do. It's too bot." (PL2-Kansai) • achi (with the chi repeated) is a colloquial variation of atsui ("hot") used as an exclamation when one is burned/scalded. • she is speaking in Kansai dialect. Kora =Icon wa ("as for this"), and aJwn = ikenai (..[it] won' t do''). Ya =do ("is/are"), so wakluhi-sugi ya "is overheated." • wakashi-sugi is from wakasu ("boil/heat [water]"), and the suffiJI -sugi (from sugiru. "pass/surpass"), which implies that the action occurs "excessively."
=
Mother :
+ -J
-? ·:;
So
o
ya!
that way
is
*
'7 + (J) 7 A 'A :::1 ~.: 9G ~.: Uchi no aho-musuko ni saki ni my/our dumb/idiot son to
first
}.. t:, L.. -c
hairashite make enter/take-and
WIImiJl
~
"l?.t:?t'
&?
L..t..:'? o
yukagen
o
chodo
yo
shitaro.
hot water temperature (obj.) just/exactly good/fine shall make
''That's it! I'll make m (PL2-K) Sound FX: ~ /
ood-for-nothin son et in first and make the water temperature just right."
Pon (effect o f pounding fist into open palm upon being struck by a bright idea) • soya= soda (literally, ..(it] is so"). • saki ni mod ifying a verb means "[do the action) first/before someone else." • hairashite =hairasete, which is the -te form o f the causative hairaseru ("make/let enter") from hairu ("enter," or in the case of a bath, "take"). The ni a fte r aho-musuko marks who will be "caused/made" to do the action. • yu ="hot water" and kagen ="extent/degree," so yukagen refers to the temperature of the heated bath water. • chodo yo= chOdo yoku, the adverb form o f chodo ii ("just righC). Shitaro =shire yaro, the volitional ("let's/1 shall") form o f shite yaru , from suru ("do/make").
0
Mother: -
iJZ- , 1:3 7 c $t 1.: J... t) ~ I;U
t. -
lppei-,
o-furo
saki ni
hairinaJUJr~.
(name)
(hoo.)-balh
fii'St
take
o
"lppei, you take your bath first!" (PL2-3-K) ~: ~ c"t' Ato de
"'"' ii
.l: o A,, yo.
/rna,
later with is good/OK (emph.) now
t!Hi ~nkyo
study
I.:.J :;~"C -0 c.:'? ~ lvt!.o ni notte-ru tokoro na n da. on am riding
place
(explan.)
"Later is OK. Just now I'm riding high on study." ''That's OK. I'D go later. I'm reaDy &ettin& Into studying ri&bt now." (PL2) • hairinahare is a dialect form that comes from hairinasare, in which hairi- is the stem form of hairu ("enter" or "take [a bath]") and -nasare is the pla in/abrupt command form of the PL4 verb ending -nasaru. In spite of its hono rific origins, the politeness level of -nahare is essentially the same as -nasai, the "standard Japanese" PL2-3 command form that derives from the same root. • - de ii (lit., "is good/OK wi th") is an expressio n meaning "- is adequate/acceptable/OK." • - ni notte (i)ru is from noru ("ride") and implies "being carried along by [something)" in a positive/enjoyable sense - "riding high on - /really getting into - ." • tolcoro literally refers to a "physical place/location," but used idiomatically after a verb it can mean ''just now [did/ am doing/will do the action]."
Mother : 0'/rlv o Akan.
t-J
Q)(f-\:tt..:
C:,L..
b o
ilJI.i11i
Mo
noboseta
raslri
wa.
Genchii
1Jf f*J.:;t.O o ga
kikoeru.
won't do already became overheated it seems (colloq.) hallucinatory sound(s) (subj.) can be heard
" Oh, no! I seem to have already gotten overheated . I hear hallucinatory sounds."
" Oh no! The hot bath must' ve alread
one tom head. I'm hearin
th~"
(PL2-K)
• noboseta is the plain/abrupt past form of noboseru, which means "have the blood rush to one's head" or "feel dizzy/ lightheaded." She is speaking of the fee ling one gets from sitting too long in a hot bath- though in this case she apparently concludes she got it j ust fro m c hecking the bath. • speakers in Kansai often shorte n rashii to rashi. The word is used when making a conjecture based on something hea rd, seen, or read-+ "is apparently/seems to be that - ."
Mangajin 27
7 :J
t.t fv fJ' o
Nan da ?
Kuji
1UJn/w.
what is it? lots/straws something like
Ishii Hisaichi SenshU
SELECTED WORKS of ISHII HISAICHI
Father : f.t fv t!.?
"What i it? [Doing] a thing like drawing straws." "What're you drawing straws for?'' (PL2) • he speaks in inverted fragments. In full and in normal order, his sentence would be something like Kuji nanlcn tsukutte, nan da?
0
Fathe r : -) i-t"? f.t i lv t.:. 19> ? t.:. ~ f.t "' iJ'o Umasfi-na ta~ty-looking
manp1
ja nai ka.
bean paste sweets
is it not?
"Aren' t these tast _looking manjii!" (PL2) ;1?-?, ~"((j: .:.lt'-:?i? o sate wa
A!,
koitm-ra.
(interj.) fl] betldarcsay these/you guys "Oh~uys!"
(PL2)
• manjii can range from a fist-sized bread-like bun with a small amount of an ("bean paste") in the middle, to much smaller confections that are mostly an with a very thin sweet-cake coating. Ja nai ka, literally a question, is actually more of an exclamation here. • sate wa introduces a suspic ion like saying "I bet/T daresay ~ ." • koitsu is a contraction of kono yatstt ("this guy/fellow/thing"), a rather rough way of referring to another person. and -ra makes nouns plural, so koirsu-ra ="these guys•· ''you guys."
Father: fltJ,ti .£ Setai-nushi
no washi
o
nokemono
ni
shite
head of household(=) Ume (obj.) excluded person to make-and LIJ~It
yanwwake
LJ:-)
c L-rt,
shiyo to shire mo,
equal division even if try to do
li lt'iJ'fvo
-f-) so
wa
ilrml.
that way as for won' t go
"Even if you try to exclude me, the master of the bouse, and to divide them equally [among only yourselves], it won't go that way." "You may have thought you could leave me, the bead of the household, out and divide them up IUIIOD2 yourse~but you're not going to get away with IL" (PL2) .:.~~
-)ilt'o umoi.
Korya
as for this/these tasty/delicious
"The ' re_really good." (PL2)
FX: .:C 7" .:c 7" Mogu mogu (effect of chewing) shiyo to shite mo is the verb suru ("do") with a conditional "even if' fonn of the ending -yo to suru, which gives the meaning "make an effort to [do the action].'' lkan is a contraction of ikanai. negative of iku ("go").
Son: )\; JJ Sengersu no da kedo daijobu da last month ·s arc
but
ne.
OK/safe are (colloq.)
"They're from last month but tbe seem to be safe don' t they1" (PL2) Mother: 7 :J 1: ~It tJ{ ~ J! T l.l fJ' Kuji ~traws
de dare
ga
dokumi suru ka
with who ('ubj.) do poison taste (?)
iJI: 66 fv 1: kimende
-t fv t!.
b
stmda
wa.
o
without deciding ended (colloq.)
" We got by without havin to draw straws over who would try them first." (PL2) Father: -? -) -) Uutt (groan/moan) kimende is a contraction of kimenaide, negative -te form of kimeru ("decide"). Stmda is the past form of sumu ("end/be finished"); -naide sumu after a verb means ..get by without Idoing the action!." 28 Mangajin
o ~'\\et
'Z.eto
by lttiJ ~~ *~~I Okazaki Jiro
-The Devil's Seeds, Conclusion In 1973, archaeologists from K University unearth an urn from the tomb of King Ashoka. Inside are some ancient seeds whic h, accordi ng to legend, produce a robust grain that can grow in any soil. Inscribed on the urn, though, is a chilling warning from the king: "These seeds mu t not be permitted to leave our borders ... If anyone violates this prohibition, a fearsome calamity shall befall the land.''
Back at K University, two men take an interest in the seeds. One, Umezawa, is a greedy man with big ideas about cornering the world seed market. The other, Ko noue, is a brilliant and idealistic biochemist with no interest in making money. Umezawa is anxious to leave K and develop the miracle seed--called MR-99-in the more profitable private sector. Wary of Umezawa's self-serving scheme, however, Konoue refuses to leave. It is a bitter break, and the vindictive Umezawa spreads rumors which cau e Konoue to be expelled from the university. Although he steals the research from K University, Umezawa fi nds that Konoue is the only person with the scientific know-how to develop MR-99. He i forced to wait 20 years before discovering a genius of Konoue's caliber: the mysterious Dr. Kamimura. With her he lp, the seed is developed to great success. All over the world, formerly barren land is producing ample fields of grain, and in three years' time Umezawa Chemical has captured 30 percent of the world wheat-seed market.
Experts worry about planting so much of the world's crops with just one variety o f eed, but Kuze. an executive at Umezawa Chemical, has other fears. He's been investigating the ancient warning and has discovered that MR-99 was in fact the cause of several calamitous wars througho ut history. Umezawa is unfazed. however, and is gloating to Dr. Kamimura about his triumph over Konoue when an aide bursts in with terrible news: crops in fields flfSt planted with MR-99 three years ago in Thailand have withered and died. COkauki Jim. All righl< reserved. Fir..l published in Japan in 1990 by Shogakukan, To~ yo. Engli
Mangajin 29
0
7" 7 ~ -
·~A:::_: fl~ er~ Z:,::..: er:.::_ o _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __
it~M
·~R tfo tfo I
L.
~ R 99 7 ~ 1;:
t' ~
'*
-~ ~ ~~ ....,.. _, I.
~ <
30 Mangajin
I.
~
Umezawa: :;. -1 ·:; 7 Staffu
o
staff
T (" I: sugu ni
JJVtl!. genchi
1: i*ifl:T .0 A..t! !! ni hake11 suru 11 da!!
(obj.) immediately the locale/spot to
''Dis atcb ~
f.t.
Wataslti mo I
dispatch
(explan.)
rsonnel to tbe site immediatel !" (PL2)
-t <·1:
suguni
rriku!! <''
also immediately will go
" I' ll go right awa too!" (PL2) • following a non-past verb with a sharply spoken 11 da-the ex planatory form-can serve as an abrupt command.
TV News: MR-99 Emu-iiru kyt7jt7kyii (plant variety)
1: ni
il!.k~
j tldai I W
~~Iii
~~ L ,
tJ{
shippei ga
in/among serious/major disease
(~ubj.)
hassei shi. has appeared/bro ken out-and
rt IKJ
-c:
ti.Ui-
'IJ{
IB-c 1.t ' .0
~trt
1:T o
kakkoku
de higai
go
dete iru
moyo
desu.
variou~
countrie., in damage (subj.) i'> occurring appearance
is
"A major outbreak of disease has occurred in MR-99 fields, and the damages are mounting in countries around the world." (PL3) • shippei is a fom1al/technical word for ''disease." • has~ei shi i~ the stem form of hassei suru C[insects/disease/a natural calamity/etc.! appears/occurs/breah out"): the stem is here being used as a continuing form: "breaks out, and .. :·The te nse of verbs used as continuing fo rms is typically determined by the following or ma in c lause, in this case making it "has broken out. and __ ." • dete iru is from deru ("comes o ut/appears:· or whe n speaking o f damage. "occurs''): higai ga dete iru = '·damage is occurring'' or "damage has occurred.'' • moyo de.111 at the end of a sentence literally means " it appears that [the described action is occurring/the described situation exists!": the phrase is used frequentl y in newscasts when speaking of events that are still developing/unfo lding.
[2]
On Screen: t- ~ ~7 Namibia
148 Jiiyokkn
)'lo!amibia, the 14th
-IJ• I? tx :lg- ~ tL-"( \, \ .0 :J:Ill li \t'-rni> 3~ iiiJ Kore wa iwre-mo sannen·TTUte knra saibai sarete iru hatake this as for every case 3 yrs. ago from have been cultivated fields -t-tti?Q) :J:Ill li, titl t \,\? 1itilt sore-ra no hatake de wa, hobo
TV News: .: h
-c:
~.: t) '
.:t
• izure-mo = dore-1no = •·any/alVevery (one)." • saibai sarete iru is from the verb saibai suru ("cultivate'') • saibai sareru (" be cultivated") saibai sa rete iru ("is being cultivated" or "has been culti vated." depending on the context). Sa1men-mae knra saibai sarete iru is a complete sentence ("[they) have been cultivated since 3 years ago'') modifying hatake ("fields"). • okori is the stem form of okoru (''occur''), again being used as a continuing fonn. • -ra is a suffix that makes nouns and pronouns referring to humans- and a few other special cases, of which this is one- inio plurals: sore can be either "that'' or "those," but sore-ra is unambiguously "those." • - to iu koto desu is a quotative expression often used when relaying information gained from another source.
0
Narration: ;1.:\'-:.-:J Mekishiko
Mexico
0
Narration: 1 7/ Iran
Iran
Mangajin 31
7' 7
~91-M
( (I{] R J!~l ~ ~ 99
It 7- 1: ~ l.t t
tt
t.t
l \ II
32 Mangajin
'
~
-
0 • After Zero
Narra tion: .ttii;ft!'f:
li
-:f:.)J zemyoku
Umezawa Kagak11 wa (co. name)
~
~If"[
o
agete
as for full strength (obj.) rnising/exening
)( L. t::.
t&.~
li
..tnt r, 1j: n'-:::> t::.o
taishita
seikn
wa
agaranakatta.
notable fruits/findings as for
~~
MR- 99
q)
Emu-iiru kyiijiikyii shippei (plant variety)
110
W.~
~
lt!Y"J L.t.::
"/)t,
gen 'in o kyiimei shita ga,
disease o f cause (obj.) investigated but
did not arise
~ A t~U'-"m !!.e ""za =.!w,.,a,_C = h":erru "?·cal =,_t.._h:.::e........;;u~t'-"e~ v""" e'-'-e = ffort into investi a tio the cause of the MR-99 disease but
without a n._y notable success. (PL2) -fl.""(, II~ "/)f ~? 1.:-?tl"[ , *'.'f.
(j:
tJtiJf-:::>"[1,\-:::>f,:o
Soshite, toki
wa
hirogatte itta.
and
ga
tatsu
ni tsurete,
higai
time (subj.) passes accompanying damage as for spread progressively
And as time assed the da ma e continued to spread. (PL2) • ;;enryoku is "one's fuiVcomplete stre ngth" or "all one's might,'' and ;;enroku o agem is an expression for '·give it one's alVdo one's utmost'': using the -te fo rm makes it a modifier indicating the manner o f the verb.l.:yiimei shita (past form of kyilmei Sllnt, ''investigate/study/look into''). • taishita =··considerable/o f considerable merit"; when combined wi th a negative it often becomes " without panic ular/ notable -" or ·'no - to speak of." Taishita seika wa agaranakatta ="findings o f considerable/notable value did not arise" - "without notable success." • hirogatte is the -te form of hirogaru ("[something] spreads"), and itta is the past form of iku ("go"): ik11 after the -te form of a verb that represents a change or transformation implies that the change/transformation takes place progressively over a period of time.
t bt
I'.Jl!!
q)
-?1:U.:
Moto-moto tochi
110
\ 'tl.\'etll
Reporter: 'b
originally
ll t', ~
IYr
.;oil (;ubj.) ·is poor place
of(!)
#.t',t;.
!i
tt: k -r::-t
S0/10
higai
11'0
jindai de111.
of that damage' a' for seriou'
< q)
~
MR- 99
tokoro lwdo. iikuno Emu-lint kyt7}t7kyt7 o extent
a lot of
(plant variety)
-c"'
if',(,l-.. L. t..: dii11ytl shite ita
(f) C:: ,
11ode,
(obj.) had imroduccd/plamed because/so
arc
' 'The poorer a place's soil to begin with, the more they had pla nted MR-99,_so the d a mages were particularly severe." (PL3) • hodo = "extent." ~oX lwdo Y is literally "to the extent of X. Y... which is essentially the Japanese way of saying "the more X. the more Y." In this ca\e. moto-moto tochi no yasera il> a complete thoughtl-.emence ("To begin with, the soil was poor") modifying tokoro ("place"). so the effect of lwdo is lil..e "the more a place had poor soil to begin with. the more .. :·
fu.porte r: .Jt~
~ q)
~~
~M
ti
Sengetsu made no
higai
siJgaku
wa
last month until of
damage~
i
3~15.p:j
r.: & A.. "t" ~ ' i To
sancho-en ni oy01ule imasu.
total figure as for 3 trillion yen to
ha~
reached
' 'The total damage figure through last month has reached ¥3 trillion." (PL3)
-r:: li, fffiift"r: t ~~= Kaigai de wa, Umezawa Kagaku to tomo ni
~~~
overseas at as for
(co. name)
w~
~Iff
(f)
!'ftt
:a-
r.,,?
J!f
Nihon
seifu
110
sekinin
o
1011
koe
-n<. ga,
together with Japanese governme nt of responsibility (obj.) question voices (subj.)
;J.:;r.; r.: t:i i-:::> -c"' i-to
shidai ni takamatte inuJSll. gradually
are n smg
"Overseas. voices demanding that not only Umezawa Chemical but lhe Japanese govemement take responsibility are gradually rising." " Overseas, a rising tide of public opinion is dema nding that not only Umezawa C hemical but the Jaeanese g~)Vernment take res nsibilit ." (PL3) • oyonde imasu is the polite form of oyonde iru. from oyobu ("reach/extend/amount to"), and takamatte imasu is the polite form of taknmatte iru, from takamant (''rise/get higher''). • sekinin o tou (lit.. "questio n [someone's] responsibility") implies both assigning blame and de mandi ng some effon to make things right. Umezawa Kagaku to tomo ni Nihon seifu no sekinin o toll is a complete sentence ("[they] demand that together with Umezawa C he mical, the Japanese government take responsibility'') modifying koe ("voices").
Sta ff: i~f'F
~1;:
t
.:t
~,,-J !i ,15-xGH~"' n'?! to i11 koto wa kangaemrenai J.a?! repeated cultivataon di>abilit} (quote) ~ay thing a\ for cannot thin!. ('!)
Rensak11
shiJgai
"Could it be a p roblem b r ought on by r epea tedly_gr owing the sa me crops on t he sa me la nd?" (PL2) Staff 2: MR- 99 1.: {>, I)J~ 1 1 1 1.: 'b, )'HI~~ lk! (- li -"F.:< ~.!.·~ltG~L~"' ' ! Em11-ilm kyt7}17kyt7
11i
(plant varict})
in also within
mo. dojii-cltii ni mo. xai-teki 11a i11slri ~oil
in al<,o
external
11'(1
mattaku
mi-ukemrenai!!
cau\c a' for completely c;annot be
sccn/ob~crved
"No exte rna l cause can be o bser ved in eit her the M R-99 plan ts or in the soil." (PL2) • kangaerarenai i' the negati'c form of kangaerarem ("can thin!.."). the potential ("can/be able to") form o f kangaeru ("th ink"), so - 1m kangaerare11ai ka li terally as!..' ..can we not thi nk - T - · "could it possibly be - ?" • mi-ukerarenai is the negati ve form or mi-llkemreru ("can be seen/observed"). the pote ntial rorm o r mi-llkem ("sec/ observe," usua ll y used when examining something to gauge/cv:tluate/judge it).
Mangajin 33
7' 7 ?
t, <
L. .t
?
34 Mangajin
0 • After Zero
Kuze:
-? i
f~~
jifi IJ
1: ~-:> t.:.
densetsu
-dori
11i 11atta
IJ ,
Tsuma ri, in other words
.R
"/J'o
wake ka.
legend exactly as became situation (?)
"ln other words the le end has come true." (PL2) • tw tta is the past form of naru ("become"); ni marks the result of the verb naru ("become") so ni natta as a unit is equivalent to English "became'': densetsu-dori ni natta ="became exactly as the legend [says].''
llll W
Re orter: 1¥1t.t Hos/u}
~7
(J)
mondai
7 Jv tr ~)
t~i~ft~
(J)
.t H
o .A
tJf
110 toraburu kara Ume:;.t/1\'a Kagaku no RoJ/1 Shisha ga
guarantee problem\ of/with trouble
C!R: '/Jv-7·(1)
g~
~
due to
(co. name)
·s
LA
br.mch bubj.)
'11ti Lt.:.!!
nomin gunlpu /10 slulgeki () ukemashita.'.1 farmer
group
of
auack (obj.)
received
" Due to roblems associated with by a farm group." (PL2)
guarantees~
the LA office of Umezawa Chemical has been attacked
• Rosu is the katakana rendering of "Los" and commonly serves as the Japanese short name for ·'Los Angeles."
m
Re~rter:
it.:.,
-r:
OOI*J
li,
~i'lHt•'f;
7Jf
.f*fillj
(J)
~.{fi:l.."(lt>iTo
ga kyiiraku shire inwsu. de wa, Umewwa Kagaku 110 kabuka again/also within the country at as for (co. name) · s stock price (subj.) i> rapidly falling kokw wi
Mara,
the rice of Umezawa Chemical stock is in free-fall." (PL3) I:!~ Q) i'l!! ~l~i'IJlfH!"! !
" Domesticall Picketers: tli'J t.:!!
Umewwa da!! Niimin no teki!! (name)
is
Hiki;:_uri-dase!.'
farmers of enemy
drag out
" It's Umezawa! Enem y of the farmer! Ora him out!" (PL2) • hikizuri-dase is the abrupt command form of hikizuri-dasu ("drag out"). from hikizuru ("drag") and the suffi1t -dasu. which implies the action of the verb moves outward.
Picketers:
~?t:,ilt!!
lin'
~0!!
!'lif:
cil.!!
Ya!cllimae.'.'
Baka
mm.'!
Sekinin
wre.'!
do in/beat up
idiot/fool · guy
re!.pon,ibility take
"Get him! Sonnuvabitch! Take res_J!onsibiJity!" (PLI , 2) • ymchimae is a contraction of yaue shimae. the -le form of yaru (informal word for "do") plus the abrupt command form of shimau. Shimau after the -1e form of a \Crb can imply the action is done abruptly/summarily. Yatchimau is a slang expres~ion for"do [someone) in/beat [someone! up." • tore is the abrupt command form of roru ("take"): .rekinin (o) tom= "take rc~ponsibility."
Umezawa:
<-f-!! Kuso!! (curse of chagrin)
"Arggh!" (PLJ) Executive: 11:1~ .
c7
EC
J. ')
iJ li
Shadu}. ii-shii 10 Amerika co. pres.
EC
and
USA
11'£1
MR- 99 Emu-iiru k.nljiikyii
as for
(plant variety)
110
kl}nyii
o
i:Jsai kotoll'alte kimashiw.
of purchase (obj.) cnurely
refu~ed
came
" Sir! T he EC a nd US have refused a ny further purchases of MR-99!" (PL3) Kuze: -f iti.l' I?, l'.l'E~ nt I(,UJ..I n' $tn'l.> t t: H.(· Q) tMtl:l I± Sore-kara. and/aho
Kosei-sho
ga gen'in
ga
ll'akaru
made slw.1hi no \'1/Sh/1/su
Health& Welfare Min. (\ubj.) cau-,e bubJ.) kno"/find out until
<,eed\ of
e~port
11·a
as for
~ll::t J.>
J: -? 1: l: .. .
kinshi sum yo m
to . . .
prohibit (command)(quote)
"AI o, the Health and Welfare Minist ry has prohibited a ny further export of the seeds until the cause has been determined." (PL3 implied) • korowaue is the -1e form of kotm1·aru ("refu~e/decline"). and kimashiw is the polite past form of kuru ("come"); kuru after the -1e form of a verb often implies the action is directed at/toward the speaker or his group. • - yii ni is often used to give commands with the feeling of ''I want you to -." Something like itte kimashita ("said to us") is understood after the quotative to.
Kuze: 1tf!.(J)
.ffiT- it:,
other
seeds
~ri:1
t)f ;fH.:j.,:lt>"EI.-'iT J: o ga ai-tsuide imasu yo. even rerumed product (subj.) are following one after the other (emph.)
Hok.a 110 slmshi made,
henpin
''Returns a re comio in one after the other, and thev even include some of our other varieties of seeds.'' (PL3) • - made most typically means ''to/until/as far as - ," but here it is essentially for emphasis, like "even - ." • ai-tsuide imasu is the polite fonn of ai-tsuide iru, from ai-rsugu ("occur succes~ively/come one after another").
Umezawa: t:,, Chi-
t:,(L.t-)! cltikushii.l
(stammer) (cur5e of chagrin)
" D- da mn!" (PLI) Mangajin 35
7' 7 9 -
l
c· lll.-
~'?.tti
; -t ': l tJ• ~ .ft. "(
?? (J). '
-c·o
tL
0 • After Zero
f;t fi
-r- c·
'*X
T(J)4iif
0 n:: ~· ~ Ei ta ~
~
':
36 Mangajin
:i-.
~t)X:m (J) A- l l:
l: bl)
l;t t: tHI
n::
-.f ~;:
• •
l: 3
n:: ~ ilbEi
~(J)
~
0
-t
Kuze:
.t ,
tt~, ::n t!.?f.:. !v-e-t Shachli, /core datto n desu co.~·
this
was
f:i..lt
yo,
(J)
!;to
densets11 ga keilwku slrite ita no
wa.
(explan.) (emph.)
1Jf Jiii5-L.."Cii'f.:.
legend (subj.)
was warning
(nom.) as for
"Sir, it was this. This IS what the legend was warning about." (PL3) • no is a nominalizer that turns the complete sentence densezsu ga keikoku shite ita ("the legend was warning [about it)") into a noun, and wa marks that noun as the topic of the sentence. The order of the clauses is inverted; normal order would be denSt!tsu ga keikolcu shite ita no wa lwre datta n desu yo.
Kuze: fPJ A 'b Nanpiro mo
kono
tane
o
kokugai
ni daslrite wa naranu.
everyone/no one this/these seeds (obj.) outside of the country to must not take/let out
"No one mu t take these seeds outside the country."
"These seeds must not be ermitted to leave our borders." • nanpito is a literary/archaic equivalent for dare ("who"): nanpito mo in an affim1ative semence means "everyone," and in a negative sentence, "not anyone/no one:· He is quoting from the inscription seen in pan I (Mangajin No. 6 1). • naranu = naranai, so dashite wa naranu = daslrite wa naranai, a "must not'' form of dasu ("take/let/put out").
3iJ=:
j l t... t.:. MR- 99 tassltita Emu-liru kyiijiikyii no hatake wa, lwtogotoku
~=
Saibai shite sannen ni
cultivate-and 3 years to have reached
(plant variety)
of
zenmetsu shire imasu.
fields as for one and all have been totally desuoyedllost
"Eve
MR·99 field that has been cultivated for three ye.ars is a total loss." (PL3) SbadtO: t.:. ~lv, fPi iJ'(J) ~m Ytfl't. 1Jt ftb li''l -t--) lj:J.> (J) ~t...J:-?o Tabun,
nanika 1w jigen siichi
~bly
some son of timing device (subj.) functions/activates-and that way becomes (explan.) probably
ga
lrataraite
so
naru
no
desha.
'Probably it's that some kind of timing device functions and it becomes that way."
''It must be a function of some kind of biological time bomb." (PL3) • saibai shite sannen ni tasshita is a complete sentence (''being cultivated, they have reached 3 years") modifying MR-99 no hatake (''MR-99 fields"). • hataraite is the · te form of the verb hataraku, which for humans means "work" but for machines and biological effects is often more like "function/operate/come into play.''
Kuze: lif:l;l
(J) :Hi f-
.fi. 'i't-1: ~ tl i Lt.:. 1Jf,
!j:
Akuma no Slmshi wa himitsu ni saremashita ga. devil
's
seeds as for
were kept secret
-t- n~: t .:: ? -t- IJ
oo;r~
sore-demo kossori
kokugai
even then
but
~= ~ t:> 111 ~
n
t.:. ni mochi-dasareta
secretly outside the country to
~: t... .1:
(/)
·L
desha.
110
were taken out (explan.) probably
"The Devil's Seeds were kept a secret, but they were nevertheless probably smuggled out of the countr ." (PL3) -tt...-c, .f!T£7- ~'FI:.Attf.:. 00 !;t f'F~ (J) 1£.~-hi: -/Jf ~l]l'f.JI.: J:.iJ!IJiTo
Soshite, silushi o and
te 111 ~reta
kuni
wa sakumotsu
seeds (obj.) acquired countries as for
c rops
110
"And in the countries that ac uired the seeds cro
-t ;h.
Sore that
1: c 'b 1j: ?
"(
,; tomonatte
"IJ
'b
jinka
mo
~ x_ t.:. ~
fueta
seisan-ryo ga
of
y ie lds
geki-teki ni agarimasu.
(subj.) dramatically
rise
ields would rise dramatically." (PL3)
t... J: -) 0
desha.
accompanying population also increased probably
" In con 'unction with this the o ulation would row as well." (PL3) c'(J)~*t -fO) fj[-1- 1: ~x_ , ~!?t: ~;!fill: 1Jf l:tJfJ.> o Dono nolw mo sono shushi ni kae, sa ra-ni seisan-1yo ga agam . every farmer
those seeds
to change-and even more
yields
(!.ubj.) rises
"Every farmer would switch to those seeds, and yields would go up even more." (PL3) • saremashita is the polite past form of sareru, the passive form of suru ("do''): himitsuni suru = .. make [something] a secret," so himitsu ni sareru ="(something] is made/kept a secret." • shushi o te ,; ireta is a complete sentence ("[they I acquired the seeds") modifying kuni ("countries"). • tomonatte is the -te form of tomonau ("accompany"); - ni tomonal/e ="accompanying/in conjunction with - ." • dono - ="which -," but dono - mo ="every - ." • kae is the stem form of kaeru ("change/switch (to]"): the stem is being used as a continuing form: "change and ..."
Kuze: -t.::
3~ E1 (J) ll;f!IR 'lfttrt tJ~ 11 ~ 1 -to ni sannen-me no jigen saclti ga hatarakimasu. that place/point at 3rd xear of timing device (subj.) functions/activates
1:
Solw
"At that point, the Jrd-year time bomb goes off." (PL3) 1:: .n:t% ~ /.Jti~ t.:. :till -/Jf ~~ t...'
t:m
Saisho ni saibai fm;t
o hajimeta hatake ga
cultivation (obj.) began
zemnetsu shi,
fields (subj.) are totally destroyed-and
1: 1;1: 11 t 1v c'O) :till 1Jf -?';. 1: 1j: 1.> (J)-e-t 0 yonen-me ni wa hotondo 110 hatake ga dame ni nam no desu. 4th year in as for almost all fields (subj.) no good become (explan.) 4:¥13
"The fields where the seeds were first cultivated are totally lost, and in:.:...:: th""e""~"" o.: u:..: rth "=-'-=~~=~==-= the fields are ruined." (PL3) (cominued on M XI page) Mangajin 37
7' 7 :$1 --------------------------~
38 Mangajin
0 • After Zero
I]) (conJinud from pm•ious poge) • the suffix -me indicates places in a sequence, ''first/second/third/etc.,'' so S{llmen-me is ''the third year.'' • saisho ni saibai o hajimera is a complete sentence ("[they] began cultivating [them] first'') modifying harak~. • zenmetsu shi is the stern form of zemnetsu suru ("be completely lost/destroyed"), again used as a continuing form.
Kuze: - 'f!i; L... -c,
~:
fill;{.
/tten shire.
ue
J.,!J!f:~?:i1.t~
making complete/sudden change starvation by
coumrie~
visited
ri
t •-?
-9 J.,
(J)
wa
do
sum
no
~
ni mimawareta kuni
1.' L... J: -? ir? desha
ka?
as for how/what do (ex plan.) I wonder (?)
"As for the countries that, in a complete turnabout, are visited by starvation, what will they do. I wonder?" ose the 'II do?"
" In a complete turnabout the countries are visited b starvation. Now what do ou su (PL3)
• itten shire is the -te form of itten sum ("turn around" or "suddenly/completely change''), ue is the noun form of ueru ("starve"), and mimawareta is the past form of mimawareru ("be visited," passive form of mimau, "visit"'). ltten shire ue ni mimawareta is a complete sentence ("in a complete turnabout. they are visited by starvation") modifying kuni.
Kuze:
(J)
.f!f- li
flWH~IH:
n'c,,
f,f-t;,~itLt..:"t'l..J:-?
kara were brought in
K\ ~ ttt~
.1:.
probably becauselso
< 7tn' c, t.t n' -:>t..:
(/) :mt-
Slruslri
1;1:
-r
1'-to
~
.1:.:. L...t..:
o
yokoshita
~
(/)
~~
kuni no inbo seeds (obj.) senl/delivered country 's plol/consipiracy
110
's
• lrimitsuri ni = himitsu ni ="in secrecy/secretly." • mochi-komareta is the past form of mochi-komarem ("is brought in"). passive form of mochi-komu ("bring in"). • lunu is a noun referring to what the speaker views as "normal expectations''-the way something should/ought to be, or, when speculating about a past event as in the case, the way something must have been; Jwzu da/desu after a past verb means the speaker thinks that action occurred. • akuma no slzuslzi o yokoshita is a complete sentence ("[they] sent/delivered the Devil's Seeds") modifying kuni.
Kuze: fill X.
~IIi C, kare-ra
1J{
Ue
ga
~
o
t~ -c J., 1.' L... J: -? ! ! kari-tateru desha!!
fJ' fJ
starvation (subj.) they/them (obj.) will spur/incite
probably
"Their bun er would s ur them on!" (PL3) :r:(J)
oo (/)
Sono kuni
110
~
f'f:!lm
mkumotsu o
that country 's
crops
wr. (/)
f'n ~ 1:!! :r: L -c ~ 1:!! ubau tame ni!! Soshite fukuslnl no tame ni!!
(obj.) steal purpose for
and
revenge of purpose for
"To steal that countr 's cro s-and for revenge!" (PL2) • tame ni after a verb means ·'for the purpose of ldoing)/in order to )do)"': the equivalent for after a noun is no tame 11i. meaning "for the purpose of/for the sake of [the thing)"' or just •·for Ithe thing].'"
0
Kamimura: j.. i!t ~ lv Kuze-san
(J)
i-3--::> L... 't> J., illi ~
110
ossharu
(name-bon.) (subj.)
say
tori
t~ da
t .1!1. "' i "to to omoimasu.
exactly as is (quote)
think
''I think it's exactl as Mr. Kuze sa s." (PIA) • tori is a word that follows a verb or a complete sentence to mean "exactly in accordance with [the described action]." It's functionally a noun, so a preceding sentence follows the rules of modifying sente nces-with the subject often mark:ed by 110 instead of ga: Ku:.e-san no ossharu tori= "exactly as Mr. Kuze says."
Kuze:
t~H
Kamimura Hakase. (name)
Dr.
" Dr. Kamimura." (PL3)
[I]
Kamimura: :. h 1J'
:!1!:/l
Kore ga Akuma this (subj.) devil
(J) 110
's
fi-T
(J)
Shushi no seeds
.iE-1*
"t'"to
shotai
desu.
of true identity/nature is
''This is the true nature of the Devil's Seeds!' (PL3) Mangajin 39
7' 7 ~ -
0 • After Zero
~Q~ ~ "? "?
'
'll!~
t:. tJ A (/) ~ t:. iJ• aB 'i
!?
!!
t:t A
t::
c.
!?
w' '
*t:.
M f.b. R (J)
(J)IJ: iJ• 99 -j •
~
f,t
i?lvt:. li ~-:>l!t) ~Jl;iS ~1-:>"t"t:. (J)ir?!
Kuze: ii;,,
Aa111a (stammer) you
wa yappari zenbu shitte-ta no ka?! after all entirety knew (explan.- ?)
~for
"S- so ou knew all about it after all?!" (PL2) Kamimura: ;;{.;to
E.
''Yes." (PL3) • shitte-ta is a contraction of shitte ita. past fom1 of sllitte im ("know''). from shim (''come to know"). • asking a question with no ka is masculine. and can sound very abrupt/rough. It asks for an explanation, literally like saying ''is it that - ?"
Umezawa:
c
~ lv t! ?! Nan da to?! what i'> (quote)
".What?!" (PL2) •
[I]
llllll
da to is a very rough way of challenging/questioning what has just been said, or o f expressing outrage at it.
.:. it 1.' ::: (J) ~t± 4.> :.B L i "' l'T b o Shacho, kore de lwno lwislzo mo oshimai desu ne. co. president wnh this/now this company toolalso finished il> (colloq.)
Kamimura: Uft,
"Sir. with this. this company will be finished, won't it."
" I'm afraid this comp_an.Y is finished1 sir." (PL3) • kore de means ·'with this" in the sense of "by this means'' or "now that this has occurred.''
i:i1ilf!J: ... -f-1' I t'')~;>') 0(>1') t:t.kt.!.?! 0omae ll'll, ittai I dii ill ISUIIIOfi IW /J dtt?! (stammer) )t'u a' for (cmph.) what kmd of imemion (cxplan.)
Umezawa: :.B ,
''Y- you! ... Ju),t what is your intention?"
" Y- you! . . . .Just what kind of game are you playing here?!" (PL2) • ittai is an e mpha-,iler for question word~. so it can be like "I What I in the world?/1 Howl on earth?/[Wherel the blazes" or "just [what i.,ind of - IT
0
.fl. (J)J:-)~ .(,· -JJr, MR- 99 ~ WI.J:.IIB* i:.: (J)ir SlwchiJ. Naze, wmashi 110 yotw mono ga Emu-iim kyiijiikyii o saisei dekita no ka co. pres. why Vmc like per~on (subj.) (plant variety) (obj.) was able to regenerate (cxplan.- ?) 1!'.~,:1H.: ,[!,I; I i 1t A, 1.' Lt.: -/)>? Jushigi 11i omoimasen deslri10 kn ? mysterious/odd did not think {?)
Kamimura: fi:-B:o fi!Ji&,
·'Sir. didn't you think it mysterious why a person like me could regenerate MR-99?"
"Sir didn' t it ever seem odd to you that someone like me was able to re enerate MR-99?" (PL3) • no yuna after a noun essentially corresponds to ·'--like'' in English, and mono written with this kanji means "person,'' so watashi 1w yo na mono= ·'a me-like person''- "a person like me.'' • saisei dekita is the past form of saisei dekim ("can resuscitate/regenerate"), the potential ("can/be able to") form of saisei suru ("resuscitate/regenerate''). For sum verbs, changing suru to dekiru makes the potential form. • omoimasen i~ the polite negative form of omou (''think"); omoimasen des/rita lw asks the negative question "didn 't you think -?"so fushigi ni omoimasen deshita ka ="didn' t you think it mysterious/odd?" Naze. watashi no yo 110 mono ga Emu-iiru ky17)17kyfi o saisei dekita 110 ka is a complete embedded question (''Why was a person like me able to regenerate MR-99?"), which in combination of fushigi ni omoimasen deshita ka becomes an indirect question: "Didn't you think it mysterious/odd why ...?"
Umezawa:
tj: (.: ~ '?! Nanii 1!
" What?!" (PL2)
[2]
Kamimura: ~J:.
li fi.(J) X 't'T o Konoue wa watashi no chichi desu. (name) as for my father is
" Konoue is my father." (PL3)
,
• chichi is the proper way to refer to one's own father when speaking to someone outside the family. It's never used to refer to another person's father. and it's never used within the family (otosan is u ed in both cases).
Mangajin 41
7' 7 $1 -
42 Mangajin
0 • After Zero
OJ
Kamimura: j(
ti, ~ t:t t.:. tJf
Chichi wa, anata ga father as for
1iJf?E
(J)
-w
ken/..yil no issai
-r *f!f:
~
~-:>
o
ubarte
daigaku
o
saru toki mo,
you (subj.) research of entirety (obj.) stole-and university (obj.) left
-g;bt;t :/.1'-:> t.: (J) (:, ~ t:t t.:. nani-mo iwanakarta noni, anata
fPJ b
c ~f.:. t:>,
:X:
to kitara.
iJr
* '->,
~ ~~
K*
time even
1: v' t:> tl.t:t
chichi ga Ke-dai ni
iiDm l..J.:o
irarenaku naru yo ni kakusaku shita.
[not] anything didn't say even though you when it comes 10 father (subj.) K Univ. at
so that could not stay
schemed
"Even when you stole all of his research and left the university, my father said nothing, but you! You schemed to make it im ossible for him to sta at K Universi ." (PL2) • ubaue is the -te form of ubau ("steal"); the -te form here is like "and'': ''steaUstole and . . ." • kenkyii no issai o ubatte daigaku o saru is a complete sentence (''[you] stole all his research and left the uni versity") modifying toki ("time'')-+ "the time when you stole all his research and left the university." • nani-mo works together with a negative later in the sentence to mean "not anything/nothing": iwanakaua is the past form of iwanai ("not say''), which is the negative of iu ("say''). so nani-nw iwmwkatta ="didn't say anything." • quotative to plus kitara (a conditional "if/when" form of kuru, ''come") makes an expression very much Like the English "when it comes to - ." It often carries a tone of exasperation or disdain. • irarenaku is the adverb form of irarenai, negative of irareru (''can be/stay in a place"), from iru ("be/stay in a place"); naru ="become," so irarenaku naru ="become unable to stay." • yoni after a verb can mean "so that [the action takes place]": irarenaku naru yo ni ="so that he became unable to stay."
0
KawaisiJ na
li, -f tt "C 'b ih t:t t.:. ~ chichi wa, sore demo anata o
pitiable/poor
father as for
Kamimura: :/.1':/?v' -f-) t:t :)(
even so
you
J4'-f-?
c L f.:. o
yurusiJ to shita.
(obj.) tried/intended to forgive
"Even so, my poor father wanted to forgive you." (PL2) t!!t c' fl (J: ih L -c WFi:tt:t:/.1'-:> f.:. h!! Dakedo watashi wa kesshite yurusenakalla wa!! Vme as for by no means couldn't forgive (fern.)
but
"But I could never forgive you!" (PL2) :)( :/.J'C:J MR-99 {f) J7;'7
~
llfl~HJ,L"'C,
Chichi kara Emu-lint kyt7jt7kyt7
110
o
kiki-dashite.
father
of know-how (obj.) found oulllearned-and here/this place to
from
(plant variety)
noulwu
koko
1:-?-?"'C~U.:.
(J)
.t !!
ni yalle kita
no
yo!!
came
(explan.) (emph.)
"I extracted the know-how for re eneratin MR-99 from m father and then came here." (PL2) • kawaiso (''pitiable/wretched/miserable") is a descriptive noun that can refer either to the feelings of pity a person has or to the situation/circumstance/person/thing that brings about those feelings of pity. .• yuruso to shita is the past form of yuruso to suru, where yurusii comes from yun/Su ("forgive"). A verb ending in -of-yo to suru gives the meaning "make an effort/try to [do the action].'' • yurusenakalla is the past form of yurusenai, negative of yuruseru ("can forgive"), from yuru.m. • kiki-dashite is the -te form of kiki-dasu. from kiku (''hear/listen to") and -dasu ("take out/extract"). Kiki-dasu usually implies a special effon to get some specific information from someone-including. but not necessarily, through coercion. • yalle kita is the plain/abrupt past form of ya11e kuru, where kuru= ''come": ya11e kuru typically implies coming over considerable distance or through special effort/circumstances.
Umezawa: 7 7 7 Uuu
"Ohh-h-h-h." (groan)
GJ
Kamimura: .: n "C Kore de
E1 (Jg
{f)
mokuteki
110
with this/now aims
0
c-::> I±
.i:tnlt Lt.:.
ho
hiLOtsu wa tassei shita wa. of one as for attained/achieved (fem.)
"I've now achieved one of m aims." (PL2) ;h l;t f.:. A.. (/) f~~ li b.o Anata e 110 fukushii wa ne. you
to/against that is revenge as for (colloq.)
"Revenge against ou." (PL2) • e typically marks the destination of a movement. but here it marks the target of fukuslul ("revenge"). Anata no fukushii would be "your revenge," but anata e no fukushii is "revenge against you.''
Mangajin 43
7' 7 :it -
44 Mangajin
0 • After Zero
t!Ji:±!! Kamimura Halwse!! (name)
Dr.
"Dr. Kamimura!" (PL3)
A An/a you
iu
to
hito
wa jibun 110 fukuslu7 no Tame dake ni
(quote) say/called person as for ones· own revenge of purpose only for
.:. lv tj: ~.::_ t ![!:-? L.. "\ .:. t konna-ni mo osoroshii koro this much (emph.) frightful
~ '\'":d.:. (/) iJ'?!
o
vatta
th ing (obj.) ·did
110 ka?!
(explan.-?)
"Did ou do this dreadful thin merel for our own reven e?" (PL2) • anta is a more casual/informal anaw ("you''). so a111a to iu hito is literally •·a person called you"- an expression for "you" that's generally used when the speaker is aggravated/perturbed with his listener. • jibun ="oneself," or "me/myself,'' "he/himself." "you/yourself," " they/themselves," etc .. depending on the context. Adding no makes it possessive: " my/his/your/their (own) - ."
[!]
tit~ higai
Kamimura: .LL A, i '\: IT) E, ima made no yes
l;l: ?l:-c ft.(J) Jttf: wa subete watashi no sekinin
now until that is damage as for
all
my
-c>-t o desu.
responsibility is
"That's right. I am responsible for all the damages seen so far." (PL3) i:!t-9J!. (/) A4 "- (J) Jt~frt !;t .:. n i "f ~U nr t ? 111.:.
:5t
~
Sekni no hitobito e no baishiJ wa kore made kaisha ga miJketa bun o the world of the people to that is/are reparations as for until now company (subj.) made a profit portion/amount (obj.)
11± ~ l±l l.. -c tJ C:> ?
.:. C
1: tj:
haki-dashite morau
koto
ni narimasu wa.
will have spit out
IJ iT :bo
thing/situation will become (fern.)
"As for [making] reparations to the people of the world, it will become the situation that I will have [the company] spit out the portion that is the profit the company made until now."
"To make reparations to the people of the world, I'll be asking this company to give up the profits it has taken in." (PL3) • e is again being used to indicate the target of an action-here the action implicit in the word baishiJ ("reparations"). • kore made kaisha ga moketa is a complete sentence ("the company made a profit until now") modifying bun ("share/ portion/pan,'' here referring to a portion of money): "the portion of money the company made as profit until now." • ha ki-dashite is the -te form of haki-dasu ("spit out/disgorge"), and morau after the -te form of a verb implies the speaker will have the listener or someone else do the action. • koto is literally "thing," but here it has the more abstract sense of "situation." Koto ni narimasu is the polite form of lwto ni 11aru (literally, "the situation becomes/will become ~ ") which basically implies "that's what's going to happen."
8]
Kamimura: 0- tit~ lvo Kuze-san.
00 B '-''
~ (/)
~ .}.; Jt 1t L i L J: -J o
Omoshiroi
(PL4) • o-mise shimasho is the polite volitional ("let·sn shall") form of o-mise suru, a PL4 humble equivalent of miseru ("show") - · "I shall show - "-"let me show - ." A humble verb shows respect for the listener or the person being discussed by humbling the person do ing the action- in this case, the speaker.
~ Kamimura:
.:tt l;l: MR- 99 n< 1i:~l...1.:. ~:It!!. iJ'C:J :f\'f-::>-c~U.:. ± "fTo Kore wa Emu-iin1 k)'iijiikyii ga zenmetsu shita nochi kara motte kita tsuchi desu. this as for (plant variety) (subj.) was completely lost farmland from brought soil is "This is soil that I brou ht here from a field where the MR-99 lants were totall lost." (PL3)
• MR-99 ga zenmetsu shita is a complete sentence ("the MR-99 was completely destroyed") modifying niJchi ("farmland"). • motte is the -te form of motsu ("hold") and kita is the plain/abrupt past form of kum ("come"), so motte kita = "brought." MR-99 ga zenmetsu shita nochi kara motte kita is a complete sentence ("[I) brought [it] from farmland where the MR-99 was completely destroyed") modifying tsuchi ("dirt/soil").
Kuze:
;l; -::> !! A!! (exclam.)
"Great Scott!" (PL2)
,
Mangajin 45
7' 7
--------------------------
~
-
0 • After Zero
3¥M.: (.; R ;
~ I .:. t:t 99 n
I.' q)
!!
46 Mangajin
l;t.
:
Kuze: ._, Ko-
~ t. ~ f.tv'!'
~h li, MR-99 (}) kore wa, Emu-liru kyiijilkyfi no
(stammer) these as for
me
ja nai!!
of sprouts are not
(plant variety)
''Th- these aren't MR-99 s routs!" (PL2)
[I]
+~ ·r---t J: o Tada no komugi desu yo.
Kamimura : t.:.. t.!. (}) plain
wheat
is (emph.)
"They' re just plain wheat." (PL3)
0
(}) .mtiL
Kamimura: MR-99
k:lllm
komyt7
li,
± lil (})
1F.::." c1.:
.mikin wa, roshi-goto ni dojo
Emu-liru kyiijfikytl
110
(plant variety)
of root nodule bacteria as for year by year
~~
ft.g.~
chisso kagobutsu
~
till-?t...·n,~'iTo
o
fuyashite ikimasu.
soil of/in nitrogen compounds (obj.) increase progressively
root nodule bateria increase the nitro en com
' 'MR-99's nit (PL3) li t? , hlv~f:.tlll Hora,
110
unds in the soil ear b
ear."
c!iill:. IJlOlll. 't" b o
renge-barake to onaji genri de
ne.
{interj.) milk vetch fields same as principle by (colloq.)
"You know, by the same principle as milk vetch fields." (PL2) -f L"C 3.if {(£ 0 t.:. ~ 1.: I± c' lv f.t f'f-~ 't" t Soshite, sam1en tatta
koro
ni wa
donna
sakumotsu demo
and
3 years passed approx. time by what kind of
±:liP.
~
tochi
crop
r:f -::> li C' 1.: sodatsu hodo ni
even if it is will grow extent to
He!ili: 1.: L"CV ' l.> (})'t'T o o lziyoku ni shite iru no desu.
land/soil (obj.) fertile
to have made (explan.)
"And b the time 3 ears have assed the • fuyashite is the -te form of fuyasu ("increase/augment"), and ikimasu is the polite form of iku ("go"), which after the -te form of a verb that represents a change or transformation implies that the change/transformation takes place progressively over a period of ti me. • hora is often used to call a person' s auention to something, like " here/look/see/watch"; when calling attention to something not directly observable it can be like ''you know." • onaji means "the same" and the preceding to marks the object of comparison. • donna - demo is an expression for " no matter what kind of - it is" _. "any kind of - ." • hiyoku ni shite iru is from lziyoku ni sum ("make fertile/productive").
8:]
Kamimura: MR- 99
13 M-
it?J.:.f!F.~ aru teido
!±
Emu-lim kyt7jt7kyt7 jishin wa
~#. chisso
i'&tlft
iJr
r:':i (f.tl.Jc ,
1 E~"Z"Ht
lj: ~t'O)'t"T o
ga takaku naru to ikite ikenai no desu. itself as for a certain degree nitrogen concentration (' ubj.) when becomes high can ' t go on living (explan.)
(plant variety)
11iido
"M R-99 itself can't survive once the concentration of nitrogen reaches a certain level." (PL3) • takaku is the adverb form of the adjective takai C high"). so takakunaru ="become high," and aru teido takaku naru = ''become high to a certain degree" --+ ''reach a certain level." To afier a plain verb can make a conditional ''if/when" meaning. • ikite is the -le form of ikiru ("live''). and ikenai is the negati ve form of ikeru ("can go"), from iku ("go"); a form of iku after the -re form of a verb o ften implies the actio n will proceed into the future, so ikite iku ="go on living," and ikite ikenai ="can' t go on living/can't survive."
0
Kamimura: ~-ttt.:.. Yaseta
± 11( ~ doju o
~ft~-tt,
~iJ\:f.t
henka sase,
*:liP.
1.: ~T o
earth
to
lriyoku na daichi 11i modosu.
poor/infertile soil (obj.) causes to change-and
fertile
returns
"To alter soil de leted of nutrients and make it fertile earth a ain." (PL2) ~ n iJ 1 ~It: (}) fi.:::F- (}) +*(}) Ht Fl t!. ? t.:.. (})'t"T o Kore ga Akwna no Shushi no lwnrai no yakume datta no desu.
this (subj.) devil
's
seeds
of
original
role
was
(explan.)
"This was the ori inal role of the Devil's Seeds." (PL3) • henka sase is the stem form of henka saseru C'cause [something] to change" - "change [something]"). • modosu ="return [something)," often implying ·'return [something) to its former state" ...... "make it - again."
Kuze: ';(iJf-::> iJ'f.t iJ' ? t.:..o Ki ga tsukanakmta. didn 't realize
" I never realized." (PL2) :::_(}) : :. c '.t ~1 -? "Z"v'fll.f , v'-?i't"'b
!±i'
t.!.o
Kono koto
haw
da.
o
this thing/fact (subj .)
shiue ireba. if know
~iJ'f.t i't:~ ~= !JH :Itl.> itsu made mo ywaka 110 sakumotsu ni megumareru
forever
bountiful
crops
by will be blessed expectation is
" If you know t~ou will be blessed with bountiful harvests forever." (PL2) 9rl l? f.ttt:l<.lf, :tiH ~ jj'tttt.:.. ii ~.: :likirt L t.:.. ::t areta
mama
ni huchi slrita
kow
t.!.7:>1 o daro.
fields (obj.) mined unchanged state in abandoned thing/situation is probably ~"'-"'"'-"""'--"-'-'-"=.:.:....:,:'-'-'~.>:....1=->==-> abandon the ruined fields as they were."
(PL2)
(com inued nnnex1 page)
Mangajin 47
7' 7 $1 -
48 Mangajin
0 • After Zero -
- -- - -- - -- --
-
[6] (continued ji·om pre••ious page) • shiue ireba is a conditional ("'if/when") form of shiue irtt ("know"). from shim ("come to know"): shirmwkereba is a conditional form of shiranai ("not know"). • arew is the past form of a rem (';become ruined/wasted") und mama = " as is/unchanged state," so aretamama = "unchanged from being ruined": hochi sllita is the past form of hiJc/ri sum ("abandon"). so hawke o areta mama ni hochi shita ="abandoned the fields in the state of being ruined" - · "abandoned the ruined field~ as they were."
MR-99 Kamimura Hakau. Emu-iirrt kyiijiikyii no shushi to (name)
Kamimura:
Dr.
(plant variety)
noulrau
oyak~ 11i suru
wa,
n desu
t~e?
of seeds and know-how as for will make public (explan.)(colloq.)
" Dr. Kamimura ou intend to make this secret of the MR-99 seeds ublic don' t you?" (PL3) ~ t? 0 A..o T't'l: ~liJ Q) M'J'em 1: iUH: c-:> "t" ~ IJ iTo Mochirorr. Sude-ni of course
kakkoku
no
ken!.:yii-jo
11i renraku o roue arirrrasu.
already various countries of research centers with
have conununicated
"Of course. I have already communicated with research centers in various countries."
" Of course. I' m already in touch with research centers around the world." (PL3) • renraku o roue arimasu is from renra/.:11 o toru, which is a way to say "contact/get in touch [with].'' Arimasu is the polite form of aru, which after the-re form of a verb can imply that the action has already been done in anticipation of present or future need. A nata no mii hitoWtno mokuteki mo, kiuo tassei sa rem deslu1 110. you > other aim toolal;o sure!) will be achieved probabl) (colloq.) " You will surely achieve our other aim as well." (PL3) a number or quantity means ''I that much! more,'' and ltitot.w = ''one:· so mii hitotsu =·'one more." When 110 to make it a modifier for another noun. the meaning change\ to "another/the other - .'' • kiuo can rnnge in meaning from a wishfuUnot very confident "maybe/perhap'>." to a "probably/surely/undoubtedly" ~pokcn with a high degree of confidence, but it stops short of absolute sureness. It's often echoed by a conjectural form at the end of the sentence, like deshii (" probably") here. • wssei sarem i the passive form of tassei suru ("achieve/anain"). •
1//(J before
i~ added
[I]
Kamimura: #.
Q)
1:1±~ I'J i-tt A..o
Watashi 110 de wa arimase11. lime
s
i~
not
X
(J)
Chichi
110
fl!Y-J 't'T o
mokuteki desu. my father 's aim b
"It isn't mine. It's my father's." (PL3) • de 1\'Q arirrrasen is the polite negative fonn of desu nstare"). '-''00)
rr n', ::.. (J)
ltsu 110 hi ka.
.II!!J;R -lr c.;, ko11o clriht7 kara
.,omcday/one day thi'>
earth
fill X.
11(
ue
ga
it'f x. ~7.> kie-saru
::.. t
~o
koto
o.
from ~tarvation ('>ubj.) will di'>appear/vani'>h thing (obj.)
"That one day starvation may vanish from this earth,'' (PL2) • itsu-ka is a generic "sometime," which can include the meaning "some day": inserting 110 lti makes only the latter possible: "some day/one day." lrsu-ka can refer to either paM or present time. but itsuno lti ka is always used to refer to a future day.
Mangajin 49
/\~
A~Vl
~oJ;Ns~; Amateur MANGA ARTISTS draw thousands of people at DOJINSHI FAN FESTS around JAPAN.
I~ I
i'-h"d r,., start assom-
bling two days before the event begins. Dressed warmly against the bitter cold, carrying sleeping bags and provisions, the small crowd of mostly high-school and college boys docile ly receives line numbers from the e lected-by-default leader, then wanders off to stake out a good place to wait. By the eve of the event, the crowd has swelled to several thousand, with determined groups of girls now mixed in. Some are wearing costumes, mostly of anime or manga characters, although one young man is very fetching in his girl's kimono, complete with wig and makeup. When two gaijin show up at midnight and sign up for the line, they receive a round of applause. The wind coming off the water is freezing, and at last the fans settle down to get what sleep they can. As the morning of the event dawns, more fans start to trickle in. First come the o nes who live close enough to take a taxi or who have been able to persuade their parents to drop them off. When the b uses and trains start to run, the trickle becomes a steady flow, and by 6 AM the crowd numbers in the tens of thousands,
with more coming every second. Buses rented by the convention committee ferry back and forth from three major train stations, and a fleet of taxis is in use. By I 0 AM, there are more than 200,000 people waiting, filling an immense hall and completely covering the neighboring parking lot. Finally, only I 5 minutes late, the doors open and fans spill in, running (in spite of the admonitions of the guards) to the booths they have chosen. And the buying frenzy is on! What is this event, which draws 300,000 young people from all over Japan for the space of rwo days, twice a year? This is Comic Market (Comiket for short), Japan's biggest convention for artists and fans of amateur manga. or dojinshi (!i51 A at, literally "coterie magazine," but nowadays mostly indicating what is known in the US as " fan zines"). I attended my first Comiket in the summer of 1985, a bewildered fan introduced to a new world by her Japanese pen pal, and have attended a lmost every Comiket since, although now I go on business. As editor of Comic Box Jr. , a Japanese-language
• docilely= }.; 1::. ~ L < oronashiku • trickle in= j..' L i'"?~ ? "( ( = ill~ kankoku I i11J. chili • frenzy =~I til:!* mi k.yoran jo1ai
~
Homoerotic "JUNE" comics are very popular among female dojinshi fans.
monthly magazine specializing in information about and reprints of dojinshi, it is now my job to meet the artists, look for the best dojinshi, and observe the trends. It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it ... Fanzines seem to be a global phenomenon-all over the world people share the desire to create their own stories or to transport their favorite characters into worlds of their own making-but only in Japan has it reached such stratospheric proportions. No one knows exactly how many slikuru ( -lj-- '.7 Jv, "circle," a person or a group of people who produce dojinshi magazines) there are in Japan, but a conservative guess puts it at somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000, with more forming every day. There are a number of reasons for
sukoshi-zutsu yatte kuru/ := 4 'fi. 4 '<'> ? "( < 6 saman-gogo yatte kuru • admonition
losi ng the copyright thi s. One is the sheer altogether, but in Japan quantity and quality of that thr ea t i not antmation a nd manga available in Japan, for all as strong. Companies, age groups and coveri ng t he refore. are mo re inclined to be le nient all genres. In the US. for with amateurs who use example. we seem to get copyri g h ted cartoon most of o ur inspiration characters in their own from e ither books or TV. manga c reations. T hey This is especially true for a r e, after al l , an young g irls. as there are ex treme ly large fan almost no comic books base. Fan s who buy written fo r them. The doji nshi a re the same majority o f America n Fans crowd a circle's booth at Comiket in Tokyo. fans who buy o ffi cial fanzine writers seem to be women, and they naturally rum to the written word, rather than manga. videos. CD . and tie-in merchandise. comics, to produce fan fiction. In Japan, however, the situation Another contributing factor is the relatively inexpensive cost i reversed. Exposed to manga almost daily. women as well as of professional-quality printing. Whereas fanzines in the States tend to be photocopied and stapled together, the majority of men use pictures to te ll their stories. Japan's "differently enabled," relaxed copyright laws are dojinshi are lavish productio ns. with o ffset printing, binding, a nd four-color covers. In fact, there are now a number of another strong factor in the prevalence of dojinshi. It' s not that there are no copyrig ht laws-there are quite a few of printing companies whose business comes almost entirely from them-but they are e nforced a bit d ifferently. In the US, if a dojinshi publications. Co miket itself may only take place company overlooks copyright infringement. it is in danger of (continued on page 58) • copyright=
l.Ht:tl clrosakuken
• infringement=
f1'f.
sllingai • offset printing= :t 7 i::
'l
••
I
.I c
Cl 01
N Fe
a 01 fl
5
1- (:fl l~l) ofusettn insarsu
Arts of Strength, Arts of Serenity by Nrrk/a,u Suino In this guide for choosing a martial arts just right for you, swordsman and author Nicklaus Suino shows the benefits of regular marrial arts practice for mental, physical, and spiritual health. Nicklaus Suino is also the author of I1x Art of japa11tst Swordsmanshrp: A Manual of Eishin-Ryu laido and Prartitt Drills for
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52 Mangajin
I
Mad about Dojinshi (continued from page 52)
twice a year (in August and December), b ut so mewh ere in J a p a n s ma ll e r conventions, or "events" ( 1 ~ / ~ ), take place almost every weekend and holiday. It's difficult to comprehend the amount of money that changes hands during a Comiket. If each fan spends ¥ 10.000 on dojinshi (a very con ervative est imate -many spend more tha n ¥30.000 o r ¥40,000 a day), sales from the two-day event amount to a minimum of ¥3 billion, or about $30 millio n. T he actual amount is probably two to three times tha t. For most of the c ircles, producing a fanzine is a labor of lovethey rarely break even- but for the ate (.kf.) circles (the most popular groups, sometimes referred to as kabegiwa"wall 's edge"-since they are usually located ne xt to a wall at conventio ns • geeky misfi ts
= ;;f $'
to accommo d ate long lines) a good Comiket can supple ment a regular salary very nicely. Who are the fans at these events? T he majority are o f h igh-school and college age. but it's not uncommon to see j unior-high students. Office ladies a re a lso well represented. Long-time fans are now bri ng ing their children to events-a new generatio n getting a n early start ! Appro ximate ly 70 pe rcent of the fa ns are female. Unless they're in costume, the guys generally wear a "uniform" of jeans and T -shirts and seem to fit the image much of the public has of socially inept, geeky misfits. For the women, however, casual is not the order of the day. They are more fashion-conscious, wearing anything from suits to e legant dresses to outfits
~ oraku • fashion-conscious
=7
7
"/ ~ 3 :.-
1:
fro m the extre me ly frilly brand called Pink Ho use (surely the o nly line of clothing to have its own fanzine). In fact, except for their arm loads o f dojinshi or their wheeled luggage racks piled high wi t h books, fe m a l e fa n s are indistinguishable from the chic young wome n seen in the crowded streets of Shibuya or Harajuku. Dojinshi themselves can be broken down into two very broad categoriesVJ ·I~I:JilJ It (dansei-muke, comics written fo r men) a nd !A tt IUJ It Uosei-muke, comics written for women). Within each of these categories are two further general d ivisions-·'parody" (anime, manga, or game) and original. (In the world of dojins h i the word parodii conno tes a straight imitation, without the satire.) The majority of dansei-muke,
IV!C!~ ~ fasshon ni binkan tw
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Then again. it might not. This monkey has an attitude- it's programmed to make whi msical non-ti me related remarks about 20 percent of the time. These include lines like: Nemui de gozaru. Jishin de gozaru. ''I'm sleepy." "It's an earthquake." ltai de go:aru. Tokei de gozam. "That huns." "I'm a clock.'' If you really need to know the time. just shake it again. It is programmed not to make silly remarks twice in a row. The monkey also comes wich a time-announce function, as well as an alarm and snooze button. A great gift for children or anyone who needs an alarm clock that will definicely wake them up with flair! (Requires two AA batteries. not included). # M002 1 • $55.00 plus $5.75 S&H (extra for rush and delivery outside USA).
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58 Mangajin
both parody and original, are of the " H'' varie ty-in other words, lots of sex. Common the mes include S&M, bondage, and rorikon ( o 1) :::1 /,"Lolita complex"). In j osei-muke comics, oddly enough, the situation is much the same. although the termino logy is different. A hig h percentage of parody dojinshi fall under the category of yaoi dojinshi. Yaoi (-\"' ::t 1 ) is a word coined to ex press dojins hi where two (or more) mal e characters in a manga or an animated show are placed together in sex ual situations (regardless of their sexual orientation). The word comes from the expression " Yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi" or "No climax, no punchline, no meaning," and is rather misleading, as many excellent, well-thought-out stories have emerged from this genre. Similar
• terminology
fan fiction exists in the West in the form of "slash" fiction , as in Kirk/Spock. In the "original " category, s uc h homoerotic dojinshi are known as J UNE. named after the first magazine to publish ho moe ro tic stories a nd manga for women. Of course, there are many nonsexual dojinshi, too--in both parody and original form- but as a saying at comic markets goes. " If you want to sell it, put sex in it." Still , it's not all sex. As mentioned earlier, dojinshi are mainly a labor of love, and it's possible to find a book about almost anything you' re interested in. A favorite singer? Sure to be there, even Western singers. Science fiction? Sure-from PK Dick to Darkover. Star Trek? Ye p. Military armaments? Yep. Your favorite pet? Lots of them. And if
you can' t find what you' re looking for, why not draw or write your own? It's a wide-open fi eld! The dojinshi industry is one of the biggest phenomena happening in the manga and anime world today. Not only are many of the big manga stars emerging from this field (C LAMP, Oya Kazumi, Koga Yun, Hagiwara Kazushi, and Ozaki Minami, to name just a few), but even established professionals are sometimes turning to the dojinshi world, where they can write as they please, free from editorial and economic constraints. As the manga establishment becomes more and more static, it is not incomprehensible that the much-needed recharge will come from the world of dojinshi.
Mary Kennard lives and works in Tokyo.
= m~fr yogo • wide-open field = -~ m~ 17) "uf HE tt ~ 1!;\' '? 'Jt Jf mugen 110 kallosei 0 1110 /S/1 bun 'ya
Full-text search provides access to 10,000+ Japan-related documents on Business and Market Research, Science and Technology, Trade, Economic and Foreign Policy, Organizations, Services, Experts and much more! Look us up at http://www.gwjapan.org Call for more information 1-888-GWJAPAN
Mangajin 59
77. (J) IJ {iftit
Minori Densetsu • Part 2 ·,._v_
The Legend ofMi by !I§ illi16 ~ t? I Oze Akira On her 28th birthday, a resolved Suginae Minori marches into her office~ publishing company producing a low-circulation trade magazjne-~and sll~p~ a letter of resignation down on her boss's desk.
Her boss, however, seems mote concerned about his AosetJtee~ tharr losing Minori. The compJmY needs to downsize, he says, and he's been expecting her to get mkfied and quit anyway. "That's not it1at all!"Minon protests. "Is marriage t.Qe only re n you can think of for a J oman to quft her job?"
l
In fact, Minori has plans quite different from marriage: she's going to be a freelance writer. Unappreciated, she leaves the office in a huff. "I worked like a slave there for a full four years," she thinks to herself. The next step towards independence is buying her very own word processor. Minori is excited about taking this definitive step towards her goal.
At home she is met by her landlady, who has a surprise delivery from Minori's mother- a wedding futon set. The landlady is thrilled: "I had secretly been worrying, you know, that you might wind up as an old maid." But Minori sets her straight: "I'm not getting married! I just quit my job! I've struck out on my own!"
© Oze Akira . All righls reserved. Firs! published in Japan in 1995 by S hogakukan. T okyo. Eng lish 1tans la1ion righ1s arranged 1hrough Shogalcukan.
Mangajin 67
h (J) fJ 1i ~ • Minori Densetsu
68 Mangajin
Landla!!!:
~H...
flf:i.Jt.;?!
Kaislw ... yameta? company/job
quit
" You guU your job?" (PL2) • yameta is the past form of yameru ("stop/quit"), which when written with this kanji specifically means "quit work/resign from office."
Minori: -f!vlj: Sonna
tm
L...~v''t."
J:,
Hl!~lv o
kao
sllinaide
yo,
Obasan.
};.'):_..;<: Daijiibu
t!.
n'i?l
da
kara!
that kind of face don't do/ma~c-(reque>t)(emph.) aunt/auntie all right/safe am/blare because
" Don' t look at me like that Obasan. I' ll be fine." (PL2) -ft)-t>~, li -:> ~IU: L... t.; ji!,:iffi l... n' ~J., ~ t.:. ~' ~"' It t' .. . Soryli,
hakkiri to shita mitiishi
as for that
c lear
ga
ant
wake
ja nai
kedo . . .
outlook (subj.) have situ;llion/ca,e is not
but
"Of cour e. it's not the case that I have a clear outlook, but .. . " Granted I don' t know et exactl what I'll be doin but .. . • shinaide is a negative -te form of sum (''do/make"); in colloquial speech the -naide form of a verb makes a request or relatively gentle command nor to do the action. A wide variety of idioms based on - kao (o) sum are u ed to describe people's facial appearance~ and expressions: Jonna kao (o) suru = ··make that kind of a face." and sonna kao (o) sllinaide ="don' t make that kind of face" - • "don' t look at me like that." • daijobu means ·'all right/OK'' in the ~ense of "safe and secure/no cause for concern"- "''ll be fine." • soryli is a contraction of sore n:a. ''a.\ for that": it's sometime~ used like this as a "warm up" phrase with such idiomatic meanings as "of course/it's true that/it goes without saying that." • hakkiri to sllita ("is clear/clearly defined") is the past form of hakkiri (to) sum (''become clear"). • wake ja nai (or wake de '''a nai) il> literally like English "it's not (the case/situarion) that - :·but this kind of explanatory form is used in Japanese a great deal more than in English.
<
;t 't' t!.-:> -r: t.; ~ lv :iC JI. made daue takusan kiji
Minori: .:. tt kore
this/now until too/even
many
.:. ~ l -r: t.:
l,
konashite-ta
shi,
artic les was handling/writing and
" I' ve been writin a lot of articles a nd J:'-f 0) ~tMt il' I? ~ -fRMI t yoso no 01her
c
~ I?-:> t.; .:. ~ .1.> .0 L. , kara mo irai o moral/a koro 1110 am shi, magazine publishers from also requests (obj.) received occasions also have and
zasshisha
" I've had reguests from other magazines and ~Ht li =n'R 7t 0) ~t!- 't' LO)If.Q tobun
L. .. .
wa nikagetsu-bun no /..:yiiryii de shinogeru shi. .. .
immediate future as for 2 months' wonh that is pay
with can get by
''for the time being I can get by on the 2 months' a
so
I have in the bank so ...
• konashite-ta is a contraction of konashite ita. the past fonn of konashite iru ("am/is/are handling''), from koiiOSu ("handle," which when speaking of writing assignments means ··write/chum out"). 0 , to mar k J.:iji as the direct object of this verb, has been omitted, as it often is in colloquial speech. • shi is an emphatic "and/and besides/and so," often used when listing up causes/reasons in an explanation. • koto mo aru is an expression meaning the described situation/circumstance "can occur/sometimes does occur," or, when it follows a past verb, " has (sometimes) occurred." • tobun refers to an indefmite period of time beginning at the present; rabun wa ="for the present/for the time being/for the foreseeable future.'' • shinogeru is the potential (''can/be able to") form of shinogu ("bear up/manage/ride out'').
Minori:
;j:~{ij
J;.O)I), nr/v!! IJ ~T!
Bi'iJ'i
Suginae
Minori,
taim)
~0~ ganbarimasu.' Yachi11 110
(surname) (given name) will strive hard
rent
li L.;t-t!'!v!
wa shimasen.' of nonpayment/arrearage as for won't do
' 'I' m oin to 've it ever thing I've got. I won' t fall behind on m rent!" (PL3) • ganbarima.w is the polite form of ganbaru. which means "to strive hard/do one's best" at a particular task. • yacltin (literally. "house fare/fee") refers only to "the rent" for a home or apartment, and can't be used for the cost of renting anything else; yachinno taino ="nonpayment of rent'' - "falling behind on rent.··
Landlady:
J;. <1) I) '1':> -t> lv Minori-cha11 . . . (name-dimin.) 0
0
0
~ lv t.;
0
0
0
anta ... you
"Minori . . . ou . .!...!." (PL2) • -clwn is a dimjomive equivalent of -san (''Mr./Ms.'') most typically used with the names of children, but also among close adult friends and family. • anta is a more casuaVioformal anata ("you").
[I]
Landlad
b~-:>!!
Wli!!
" Waaahh!!" (sudden wailing) Mangajin 69
------------------------Ji
70 Mangajin
q)
IJ iii: llt • M inori Densetsu
------------------------
Minori: "t>f.!.o i:>i-.Hf~
bo
i:>l;(~ lv,
•L•fe
l..~lt>\."
J: o
Ya da.
ne.
Obasan.
Shinpai
shinaith
yo.
Ogesa
(interj.) exaggerated{colloq.) aunt/auntie
worry don't do-(request)(emph.)
"Don't be silly, Obasan, you' re really overreacting. Please don' t worry." (PL2) t_,~r? fvt.!. J:, -t? t.:~lj:lt> fvt.!. J:! ~ ... ~t..:L..~, ~fvt..: ~t
Landlad
Chigau
n da
So
yo,
ja nai
is differenc (explan.) (emph.) that way is not
n da
e:
Uim-t .o will marry
e:
1v t.!.-::d..: ; , "t>-::> ~Q):: n dartara, yarto ano koto
keldron suru
(explan.) if it is
finally
A·
yo!
atasha,
anra
(ex plan.) (emph.) (stammer) as for me
ga
you (subj.)
~r
-a- .i .o
.!::
.\'!~.-::>
ga
ieru
to
omotte .. .
-r .. .
that thing (subj.) could say/tell (quote) thought-(cause)
" It's different from that. It's not that way. 1- l just thought that if you were getting married I could ftnaUy tell you about that thing."
" You don't understand. It's not that at all. I- I lust thought that if you were getting married, I could finall tell ou." (PL2) • ya dais a variation of iya do, literally meaning "[something] is disagreeable/unpleasan t"; it's one of the most common ways of expressing one's objection to something-including lighthearted objections like ·'oh, go on!ldon' t be silly/don't make me laugh/etc." • shinpai slzi11aide is a negative -te form of shinpai .wru ("worry"), again serving as an informal request/command not to do the action. • chigau literally means "differs/is different," but often implies "is wrong/mistaken/a misunderstanding•·-+ "you don 't understand." • atasha is a contraction of atashi wa ('"as for me''); atashi is a mostly feminine variation of watashi ("lime''). • n dattara after a verb makes a conditional expression that's literally like "if it is the case that [the action wiLVdid occur]." • ieru is the potential ("can/be able to'') form of iu ("say/tell''), and omorre is the -te form of omou ("think").
Minori: ih. . .
~Q) .:
c
'?
ano koto
A·
(Mammer) that
'f?
lie?
thing (quote)
''Wh- what do you mean by ' that thing'?"
"T- tell me what?" (PL2) •
- rre is a colloquial equivalent of the quotative expression - to iu to ("if/when you say - "); when it's used to quote something the other person has just said, it basically means ''what do you mean by [the quoted word/remark).''
~r Ul) 71 ~ - ~ ~-t;,::vvr ~'"' ga kono apiito buchi-kowashite bim
Landlady: -ffbiflit Fudosan-ya
realtor/developer (subj.) lhis apartment
tear down-and
~ -::>t..:-r .o
bullateru
-::>'t' "' ? tte
iu
~vt.:
.I:!!
n da
yo!!
building put up/construct (quote) say (explan.) (emph.)
"A property developer has decided to tear the apartments down and put up an office building!" (PL2) ill! ..1:1f J: ' ii!!J:.It"! Ji-age
yo,
ji-age!
land-grabbing (emph.) land-grabbing
''Developers. It's the greedy developers!" (PL2) • buclzi-kowasltite is the -te form of buchi-kowasu (often buldwwasu}, an informal but emphatic form of kowasu ("break/ wreck/tear down"); the prefix buchi- (or but-) is used with a number of verbs to imp ly that the action is done in a particularly forceful or even violent manner. Bullatem uses the same prefix with tateru (''build/construct''). • in this case, tte is a colloquial equivalent of just the quotative particle ro. • ji-age refers to the practice of real estate developers and consolidators enticing or intimidating/forcing landowners to sell out and move when their property is needed for a build ing project.
Landlady: ::::¥)fv Gome11
J.J.Q) t) -t)~.lv!!
.1:,
yo, Minori-chan!!
(apology) {emph.) (name-dimin.)
::::¥)/vJ:H - !! Gomen
yo!!
(apology) (emph.)
" I'm sorr Minori! I' m so-o-o sor
b~~
Wii!! (wailing)
!! Waahh!!" (PL2)
Mlnori: -f tt -::> -r .. . Sore tte .. . that
(quote)
"As for that . ..
"You mean . • • • 11e here is a colloquial equivalent of ro iu no wa, literally "as for what is called - ," which is often just a fancy way of marking the topic ("as for -").
Minori:
H!i~lv . .. j'[ -t):iJ!~?
Obasan, aunt/auntie
tachinoki? ev1ct1on
" Obasan, [does it mean] eviction?"
"Obasan I'm being evicted?" (PL2) • l{lc/rinoki is the noun form of tachi·lloktt (''move o ut/vacate"); the noun form can refer either to voluntary " moving oull evacuation'' or forced ''eviction."
Mangajin 71
_
_
_
72 Mangajin
_ __
_
_ _ _ _ ____:_ 1-J. :........:..:. q)
IJ
1~
!!1. • Minori Densetsu
--------------------------
OJ
Landlad
~lvf~
f!lt
1:~·~'-'o
Alita
dake
ja nai.
only/alone
is not
you
1: {t/v"'t'¢ A }j./vl;t. , Koko
ni sunde-ro hiro minna,
this place in/at
live
=l§r.o J.:tpq 1: t1:1 t:t. ~ ~ t:t. ~ t:t. "' 1v t..:
nishiikan inai ni 2 weeks
denakya naranai n da
within
must leave
people
J:-,,
all
yo!!
(explan.) (emph.)
"Not 'ust ou. Ever one wbo lives here has to leave within 2 weeks." (PL2) • sunde-ro is a contraction of sunde iro ("is/are li ving" or ·'Jive"), from sumu (''live/reside [in a place]"). Koko ni surule-ru is a complete sentence ("[they] live here'') modifying hito (''people''). Wa to mark hito as the topic of the sentence bas been omitted. • denaJ..ya naranai is a contraction of denakereba naranni, a " must/have to" form of deru ("exit/leave/vacate").
Minori:
7C~ t.~f.t.'-''
Jodan )a nai joke
is not
P o t'-J wa.
Do
(fern.) how
-?-:>"( ~1-:>~-t!:
yaue
ilikkose
-:>"(
v'-7
<7)?!
ue
iu
no?!
doing mo' eire locate (quote) say (cxplan.-?)
"This is ridiculous. How' m I su osed to get a new lace?" (PL2) Minori: = ~' Ji 53"(J) M~:fl- , =:h'.; Ji= T-hul'1 !i !'tllit.t.
'ftft ~
f.t.(J)
Nikagersu-btm no kyilryo, sanjtlrokuma11 11isen goltyaku-e11 ll'a kiclto JUt gun-sltiki11 na no 2 months' worth that is pay
362.500 )Cn
as for
preciou~
yo!!
war chest (explan.) (is-emph.)
"The 2 months' a ¥362 500 is m)' precious start-u capital!" (PL2) joda11ja nai is literally "it is not a joke," and it's an expression for strongly dismissing or protesting what the other person has said: "That's ridiculous/You can't be serious/You' re o ut o f your mind/Impossible!" or" o way!/Forget it!," etc. • yaue is the -te form of yaru ("do"). so dlj yaue ="doing how" - "in what manner" or just "how:· o hikkose is the abrupt command form of hikkosu ("move/re locate·· one's residence or place of business). • a king a question with explanatory no is very common in colloquial speech---especially among female speakers. o the amount is roughly $3,150 at present exchange rates. o ending a sentence with the explanatory no or na no plus yo is mostly feminine: the yo in this case essentially serves as equivalent to da/des11 yo ("is/are"+ emphasis). o
0
Sound FX: ff- -;; Gii!
Rrrrr (sound of bank's shutter coming down)
8]
Minori:
f,)'-:> "( - -:> !
M11'.> t:t. ~ '"Z'- -:> !
Moue! wait-(request)
don't close-(requc'>t)
Shimenaide!
" Wait! Don ' t close it!" (PL2) Sound FX:
r' / r' / r· / r' / Don don don do11
Bang bang bang ba~ (sound of pounding on shuuer) o o
maue is the -te form of mat.w ("wait'' ); the -te form is being used as an informal request/command. shimenaide is from shimem ("close [something]"): the -naide form o f a verb makes an informal request/command not to do the action.
ATM: 17-;; :,t"" 17-1:! /rasshaimase! (2reeting)
'rWelcome!" (PlA) • irasshaimase (''welcome/come in'') is the standard expression for welcoming a visitor to one's home or customerS to one's place of business. Using katakana representl. the ''accent" of the machine-generated voice.
Mangajin 73
l-J.
74 Mangajin
(J) f )
fii;
rut •
Minori Densetsu
Minori: I>"'~-::> Aisatsu
~!
wa nuki yo! greeting/formalities as for omission (is-emph.)
"S are the formalities!" (PL2) Sound FX: !! -;; !! ·:; !! ':1 Pi!
pi.'
pi!
Dit dit dil (pushi ng buttons) • nuki is the noun form of nuku ("omit/skip/dispense with"). • in feminine colloquial speech, yo alone often serves for desu yo ("is/are•· +emphasis).
ATM: 7 1) 'll 1- ? :3-+f 17 'l -1 o Arigato go~aimashita. "Thank y_gu ver much." (PL4) Sound FX: ? 1 - / Uiin
Vreee (whir of motor spitting her passbook bac k out)
MJnori:
=- ·:;
1~1- .. !? Jo~fl. li .. !? Nippachi . . !? 0-kytiryif wa .. !? 28 (hon.)-pay/salary as for
"28!? What about m Sound FX: ff'l "r- /
a !?" (PL2)
Gashiin
Crash (sound of shutter touc hing noisily down) • nippaclri (from ni, 2. and hachi, 8: lr changes to -pp for euphony) can refer to the 2nd and 8th months (February and
August), which have traditionally been thought of together because they are slow business months, but here she's using it for the number 28, which represents the yen balance in her savings account. • female speakers often use the honorific prefix o- with kyiiryo ("salary/pay") even in informal speech. • stating just a topic plus wa (''as for'') with the intonation of a question asks very generally about the status/condition/ location/etc. of that topic.
• Understanding an1me (collfinuedfrom page 54}
Japanese society today is in the world of ani me. Chiaki. the heroine of Zenki. for example, controls a demon lord. Zenki. and uses him to fight evil ... Chiaki may still be in high school. but she is already a powerful miko. She controls Zenki by reducing him to a toddler: a demon still, but a baby demon who she then terrorizes and bullies like an older sister. In doing so. she also reveab how traditional Japanese women control the me n in their lives. They tum them into children. Much of Samurai reads this way- like lite rary c riticism. I confess that, when I began the book, I s us pected that anime would no t tand up to suc h scrutin y, but I now know what anime otaku (::t -1 7 , "fans") know: there's more to a nime than the confusion and feeling of gene ral weirdness that an initial viewing c an produce. Wha t the untutored American viewer takes out of anime is considerably less than the Japanese animator puts in. What stands up less well in Samurai is Levi's explanation of the populari ty of anime in rathe r cosmic te rms-an act, according to Levi, of c ultural communication between the GenXe rs of the US and the so-called shinjinrui A 1£1. ''new
(m-
human types") o f Japan. "What this flood of d ubbed and s ubtitled video cassettes really re presents is a c ultural exchange so ambitious that neithe r the Japanese nor the American government would have dared to plan it. The new generations of both Japan and Ame rica are s haring their youth, and in the long run, their future ... Future social historians may well conclude that the c reation of the American otaku was the most significant event o f the post-Cold War period.'' More s ignificant than c heap airfares? I doubt it. Such attempts to explain the appeal of anime to alienated modern youth a re few, however, so they're but a minor distractio n in the book. Three appendices hold valuable information for those wanting to delve more deeply into the allusive a nd elusive world o f a nime. The first contains addresses. phone a nd fax numbers, and URLs of providers of ani me. The second is a n excellent list of recommended readi ngs. And the third is a s hort g lossary of te rms (some Ja pa nese, some Englis h) which every otaku should know.
John Benedict is a freelance translc1101; middle-school teacher of Japanese, and nm·elist.
-- ------• cosmic= ;R 1.J.: 0~ t.t. remai-teki na I 'f1t jQ (J(j t.: f uhen-reki 11a • allu;ive =Off ,l; ((.] a11ji-reki I 51~~,t';: ((~ in 'yu-re/..i
Mangajin 75
11 (]) I ) f~ Ill. • M inori Densetsu ------------------~~~-
76 Mangajin
m 0
Soaud FX: ff? ff? Gata gata Rattle rattle (sound of desk and contents rattling while being moved)
Former ~I?, J.J.(J) t), C.' ? Lt.: Co-worker : Ara, Minori, doshita
1/{:lb!.:.
(J)?
A- t: ~ lj:n• -? !.:.
(J)?
no?
• ara is a feminine interjection showi ng sudden awareness or surprise. "oh!loh my!/goodness!" Used when seeing someone you didn' t expect to see, it can be like "Oh, hi!" • do is " how/what" and shita is the past form of sum ("do/make"). so do shira can literally mean "what did Iyou] do?" But it's most commonly used as an idiomatic expression meaning "what's wrong?/what happened?/what's the matter?" • n ja nakaua no is the past form of 11 ja nai no. which when poken with the intonation of a question literally asks "isn't it (the case) that - ?"
Mlaorl:
~.
..
Na-
~ A- ~ (J),
.: tt
... ?
nan na no, kore ... ?
(swnmer) wbat (explan.)
this
"Wb- what's this all about?'' (PL2)
8]
Former Jt 'l Co-worker: Mite
(J)
C. E t)
J: o
~U
f11lim L -1? ~-? t.:
(J) o
no
tori
yo.
Kaisha
tosan shichaua
no.
see/seeing of
as is (is-emph.) company went bankrupt-{regret)(explan.)
"Exactl what it looks like. The compan went bankrupt" (PL2) • mite is the -te form of miru ("look at/see"), and - no tori makes an expression meani ng "exactly as - ... so mite no tori= "exactly as seen/as you can see"
"exactly what it looks like."
• ga, to mark kaisha as the subject of tiisan shichaua. ha~ been omitted. • rosan shichatta is a contraction of tosan shite shimaua, the-re form of tosan sum ("go bankrupt") plus the past fonn of shimau, which after the -te form of a verb implies the action is/was undesirable/regrettable.
Mlnorl: till ... - - TO"Ba.nk-" FX: -" I? Fura
Wobble (effect of Minori suddenly feeling weak/faint/unstable) Former ::filt) ltiL'l Ufl: I! ~~! ~U (J) i:>~
iSI;t,>~l?"' t -? 'l }-:;..-;;(7 .1:!! shachO wa johatsu! Kaisha 1w o-kone arai-1.11rai motte tonzura yo!! put out-and co. pres. as for evaporated/vanished company 's {hon.)-money all took-and neeing/escape {is-emp,b.)
Co-worker: FuwaltJri dashite default
"Tbe president defaulted and disappeared. He made off with ever last bit of the compan 's moneJ1 ' (PL2) • juwatDri can refer either to the act of nonpayment/default, or to the bill/note that is not honored/paid. Fuwatari dashite is the -te form ofjilwattlri (o) dasu (literally, "put out a non-payment/bad bill''), which is essentially equivalent to the verb "default.'' • jiRuJtsu here implies johatsu shita, past form ofjohatsu suru ("evaporate''). which is used as an idiomatic expression for "[a person) disappears/vanishes" (usually in situations when the person has done so deli berately).
• o, to mark o-/cane as the direct object of motte, has been omitted. • arai-zarai means "aiVthe whole/every last bit." • mone is the-re fonn of motsu ("carry/hold''), and tonzura is a slang word for "running away:· Kaisha 110 o-kane (o) araizarai mone tonzura yo= "he ran away carrying every last bit of the company's money."
Mangajin 77
h q-; 11 ii llt • Minori Densetsu _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ --------------~~-
I
78 Mangajin
OJ
SoundFX:
[I] Loan shark:
.B -J ! 0!
U*
t;t
v '~ i
O) tp ,
shacho
wa
me
no ka,
11:~
ti?!
n' < t..-rlv
shacho wa?! Kakushite-n
(imerj.) co. pres. as for nm here (ex plan.·?) co. pres. as for
are hid ing
t."(>~i
t.!J:d
l'.t?!
/a ne
darii
na ?!
•~
nm
I suppose (colloq.)
"Hey, isn't the president here?-the president?! l don' t suppose it' s that you' re hiding him?" " Hey, where's your president? I wanna see your president. You wouldn' t be hidin~h:..:.im =~'-"-" would you?" (PL2) Sound FX: .::f -\'7 Kyii
Ack! (sound of scream) • ine is a rough. masculine slang variation of inai, negative of iru ("exist/be present" for humans and other animate beings); jane is similarly a rough. masculine variation of ja nai ("is not"). The vowel combinatio n ai often changes tO ei or e in masculine slang. • kakushite-n is a contraction of kakushite iru no ("is/are hiding [something/someone]" + explanatory no), from kakusu ("hide (something/someone!"). • - ja nai daro na is an expressio n for '' I don't suppose it's that - ... o ften with the feeling o f ·' it beller not be that - ."
Minori: t.tl:
J:o
~t.:L t!.--:>"'C" ... ~t.;t., t!.--:>"'C"
Nani
yo.
Atashi datte . . .
what (is-emph.}
I
UG
atashi datte shacho I
100
too
1:
~v't.:v'
b
J: o
ni
auat
wa
yo.
co. pres. (lllrget} want to see/meet (fern.} (emph.)
''What's that? 1, too ... I, too, want 10 see the president.'' ''What!? You ... ou're not the onl one who wants to see the resident!" (PL2) • nani yo (fern.) and nan da yo (masc.)--literally "what is it?" or ''what's that?"--can be used in a challenging or even belligerent tone to protest or express offense/outrage at what the other person has said. • datte here is a colloquial equivalent of the panicle mo ("too/also''). • aitai is the " want to" form of au ("meet/see"); ni marks the person you want to meet.
Minori:
l!!l~llll
Yonen -kan
mo koki-tsukane oki-nagara. mada atashi
4 year period all of having worked [me] hard
still
me
o
mote-asobu tsumori?!
(obj.) take advantage imemion
" After having driven me like a slave for four car s does he intend to take advanta e of me some more?" (PL2) t '-? t.,-rill~?! Do
shite kureru
110
yo,
o-kyilryo!!
Dr!
shite kureru
110
yo,
what/how will do for me (explan.) (emph.) (hon.)-pay what/how will do for me (explan.) (emph.)
tachinoki?! eviction
"What will he do for me about my back pay? What will he do for me about my eviction?" "What'm I supposed to do about my back pay? What ' m~osed to do a bout m eviction?" (PL2) Loan shark: H... Hv ' .. . 0-
oi .. .
(stammer) (interj.)
''H- he . . ." (PL2) • -kan is a suffix meaning "period'' used after words indicating a length of time: mo after a number implies that the number is large for the given context: yonen-kanmo ="all of 4 years/4 whole years." • koki-tsukatte is the -te form of koki-tsukart (''drive/work (someone) hard") "drive like a slave." • oki-nagara after the -te form of a verb implies ""in spite of having done the actio n." • mote-asobu means " play/toy (with)/make sport (of)/tritle (with)/take advantage (of)," etc .. depending on context. • shite is the -te form of sum (''do") and krtreru after the -te form o f a verb implies "[do the action] for me"; dii shite kureru no? literally asks '·what will you/he do for me?" The expression places blame and responsibility for the speaker's predicament on the listener or on the third person referred to. The sentence order is inverted: normal order would be 0-kyiil)'ri (wa) do shite kureru no yo? and Tachi11oki (wa) do shite kurem no yo?
Minori: 28fll
"C' Nijiihachi-en de
28 yen
~-)
do
\.,-? --:>"'C"
shiro
ne
"'J
0)
J:~?!
i11
no
yo?!
with what/how do (qume) say (explan.) (emph.)
''What am I suppOsed to do with ¥28?" (PL2) • shiro is the abrupt command form of sunt ("do"). so do shiro essentially asks what the command is: "do what/how?" With the quotative tte iuno? it becomes "[you're/he's) saying for me to do what?"- ·'what are you saying I'm supposed to do?"- " what am I supposed to do [with ¥28)?'"
Mangajin 79
JJ.
80 Mangajin
(J)
IJ iii:
~
• M inori Densetsu
OJ
Sound FX: 7 ' " ' ;f 1' ·;; ;f 1' ·;; A ha ha Kya! kya! Hajla ha F&k eek (laughing and squealing)
0 Proprietress: J.J..(J) fJ , ~d.: ftk tr? M itwri. (name)
11tmi 11011111? what will drink
" What' ll ou have Minor!l" (PL2)
-r-...
,if( t.!tt Ii, mizu dake de. is fine/OK water only/alone with
Minori: "'"'·
"Just water is fine." (PL2) • Minori's scn1ence is inverted; normal order would be mi::.11 dake de ii ("water alone is fine"). /i ("good/fine/OK") in response to an offer mean~ "that's OK/never mind." so putting ii first gives us an element of that here as well.
Minori: <<, (PL2) • mama is one of the standard ways of addressing or referring to the female owner/ proprietress of a drinking estabJjshment. • kiuo can range in meaning from a wishfuVnot very confident "probably," to a ·•surely/cen ainly/undoubtedly'' spoken with a high degree of confidence, but it stops shon of absolute sureness. • yo ne has the feeling of " I say/assert .... but don' t you agree?/am I right?"
Manga}ln tJ 1
1-J.
82 Mangajin
(J) ~~ i~ ~lt
• Minori Densetsu
J: o Atashi ga sakka ni naru I
nante,
yahari
ten
ni tsuba suro koi
(subj.) autho r become a thing like after all heavens/sky on/at
spit
datta
act
no
yo.
was (explan.) (emph.)
" As for a thing like me becoming an author, it was after all an act of spitting at the heavens." " When I ot it into m head to become an author I was reaU 'ust spitting into the wind." (PL2) • nante can be considered a colloquial equivalent of nado, or of an entire phrase like nado to iu koto wa (literally ..a thing that is something like - " ). It's often used to imply the preceding item or action is ridiculous/inappropriate/unthinkable. • ten ni rsuba suru (lit., ''spit at heaven") describes actions that backfire or boomerang on the person doing them.
Minori: .:3t. !i Kore
ll'a
l:$.1.1~
{])
'.k:*
"'-
1·~\-? '(
Gunma
110
jikka
e
kaette
~Hr
.{I:Atil.
l.. .1:>
ha11ayome slwgyo shiro
this as for (pref. name) in parent;,' home to go home-and
bride
traming
-:>
-r
~' ')
}.; ~ ' ;·If
fj: lvt~
iu
o-tsuge
11a n da wa.
tte
do (quOie)
~ay
ho
divine message (explan.) (fcm.)
" This is a divine message tellin • me to o home to my__lli!rents' house in Gunma and start learning how to becom~ood housewife." (PL2) • hanayome slwgycl ='"bride 'slhomemaker"s training ... and shiro is the abrupt command form of suru ("'do''): tte iu is a colloquial equivalent of the quotative to iu, which marks the preceding as the specific content of what follows: ~ tte iu o-tsuge ="a divine message saying - :·
[IjPro rietress:
'I.f.:MJi·:>f.: o ~/vf.:.:{])}jij,
Mara hajimatta. again
~
Iii¥(>
C iJijlt.f.:
fllJQ)
Anta kono mae, otoko to wakareta
began
you a while bac k
"There you go again. As :l -=-. r~ eca ~ll~=~~=c...!!!~~~~~~~~=:!
kondo no
keiji
koso ho111nono
yo.
(stammer) this time 's revelation (emph.) real thing (is-emph.)
Minori:
"Th-this time it's the real thin l_or sure." (PL2) ~:it Lt.: B 1.:: .: 1v fj: 1.:: 1.:: fj: J.> fj: 1v -r
;r-*
Dokuritsu shira hi ni konna-ni fukii ni 1w ru
c.·-?~ ;t, -r t
nam~
.. .
do kangaete nw .. .
went independent day oo this much unhappy become a thing Jjke no matter how you think about it
" No matter how ou look at it for me to have so man unhappy thin I decide to o inde ndent as to be some kind of si n ." (PL2)
n to me on the ver da
• kono mae (lit., ''before this") refers to a time in the relati vely recent past: ''the other day/a while back/recently." • do-te mo, with a verb filling in the blank, makes the expression, ·•no matter how Lone does the action]." Kangaete is the -te form of kangaeru (''think about"), so do ktmgaete mo =.. no matter how one thinks about it/looks at it."
0 Proprietress:
*
7 fj: .: t. .1§· ;{, '( J.> Aho na kow ka11gaere-m foolish
't < ~··::d.: t?' lf'j}J~Iif hima attara, f udosan-ya
at)
l.. -r ~ fj: ~ "' J: 0
<" IJ
meguri
shite kinasai
yo.
go do
(emph.)
things be thinking free time if have real eMate agencies making rounds
"![you have the tjrne to be brooding over such stu~id ideas, go make the rounds of the real estate offices." (PL2) .t:; 11: fj: lv '( fj: lv b?' fj: .Q lv t~ 1,)' I? c O-kane
11a111e
namoka naru
11
da
kara.
(hon.)-money a thing like something can be done (explan.) because
"As far as the mo ne is concernedLYQ!! can always work something out." (PL2) • kangaete-ru is a contraction of kangaete iru ("be thinking"). from kangaeru ("think [about]/ponder"). • attara is a conditio nal (''if/when") form of aru ("have") " if you have." • - meguri (fro m meguru, "go around/circle") re fe rs to "making the rounds of - ."Shire is fro m suru, and kinasai is a command form of kL1ru ('"come"); kuru after the ·te form of a verb is often equivale nt to the English. "go [do the action]."
[IjPro rietress: "T.mraku
nattara
fumsato"
tte
iu
1W.
soro-soro
akiramete hoslrii
wa 11e!
pai ofulltrying when becomes hometown (quote) say o ne/talk soon/by and by want you to give up (fem. colloq.)
"It's about time....YQ!!.gave up this talk about going home whenever the oing gets a little rough!" (PL2) ~ ~ ~ -r .ttl$ 1: '!iir "? -r ~ t.: !J:. ~ ~ fj: ~ 't" 11. tr
r
n
"Yume
yaburete
furusato
11i
dreams are tom/broke n-and hometown to Q)
.f~Jpj fj:
~J
otoko"
o
came home woman (obj.)
*
iJki-na ai big
de
tsutsumu
love with envelop/enfold
-r:
~'~ l.. fj: ~' lvt~ iJ' C:> tl! i ya shinai 11 da kara ne! cououy of naive/unsophisticated man a thing/person like doesn' t exist (explan.) because (colloq.)
fE#
inaka 110
bokutotsu na
kaette kita Ollila
fj: lv
name
"The roverbial 'sim le count bo who takes into his bi Iovin anns the woman who came home to the countr with her dreams shat! ered' doesn' t really exist ou know." (PL2) FX: .:¥7 Giku (effect of words hining home) • furusato refers to one's "old ho metown/native place,'' usually when one is away from it. The word traditionally evokes the image of a small country community where one's family still lives and to which one's heartstrings are drawn. (continut d 011 next page) Mangajin 83
h (})
f) f~ ~!t
• M inori Densetsu
?
jiJ ;t
~I
~?
;
(/)
84 Mangajin
~
[ID (continu~d from pr~vious pag~)
• akiramete is from akirameru, and hoshii after the -u form of a verb implies the speaker wants someone else, often the listener, to do the action.
• yaburete is the -te form of yabureru ("be tom/rent asunder"), and kaette kita is the past form of kaette kuru ("come home"); yume yaburttefurusato ni kaette kita is a complete sentence ("[she] came home to the country with her dreams tom apart") modifying onna ("woman''). 0 marks this as the direct object of tsutsumu ("wraplenveloplenfold")-i.e. as the thing being enfolded-and de marks olci-na ai (lit,. "big/capacious love'') as the thing in which it is enfolded. • yume yaburete furusato ni kaette kita onna o oki-na aide tsutsumu is a complete sentence ("[he] enfolds in a big love the woman who came home to the country with her dreams tom apart") modifying inaka no bokwotsu na otoka (''simple country boy"). • i ya shinai is an emphatic slang equivalent of inai ("don't/doesn' t exist"). from iru ("exist[s]" for people and other animate beings).
~:
;t--:>'
}jljtt. -t:> ~?
Q)?
E!
Wakarechau
no?
• wakarechau is a contraction of wakarete (from wakarem. "break up") plus shimau, which after the -te form o f a verb implies the
(exclam.) separate/break up-(regret) (explan.-?)
''Wba-a-at? You're breaking up with him?" (PL2) ~:
action is undesirable or regrettable.
? .. .lv, it!
lvt! Itt' ~ o
~It'-?
1.:
li
b-)
U . . . 11,
n da kedo sa.
Airsu
ni
wa
mo
:i3§-=>'t' 1.> mada mayotte-ru
uh-huh
7-1 'JfJ{-?~t.:. P o aiso ga tsukita wa.
still am vacillating (explan.) but (colloq.) that guy with as for now/already have gotten fed up (fern.)
"Uhh •.. -huh-thou h I' m still not uite sure. But I' ve had it with him." (PL2) • mayotte-ru is a contraction of mayotte iru (''be undecided/vacillating''), from mayou (''vacillate/be unable to decide''). • aiso ga tsukiTa is the past form of the expression aiso ga tsukim ("become fed
A_: h.-/vo FL7n.
" Hmm." (interj.)
up/di gusted with" or often in matters of romance. "fall out of love with").
FX: r.1 < Pilcu (effect of pricking up ears) A : 't' b !!11 ~1 ~ 1.> t.l: 7 o ~ t.:. L.. 1.: Demo yiiki aru nii. Atashi ni but
courage have (colloq.)
I
1;1: 't' ~ tj: v' J:-! wa dekinai yo!
• dekinai is the negative form of dekiru ("can do
Iit]"); with this verb, the person who can or cannot do the action is often marked with the particle ni.
by as for can't do (emph.)
" You're brave. I could never do it." (PL2) ~:
-t- ? *? SO? that way
~:
"Really?" (PL2) t!.-:>'t' ~t..:t..J.:.-t:>
t?
Datte
atashi-rachi
mo nijiini
after all
we
J:!
22
yo!
**M
..: QJ;&.i t L.f.t~t>'t' 25 Kotro mama keklcon mo shinaide 25
ctJ'
1:~-=>t~-r ~~,
taka
ni natchatte sii . ..
already 22 (are-emph.) in this Slate marriage even not do-and 25 or something become-{regret) (coUoq.)
''I mean, we're already 22, you know. What if you wound up lust like now, unmarried, at age 25 or something, you know, and . •. • mama means "as is/unchanged," so kono mama= " unchanged from this/in this same state.'' • natchatte is a contraction of natte shimatte, tbe -te form of naru ("become") plus the -te form of shimau. which after the · -te form of a verb implies the action is undesirable/regrettable. For a woman to be unmarried past 25 is considered cause for great alarm in Japan-though the average age for first marriages has risen somewhat higher in recent years. • the particle sa or sii in the middle of a sentence is often like the colloquial English pause words, ''like/you know.'' Her sentence continues to the next panel.
mawari
wa
mo
minna
kekkon shire kodonw mo
iru
noni,
jibwr dake hitori sabishiku
surroundings as for aii'Cj)dy everyone has married-and children also exist/have even 1hough oneself only
fJJ v\ '( It\ 1.>
l:; fJ'. toka,
hararaite iru
-t- ?
t.t -:> t.:. 0
C' ?
i' 1.> ?
so
nattara
do
suru ?
alone
forlornly
is/are working or something thai way if becomes what/how will do
~:
"even thou h ever one else around ou is married with kids ou're still workin~by your lonesome? What if that ha ened? " (PL2) ~ ~--:>! -t tt. -:> 't' -!T1 7-! • sabishiku is the adverb form of sabishii ("lonely"}, and Kyii!
(exclam.)
Sore
tte
saite!
that (quoce) lowest/worst
"Yikes! How totally awful!" (PL2) Sound FX: .:f -t J\1\ J\1 \ l \ 1'1' Kya ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
(high-pitched laughing)
hararai1e iru is from hataraku ("work [ac a job}"). so hitori sabishikuluuaraire iru =•·working alone with feelings of loneliness"--+ "working forlornly all by yourself."
• tte here can be considered a colloquial equivalent of the quotacive phrase to iuno wa; it essentially serves to mark the topic: sore tte ="as for that."
To be continued ... Mangajin 85
• pop Japanese
The Year of Living Dangerously
T
speak for "the Silent Majority." he year 1960 was one of dyShilly-shallying and buying namic contradiction, a year time was not what student speech when the right and the left, the leadaimed for. It was as instantaneous ers and the led, and the young and and in your face as an angry disthe old stopped biting their lips and trict attorney. The rapid-fire retorts confronted each other ... savagely. nansensu ("nonsense") a nd igiOn January 18th the Koan Chosa-cho naslti ("no objections") were its ( P ubl ic Security In vestigation binary poles in 1960. Nansensu was Agency) classified the Zengakuren (A ll-Japan Federation of Student almost as devastating a putdown as hi-kokumin ("un-Japanese") had Self-Governing Associations) and been during the war years. other leftist student organization as How intense a year was 1960? boryoku-shugi-teki hakai katsudo yogi dantai ("groups suspected of On May 20, the Liberal Demodestructive activities and advocating cratic Party (LOP) majority, faced violence"). The very next day, in the with a sit-in by Socialist lawmakWhite House, Prime Minister Kishi ers on the Diet floor, brought 500 and US President Eisenhower signed police in to expel them, then documents to extend the US-Japan ratified the new US- Japan security pact. Zengakuren demonstrators Security Treaty, subject to ratification stormed the gates of both the by their respective national legis laprime minister's residence and tures. The stage was set. the Diet the same day. On June But 1960 was also the year when by William Marsh LOth Eisenhower's press secretary, this catchphrase describing the ideal husband's attributes caught on: ie James C. Hagerty, flew into tsuki kii tsuki babii nuki ("[he comes] with a house, a car, and Haneda airport to make advance preparations for a scheduled presidential visit, but his car was totally surrounded by angry no old lady [mother-in-law]"). Another blunt, contagious, female take on things emerged from an actress d uring an interdemonstrators; a US helicopter finally had to lift him to safety. view: "Sekkusu ga saiko yo" ("Sex is the greatest"). For (The presidential visit was soon cancelled.) women to publicly air such views marked a break with the On June 15, an enormous wave of students and workers pre-war past more radical in its way than the anti-American piled against the gates of the Diet building. Right-wing extremists in a car deliberately drove into the crowd. Police harangues that would soon fill the air. and students went head to head, and Tokyo University senior In February, the stock market broke the¥ I ,000 barrier as Kamba Michiko, 22, perished in the crush. Four thousand dema bullish government trumpeted its plans for kOdo-seicho ("aconstrators reached the inside and convened a protest on the celerated/high growth"). Later, in July, a new administration grounds. The police came back with force, brutally expelling under Ikeda Hayato would pro mise shotoku-baizo (''income them. In the end there were 182 arrests and 589 injuries, 43 doubling") within the decade. Having provoked outrage back in 1951 by suggesting the poor should eat barley if rice prices of them critical. On June 17, all the major newspapers ran were too high, lkeda played on his reputation for bluntness unprecedented editorials asking the demonstrators to Boryoku with his popular campaign s logan: "Watakushi wa uso wa haishi, gikai mamore ("reject violence, preserve the legislative process"). The following midnight, the security pact moshimasen " ("I do not tell Iies"). automatically became law. On June 23, Prime Minister Kishi If that sounds like Richard Nixon, the resemblance is not announced that he was stepping down. Ikeda spoke of maincoincidental. Then Vice President and already actively involved taining a tei-shisei and called for kan 'yo to nintai ("tolerance in foreign relations, Nixon was fascinated by the deft prevarications of Japanese political rhetoric as it was translated for and patience") from all sides. him. Borrowings he popularized in American English include And on October 12, a 19-year-old right-winger murdered Ikeda favorite tei-shisei ("low profile") and mae-muki no sltisei Socialist Party leader Asanuma Inajiro with a short sword in Hibiya Park, then committed suicide a few weeks later. ("forward-looking posture"). Perhaps the most notorious came years later, when Nixon, like Ikeda in 1960, faced furious Not your average year. resistance from student groups and echoed the prime minister's famous remark ("Koe naki koe o kiku ," that is, " I hear the William Marsh (marshbil@ gol.com) is a freelance writer based in Tokyo. voices of those who don' t use their voices") by claiming to 92 Mangajin
