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【No. 0682】Mago nimo Isho (Clothes Make the Man)

Oct 30, 2016 14:09
Today, I will talk about the proverb "mago nimo isho."

"Mago" means a person who carries people and luggage while leading a horse, and "isho" means dress clothes.
(Currently in Japan, there is almost no people who work as mago.)

This proverb expresses that everyone will look good by wearing dress clothes, even if he/she is a low ranked person like mago.

Note that if you say this proverb to others, it can be rude.

Also, since the reading "mago" can mean "grandchild", some people think that "mago nimo isho" means "any cloth suits a grandchild," but this thought is wrong.
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【No. 0681】Hyakubun wa Ikken ni Shikazu (Seeing is Believing)

Oct 29, 2016 15:25
Today, I will talk about the proverb "hyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu."

"Hyakubun" means "to hear something 100 times," "ikken" means "to see something once," and this proverb expresses that you can get better understanding by seeing once than hearing 100 times.

For example, a beautiful scenery is certainly fit the "hyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu."

Currently, this proverb is also used to mean that since hearsay information might be wrong, you should see it for yourself.

In other words, it says that before you believe every word someone says, you should confirm them with your eyes.

By the way, this proverb comes from historical records of the Han Dynasty.
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【No. 0680】Appare

Oct 28, 2016 21:54
Today, I will talk about the Japanese word "appare."

"Appare" expresses that something is very respectable or admirable.

Also, it can be used alone like "attaboy" when you praise something excellent.

For example, you can use it something like "teki nagara appare da" (although you are a competitor, you deserve to be praised), or "appare na sigoto buri" (you do an admirable work).

The word "appare" comes from the "aware", which meant strong feelings of sorrow or joy.

Currently, "aware" mainly expresses "sorrow" or "pity", while "appare" expresses "acclaim".

Please be careful not to say "aware" when you praise someone.
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【No. 0679】Bo ni Furu

Oct 27, 2016 20:32
In the yesterday post, I introduced a phrase "mizu no awa," which means that efforts end in vain.

Today, I'd like to talk about the phrase "bo ni furu," which has the same meaning of "mizu no awa."

The literal meaning of "bo ni furu" is "to swing a pole," and it implies that a merchant walks around to sell goods while shouldering a carrying pole with baskets hung at both ends.

Also, such an act or a merchant was referred to as "boteburi" or "furiuri".

In Japan during the Edo period, boteburi have to sell fish and vegetables until the baskets would empty.

Furthermore, even if all goods were sold, the profits were small.

From this fact, "bo ni furu" comes to mean "efforts end in vain."
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【No. 0678】Mizu no Awa (To End in Vain)

Oct 26, 2016 21:50
Today, I will talk about the Japanese idiom "mizu no awa."

"Mizu" means "water", "awa" means "bubble," and "mizu no awa" can express "bubbles that float on a surface of water" literally.

However, in most cases, it is used when you express that your efforts or works end in vain.

For example, when you say "my efforts become mizu no awa (bubbles on water)," it means that your efforts disappear like fleeting bubbles that float on water.

Also, there is another expression "suiho ni kisu," the literal meaning of which is "to return back to bubbles on water."

"Suiho ni kisu" has exactly the same meaning of "mizu no awa," but I think it sounds smarter (this is my personal opinion).
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【No. 0677】Nishi Muku Samurai

Oct 25, 2016 00:24
There are two types of month; that has the 31st day, or doesn't have the day.

Today, I will introduce the Japanese phrase "nishi muku samurai," which is used for remembering months that don't have the 31st day (that is, February, April, June, September and November).

The literal meaning of "nishi muku samurai" is "a samurai who are facing the west," and it can be divided into "ni", "shi", "mu", "ku", and "samurai".

Here, "ni" means "two" (February), "shi" means "four" (April), "mu" means "six" (June), and "ku" means "nine" (September) in Japanese.

Furthermore, "samurai" implies "eleven" (November), but the reason is a little complicated.

Eleven is written as "十一" in kanji, and when you arrange it vertically, it becomes "士".

"士" (shi) means "武士" (bushi), and "武士" is equivalent to "侍" (samurai), hence "侍" can express "eleven".
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【No. 0676】Mizu Kusai (Secretive)

Oct 24, 2016 12:59
Today, I will talk about the Japanese phrase "mizu kusai."

"Mizu kusai" literally means "it smells water," and it expresses that someone is polite, formal, and secretive.

Originally, the phrase "mizu kusai" is used for alcohol or dishes that contains a lot of water, as the meaning of "it has a little taste" or "it's unsavory."

This has come to be used for people, and it has come to mean "you have little affection."

Meanwhile, if you say "mizu irazu," the literal meaning of which is "there is no room to add water," you can express "close relationships" or "family gatherings."
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【No. 0675】A University Festival

Oct 23, 2016 15:44
From yesterday to today, a school festival was held in our university.

There were a huge variety of booths, and it was exciting.

Our laboratory exhibited student's study posters, but it was not thriving very much.

On the other hand, our neighbor laboratory exhibited various games made by students and visitors could get some candies if they cleared some stages of these games.

This room was very popular among children and students, and it looked very prosperous.

Since we realized that we needed interesting ingenuities in order to collect more people, we would like to improve toward the next festival.
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【No. 0674】Gyofu no Ri (Fisherman's Benefits)

Oct 22, 2016 14:15
Today, I will talk about the proverb "gyofu no ri."

"Gyofu" means "fisherman", "ri" means "benefits", and "gyofu no ri" is used as an example of that a third party grabs benefits without pain when two parties conflict with each other.

This proverb is derived from a Chonese story called "Sengoku strategies."

The story is something like the following:

A snipe tried to eat the inside of clam, but its beak was sandwiched.

The snipe said "you'll die in dry if you don't open the shell and return to the sea," but the clam said "you'll die in starvation if you don't pull out your beak."

Both of them stood firm.

Then a fisherman came here, and he caught both the snipe and calm.
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【No. 0673】Dango (Dumpling)

Oct 21, 2016 20:25
Today, I will talk about the traditional Japanese food "dango".

Dango is a kind of dumpling made from flour of cereal or rice, which is added to water and steamed.

There are various kind of dango; seasoned with bean paste of sugar and soy sauce, soybean flour, or artemisia.

"Hanami dango" (dango for cherry-blossom viewing) is often eaten during cherry blossom viewing party, and is usually composed of three color dango that is on a skewer.

There are some theories of the reason of three color dango, but the most widely accepted one is that the red (pink) dango means cherry blossom, the white dango means spring haze, the green dango means verdure, that is, the hanami dango expresses spring.

By the way, there is a Japanese proverb "花より団子" (dango is better than blossoms), which means that people prefer to beneficial things than beautiful things.
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【No. 0672】My Mother's Birthday

Oct 20, 2016 18:58
The day before yesterday was my mother's birthday.

Since I remembered that my mother said that she wanted to go traveling, I decided to give her a travel ticket.

By using this ticket, you can visit various locations of home and abroad.
(It's difficult to travel abroad in terms of the value of the ticket which I bought, though.)

However, I wasn't able to prepare it well in advance, so the shipping date became three days ago (the day before her birthday).

Unfortunately, the day when my mother received my gift was yesterday night (the day after her birthday).

It was a little bit disappointing, but I was pleased because she looked delighted.
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【No. 0671】Oshiya (Pusher)

Oct 19, 2016 08:38
Today, I will talk about the interesting Japanese occupation "Oshiya".

Oshiya means people who push passengers and luggage that are protruded from train doors during rush hours.

This occupation was first introduced at Shinjuku station in 1955.

Oshiya are arranged in front of each train doors; roles of them are to induce passengers to relatively unoccupied areas, and to notify the conductor of whether or not doors can be closed, in addition to pushing.

Also, if passengers try to get on a train by head and shoulders, oshiya will pull and get them back to the platform.

At such a case, oshiya (pusher) becomes hagashiya (puller).
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【No. 0670】Mago no Te (Back-Scratcher)

Oct 18, 2016 00:28
"Mago no te" literally means a grandchild's hand, and is a rod-shaped tool that is used for scratching one's back.

Since itches on back have been a common stress for people throughout the world, similar tools have used all over the world.

Therefore, it's not known when and who invented it.

In Japan, mago no te is normally made of wood or bamboo; the tip is bent and it looks like a cupped hand.

Actually, I thought that since it looked like a grandchild's hand, it was called mago no te, but I was wrong.

The etymology comes from a mythical fairy of China, whose name is Mako.

Mako had a very long nails, and it was thought that it would feel good if she scratched itchy spots.

This "Mako no te" (Mako's hand) was introduced to Japan, and the name became "mago no te" (grandchild's hand).
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【No. 0669】Readings of "一日"

Oct 17, 2016 00:05
Today, I will talk about the readings of the Japanese word "一日".

"一" means "one", "日" means "day", but "一日" has two meanings: "one day (24 hours)" and "the first day of a month."

When you want to mean "one day," you have to read "一日" as "ichi-nichi".

On the other hand, if you want to mean "the first day of a month," you have to read "一日" as "tsuitachi".

The reason of the irregular readings is to make it easier to distinguish between these two meanings.

Also, the etymology of the reading "tsuitachi" comes from "月立ち(tukitachi)", which implies the beginning of a month.
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【No. 0668】The Official Language of Japan

Oct 16, 2016 10:11
Japanese language is commonly used in Japan.

However, the official languages of Japan is not defined explicitly under Japanese laws.

Of course, we learn Japanese language in school education, and official documents in Japan are written in Japanese, so it's practically a official language.

On the other hand, Angaur States of Republic of Palau defined Palauan, English, and Japanese language as its official languages.

The reason why that contains Japanese language is that Palau was a mandated territory of Japan.

Although only this region in the world defined Japanese language as the official language, there seems to be no people who can speak Japanese.
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【No. 0667】Imoni Kai

Oct 15, 2016 21:30
Today, my laboratory members and I held imoni kai, the literal meaning of which is "stewed potato party."

Imoni kai is a traditional Japanese party that people make a nabe (pot) dish using taro and eat it in a river bed, and this party is mainly held in the Tohoku region in Japan.

Since the harvest season of taro is around October, imoni kai is normally held in autumn.

There are various seasoning ways, and we made two types of them: "Tonjiru-style"(which is seasoned like miso soup) and "Sukiyaki-style" (which is seasoned with soy source and sugar).

It was a hard work because we had to make furnaces by assembling stones.

However, both styles were really delicious and I was satisfied.
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【No. 0666】Nuka Yorokobi (Short-lived Joy)

Oct 14, 2016 00:04
Today, I will talk about the Japanese phrase "nuka yorokobi."

"Nuka" means pericarp and seed coat that are produced after polishing grains (bran), "yorokobi" means a joy, and "nuka yorokobi" expresses a short-lived joy.

Originally, "nuka" also expressed "small" or "fine" because of the look.

From this fact, it came to mean something like short-lived, and we came to refer to "a short-lived joy" as "nuka yorokobi."

For example, imagine a situation that you won the big lottery and went to a bank with joy, but one digit was actually different.

This is nuka yorokobi.

By the way, there is no relationship with today's topic, but this entry is the 666th post.
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【No. 0665】Atama Kakushite Shiri Kakusazu

Oct 13, 2016 01:16
Today, I will talk about the Japanese proverb "Atama kakushite shiri kakusazu," the literal meaning of which is "One hides the head, but doesn't hide the ass."

This proverb expresses that although someone hides some parts (head) of his/her disadvantages or crimes, other parts (ass) aren't hidden.

Basically, it's used when you ridicule people who believe that all things will be invisible by hiding only the part.

Also, the etymology of the proverb comes from a behavior of pheasants.

When pheasants are chased by people or other animals, they will hide by diving their heads into the grass, but their tails can be seen clearly.
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【No. 0664】Yubikiri Genman (Pinky Promise)

Oct 12, 2016 00:01
Japanese children say "yubikiri genman uso tsuitara hari senbon nomasu" while crossing their little fingers when they make a promise.

In the case of adults, the phrase becomes just "yubikiri" or "yubikiri genman."

At one time, Japanese prostitutes cut off their fingers and present them for particular customers to prove their loves.

(It's said that there were many imitation fingers.)

Cutting off fingers (which is called "yubikiri" in Japan) became widespread and the meaning changed to "to keep a promise."

Also, "genman" means "ten thousands fists," and "hari senbon nomasu" means "to make someone drink a thousand needles."

Japanese children say this phrase as they are singing, but the actual meaning is horrible: "If you tell a lie, I will cut off your little finger, fist you 10,000 times, and make you drink 1,000 needles."
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【No. 0663】Toudai moto Kurashi (Under the Toudai is Dark)

Oct 11, 2016 00:07
Today, I will talk about the Japanese proverb "toudai moto kurashi."

The literal meaning is "under the toudai is dark," and it expresses "
it's difficult to take account of the closest things."

"Toudai", which is also called "toushokudai", means a stand for placing a plate of oil, and is used for brightening the room by setting fire.

Although the toudai can brighten the surroundings of itself, under the stand becomes shaded and very dark.

From this fact, "toudai moto kurashi" came to mean "it's difficult to take account of the closest things or things about yourself."

By the way, there is another proverb that has the similar meaning: "Chikakute mienu wa matsuge," the literal meaning of which is "What you can't see because of the closeness is your eyelash."