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【No. 0602】Mountain Day

Aug 11, 2016 03:59
Today, August 11th is Mountain Day.

The purpose of Mountain Day is "to obtain an opportunity to become familiar with mountains, and to thank to benefits of the mountains."

Actually, the day is not derived from events related to mountains.

Some organizations such as Japanese Alpine Club had requested the establishment of Mountain Day since 2010, then the day was finally enacted in 2014 and executed from 2016.

Therefore, today is the first Mountain Day.

At first, some people thought that Mountain Day should be June along to the mountain climbing season.

However, since it was convenient for many people to connect the day to Bon vacation, it became August.

By the way, summer vacation of my university has started from yesterday, I have little relevance to Mountain Day.
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【No. 0601】Fu Ni Ochinai

Aug 10, 2016 15:39
Today, I'd like to talk about the Japanese phrase "fu ni ochinai."

"Fu" means "guts," "ochinai" means "it doesn't fall," and "fu ni ochinai" means "be dissatisfied" or "can't understand."

Since "fu" was thought of as a place where thoughts and minds dwell, we have come to say "fu ni ochinai" (it doesn't fall in my gut) as the above meanings.

Although there is a positive version "fu ni ochiru," which means "I'm satisfied" or "I understand," this is rarely used in recent years.

There are many Japanese phrases that are mainly used with a negative expression like "fu ni ochinai."

【No. 0600】The 600th Post

Aug 9, 2016 11:15
This is my 600th post.

Although there were some dangerous days, I managed to continue to write English without a day off.

Also, my university will have Bon holidays from tomorrow until a week later.

Bon is a Japanese event that enshrines spirits of our ancestors, and we often held festivals and visit graves during Bon.

You may have heard the word "Bon Odori" (odori means dancing), which is often performed in Bon Festival.

Bon Odori was originally performed for recognizing ancestral spirits, but the religious meaning has gradually faded.

Recently, Bon Odori and Bon Festival are popular as entertainment events.
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【No. 0599】Aka no Tanin (A Complete Stranger)

Aug 8, 2016 19:30
Today, I will talk about the Japanese phrase "aka no tanin."

"Aka" means "red," "tanin" means "a stranger," and "aka no tanin" means "a complete stranger."

Since the word "aka" comes from "akiraka," which means "obvious" or "clear," it contains such meanings in addition to "red," and is sometimes used for emphasizing a noun as in the above example.

(By the way, "kuro" (black) comes from "kurai," which means "dark.")

As similar examples, there are "makka na uso" (a red lie) and "aka ppaji" (a red shame).

"Makka na uso" means "an absolute lie" or "an utter lie," and "aka ppaji" means "a mortal shame" or "an open disgrace."
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【No. 0598】Olympic Trivia in Japan

Aug 7, 2016 16:39
Rio Olympic Games began yesterday.

Today, I'd like to talk about some Olympic trivia related to Japan.

In the Stockholm Summer Games in 1912, Japan participated in an Olympic for the first time, and the event was men's track and field.

In the Amsterdam Summer Games in 1928, Japan got the first gold medal in a triple jump.

Also, recent Japanese medalists often take a picture while biting the medals.

(The first person to bite a medal was Armstrong, which won the men's swimming 200 m free style in the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988. It is said that the reason why he bit his gold medal is to check whether or not the medal was real gold.)

There are pros and cons about the biting act, but Japanese Olympic Committee decided officially that biting medals is a prohibited act from the Sochi Winter Games in 2014.
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【No. 0597】Ichi ka Bachi ka (One or Eight)

Aug 6, 2016 16:21
Today, I'd like to talk about the Japanese idiom "ichi ka bachi ka."

"Ichi" means "one," "ka" means "or," "bachi" means "eight," and "ichi ka bachi ka" means something like "I don't know what the result will be, but I'll take my chances."

(My dictionary says that "ichi ka bachi ka" means "all or nothing," "sink or swim," or "hit or miss.")

This is originally a gambling term, and it's said that "ichi" (一) and "hachi" (八) comes from the top parts of kanji of "cho" (丁) and "han" (半), respectively.

(In the past, we mainly bet on whether the sum of two dice would be even (cho) or odd (han) in gambling places.)

There is another theory that insists "ichi ka bachi ka" comes from "ichi ka batsu ka" (the dice shows one, or you will receive punishment.).

Anyway, the etymology is gambling using dice.
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【No. 0596】Nekojita (Cat's Tongue)

Aug 5, 2016 23:31
Today, I will talk about the Japanese word "nekojita" (cat's tongue).

Nekojita means people who can't eat hot food/drink.

The etymology is tied to a fact that cats don't prefer to eat hot things.

However, there are no large individual differences in sensitivities of human tongues, and the main cause of nekojita is a usage of tongues.

People who have nekojita feel hot, because they touch hot things on the tip of their tongues that are very sensitive.

On the other hand, people who don't have nekojita touch food/drink on the center of their tongues while placing the tip of tongues on the back side of the teeth.

Therefore, you might overcome nekojita to some extent by changing the way of using your tongues.
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【No. 0595】A Poster Presentation Event

Aug 4, 2016 23:48
Today, I prepared for a poster presentation event of students for the first time ever since I became a university teacher.

The preparation of the event was more tough than I expected, and I got exhausted.

However, since the event worked smoothly and ended without a hitch, I was really relieved.

This was an interim poster presentation of graduation works, so there were many unfinished studies, but there were also many interesting ones.

After the poster presentation, we ate a lot of delicious food at an end-of-event party.

My mind might not work properly.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure the reason.

Good night.
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【No. 0594】Tabasco Sauce

Aug 3, 2016 22:35
Tabasco sauce is a pungent seasoning that is made from a Mexican pepper called Chile Tabasco.

It is often seen as a byword for a hot sauce, and is used for various dishes in many homes all over the world.

Tabasco sauce is made by maturing mashed Tabasco peppers in a oak barrels for three years.

This process has not changed since Tabasco was invented in 1868.

The inventor, Edmund McIlhenny originally formulated the manufacturing method of Tabasco for raw oysters, which are his favorite food.

Japanese people often use it for Italian cuisine, such as pasta or pizza.

However, I heard Italian people don't use Tabasco sauce for Italian cuisine.
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【No. 0593】Dasoku

Aug 2, 2016 22:09
Today, I will talk about the Japanese word "dasoku."

"Da" means "snake," "soku" means "feet," and "dasoku" expresses "superfluous things" or "unnecessary acts."

(Google translate said that dasoku is "icing on the cake.")

The etymology of dasoku is derived from the following Chinese story:

In the country of Chu, alcohol was given to servants in a festival.

However, since it was small in amount, they decided that only the first person who finished drawing a snake can drink all of the alcohol.

A man finished drawing a snake, and he added the snakes feet while grabbing the alcohol, but his victory became invalid because snakes don't have feet.

From this story, dasoku (snake's feet) comes to express "superfluous things."

Japanese people sometimes say "it might be dasoku, but ..." when we state our opinions in a condescending attitude.
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【No. 0592】Botamochi

Aug 1, 2016 21:10
Today, I will talk about a traditional Japanese cake called botamochi.

Botamochi is a rice cake wrapped in sweet bean paste.

This rice cake is made by boiling/steaming sticky rice and non-glutinous rice, pounding them lightly, and making it into a ball.

Also, there is a Japanese cake called "ohagi," which is almost the same as botamochi.

There are several theories that explain the difference between botamochi and ohagi, but I think that the theory, which insists that the name depend on the season, is widely accepted.

Since botan (tree peonies) bloom in the spring, botamochi is a spring mochi (rice cakes).

Since hagi (bush clovers) bloom in autumn, ohagi is an autumn mochi.

By the way, there is a famous saying "tana kara botamochi" (botamochi falls from a shelf into one's mouth), which expresses an unexpected lucky.

This saying is often referred to as "tanabota" for short.
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【No. 0591】Money Recognition in Vending Machines

Jul 31, 2016 18:30
There are a large number of vending machines in Japan.

Although I also use them, sometimes they don't recognize money, and the money comes back.

In such cases, I think people will change the put speed of the coin, or stretch the wrinkles of the bill, but these acts don't work at all.

The speed of coins becomes constant, and the wrinkles of bills are calibrated in the vending machine.

The main reason that vending machines don't recognize money is greasy dirt on the surface.

Therefore, when your money isn't recognized, you should wipe the money using a cloth or something.
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【No. 0590】Seppa-tsumaru

Jul 30, 2016 17:56
Yesterday, I was in a state of "seppa-tsumatta."

Today, I'd like to talk about the Japanese phrase "seppa-tsumaru."

"Seppa" means thin oval metals that are put on both sides of Japanese sword guards, and .

if seppa get jammed (tsumaru), you can't unsheathe the sword.

If you seppa-tsumaru when you are put on the spot, you will be not able to escape, let alone fight.

Therefore, seppa-tsumaru means something like a state that there is an imminent threat, and you can't do anything against it.

Seppa-tsumaru is translated into "under the gun," "in crunch mode," or "in a pinch" in English.
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【No. 0589】A Hard Day

Jul 29, 2016 23:56
Today was a really busy day.

I went to my university in the early morning, and talked about studies with students for about seven hours in total, and wrote a manuscript of an academic conference for about seven hours.

Since students have to perform a study presentation, they seemed to be under the gun.

However, I was really under the gun, because the deadline of the manuscript was today.

I was able to submit it in the last minute, so I'm being quite relieved now.

This entry, that I decided to post every day, was also submitted in the last minute.

I am really tired today.

Good night.
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【No. 0588】100 Times of Hiccups

Jul 28, 2016 10:31
In Japan, there is a superstition that you will die when you get hiccups 100 times continuously.

Since I was afraid of this when I was a child, I had counted the number of hiccups.

However in most cases, I forgot to count it from around 10 times, and hiccups stopped before I was aware.

Also, even if you get hiccups over 100 times, of course you won't die.

An American, Mr. Osborne, continued to get hiccups for about 68 years, and this fact is listed in the Guinness Book of World.

While getting hiccups, he got married two times, and had eight children.

It is estimated that the number of hiccups he got in his lifetime was over 430 million.
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【No. 0587】Urusai

Jul 27, 2016 16:50
Today, I will talk about the Japanese word "urusai."

"Uru" means "your heart," "sai" means "to narrow," and "urusai" originally expresses "your heart becomes narrowed by something disturbing."

Accordingly, it comes to mean "noisy."

"Urusai" is normally written as "煩い" in Kanji, but it's sometimes written as "五月蝿い."

"五月蝿" means " flies in May," and the reason why the kanji is used is because flies in May are very noisy and annoying.

Note that we don't read "五月蝿" as "うるさ" at other cases.
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【No. 0586】Nori (Dried Seaweed)

Jul 26, 2016 11:15
I love nori (dried seaweed, or laver), and often eat it.

Not only is nori used for rice balls and rolled sushi, but is often boiled down in soy and eaten.

It is also known as healthy food, which contains a lot of protein, vitamin, mineral, are dietary fiber.

I heard that many oversea people feel that ita nori (sheeted nori) is similar to carbon papers.

For this reason, nori is used in the inside of rice in California rolls.
(In Japanese rolled sushi, nori is used on the outer side of rice. )

Also, according to a study at Station biologique de Roscoff in France, only Japanese people own bacteria that can digest seaweeds, such as nori, in their bodies.
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【No. 0585】Oshidori Fufu (A Happily Married Couple)

Jul 25, 2016 11:11
Today, I will talk about the Japanese word "oshidori fufu," which means "a happily married couple."

In the past, it was thought that once oshidori (mandarin ducks) pair up, they spend their lifetimes while snuggling each other.

This is the etymology of oshidori fufu.

However, actually a male of oshidori leaves behind a female after she laid eggs, and the male makes a new couple year after year.

It is said that a truly ideal couple is made by cranes.

Once cranes pair up, they will remain a husband and a wife until death in most cases.

Also, if either of them passes away, even if it becomes only bones, the crane will continue to guard the dead body.
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【No. 0584】Semishigure

Jul 24, 2016 20:49
Recently, songs of evening cicadas (which are called higurashi in Japan) have come to resound in my university.

Today, I'd like to talk about the Japanese phrase "semishigure," which expresses songs of cicadas.

"Semi" means "cicadas," "shigure" means "a drizzling rain," and "semishigure" is a phrase that likens songs of cicadas to sounds of the drizzling rain.

I think that this phrase has an attractive atmosphere compared to saying just "a buzz of cicadas" or "a chorus of cicadas."

This phrase expressed not only sounds but also a scene of summer.

I especially like semishigure by higurashi, and somehow it makes me want to cry.
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【No. 0583】Komorebi

Jul 23, 2016 17:38
Today, I'd like to talk about the Japanese word "komorebi," which is one of my favorite words.

The komorebi means a scene of sunlight filtering through trees or leaves.

Since sunlight (hi, bi) streams (moreru) between trees (ki, ko), it called komorebi.

Komorebi is beautiful, so if you have time, please search for the word on Google Images.

I heard there is no word in English that corresponds to komorebi.
(It seems to be called "Śreżoga" in Polish.)

I think that Japanese language has a lot of words that describe scenes of nature.

By the way, I like reddish komorebi in the evening.