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Essay

【No. 1679】Deer in Nara

Jul 24, 2019 20:56
Deer in Nara

Today I came to Nara to participate in an academic conference.

The conference venue was near Nara Park, which is famous for deer, so I saw a lot of deer on the way to the venue.

According to a survey, the number of deer living in Nara Park is about 1400.

Indeed, I felt that there were deer everywhere in the park.

Furthermore, since there were a lot of deer droppings, it was not easy to avoid them.

Incidentally, when I got on a bus to go to a hotel I reserved, the bus was crowded, and a child kicked my pants.

Unfortunately, his shoes were very dirty -- probably he stepped on a lot of deer droppings.
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【No. 1678】Kibisu wo Kaesu (踵を返す - Returning Back)

Jul 23, 2019 08:28
Kibisu wo Kaesu

When I read a Japanese novel, I found that the idiom kibisu wo kaesu (踵を返す) appears repeatedly.

踵 (meaning "heel") is usually read as kakato, however, it is read as kibisu (which is an old reading) in this idiom.

In addition, kaesu (返す) means "to return" or "to take back," so the literal meaning of kibisu wo kaesu is "to return one's heel(s)."

Imagine that you return your heels to the direction in which you had come -- in other words, this idiom means "to go back" or "to return back."
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【No. 1677】The Readings of 博士

Jul 22, 2019 17:11
The Readings of 博士

I have a 博士 degree in engineering.

博士 means "Doctor," "Doctor of Philosophy," or " knowledgeable professional," and it has two different readings -- hakase and hakushi.

Generally, 博士 is read as hakase.

For example, when calling a well-informed person (物知り博士 read as 'monoshiri hakase') or an expert (専門家 read as 'senmonka') with respect, you should say hakase.

Meanwhile, it is read as hakushi when describing an official doctoral degree in Japan.

Incidentally, we often use the English term "doctor" or "PhD" instead of hakushi.
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【No. 1675】Entenka (炎天下 - Under the Hot Sun)

Jul 21, 2019 11:22
Entenka

In summer, you can hear the word entenka (炎天下) on Japanese TV news.

Since en (炎) means "fire/blaze," ten (天) means "sky," and ka (下) means "under," so the literal meaning of entenka is "under the blazing sky."

In other words, it means "under the burning sun."

Some people say entenka no moto (炎天下の下 - the literal meaning is "under under the burning sun") or entenka no naka (炎天下の中 - the literal meaning is "in under the burning sun"), but these phrases are not correct Japanese.
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【No. 1676】Furyō (不良 - Rogue/Hood)

Jul 21, 2019 23:57
Furyō

Many furyō (不良) live in my hometown.

Fu (不) is a negative prefix and ryō (良) means "good," so the literal meaning of furyō is "not good."

This term is often used for products, data, or debt, to mean defective products, bad data, or bad debt, respectively.

On the other hand, it is also used as an abbreviation for furyō-kōi shōnen (不良行為少年).

Since kōi (行為) means "action" and shōnen (少年) means "boy," so the combination means "boys (or girls) who take bad actions."
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【No. 1673】Cold Summer

Jul 20, 2019 17:56
Cold Summer

In Japan, most days of July in this year were rainy.

Especially in Tokyo, the sunshine duration per day has been less than three hours for twenty consecutive days.

This severe lack of sunshine had a serious influence on agriculture, and the price of vegetables has risen strongly.

Of course, the temperature is lower than ordinary years -- it has been suggested that this summer may become reika (冷夏 - literally means "cold summer") for the first time in 26 years.

In the swimming pool in Tokyo's amusement park Toshimaen (としまえん), the number of people going to the pool decreased by 95% compared to the same period of the last year.
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【No. 1674】Ikasama (イカサマ - Cheating/Fraud)

Jul 20, 2019 18:01
Ikasama

Cheating in gambling and a fraudulent practice are called ikasama (イカサマ) in Japanese.

Ikasama can be written as 如何様 in kanji -- ika (如何) means "how" and sama (様) means "condition/state."

Originally, ikasama literally meant "how (is that)," but the meaning came to change into "too true" or "to be sure."

Furthermore, ikasama came to mean "as if it were true," then it was used to represent "magic trick" or "gimmick."

Such meanings have almost faded away today, and it is usually used to mean "cheating (in gambling)."
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【No. 1672】Namaiki (生意気 - Impudent/Insolent)

Jul 17, 2019 20:13
Namaiki

Previously, I introduced the term sharakusai (しゃらくさい), which means "impudent" or "insolent."

To tell you the truth, sharakusai is rarely used by today's young people -- the most common Japanese term that means "impudent/insolent" is namaiki (生意気).

Nama (生) means that something is halfway or lukewarm, and iki (意気) means a positive attitude.

That is to say, the literal meaning of namaiki is to get out of line with a halfway attitude.

This term often used as an adjective that describes characteristics of "person," "speaking," or "attitude."
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【No. 1671】Jiji Kokkoku (時々刻々 - Every Moment)

Jul 16, 2019 20:20
Jiji Kokkoku

Things vary by jiji kokkoku (時々刻々).

Ji (時) means "time" or "hour," koku (刻) means "moment," the kanji 々 represents a repetition, and the combination jiji kokkoku/jiji kokukoku means that events or changes of things occur gradually and continuously.

Since jikoku (時刻) means just "time (of day)," the passage of time is expressed by repeating this.

Incidentally, you can write jiji kokkoku as 時時刻刻 without using the kanji character 々.

In English, it can be translated as "from hour to hour" or "every moment."
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【No. 1670】The Obligation of Paid Leave

Jul 15, 2019 10:47
The Obligation of Paid Leave

Paid leave has been made obligatory since April 1st, 2019.

To be specific, the law is that employers must make workers who have more than 10 days paid leave per year use more than 5 days paid leave.

In other words, workers have to take at least a total of 5 days off from work.

If workers do not take enough paid leave, the employer can be fined.

In fact, I was also ordered to apply for paid leave more than a total of 5 days.

However, I cannot afford to take a vacation now.
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【No. 1669】18782 + 18782

Jul 14, 2019 23:46
18782 + 18782

Today, I will give you the last quiz about digits.

"18782" -- do you know that these numbers mean?

"1," "8," "7," "8," and "2" can be read as i (い), ya (や), na (な), ya (や), and tsu (つ, which comes from "two"), respectively, so "18782" can be read as iyanayatsu (いやなやつ/嫌な奴), which means "jerk/bastard."

In addition, the result of "18782 + 18782" is "37564."

"3," "7," "5," "6," and "4" can be read as mi (み), na (な), go (ご), ro (ろ), and shi (し), respectively, so "37564" can be read as minagoroshi (みなごろし/皆殺し), which means "massacre."
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【No. 1668】931 and 201

Jul 13, 2019 16:09
931 and 201

I will continue to give you a quiz about digits.

"931" and "201" -- do you know what these numbers mean?

"9," "3," and "1" can be read as ku (く), sa (さ), and i (い), respectively, so "931" can be read as kusai (くさい), which means "stink/stinky."

"2," "0," and "1" can be read as ni (に), o (お), nad i (い), so "201" can be read as nioi (におい), which means "smell."

You can combine the above two numbers like "931201" (くさいにおい - "stinky smell").

Incidentally, if you write "11201" (いいにおい), you can mean "good smell."
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【No. 1667】1122 and 2525

Jul 12, 2019 10:30
1122 and 2525

I will continue to give you a quiz about digits for only a few days.

"1122" and "2255" -- do you know that these digits mean?

"1" and "2" can be read as i/ichi (い/いち) and fu (ふ) respectively, so "1122" can be read as iifūfu (いい夫婦), which means "a good married couple."

"2" and "5" can be read as ni (に) and ko/go (こ/ご) respectively, so "2525" can be read as nikoniko (にこにこ), which is an onomatopoeia that represents a smile.

These digits are popular as car license plate numbers in Japan.
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【No. 1666】39 and 49

Jul 11, 2019 10:33
39 and 49

I would like to continue to give you a quiz of digits.

"39" and "49" -- do you know what these digits mean?

"3" and "9" can be read as san (さん) and kyū (きゅう), respectively, so "39" can be read as sankyū (さんきゅう - "Thank you").

Note that sankyū can mean "maternity leave" when writing it as 産休 in kanji.

"4" and "9" can be read as shi (し) and kyū (きゅう), respectively, so "49" can be read as shikyū (しきゅう/至急), which means "urgently."
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【No. 1665】4649 and 084

Jul 10, 2019 17:44
4649 and 084

Today, I will introduce "4649" and "084."

Can you imagine what these digits mean in Japan?

"4," "6," "4," and "9" can be read as yo (よ), ro (ろ), shi (し), and ku (く), respectively, so "4649" can be read as yoroshiku (よろしく), which means "thank you" or "nice to meet you."

"0," "8," and "4" can be read as o (お), ha (は), and yo (よ), respectively, so "084" can be read as ohayo (おはよ), which means "good morning."
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【No. 1664】Poketto Beru (ポケットベル - Pager/Beeper) Part 2

Jul 9, 2019 10:23
Poketto Beru Part 2

In my post yesterday, I wrote that poketto beru (ポケットベル - "pager/beeper") has followed a course of decline.

In fact, the telecommunication service for personal use will be terminated in September 2019, though the radio waves for poketto beru will continue to be used in the community wireless system for disaster prevention.

Incidentally, poketto beru could send and receive characters such as alphabets and Katakana in the mid-1990s, but before that, it supported only digits.

Because of this, various messages by combining several digits became popular.

I will try to introduce those digit messages tomorrow.
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【No. 1663】Poketto Beru (ポケットベル - Pager/Beeper) Part 1

Jul 8, 2019 15:24
Poketto Beru Part 1

In the 1990s, poketto beru (ポケットベル), commonly called pokeberu (ポケベル), was very popular in Japan.

Poketto beru is a wireless telecommunications system to send signals or messages, and the name comes from two English terms, "pocket" and "bell" -- it is known as "pager" or "beeper" in the U.S.

Unfortunately, as mobile phones have become widespread since the mid-1990s, poketto beru has followed a course of decline.

Eventually, it was decided that the telecommunication service for personal use will be terminated in September 2019.

To be continued.
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【No. 1662】How to Read 2019

Jul 7, 2019 13:24
How to Read 2019

This year is 2019 A.D.

In Japan, the most common reading of 9 is kyū.

On the other hand, when 9 is used with counter suffixes such as nen (年 - "year"), getsu/gatsu (月 - "month"), or ji (時 - "o'clock"), it is usually read as ku instead of kyū.

In fact, the oldest Japanese broadcasting station defined the reading of '2019 nen' (2019年 - "the year 2019") as nisen jūku nen.
(Note that the reading nisen jūkyū nen is not completely wrong.)

However, '1999 nen' (1999年 - "the year 1999") is read as sen kyūhyaku kyūjū kyū nen to fix the rhythm of the words.
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【No. 1661】Sagasu (さがす - Searching)

Jul 6, 2019 09:24
Sagasu

The most common Japanese verb meaning "to search" is sagasu (さがす), but it has two notation ways by using different kanji, 探す and 捜す.

These two kanji are basically used as follows:

Use 探す when you search for what you want to get or see.

Use 捜す when you search for what you lost, what you cannot see, or someone who was missing.

For example, 探す is used when you want to find a job or hunt for treasure, whereas 捜す is used when you want to find a lost wallet or a missing person.
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【No. 1660】Tariki Hongan (他力本願 - Relying on Someone)

Jul 5, 2019 16:35
Tariki Hongan

Relying on someone or leaving your work to someone is sometimes called tariki hongan (他力本願) in Japanese.

Ta (他) means "other," riki (力) means "power," hon (本) means "true," and gan (願) means "wish," so you may think that this four-character idiom expresses its literal meaning.

However, both tariki (他力) and hongan (本願) are Buddhist terms -- tariki means "the power of Amitabha Buddha" and hongan means "a wish to have people become Buddha."

That is to say, originally tariki hongan means "to become a Buddha relying on the power of Amitabha Buddha."

It is thought that the meaning of "relying on someone" was made from the meaning of each kanji, then it became popular.