@ JAPANESE POP CULTURE & LANGUAGE Isz LEARNING $5.50 No. 62 nh ¢ JAPAN Manga for Career Women New Year's DishesManga 17 After Zero * 777-0 The “Devil's Seeds” start to reveal theit devilish nature 38 Kacho Baka Ichidai © REGS 7 “AG With much pomp and circumstance, the on chief makes lunch, 42 Our Tono-sama * 3 5 ORES $ 44 App-Install # BWA 46 American Comies * 7 41) 712 Dilbert and Garfield—in Japanese 66 Minori Densetsu * % 2 0) {ike A young woman takes a chance and quits the job she hates. Can she make it as a freelancer? aii 84 Yarikuri Company®!) < ') 97 /S=— Miscellaneous 5 Publisher's Note 6 Letters 7 Bloopers 94 Classifieds CONTENTS | No. 62, February 1997 Features 12 The Japanese Sense of Humor 1s “Japanese humor” really an oxymoron? Top in terpreter Muramatsu Masumi explains, sharing a few choice jokes in the process. 15 Humor in Leadership: Reflections of a Simultaneous Interpreter An excerpt from Muramatsu’s book, presented in bilingual format 63 “Career Women” Comics T.R. Reid explores a new genre of manga stories. Departments 9 Brand News It's time for Kity's ‘yan: pls, keeping away the sleep demon.” 50 Computer Corner Hitech, lo-budget means of studying Japanese. 54 Book Review Taken Captive, by Doka Shahi. 55 On the Bookshelf Recently released books about Japan. 56 Cooking Corner Kuri kinton and other New Year's dishes. 61 Senryai Humorous haiku—by the people. Language Learning 86 Basic Japanese: A Laughing Matter Deciphering the different kinds of laughs 92 Pop Japanese William Marsh explores sl 93 Vocabulary Summary ‘Words from this issue of Mangajin. 12 of 1950s Japan, Morgoin isa mate-ve word conning meng (comlaleartoor 4 (personipeople’) sou almost ike the Englah word “maga” ‘vended npnere apn lo Gs parese mangin Margy were rete np. by Jpaese cartoons for pane rageBRAND NE ICeABXZL Nyanchi Taimu ‘Through painstaking research and development, Japa- nese pet-food giant Pet Line Foods, Inc.. has created a new line of single-serving, easy-to-open canned kitty victuals called Nyanchi Taimu ( 6911), This is not your typical pulverized, gelatinous fare: Nyanchi Taimu comes in five sumptuous varieties, all made with the freshest kill (mostly tuna) and packed with vitamins and minerals AAs most manga readers know, an interesting feature of the Japanese language is that it provides specific ‘onomatopoeic words for deseribi almost any sound, Animal sounds are no exception: pigs say bi-bi, sheep The name Nyanchi Taimu isa clever combination of say meme, ducks say ga-ga, cats say nyd or nyan, ete. Japanese cat sounds and the common phrase 7 2 9 ‘These sounds are often combined with real Japanese 4-4, (ranchi taimu, borrowed from the English “lunch words to create special animal languages. Talking cats, time"), Nyanchi Taimu's wholesome goodness appeals for example, omament their Japanese with nyan wher to the catlover’s practical side, while the name, just ever they can, like a eat, exploits his soft spot for cuteness. THE BE A AL! Suima-sen! If lavishing attention on your nyan-chan (ktty-cat) has made you yearn for a catnap, why not perk up with a caffeine-laced peppermint Swima-sen! (BEE 4. tablet from Beans Company? The name com bines the word suima (J 8), “drowsiness,” and sen (3 4), an archaic sounding equivalent of shinai, * sen actually comes from senu, the negative form of the classical equivalent of suru). The resulting phrase could be interpreted as “You won't be drowsy.” Strictly speaking, Hi A isn’t proper Japanese, but the word-wizards at Beans Co. have taken liberties with the I ‘guage to make a pun with the word suimas (of sumimasen (“Excuse me” of “I'm sorry"), someone's attention. jt do” (although still commonly used, a colloguial contraction ‘word often used to get ‘Send us your examples of creative product names or slogans (with some Kind of documentation). wo | publish your example, we'll send you.a Mangajin T-shirt 19 wear on your next shopping trp. In caso of duplicate entries, earliesi postmark gots the shirt. BRAND NEWS, P.O. Box 77182, Atlanta, GA 30357-1188 PIER LTE Le: i 2. MATE HOH wreck ett BOM Lc Wome ) LE-F) aa BRAND NEW! Mangaiin 9interview by Frederik L. Schade Shonly after World War II, Muramatsu Masumi began working as a elerk-typist for the US military in Japan. He went on to become one of the world’s top Japanese: English simultaneous interpreters, working with world leaders at international conferences and summits and even inter- preting on television during the Apollo ‘moon landings. An avid believer in better communication, in 1965 he helped found the Simul Group of companies. He current- ly serves as chairman of Simul International, one of Japan's premier trans- lation and interpretation firms, and also as the president of Simul Academy, where ‘many top interpreters are initially rained. Like all the best interpreters, Muramatsu has an insatiable curiosity: one of his great passions is studying humor and A National Treasure its role in communication, He is the author ‘of many books, the most recent of which is titled Shiddsha-tachi no ylimoa: Daji tsiiyakusha no totteoki no hanashi (“Humor in Leadership: Reflections of a Simultaneous Interpreter,” Tokyo: Simul Press, 1996) At the end of November 1996, [had the honor of interviewing Muramatsu for ‘Mangajin, but T must confess a certain non- “objectivity: Muramatsu is one of my per- sonal heroes, and at the beginning of my ‘career T worked for his company as a trans lator. A witty, gregarious man, Muramatsu (or “MM,” as he likes to be known to friends) packed so much entertaining infor- ‘mation into our one hour that, to my great rie, only a small portion of the discussion cean fit onto these pages. In the future he may have a new career. As he says, “I'd like to be a comic—an intellectual, bicul- tural clown who entertains the audienc ‘and livens up the otherwise stale banguet. For more information, read his books! Frederik L. Schodt Schodt: Many people say Japanese don't have a good sense of humor. Where do ‘you think this comes from? Muramatsu: Some Japanese humor doesn't go over cultural or language barriers easily, and for years we haven't taken the rouble to explain ito people abroad. Also, business people ‘coming to Japan are invariably briefed not to tell joke to the Japanese audi- tence because they won't understand it fof because the interpreters won't be able to translate it—which is something ‘we interpreters object to. Actually, 1 think we Japanese have Kept our best humor to ourselves, S: I've also heard Japanese describe themselves as a “nation of people who don't understand humor, ‘or “yimoa o kai shinai kokumin."" Do they say this because they've heard it 0 many times from foreigners that they now believe it themselves? Or do they say it simply 10 oblige the foreigners? ™M: Both points illustrate the problem. Of course, we say we don't have a sense of humor because we've been told so by so many people. In a typical Japanese way, perhaps we have also assumed responsibility forthe implication of the statement, But in fact we do exchange a Jot of jokes among ourselves, particu larly among close friends ‘The difference, I think, is that in the West, humor seems to be more a tool for communication, People deliberately ‘even painfully, study 10 be humorous, whereas in Japan humor is more for private, personal, and intimate conver At traditional pubs like aka: chachin, or at alumni gatherings, ot in conversations among. contemporaries for colleagues in the workplace, you see Japanese bantering all the time exchanging jokes. S: I love Japanese hunor, so it’s always een a puczle to me why some fail to appreciate it. Do you think the problem:M: is partly because Japanese speakers at conferences usually don’t start with a joke? Yes. We tend to be formal, because for us the form is so important we feel we should not deviate from it and must read from a prepared text. By contrast, Americans like to break the ice by telling a joke or anecdote to wake up the audience, to attract their attention to the podium, This custom is diametrically opposed to ours, so sometimes we can hardly believe what we hear 'm sure you've heard the classic story about how the French will laugh when a joke is half fold; the English will wait until the end of the joke for courtesy or by necessity; the Germans will philoso: phize all night and laugh the next moming; the Americans will tll you that i's an old joke and that you don’t tell it right; and the Japanese, upon Dearing the joke, will be full of smiles without understanding. [always quickly add, however, that the Japanese are really going to take the Joke back to their office, have a ‘conference to decide whether to laugh (oF not, and then get back to you the next day! T think laughter may also some- times be suppressed in modern Japa- nese society because of the samurai class in the Edo period. The samurai wanted to appear far above the hoi ppolloi and thus established the rule ‘that they should never demean them- selves by smiling or laughing. There’s an old Edo saying that goes Bush wa ssannen kata-hoho, of “It suffices a samurai to smile only once in three ‘years, and with one cheek.” But the people in the streets were laughing at such samurai ‘There is a story that I love of a daimyo, of feudal lord, who heard a joke and decided to tell it to his wise old kard, or chamberlain. The daimyo summons his kar®, The karo of course bows to his master, and the lord tells hhim a joke but the kar is too polite to laugh, and simply goes, “ha-hah,” to indicate, Yes, Thave heard you, My LLeige. The daimyo says, “Kurushuinai (never mind), If you think i is funny, you may retire to the next chamber ‘and laugh.” T like this joke. Init the M: daimyd himself appreciates humor, bbut form is more important. There is a rich variety of humor in Japan, ranging from humorous story telling lke rakugo to dajare-syle word play and puns. What are some of your favorite 1ypes of humor? Rakugo consists of a number of Kobanashi, basically humorous litle Stories or anecdotes. Typically the raconteur begins his performance by telling an anecdote, perhaps based on something that he read in the news- paper that day, then telling two, three, ‘or four short kobanashi, and then oing into his elassical set piece. 1 like rakugo and Kobanashi. very much. [like them more than the cur- rently popular manzai. Manzai is a Kansai-style of humor, and I'm a true Tokyo man, or “Edokko,” bor in Nihonbashi and raised in Asakusa Unlike rakugo, manzai is a comic dialog that takes two stand-up com- ies 10 perform. One is the rsukkomi for “straight man”—or “person,” to be ‘more politically correct, because there ‘are many women performers, t00. The other is the boke or “funny man.” Manaai is very much back in fashion these days, and I enjoy it. To people in Tokyo, however, manzai comedi ans’ humor often sounds a litle wul- gar or crude, but then that’s thee styl. ‘Young people today, whether in Kan- sai or Tokyo or any part of Japan, appreciate this sort of humor. T also like dajare, or word plays and puns, which are another impor- tant form of Japanese humor. But these do not go over the language barrier wel, and since they are popu- lar they are yet another reason our ‘humor is often not understood, Someone once said thatthe pun is the lowest form of wit. But this was ‘certainly someone incapable of think ing up puns or understanding them. In response I enjoy quoting the Holy ‘Scripture, which—did you know?— has an injunction against punning: Hito wa pan nomi nite ikura mono ni arazu, which | tanslate as “Man ddoes not live by pun alone.” For read- cers ofthis magazine—who know that the Japanese word for bread is “pari”—from the Portuguese—this is «a tly bilingual, bicultural pun, The Japanese language has many imported words 10 describe humor, such as parodii (“parody”) and Durakku yiimoa (“lack humor"). Do you think these words were imported ‘because people liked their fashionable sound, or do you think the types of ‘humor they represent were imported, 100? I'm thinking especially of the postwar period . . Well, “parodit” was used before the ‘war, You would often see the word in print even in the Taisho period Bur was it a relatively new type of ‘humor for Japan? : There was a type of parody in exist ence before that. When Chushingura, the famous legend of the 47 rdnin, was written, it was a type of parody even though it was not comical. The playwright could not present the story ‘with the actual characters’ names, so all sorts of strange-sounding names ‘were invented, but audiences could immediately identify them anyway. As fur as real “black humor” is ‘concerned, it’s true that we may not have had many jokes ofthat sort until fairly recently, On another subject, though, we have plenty of long “shaggy dog” stories in rakugo. You can hear rakugo storytellers go on and on and on for an hour and then finally deliver their punch line. It may depend on word play, or parody, oF situational humor, Sometimes it seems that the national ‘mood in Japan has changed a great deal in the last 30 years, in musical ferms almost going from a minor to @ more upbeat, major chord. Do you think this has happened in humor, 100? : Well, humor certainly changes, but even during the dark days of the immediate postwar years we had humor and the ability to laugh at our- selves. For example, self-deprecating. ‘humor is very typical in the famous ‘manga series “Sazae-san” and in ‘many other works of the same type. Where you have themes of poverty, san mothers-in-law, and so forth, Mangain 13son of black humor involved sages seems to be that in order 10 stich involves laughing at onesel ° tain true fluency ina langua vr sow obvousty have must beable to understand and enjoy its humor. What advice would you Leep up with changes in ges i give readers of Mangajin who are Whar do you personally do? irving 1p learn Japanese? Conversely M:1 watch CNN, ABC, and other what advice would you give to television networks, and I watch a readers in Japan who are learning f€ movies, at least one movie a English? which is quite a lot for a man M: Other than reading manga, I would tudying nazo nazo, or is, 1 just rediscovered on my istic little book 1 in your new book, and in other books ut have writen, one of your mes- bookshelf a A multi-media exploration of Japan's greatest prose with photographs, artworks, video, and virtual reality 14 Mangan M: bought 20 years ago. It's edited by Bennett Cerf and contains English: language riddles. I must admit, I don't ‘understand about 10 or 20 percent of the riddles readily. I have to stop and think about them, But when I vo ize or read them aloud, they hit me. ‘The same thing can be said about Japanese nazo nazo or any word plays. Language has to be spoken. Text must be verbalized, not just quietly looked at, Although these books are originally designed for children, when it comes to language lear waining material for grownups. ‘And [ also recommend taking with children whe chance. [eam a great deal from them. Children like to make fun of ‘grownups, A friend of mine has a son who many years ago attended gram: mar school in the San Francisco Bay area, He said, "MM, do you know ‘why the chicken crossed the street?” they are also g ver you have the Of course I'm supposed to say. “I don’t know.” He then said, “The chicken crossed the street to buy & Chinese newspaper.” My immediate reaction was, “Why a Chinese news paper?” He said, “ I don’t know ei ther, because I read the San Francisco Chronicle.” He pulled the 1 ‘out from under me, He was delighted. right For the sake of the non-Japanese readers of Mangajin, are there any types of humor that you would gest avoiding when in Japan? ly politcal, contemporary jokes, because we're not familiar, for example, with the latest Clinton-Dole debate. Also, the minute you mention the word “Whitewat stand, but we don’t you under: To tell you the rruth, Fm not sure 1 stand that one myself Also, we have a hard time understand ing ethnic jokes. As far as religious jokes are concemed, we have lots of rel igious jokes, and with my more liberal: ‘minded “pagan” friends 'm happy to share them. [ use the word “pagan’ lightly, since Christians consider everyone else a pagan. Seriously jus oF at least pseudo-n (continued on page 67)Interview with Muramatsu Masumi (continued from page 14) religious jokes and ethnie jokes are best avoided initially But after the ice is broken, after some beer or saké and after you become friends, then do share some of your favorites—parochial jokes, ethnic jokes, and occupational jokes, And ah, yes, lawyer jokes and doctor jokes, The Japa- nese understand these Fairly readily. If you are an Ameri- can lawyer, by all means offer one of your humorous law- yer jokes and the Japanese will be impressed. We'll think you're great because you can laugh at yourself. Si One last question. Decades ago R.H. Blyth wrote a won- derful book titled Oriental Humor, which had a seetion on Japan. Today there's a critical need for a new book on Japan. Do you have any plans to write one? ME: I've been saving essays T've written in English, and I'm beginning to transcribe many of my lectures, so 1 hope to be able to condense them into a book on Japanese humor. (Oris Japanese humor really an oxymoron? Alnh, how I love that big word, “o» , St Do you think the word might be in the ttle? Mz Well, why not? Perhaps I'l deliberately misspell it with an Instead of an “r. Frederik E. Schodt’s most recent book, Dreamland Japan: ‘Writings on Modern Manga, is described on this website p://www:stonebridge.com/dreamland.himl Mangajin 67MICU loli mmelaiil-le — [#88#*£501-E7 Anexcerpt from —_ FIESBIRHO & > C80] Humor in Leadership: — = HWE | Reflections of a & WERE Simultaneous Interpreter by Muramatsu Masumi taiyaku ‘When Tanaka Kaku [Prime Min- ister of Japan from 1972-74) was si FUOBROM CH 2 vey rm AMBER DE 2, thhods the Minister of International Trade and Industry, 1 interpreted for him and Dr. Kissinger when they over breakfast at a certain hotel in Tokyo. This story appeared in the papers, so it's no secret, but on this ‘ceasion Mr. Tanaka said, “Japan is purchasing many foreign goods, For instance, my own pen is an import, and my car is a Dodge Dr. Kiss appreciatively ‘The meeting ended, and Mr. Tanaka Was to go to the MIT offices, Mr Kissinger offered, "Let me see you off.” Mr. Tanaka expressed his ap- preciation as they walked out of the banguet room thous Amba LOR eh ah 5 and to a waiting car. The doorman jumped to open the car door. Lo and behold, the car was not a Dodge. BRITE. Hy YY V4 — SALE *No,Ljustwanted Mr. Tanaka said, “Thank you for your trouble,” 50 1 imerpreted, to which Dr. Kissinger replied, “No, 1 {ust wanted to see your Dodge." This could be taken ACH. WE AM [bEbETAR AA! E to see your Dodge." pote ch) bE as a seathingly ironie comment cor carcitteottiec Being a dedicated professional, I promptly called Mr, D#MMOR NE LEE BEALE ‘Tanaka's secretary and relayed to him the details of [> the incident. I was informed that Mr. Tanaka did own Mangaiin 15ica t > however, I don’t know if the be Was ever relayed {to Dr. Kissinger] aka stepped into a make this kind of the katakana rendering of Dodge,” for “blunder/gafe.") Pesan 3G 5. eed CALL F OR LESS JAPAN $0.33/MIN. 24 HOURS A DAY 7 DAYS A WEEK FOR MORE INFO CALL TEL: 800-818-6600 310-979-3162 bhupy/!www netinternet.net/nadiao After Zero by [iJ ki XS / Okazaki Jiro — The Devil’s Seeds, Part 2— ‘Subtract the dark, Cold War Era edge from the Twilight Zone, add a "90s Japanese backdrop—plus too much Kool Aid before bedtime—and you have a typical short manga “episode” of Okazaki J ier Zero. Like any bizarre 4ream, the plotlines are often less than watertight, but distinctive artwork and fantastic stories make After Zero a timeless classic. Debuting in 1990 in the weekly magazine Bie Comic, the After Zero stories are now published as independent volumes of collected shorts by Shogakukan. "The Devil's Seeds” is the fourth Afier Zero episode to ap- pear in Mangajin (issues 22, 30-32, 41-43), Umezawa is a greedy man with big ideas. His key to fame and fortune lies in an ancient seed recently unearthed in an archeo logical expedition. Legend has it thatthe seed produces a robust sain that can grow in any soil. Unfortunately, Umezawa lacks the brains to unlock the seeds potential he tries to exploit the genius ‘of an idealistic young biochemist K@noue. Already wary of the seeds" purported curse, Kanoue is turned off by Umezawa’s self-serving scheme, Almost 20 years later, Umezawa is the president of a large chemical company. He has finally found the genius Who can make his dream a reality: the young and lovely Dr. Kamimura, ‘The broody Kuze, high-level executive and moral con: science of the chemical company, steps aside to allow Dr. Kamimura to head the company's most important project: cultivating the miracle seeds they call MR-99. ‘© Okazaki J, Al igh reserved First published in Japan i 190 by Shogakukan, Tokyo, Enalih ralaton rights ranged tvough Shogakukan, Mangain 17725-0 sAtter Zoro WORLD OS XB UL 4 Wirbase tive 18 MargaiinKure: Hf. OL Micts ce ar ‘+ dni narais an expression for “[something) a ‘bothers me/isa sticking poinweighs on my] rind,” and here the expression modifis koto thing”) ki ni mare koto = "something that bothers me.” [2] Umezawa 27: fk OH a, Ate Mara dees no hanahi ane Kacekun? 9 “legend of ak (1 (callog) name sam.) “Is this again tlk about that legend, Mr. Kuze?” “Are you talking about that legend again, Mr. Kuze?” (PL2) hhanash i noun fr “talking,” s0 densesu no hanashi = “alk of/about the legend.” shun isa more familiar equivalent of san Mes"), used maimy with male pers or subordinates (in a corporate sting Superiors use it with subordinates of both Sexe). asking a question with ane is mostly reserved foe superiors speaking to subordinates, Ba. a. EWeuh yes..." (PL3) + tia very tenttivefonceraia hal yer), fies 3a tht8 Be : BSLY tie & fot oO it Nendene i te semermsctons naw ty eoontdeeey © oe 2 repeatedly” say But tegin wih devil things The (ote) sayhpesk sary legend (06) "made (oom) a fo <0 AE & MH Lithot be fiona shushi 0 himitsu ni shitakares kara da these ‘Sees (obj) seret" ito wemted to make becansey “ve said this before, but the reason they created the scary legend of the Devil’s Seeds ‘was because they wanted to keep these seeds a secret.” (PL2) the first place MR-99 d, BM Goad, AR we F bhot HF RA; ®. Emucra ty we, Lint, akira dokookt. jr mifdsin 0 moras Shima da (eedvaey)s anor you’ “de” arom” hamanity to gts (oj) "bang "se apa ci) “Far fr ing anything to do with the devil, MR.99 is a seed that will bring good news to all humanity.” (PL2) 2s"; nando mo = “over and overrepeatedlyhime after time.” Nando mo iu literally means “I say this over and over” —» "ve sii this before *+ kuna nado tow li. it} speaks of things like the devil’) and osoroshit (“earsome/seary") both modify densetsu¢ fend”) "he scary legend that speaks of things like the devil” “he seary legend about them being the devils seeds: + tudaia isthe planfabrapt pas for of sukuru (mtakeabricate”). + oa nominalzer that turns the complete thoughvsentence also nado tou asorasl densetsa otsuhuta int & noun, And war marks tht noun asthe topes "as forthe making up of the scary legend about + shitaata ste plin/abropt past form of shia the “want to” form of suru ("make"), ~ ni sur is an expression for “make [something] ino [something].” so shushio humus ni shtakata = “wanted to wake the seeds into a secret = ranted to keep the seeds a secret” + the X dokoro ka ¥ pattem s equivalent to expressions like “ar from X,Y," “far fom X, ot even ¥" or “not even Y, much Jess X." Akuma dooro ha siterally “ar from the devi,” implying “ar from having anything todo with the devil” + fukin is also the word used to refer to “the (Christian) gospel,” but here it's being used more generically to mean “200d news/slad tidings.” + jinnai ni fukin 0 motarasu sa compete thoughvsentence (“it brings good news to humanity”) modilying sushi ("sed") [B) Umerawa: tort. to BH f FAS O Ik cD BR BAK # Ry “ ‘ra geal NY Cr errant yy ef Of course, the-one who wil give them the good mews s me" (PL) +r ater ater ie he pronoun “one” son fain ater mest “he one who wil av thm ht od news (e) — Kuze: it. KK OD EE fete Kk MeHot ACH. Jitsu iva, Kel no KOkogaku Kenkytshisw no sensei ni_hanasht ouhagatta nde Eto" Kn." roholoy opt ie teaherpotesor (urge) ake wil gn) ctually, I spoke with a professor in the Archeology Department at K University.” (PL3) + enkyt teers to scientific or academic research, and shu designates a “roomie,” so henky-shitu tral means “research roomvoffice.” As a generic term, it can refer simply toa college professor's personal oie. on the seiences, bis lab; but when preceded by the name ofa discipline or specialization, ican refer to various-sized sub-unit within 4 department hhanashi = *storylaccounvtalkfremarks,” and ukagta isthe plaavabeupt past form of ukagau ("ask” of “heat/be tol.” depending onthe context); hanashio wkagau isan expression that implies asking someone for an acounremarkvexplana- tion and the listening to what he has to say ss often equivalent to "speak with (someone ™ Mangaiin 190 = Ater Zero 725 i QR Nee Rar me CRh a Dm RHGIRY Krome” SORCERY HRP SLOISE RE” VEOCMY SRR : Ls ‘) eN SLOWS ERS RADE MRM D9 8" ¥ weOCH YH” WIR’ OY POV RCP Satin? wR ow. #adncy Rees MoI sa dan feone ued gL0" MRR SUL Wine be? 20 MangajinF Ku BR OWE B1YKOTYaAED KH IRE ET, * ‘Akuma no Shashi wa Indo no Ashoka no moto ni kure made, eee eee eee eee Sian mittens execconmeagioer Rowe See aay ook i ee eer agate ren eaas ie et etapa bared through a number of other countries,” ee ZnO fe i BM, BM O MF KLotTbkosnt BH Rh OBHITT ee eek MC Se Ue eae Soe ee oe eat eee we & MOET OH. BAILT MATHET. Tee ee eli pen ep eee fe eens is cena to the bountiful harvests brought about by the Devil's Seeds, those countries at first attained Las aioe “@ denotes aking, aed Ashoka. ="King Asoka,” one ofthe greatest rulers of ancient India, who reigned from around 273-252 BCE and unified mos ofthe country forte fist time ~ no moo afta person's name refers toa pce (physical or abprat) nearbesidefander the influence ofthat person: Ashoka no maton kuru = “come to King Asoka'scoureain.” ‘mae tera Yer means "uni thal aco kes plac’ when te following clase describes anther actin, implies the “ccond action takes pacetook place i the time leading upto the fis action. fenton describes novemeat iran on lcaleresidence}o o another often with a feling of haphazardnes. The woe i ‘se to modify various words that imply movement batts most eomion appearances pobebly nthe more generic een {osuru seen her (ate tas he pst fom of site fom sure "do". which implies "move about here a hee ‘asi imple an element of inference o ndest knowledge (apparent sceml guess") used here beease eis {porting what the professor od him. Imotaratareta she plavabupt past form of motarasarea, passive form of motarasu *ing/bing abou”) Alama no Shashi yore mavrasaretas complete houshusentence (ihey] were brought about by the Devs Seed") wexitng hope na kkumoteu (ooo gran” —> "bounialharvests). wo okage de means “owing fofanks tls result of ~."Itcan be used ether forgiving ere or assigning Blame. Aiwamemasu's the polite form of kivameru "ake to an exirere/maxiize”) S036 hie = 30507 = "uk romps Sly.” ovonde mass the polite frm of horane i, om horbira oatonrleecs lls w ris overthrown). B. b¥be tpt xk & Bt om, Kini, wacavaca soma foto 9 shirabew moka? So "specials that king of thing (cb Penge int expan?) "You went to the trouble of finding out all that?” (PL?) ‘wazawaca implies the action required special/liberat efor: “go/went othe trouble of [doing the action)” ‘hirabeta ste plaivabrupe past form of shiraberu (*investigate/tudy ook inofinguire about) £3 Ct. ELT, BHO HR TC Hoe OTT a So desu. Soshite. saikinno kenkya de ‘wakanta no desu ga, itatway “is “and” “facet” research became known (expan) Fut ERGO fr id, BH £ OO RU EBARENCMATHOR OLY by Sore-rano kuniguni wo, ringoku tomo tatakai_ni matikomarete “horonde ita rashil 10. those” comtnes efor neighboring counties with that were leas nto were dev-and_ et ain iyquot) “Yes. And this is something discovered only in recent ‘but those countries were: by becoming entangled in wars with their neighbors.” (PL3) enki refers to scientific or academe rescrch and wakattais the planvebrpt past Form of waar ("come wo know”): ‘cll no ken de malata = "became known inthough recent esearch.” imatitomaree's het ors of maldrarcr, the pasave Tor Of makina ("ntangleldraw in the te form s being ted to ndicat the manner of he nex mentioned ation. Ioronde ita sth te for of horobir pls the pair past form fi go") Ma after the te form of verbs that represent changes or ansformations implies that he changeftansfomaion takes place or tok pace progressively, over SE peried of time. RoeR EMO WE € BCS MMe BY tot £3 LOT remy tha ante “Gers sndy (oh) contr on pvbitr,batae, es appre (expla) ney were apparently extremely biter wars involving the Devil's Seed (PL3) dara works together with words ik rash, sda, a da, forms indicating observation, hearsay, or indirect inowledge—to pve the meaning “appreny ()apearsioks tke" rmegura mango wounds” and Akuma no Shusht o mura acomplet thoughusenenc (it ites around! {enters om the Devils Seeds) maxing shrew ma tatkal her blle/war") > “ber ars centring ovavolvng the Devil's Seeds data she planet past frm of da (ae, and a dates o 36 nano dade ae dafdata implies ery Mangan 21775-0 + Aner Zoro Ome’ WOR VEER BORO SP AMLA SLEW B<2 Cm Bx Hops Hog? acKS LEY On Sonetee HEU Helm HOSRCO Pain | Hwee HOCH MTL Hee 22 MangajinUmezawa: [2] Umezawa Kuze Bo km: (2) Kamimura: ) «+ notame nis erally “forthe purposclsakebenefit of” > “fr. + hes after the pain, non-past form ofa verb can Vat AER. 34). t ERO ME RLbOt OK b, ize-in, —tumar, dane lnimo sore dake Akuma no Shushi ga ‘oshikata. no da yo, (Gae-am)in ote words very comty, tat ich “ev "6 sees (ss) "wanted + xplan (oh) ‘Sin other words, Mr. Kuze, that's how much every count > (PL2) Hib =e fab & ffok MG, ZAELTE Dalara oso denseau ¢ touatia rencit a, nant shite mo Secame ss (emp) Teen) tae up people Sor oo ae a takes art em Of. Sushi 0. Rimi oda. eth ch) sere! to wane akan ave (expan) that reason, those who made up the what i took.” (PL2) since dake means “only/alon.” sore date Joks like only that lon,” baits idiomatic meaning is often “tat much somuch.” hashidaa is he plain abrot pst frm of hoshi wan”). renchan informal word for refering oa groupybunch of people Cktkata she past orm of oa, which the "want form fof ('seVeaveputin place” form +o means 10 do the action and et terest tnd, so amis shat ka is rally "ake it sctet and leave it 0" — "keep ita secret.” BML Deok LTH BA A Ae MY I Bakabatashit? — Hyono-shite kimi wa Nihon sa sonna _taatal i innosloen Perchance you for Japa (tb) th Kind of ar nt BABINS & 6 Moths © mh? rmakilomarern to demo ——omoteiru no kane? {ibe dwn uote) someting ike, sre taking (expla) (clog) “Iv ridiculous. Are you somehow imagining that Japan will become entangled in such WR Bt HE de, sonna,”” shaché + ot shite (or hort suru 10) suse to introduce guessstconjec- felvell ark of co. pre tures with the feeling of: “it just might possibly be that “Well, no, not really, ir Ri, Rt DEC Ricks OCF. Toda, watashi wa hidoku kimi nara no desu alu” ine ator teribly_ambotered (expan) ‘that I can’t get it out of my mind.” (PL3) idol is the adver form of hidot (“eriblethorble” ” (PL3) ‘question it becomes “ould it possibly be that." AG so Hh & wt LTR Om, Nanpito mo kono wane 0 okugei an dashite wa naran rerponino one these sets (bj) ouside of coun 1a,‘ neat ot Jovone must take these seeds outside the county.” “These seeds must not be permitted to leave our borders." (PL2) Boo ROBE SL Kuni no tami no tame ni tsukaw bes. nant of pooplpopulace or use sholdmust 52fhey mst be used only forthe people ofthis country." (PL2) bl oo © nd, Bask KE it NS THAI. Moshi kon hn 6 saburebi csorcbett ssa ga fotwrert de ard fom Soe tion 0) eae tenet (85) ela aye “att anyone violates this prohibition, a fenrsome calamity shail befall the land." (PL.2) ranpit is iterlatcic equivalent for dare who: nanpito mo in an afimative sentence means “everyone.” and in ly means “outside ofthe country.” and i marks it asa destination, ary neater equivalent naronc vo dace wa nana eqivalent io dose wa nara. "must no form of das ("ake eU pu ly mean “cavshoul/mus.” Bes sw hotdover from classical Sapanese, and ano te tity form bel stil very common, the dictionary form bess no eaively ited dn sounds uses usualy replaced by el dfdenu at the end of sentences lay. One pace bes continues to be Sen sn pi signs ving nstuctions of one hind oan. ‘mosh wpialy works fogeter with a conta om lari the sentence to ive the meaning of“ ondtonal when”) orm of yabure(ea,” fin he ease oa ulewprohbion, “beak lat”) ‘wore eombines neha form of he verb osorer feat) with Bok shouldmust”) making amor tha tery means should e feast be eared” “Tearomeighul" Osorabet sab = “Tearsome calaniy ‘tourer itera means wit" > aval ga ocr = calamity wil visit (use cousty dear he conjectural fom of de ate which sa more Mera formal equivalent of dads, sos essentaly equivalent te dards Cs probably ‘Camano yabureba isa Mangajin 23,725-0 + Alter Zero i IED E Re 5 Bn e! | [] thes ke omh Cas WRAHRC CREE 1 2) osmeu- KY WER OREO HEREC BOR RRR SO HK RES 10° eo CHe eS Wek tek som i YE RRS x HEHE HE? 24 Mangan[B] Kamimura: 461: RR a oH fijom mba tonal dn Guenely inerstnlowiow ay, (clog 40a most interesting story, en 32" (PL3) ‘Umezawa: HH 8 Kamimira-kan (amen) “Ms. Kamimura ...” (PL2-3) [B] Kamimura: AtteA. stk tk Hh RG wk HS Om CON CHeAMWET b Recesen Watashi ia ite donna saat akan moka, kono me deme mia dent we son) Ue afer ch hat fei b)uilcnetetpan-218C yes th woke texte clog) ‘Kuze, Fd tke to see'with my ovn two eyes jst what ind of calamity will come.” (PL3) + iuaiis an emphasize for question words, st canbe tike"[ Wha] in the work How] on ea Wherel the blazes” or “Ss [what nd of = 17 «ite thet form of mie (Sefook st"), alata is the “wan to” frm of he same ver, A form of mr afer the {oom ofa veto implies the ation ands what happens.” +a dna saya pk mo a va compete gueston (hs wit Kind of laity wil come) anda form of mir afer complet embeded question rng a ka as an nditest question = Twant to sce ust what Kin of clay wil em lon: ER OMT, MRO Di A HBO ‘Alsna no Shashi, Emu-dru bygiky no seisan ga hajimata devil" 'S "seeds "Seed vay)” of production thy) began ELT MR SBE HEN Oot. Sovfite sekai —hakkolu ni yushutsusareta. no data ru world vasous counies 19 "wasexpored (expan) Froducion of te Devi Sed MBC, bean, ol hey were exerted to countrie around the word ) ajimata isthe plinlabrpe pas form of hajlmaru something] begin") + alto can mean either “eachlevery country" of “various countries skal kakkoku = “every country inthe word” oF “various countries around the world.” [E] Narration Bik be HLA + rochi mo macushi is a complete though! Saisho wa toch mo. macishié humid mi. sentence thee] lands s poor") IMfint as for landcl (tb))""poorcountnes, to ‘modifying kung (counties) first 10 countries with poor soil. (PL2) ZN5O Be CO KHL RE & AC, MO Bb Got LO ME % MALES Soreranokamiga de no sara seks |g) mie. mo kant mo araone kano sas tami shi fos at ner pe ul oj ie canes ag tin, seh) pad Seeing the spectacular resulfs obtained in those countries, other countries vied with one another to pUr- chase the seeds. (PL2) + demo after a place name is literally like “that sit that place” or “that was inva [that place.” Context determines the tense, Sores no kunigunt de no subarashsetka = “he Wonderful results that were [obtained in those countries.” + nite isthe te frm of mina see") thee form is here being used to indicate the cause or reason for what follows. + rast isthe te form of arasou (compete/contendie") Narration: {#09 J) $US * B91, ME mR O fhehD Go-zonino kala mo itm 10 omou ga, shushi sangyé ne. kyokvl sure ‘on -knom people alo exist (guste) thik But seed Indust (681) supp [5]. Narration: HED HK FEED), sdushi no Oka wa efcvam (casshu det-ichidai) hush de Stois Of majontyvbulk as for OF Tie il generation seeds arena Eh bb BALA fee mo. eM MA ok TREATS sore kara hatsuiku shia sakumorsu kara’ onaji shushi ga torent yu saree ir ase fo a ope from sume seals (st. can't Be ihehavested so that are convened [As some of our readers are no doubt aware, most seeds supplied by the seed industry are F, (first filial generation) seeds, and are contrived so that you cannot harvest the same seeds from the crops they produce. (PL2) + confi (duddesu) ix a PLA honorific equivalent of shite iru know"), and kata is a more polite wont for “person/people” than hits. go-znji no kata "people wo kno.” Go-zonjno hata mo ir to mois erally “think people who know sso exis" here implying “lexis amone my/our readers” "somelmany of our readers no doubt aoware aware + Shushi sangyo no kyoky suru is 3 complete thovghsentence ("he seed industry producessuppies [them)") modifying Shashi (seeds, no it turn makes sushi a moditier for Olu "the majoritybulk”) «+ Sore that") here refers back oF shushi > "hose seedsthem; hats shia isthe past form of hatsulk sur Caro"), and sore kara hats shita i complete thowghusentence [they] grew from those seeds") modifi Sakumots (erops") "the erop bal grew rom those seeds” > "he crops those seeds produce + ovenai i the negative Form of tore (an tkefharvest). which isthe potential form of tru (takefharvest’) {comtnued on nex pe) Mangajin 25722-0 «After Zero Semin! 4 Oem GS MOR SSH RaSh O oe RAN’ BRE. ROMRKEY dhe Shay ROP Ep outse? vOrU RRL ROPE OW? Das K REEKEL aw ShoKMES BARS Pv Bonin Re 26 Mangajin(continued from press page) [B]_ Narration [5] Narration: ot), RK 2 ee CR Oo MeTD WF & Moseeey, Toumari, _ndka wa maitoshi Kiyo no. KyOkyi suru shushi 0 haveazaru 0 eu, itr wos ter fr hyn mr sup" se) ya In other words, each year farmers are forced to buy seeds supplied by the industry, and . igy no kyakyit sure isa complete thoughY/sentence (“he industry supplies [them|") modifying sushi —* “seeds the industry supplies” Tamazaruis 4 negative form of kaw (“buy”); the zara 0 ex (or ena form of a verb means “can’t help buvhave no ‘choice but to/must [do the action)” The senience contines tothe next frame. zh ME ERO LGR BOTHS + dearuis a more formatfnerary equivalent of Sore ga shushi sangyo no seimei-sn na node aru desu s0 nao de ar is essentially the same as that ot) “seed indy "sting "wesplan ‘ha mo dafdes, used when making explanations that isthe seed industry's lifeline. (PL2) (2) Narration: [2 [Executive A: [B]Exccutive 8: Umezawa: Executive B re .. 1995 Mela fae pecs ease Se EZ, 30% Ovz7 & HOS lz Bot: Sanjuppllento no shea shimeru ni ta 208 ‘share (obj) hold to cached “Look! In a mere 3 years, MR-09 has reached the point of holding a 30% share inthe world wheat market.” “What 1! MR.99 has gained a 30° share of the world wheat market in just 3 years!” (PL2) the suffix tamae attaches to the stem form ofa verb (mi isthe stem form of mira, “see/lookat”) to make a strong, authori- tarian command. Here it carries the tone of "Look/sce it's just as sai/What di tll you!™ no makes 305 ito a modifier for shea (“share”). 30% no shea = a share of 30%.” 7m ara iste past form of ni dara, which means “reaches ofa a8 ~ bE CSM MAS A CH, Ato ichinen de gojmppasemo 9 “hocr keisan desi. freee ycar ne obi.) surpass calaation i + ain ichinen de goiuppdeeno 6 koerais x complete “Our calculations indicate it will surpass $0% in thoughelsentence (i) will surpass SOS in another another year.” (PL3) $year") modifying kes (“calculation”) TAYADS O AR BEALAMATOET the Amerika kara no kami mo don don fucteimasu na Ge trom matare purchatslordr quamies aso raply ave inzesing (clo) “The orders from America are also increasing rapidly.” (PL3) sing” and -s i a sufTix meaning “number(quanty.” so Kony = “purchase quantities.” Since karu means “rom,” Amerika kara no konvi-i can mean “quantity of purchases from America,” but the context ‘Shows he's talking about purchase orders coming from America rather than purses Japan i making from America. {fuete imasicis the polite form of fuete iru (are increasing”) rom fuera inerease"). 777, Bike bAK dO fHK (4% 20 ME THVOITSE oo Fufufa, biniku na mon da Ano shokuryotaikokw ni imaya sono slushi 0 uriwukeesre 00 wa ent ogh) rating ital majored soatty 40 now off tat seeds (0) are selling" (gue) afr (oeg) “Heh heh, its ironic, isn’t it—how we are now selling seeds to that agricultural superpower.” (P12) a a re ce ect Siitashi konmgi wa senrytiu busshi desu ara, icure Bese sa Tae Ate a for seg commodiy is besa eventwaly US Bot” th) Wh Peo SE Busy Ht hnanita te ouite hur 10. omoimasu a. meting wil ke action (quo) hnkeapect at But wheat is a strategie commodity, so I expect the US government will eventually take some kind of action against us.” (PL3) shokury6 = food Toodsttfsprovisions,” and takes tray “ereat/major country”; ~ saikoku is a abel for designat ing countries that are major proucers of the specie item or that are superpowers inthe specified field: shokuryd taikoku ‘major food producing country” > “agricultural superpower” (ef ketal tkoku = "economic superpower’). Jaya isan emphatic form of ima ("00") Smo shashi="seedsoffortat”—here implying the seeds responsible for sustaining the US as an agricultural superpower. litsuete-ra isa contraction of writsukete iru, from aritsukery, «combination of ura ("se") and tsuker-tsukeru after the stems of certain verbs implies the action ic diected forefull at something or someone so writers is used when speaking ofa sale from the seller's point of view especially when a sttong seller i in a postion to dictate term the sentence i inverted: normal order would be ano sholyd talkok ni masa somo sushi wrisbetr to wa nn a mon da na Te uite kur from the expression 1 urs (ake aetion/ake the necessary measures [to resolve a problem)"). Kure (Come implies thatthe action ill Be directed foward the speaker -* "the US government] will ake aetion against us ‘Mangan 27(continued rom previous poe) Executive B: yO), RK 2 Be SR O Kets Mr t Abeer, Toumari, naka wa maitoshi kigy® no. kyokya suru shushi 9 Lawacaru oe incther words farmers a foreach Year indy (sj) "supplies seeds (bj) mux bya ‘In other words, each year farmers are forced to buy seeds supplied by the industry, and... 4igyd no kyOkyt suru isa complete thoughVsenence (“the industry supplies (them”) modifying sushi ~ “seeds the sty supplies.” ‘negative form of kau ("buy"): the sari o zu (or enai) form ofa verb means “can't help bushave no choice bu tfmus [do the action,” The sentence continues tothe next frame, th i CF RO thie ho + dearuis.a more formalfteray equivalent of fore ga shushi sangyd no seime-sen na node aru desu, s0 nano de aru is essential the same as thar (cub) “seed inky "Stine twexpan. hha no daldesn,vsed when making explanations that isthe seed industry’s lifeline. (PL2) 99st ‘Senckyahyabu-kyjdgo-nen 1995 Retin fot MET. MRO ER AR th Miamae!? Tata. sannen de. Emu-dru bie wa sekal komugi shi de feefock (command) amore 3 years in (toed vay) as Tor World wheat market info 30% OY2T & hd Ie Boh, Sanjuppitsento no shea 0 shimera ni itata, ae ‘of share (obj) BoM to reached “Look! In a mere 3 years, MR-99 has reached the point of holding a 30% share inthe world wheat market.” ‘ou! MR-99 has gained a 30% share of the world wheat market in just 3 years!” (PL2) the suffix tamae attaches to the stem form ofa veb (iis the stem form of mir, “see/ookat”) 19 make a strong, authori= tarian command. Here it caries the tne of "Looklse, it's just as I said/What did I tell you! no makes 30% into a modifier fr shea ("share"); 30% no shea = "a sare of 30%." ‘nl taza isthe past form of ni fara, which means “reaches as far as ~." ae soe MAS Bi Ct ‘Ato ichinen de gojuppisento o koeru Ketsan desu face year in SO ob.) surpass ealeuttion | + ato ichinen de gojuppiventao koeruis a complete “Our calculations indicate it will surpass 0% in thoughisentence Ci] will surpass 0% in another another year.” (PL3) year") modifying keison (“calculation”) TAINDS O MAM «—- WEAKAMATHET Amerika kara no honest Ue from tat are prcaselordr quant “The orders trom America are also in lugnya = “purchasespurchasing.” and -s is a suffix meaning “number/qvantity,” so konyd-sa = “purchase quantities.” ‘Since kara means from,” Amerika kara no konvi-si can mean “quantity of purchases from Americs,” but the context shows he's taking about purchase orders coming fom America rather than purchases Japan is making from America. {ute imascis the polite form of fact iru are increasing”) fom fuera ("increase") 777, Hie BA iE. HO fHEAL £0 Hey t eo 2 Fufufec hin na mon de, Ano shokuro wakoku ni inaya_ sono shushi 0 urisutctre (ow abe Magn meng ato sounry ob te (8) acing "qt an fr cle) ‘Sfch'heh, is ionic, isn't i—-how we are now selling seeds to that agricultural superpower.” (PL2) Lil hee th Rat WHR CT OS, UN ksh Shikash homugi wa senrva bushi deve kara, Bevseiu Ra Se ee Sr snap commodity ‘s"feaae evrmaly US ab) fm Feiocks & Bost a ranika "te oute kuru to moimase Ra Garhing wil eke ton (te verge bu “Sur wheat isa strategie commodity, so Fexpect the US government will eventually take some kind of action against us." (PL3) “shokurya = “foodiToostufprovisions,” and taikoku is iterally“greavmajor country”; ~ raikok is a abel for designat ing counties that are majoeprslcers ofthe specified item or that are superpowers inthe spocifie Hild: shokurya aikoku major food procing country” > “agrcultral supespower” (cf. Aetzaitaikoku = “economic superpower”) Jaya isan emphatic form of ina (°208") Sono shushi ="seedsofforhat”—here implying the seeds responsible fr sustaining the US s an agricultural superpower. detsukerera isa contraction of urtsuere ir, from urisukera, 4 combination of wre (sell) and tsukertsuker after the Stems of certain verbs implies the action fs directed forcefully at something of someone, so urtsukera i used when Speaking ofa sale from the sellers point of view.—especilly when a stong seller isin a position to dette terms {he sentence is inverted: normal order would be ano shokury@ alkok mi maya sono Shushio urisuketer to wa hin sna mon da ma feo utte kunci from the expression eo uisu (“ake aetion/ake the necessary measures (to resolve a problem"). Kuru (come) implies thatthe setion willbe dieeted toward the speaker — [the US government] will take action against ws.” Mangain 27225-0 + Alter Zero Sa-neeAaALy’ ARC HMMS ORD MRE OY ow PRI’ Sae—-FuUBOp Reeccea. 1 URES a ACB ST Ih OEMS HUD MOK VKH URS Bie dribtow MIOBIO NSH IRPOHS AHAB + Rvikpeow’ | RADI Om ERE” Veweonoy Ree wm IW* N= <8 e446 abe WORK RELIC PEUKBH O40 ROW Z 25 Margajn(] Umawe 7n2O We ME BECeS t Foo SP es al cman fo wi steet eo th food) atta eet cc SHlumpht ‘we'll iet them ‘with us.” (PL2) + sbidan can ero any kind of formal o infor “consitons)"—mong fends, wth foal counselor, between ‘snes ciensrde pares ec «Guest form of ra (espod" marks what ones epondingo. Yar afer the form ov fen implies (ng te acto a avr for sone. [i] Interviewer: MR-99 OBIT. HR Ost et we 3% b MAR ZITH. Se eee en ee te "Welre tl ‘worldwide food production has rien 3°, thanks to MiR-99>" (PL3) + fuera npr en np pa hd sn eon ‘condition from someone else [Z]interviewer: i252 all & Gor RYE) DR Ak, + ~ tank moans “~ relate,” an the Kony sain 0 mots nisakumotsu no kaa a sufi ssha means person) 30 ‘ote arr bj) peed og eto opment bate henkel sha persons aed Nine MRE Ok BADRTRELE A, {connected with bastebneogy tek” kenetsha no yume 10 mo Twares Kasha + arte thet orm of nore C38 Batch sted sn © dea gate) Shear beensa fe Saisie rom fv saya) ond Developing agricultural products that posses [nitrogen fix- kms the polite pst orm of re ing] bacteria in ther root odules has been called the timate com’: Aur ter tet form of ddrcam of all those connected with biotechnology.” (PL3) Vebolor ple overeat award the speaker, ere # movement in time + moras the post form of mosu (*holdpossess") oni scikin omottais. fale on tothe meses ‘complete thoughtsentence (“[they] possess root nodule bacteria") ‘modifying nasatubuise (“agricultural prodvets") bait is shortened from baio-tekunoroji, the full Japanese rendering of “boteconoogy. () Expert: te feEDML A MH Me JAW WE NH TLE Ge Sore 0 twukur-dashia Kamimura Holase wa Noberushd 8 no Wseki —desho. thar (hj) crewed (aame) Dro anfor Nobel ize mor than of achievement is probebsucy “As for De. Kamimura who ereated that, hers is surely an achievernent greater than the Nobel Prize.” “Yes, and that is exactly what Dr. Kamimura has achieved. It's an achievement that surpasses Nobel Prize.” (PL3) + tsudur-dashita isthe past form of tsukur-dasu (“reatefinvent”). (4) Expert LL R99 Bey, ne Shikashi, Emu-dru byt ni agiras,—_fsshurui no sakumotse ga i ‘Soni vaiy) 10 wit inting i single varity of cop (bj) RA RR RAS O it HRI feb CT. Shokuyo juyo 0 sasaeru no wu hiini—kiken desu food” serand (oh) support (aon) aster extenely dangerous is “But without limiting [the discussion] to MR-99, as for having a single variety ofa crop to support our food. needs, it is extremely dangerous. “But speaking not only of MR-99, it’s extremely dangerous for us to rely on a single variety of crop to fill our food needs.” (PL3) Expert: MR-99 a, F ES 25 RNDOHDST, Emad kijtky® wa, ima macasni 38 navi-tutow arias jscedvancty) anfor tom tulyindeod tha way febecoming “MR99 is indeed even now becoming that Wa) “That's precisely what we are on our way to doing with MR-99. + kagirazu is equivalent to kapiranaide, negative te form of kage (“imivrest tno fsa nominalizer that makes the complete thoughUsentenceisshuru no sakumons ga shokurya juss o sasaera (a single ‘riety of crop supports food demands") act aa single noun, and wa marks that noun asthe topic: “as for having a single ‘aiety of crop support food demands + amass te polit form of aru and asw aru afer a verb implies “the action] i even now occuring/being done” Nanette frm of nar become), nara = is ven now been Hamer tO fo skvay vay o Mb at 23 viiliyaaenanai-nen no Metishikan Jun no rel, mo shiners 30 io ene ee Mettanhae” —Steuunpe oko dacs he ee ea tanitrshu a senyd pur Hotasd chil ni moshi —byOgaicht ga hans shar tmovcclre 8) copes aay tcniny fn" aewecyng mets 1) appre ot (Comtinad ones pe) Mangajin 29722-0 + Alter Zero MOREY HE” MMOH UBS Ys 0 Bihatueas RMAROCUION A? AIL BO Binegevo Yj tho Utins 2 Weta Sth SRO SOs wee" eon W270 RIE HeeHoe Se MaDe Baug oye IRB Sinn) Ato" 30 Margajntn a Be bo MAE BOE be Thad. hieai wa —_jindaina mono ni nara desho. ddvmge ator seriusenormon thing to wil scone probly surely “As the example of the Mexican June in I if Dreadbasket area a single variety is hit by disease-carryis ‘the da likely to be enormous.” (PL3) [oust ="granarylgrain elevator.” and kolusd chta refers toa geographical area tht is considered a “granaryforeadbas- ket” because of etl, grain producing farmland, Tan‘isu-shu ga seni suri a complete thoughusentence ("a monoculture occupies it") modifying Kolasd chitai ~ "a breadbasket that is occupied by & monoculture.” cally works together witha conditional form lace in the sentence to give the meaning of “i.” rai conditional (fwhen") form of hassel suru Cinsecsldsease/a natural calamity/e) appearfoceurs! breaks out") EEC D feb 6 bb SA AS Mass ono Kiker-sei mo aru dard, eran a doe that anger ao exits probably ot “No doubt such a danger really does exist, but... (PL2) ‘sono = %o that,” and sono kiken-sei = "the danger of that”—swher “that refers back to the possibilty of disease spreading ina monecultral breadbasket. The sentence continues tothe next frame Kwek OWCRORY Od... I... bok WO OO te + Sno mara = "ititis Watashi ga shinpai de naranai_no wa’. nanika. moto betsuno mono da. Pee bj) amecply worsed tng sor ‘someing” moreAune diferent thing “as for the thing that deeply worries me «itis something... thing much different.” “hat worries me so much, thing... quite i” (PL2) _shinpai is «noun for “worry/eancern/aniety shinpal da = “amdisfre worried,” and shina de naranai is essentially & ‘ery emphatic expression for “anvislare worried.” fii, SRO HE & BE LTRS RY Ome Nace’ Akuma no Shishi o —— kokugai ——_mi_dashite wararanai moka? fy. “il. "s sce ob) ouside ofthe courts 10 must ot ake ou. xpln-” ‘Why is it that the Devil's Seeds must not be permitted to leave the country?” (PL2) dashite wa naranal is a“mst not” form of dasu (“putt out) Mor Rls et. eo my TOS. Horobta knigunt va sabe, ringoku tno tatakad ni aburet ir. fied Sous stor "a seightorg counts with tater In wee eed $Skiof the countries that went to their ruin ed in wars with their neighbors.” (P12) ee | ae ee es i, Alama no Shashi ga vingohe Kevo ga genin de taakad_— ga Mev “Sadh (5)neighorng curs to eased ver singtaton (tb) cause bing Fighing mar.) LO 25. EBD £5 ck ees, hjimona no nara, denetavdon, to iw. koe ni nase tea expan) iis acy acoting legend que) sy thing Beomes :APitis the ease that the wars bepan because of the situation that the Devil's Seeds crossed over toa neigh boring county, then it means that itis exactly according tothe legend.” “Ir those wars started because the Devils Seeds, to the nes then it bears out the legend.” (PL?) orobta she plainsbrt past frm of horoire (all ui" horobita ani that went thee ri Dette is fom barra ede feo eg Jrattta s the planar pst frm of waar crossover" place to which someone or roses ‘rer dina sas esac tas acompise bauphnemans (the Deis Sercrossed over teaghbor ng county") modifying foto ting” bat hee refering move abstacly (oa “sitution’). ga ge Inde "with ~ being the reasoneause™ or "because of ~.” ejmi e ttrapat of einer someting] ins as that" “the ruined countresthe countries 1 ~ toi koto ni nara (it, "becomes thing deseibed as ~") soften equivalent to "means that ~ WE oo HIRI MES ME © OCR HO EFS O AIM Shachs ga ‘iu Oni tanmarashushi meguru arasol —misuginal mo darow ka? Sitpre olny siys “ike meremple sce (ob) cemtron sont is pthig more han (expla) T wonder? S{ Monder it as our company president says. they were simply nothing more than conflicts centering ona seed?" “Could the president be right in saying that the countries were simply fighting over a seed and there ‘nothing more to itthan that?” (PL2) i sginal san expression fr “is only/is noting buts nothing more than siuahi‘o megura (gente on seed) modifies arasol (*ightlconticU war”): “Tightingconflics centering ona seed” fighting over a see.” (contimed om next page) Mangaiin 3172S ~0 + Ater Zero REE Weeds % PR KOCRER WOM G10 Sato Cor PI SOS HOP RE EH IY es WER O< RUMMY SG” KoOuKHHY po RAMU KOI Nes O42 RYE 7 5° 2 Merger{comtione rom preview page) [E) Kus 2heb. MF A MPO WH Mt bE O KDI H Soreiomo, shushi jai ni nanika no. hiitsu ga aru mo dard ha? Fe Seth theatves in some hind of sere (00) ext Cxplan) T wonder Sor do the seeds themselves hold some kind of secret?” (PL2) —_—_ EE Oo Kuze: ##4 Wt... | fie 6 at w BFRS. Kamimura Hokase.. / Kanojo monaco ga desi Gane ‘he, toctho mtn (sth) aft may in mystery about her as well” (PL2) Kik KE t WE MR TERK. Rot RS HM It Tulshia ditealu ¢ de woke demonaka, agatha ni kuru mae wa Zeon Main ch) adel sanicn evenismocsmeiag ke ourcompany come Df or Shevok MR & Mb Uta. Jorewita tens 0 nanimo, shite na fecworhy _researh (oj.)otlayhing tas fo dons ‘S's not as if'she graduated from a ous university, and she hadn't done any note: worthy research before coming to this company.” (PL2) + seaugrus rm he adjective oi (ae numerous/nany”), andthe suffix -sugru means “to muchlecessivel.” sunt rr excessvely many." Naco ga O-giu is erally" mysteries are oo man.” + fatthie = "considerable consiersble me", when Combined with negative I en becomes “of vo pticular mei.” ce aerk demo nae isa conimung form of ~ nate de mona, aslighly more emphatic equivalent of ~ wake de wa nal (oe ee am eraly. t's othe eatefsitaton that ~") "its not the case Ua she radunted fom a considerable «Tove asthe past form of Kare oi, which means “of paicular note/imporsigificance"—hough its usally fe towed by ategave to give he meaning“ no pacar not/ht any ~ of pacar nt," Similar, anime works together witha negative late inthe sentence to mean "nt asang/boing” Shire na ithe negative form of sie ru (Chas donc) ont sure(*o"), Kore talento nanamo shite nal = "hs not Joe ay research of particular note.” f] Kure: 24% th oo HRIIT DO LE & PoTHITK Sona kanojo ga are dake no kowo 0 ye noket thartnd of Sheth) tat ach ots thing (0) imaged odo “Yet she managed to accomplish that remarkable feat,” (PI ae HE a thkeo ue maya shacho wa kanojo no tinari da foe Snipe actor ber genman “e ind now she has the president wrapped around her little finger.” (P12) + sonna (i “that kindof”) a amor for kanojo Cshefhet") is ike “she who shvas tat kind of person” 1 Gre dake Tooke ike “only that” but its idkomatie meaning "that mchimany’™—often, as hee, implying that the number! itemaction/accomplishment in question ia very largetemarkabe one. «bate mokera te past form of fst nokera asian pase for “manage to do [somethingpul [something] off” {Tina's to peson who moves at someine cles Bech a call: ~ nina de means the subjects "completely under thumbrwrapped around "site ingrfptty in ~'s hands, (Ke 3c tu Mate yo! at (enon) “Wait a’ minute!" (PL2) + mate iste abropt command form of mai wait"). Dr "Then there’s Dr. Kamimura ... There's 00 Kwe $l ko RA Mf 6D HE Ibs OF Moshi saiyalu notin ga ano shushi mi aru no.naro, Fe castro of orginal suse (ih) hese seeds In sxe fice the case tat “Ufit’s true that the source of the calamities isin the seed itself, MR-99 e meSeC WH ME CE Eh eS A CteoeE. Emuctru kyiitiyt 0 suisei saseta Kaminura Hatase koso sore 0 shtru jinbutsu_ ni hokanaranai Cee chia ‘regenerated, (name) “Dr. (rh) that (0b) kaow persoauge none ae than ‘then Dr. Kamimura, the one who regenerated MR-89, is precisely the one who should know." (PL2) + moshi ~ no nara gives the embesed complete thoughtisentence saa no Kin ga ano shushi ni ara ("te source ofthe Calamity i in that seed) conditional meaning: “tts the ease that ~." + Saiet sas is the past for of sasel saver ("eause to regenerate"), rom sae! sur resusctateregeneratelreproduce”) Emucdra kyajakyd o satsel seta is a complete thought/sentence ([she] caused MR-99 to regenerate") modifying ‘Kamimura Hakase Dr, Karnimura”) ~~ "Dr. Kamimura who caused MR-99 to regenerate. «+ Koso emphasizes Kantimura Hokase with the feeling of "none other than het”: n this ese ofthe expression ~ ni hokanaranai is wome oer than ~") + Sore shir is complete thoughusenence ("she] knows tha ) modifying jnbutsu ("person Mangaiin 33,722-0 + Atter zero SHR) A61 PO AKBH O-u 286-0. RASLOG ~RIAOV SOLO M4vKR ova A EOMUCK ty PREM IML OR 34 Mangain[z] Umerwa Ko Wiashino yume ga ionna-ni mo hayaka jisigensare 0. waa Benn? Sea lly tiki cre uy be atrlscid (gt) coo) “{I never imagined] that my dream would be fulfilled so soon!” (PL2) SAbi b MS PGS Ot ML 0 POH, (PLATS 1 be Konoue no satsume, hasash-gate ire “dang a. (rane) his daysan) ichpined. probaiyrey (clog) ‘Afhat Konowe must really be kicking himself" (PL.1-2) Boo it AF HER HS MA & BCT AL & Hocetton, din va tin, sok kara ae mala de tine aa thay for iimelt (5) werd fom ger (05) climate (expan) (qu) wa saa aoe) “Sie was saying that he wanted to eliminate hunger from this earth himself!” (PL) + konna-ni mg ia more emphatic Form of konna-ni this much”); ayahu is the adverb form ofthe adjective haya (Cavickifas), so kena-nt mo havakue = "this quicklyso quickly.” + toa makes the entire preceding sentence ino the topic of an unspoken exclamation, which isto say, it makes that topic itself into an exclamation. It can be any kind of exclamation—pleasure, chagrin, ismay-—and here its obviously an ‘exclamation of glee + Sanus an informalslang word for guy/fellow/person; no yar aftr a name or ile sualy as at least milly beliaing! “erogatry feeling, and i's commonly used when finding fault with or dering the person + “ime after a word referring to a person shows contempldersiow/ange directed at that person, so here it goes hand in hand wwith the derogatory feeling of yrs + ays gaie irs from kusashi-garu (show signs of being chagvined”), ver formed from the adjective kuyashil ("be ‘sexed mortified/chagrined”). The suffix -garn i aached a sarious adjectives of feeling (ether psychological or physical) tocreate vers that mean “show signs of being ~."The garu frm is used to speak of how another persons fling since that person's feelings are usually known only indirectly. from the way hehe allows his feelings to show. + ait isa contraction of ano sats (nformal/stane for "that guy") + ne-yagarta sa contraction of ite iyagatta, a derogatoryfnsuting equivalent of ie a was saying”). te isthe te form oft ("say"), 1 is the slem of in, and agatais the past form of Yagaru, a derogatoryfinsulting Sufix that connects tothe sem form of verbs. [E] Umezawa: EE RWLC OR to Be Oo REE [2] Umenwe: 22 ROM RAE. 1 BBE Konoue to ketsubetsu shite ira, yatsu odo no tensci 0 (ame) with paned ways ever stncelafer that guy extent ais gents (hj) tee MLtbot tH 7A sekait inate ga dane scat Srvchotte vrs wen pandering But wo goats “After parting ways with Konoue,Viravelied all itwas mouse” (PL2) «tobe hese for of eee sar pat wayshave fling oVrek wi, an ira means “versace ~ {eal now eter shel = “oer ace pang was with” + SGiodomo'y mene" taro the extent of so sun hod no eal =*s genie thats othe extent of in” —* fens fhe calito genie im = + sagas she ps oem Of sgas-mawaru eave around seachngooking fr) Ho He Fk Soko ni Kini ga arawareta. / Masaeni kami no michibiki dao, thereat pont at you (5) appeared” wulyindeed god. ‘oF ‘guwance is (mpd) “Then you showed up~indeed, brought to me by the hand of God.” (PL2) + soko literally “that placethre,” but here it refers more to place/pont in time—ie, the point which Umezasa had ‘Searched and seatched and pretty much given up hope + aramareta the past form of arowarera Cappearshon Up") 1 Kami no michiblt is iteally “he guidance of God” -> “divine guidancelthe hand of God. [5] Kamimure:, ER 9 HX PELHEEA 2. Abarasno mihi kano remasen 3 guidance may possity be (erp) “Tt could be the hand of the devil, you know.” (PL3) + amo shiremasen isthe polite form of kano shirenai might belay possibly be”) + yoofen emphasizes something the speaker thinks the listener partculatly needs to know orbe reminded of: "~, remember! ~, you know.” Mangajn 35,P29 -0 +Atter Zero outa’ ROY RB WIL arGSa-Sey BREAR MD OVC mete =: '6 Mangaiinze we cy. HRN Te aiken desu shachol! “Siri aaner™ (ec3)"™ Umezawa: 23 Lt? Do shita? whaow’ dd “What's wrong?” (PL2) + then refers to a*serioustroublesomelalarming situation," and zihen da/desu is used as an exclamation in response to ‘any cause for alarm. ++ dais “how/what” and shia is the planvabrupt past form of sure ("do"). o dl shia is literally “What did you do?" But the expression i often used iiomatically to ask fran explanation of something that appears ou of the ordinary: “What's wrong/What’s the mater/What’s the trouble?” [2] Executive: 3 i, MOT AWE EL: 71 Oo MRO Ho Samen-mae, hajinete salbai 0 shite Tato Emu-dru haji -atake de Seas, ago ft caveton (oj) “di Thad MRSS. ek In RE w RootHaTH then fo» otote mast! ‘ihapusuialeven }) eccrine in the MI-99 fields first culivated 3 years ago in Thailand, a mishap is occurring!” “There's been a mishap in the MR-99 fields first cultivated 3 years ago in Th: (PL) + saibaio shia iste past form of saibaio sur, liteally “do cultivation” ~~ “cultivate.” Hajimetesaibai oshita i a com- plete thoughisentence [we fist cultivated [hem)") moaifying Tai no Emudra kyjikye-barake (“he MR-99 fields in Thailand”) + okotteimasu isthe polite form of olote iru (is occurring”), rom otoru (accurlhappens). (BH) Umeawa: e127 ‘anit What?!” (PL2) [q]Omsitestafl: 2TO aK & 1S Hie MEL COs AHH Subete no Kubwa. mi taht mae ni Koshi shite run desu ae”? Sal.) sae (atom before are erng expla ue plans are withering and dying before they produce heads of grain!” (PL3) -kabu shen speaking of plant refers toa single plant or cluster. int might be described a the "bearing par” of plants, "seeds/gainsnutsberriesfrults"—and when speaking of mi, {uber means “Tortafbear/produce [seeds/grainsete.). + mae= "before." and mio sukeru mae = betoreprodcing grain; ni marks his asthe time frame when the next mentioned Action takes place. Rashi ohite iu (ate withering” sf shi suru (wither and die”) Umerawa 2505 0 SE NINE Dow oto da?! Byogenkin ka? thar knd of thing ceria (2) thot tingiaion da ang ocak Onsitestaff: RE KR CFS Genin fumei desu. ‘oe ucearfonknow "The cause is unclear.” “We've been unable to identify a cause.” (PL3) ‘+ ‘asking a question with dais masculine and can sound very rough. To be continued... Mangan 3738 MangajnTitle Tf) Yakamt B Ste ok A Dai Sanjthassho Tetsu in no Wehapter ion pon Chapter 38: Iron Man dal is lke “no and -ss isthe counter sf for chapters in a book tne considered translating resujin a "Griddle Man,” but since this manga is parody of the strong, silent, action-hero fenre, "Tron Man” seemed more appropri RE AME fk EF AD. Keijitew no hirwsagar day eft of eaty afternoon Early afternoon of a day off... Zan Ow I: EbNOhot BIN BE OoTAB Ob Koma tok ni wa Kodawarino hata sotiwoba nado toate mira nom Mickindot ine a asic duct yarba ating ey mating" Sm) tao is goodappeling ‘Times lke these are great for making the consummate yakisoba. (PL>) tira = "000m," and hresagari = aie ater novel after00n.” Aedtawan ttn oun frm of Eodawar he pariularscruplous(sbost] the pst form often implies "comtining”, so fedawar no hia meats “Tit modifies yalluoa Cited noodles ‘suk the te for of ur take") mu afer the te form of verb means try [doing the action,” so uke sniru=try making no tnaias te preceding complete setence kadowar! no hat yakisoba nado ukemi (wil try making some Giscriminaingyakisobs") tke singe noun “Sino mo taker an expression ite“ described action, 10, gooWappeainghatitying” and ita isthe past form of hair (“enter oniaining serypulousness” > seiminating* EAM i STEN, HEPES, PO EANARL ira ea esugizn, sukurasugiza, hats manbenonak 1 astor asetoomich notte lile | morover thors ‘Not too much oll, not t and it must bes y (PL2) ‘B.sugizu and sukuna-sugicn are negative forms of G-mgiru and sukunassagiry, the stem forms ofthe adjectives 3 (Cabundantpleaifal) and sukunal *ew/ite”) plus the sfx sugirn, which means “woo muchlexcessively ~." ‘ats is 4 word for “and/and moreover” scenfbeard mostly in writen language or formal speches. WOR... HIE YHA ik Sh tw, Chomin’..tokuni soni wa kevdowarit fessonng.erpeily. sauce about for wantto be pct ‘You want to be particular about the seasoning—especially the sauce, (PL2) Jadawarite’ is the “want to” form ofthe ver kodeware ("be patculariscrupulous (about). The particle mi is used to mark what one is being particular about. pea, MI ER he Towa i akisoba wa shonin no ‘hough that maybe Yakieba afr common people's tate Ay it i © 60 TOK Meno. shban noone de Be toodles atte soi generally f thingoes with is ine is'a food of the common people. Store-bought noodles will do, (PL2) y THIS ‘Yakisoba ‘to wa ie atthe beginning of a sentence refers back to what has just been said, implying “though I may say thatthat sail) ‘though that may be.” shikan isa noun fr “selling in the (open) market,” so shihan no mono refers to things/products that canbe found in ‘most any store —> “(any store-bought noodles.” OK." pronounced ether okt or dt, can be con way in Roman letters rather than in Katakana. The expression ~ de aké implies" red fully naturalized word in Japanese, and is most often written this adequate/fincfully acceptable: ‘Mangan 39ENC H —fE + Kacho Baka loni-dai XPEWSWEPR 40 Margajinmak He a ‘Time to begin! (PL2) + ovisaninexestion ving he fsting hat he moment of rhmomeat fo ston is one. hs somewhat ri! formal exprestion aly Sl in en fom. Bl HEAy i go RA me the Kyabenu 6a dame ni Aji ni fukami ga der {ge ac for onthe plea sie (mance favor in depth (Sb) comes ca age. It gives depth to the flavor. (PL2) es to mean “abit onthe ~ side/Somewhat ~,"s0 me, fom 3 abundan “The partici ni essentially turns this into an adverb forthe understod verb, ix mon the plemiful side. + suka is «noun form ofthe adjective fuk ("deep FEC Von oD. Fra a ei cee when ‘coat, + arameis the stem of the vets karamers (“coutentwine with with sauce] and...” BAR He SNC EV Larter Kanpeki da. Korede macai acu sa nai peta “is watts. "had can posits be perfecto! With this, there's no way itcan be bad tasting. { perfecto! There's no way this can be anything but delicious. (PL2) Use plenty of the stem is ere being used a a continng form; “ost + ~ hate gana follows adjectives or verbs to mean “there's no way it eal be [as described" “there's no way [the seton] cami occur” © Yekam: & 9 913 9 AT: i taukeru no ware, franc turmon (nor) oa 1 orgor tring on the fame [forgot to turn om the griddle. (PL2) + the objoct markers have Deen omited in this sentence: wih them include the sentence would be HF otaku no 0 4 + ovis nominalizee hat tams the complete sentence ho) aera I] won the fe/Mame”) ato a noun "th act off {uming on the flame"=—vhich the the Get objet of waste + seauretetas a conteton of wauree ta had frpoten") rom wasurera org”. Tite bm. Dai- Sanjahassho Kn fo. Sechaper en Chapter 38" ‘The End Mangajin 41Ssoaee@ Our Tono-sama by BRS L Mouse vases 42 Mangaiin Tite: Koi Come!? zy. fat Some with me” (PL2) frp. Ane FNoc Piz) ae ooleee camel tet ca + Heed la neoop tang tatoo et Cat nga fon of. ier Cao") The sowel combination of hen changes to gore in ean Gilet and msc ag. [i] Tono-sama Employee [E] Tonosama: ewe ct tf “ifyou don't come, it itbe this” PL2) IK 2474 {efecto hooking finger) Fan “fimph2” (PLA) + fun of sof ince, bu te question mas show he's ot quite fie at tomate of Tomcat Employee: FX: 74 Kui (effect of hooking finger around something) & [7] Tonesama = “Come with me.” (PL2) Employee: 6. 6% Ih ik wil 20 il 20 “1'm coming, I'm coming.” (PL2) + it's not unusual for English sage to make “come/coming” more natura ‘when Tapanese usage calls ford lit, “B0")SSQHeeQ “SEAL The Flying Human Our Tono-sama + oisunderstood after sora: sora o tabu =“fty through the sky”: this com thoughisentence modifies ingen (human being/person’) = "he by BPS L Meguro vasusti Faman nfo Mes trough the sky = he fying humane (H] Towo-sama: 21 $1) Ht ZARA Rese ae & bird!” (PL2) Tono-sama: Y=» hE Jetoti dat ples SUS jet plane!” (PL2) + is an imerjecton used when suddenly noticing something: “ohhe ‘the generic word for “airplane” RF7#R ik, whore hik literally me “fly and godgo by flying” and ki means "machine™ —> “ying machi Based on this ki sed as a suffix meaning “plane,” and jrto isthe Tap nese rendering of the English “et,” so jeuios4t™= "et plane, [Z] Tono-sama: UFO #3 Yap da! te Mesa UFO! (P12) Tonosama: i177 b £1 Roketo da SHS a rocket" (PL2) + UFO" invariably writen with he English eter, and most commonly rea asa single mend. --? *y—though one alo hears peed Satinkakane 2 29-3 eget + Toker the apanese rendering ofthe English word [3] Teno-sama: 7 60—> 1 Adobaren dat Mite ie SIe3 am advertising balloon?” (PL2) Tono-sama: se 2- + Kamit dat ne SIC. paper airplane!” (PL2) Eat BoC Tolan ‘orton! inmgsce_tave tnd “landed s long time ago” (PL2) duds from the English “ad” rom “adverising”) and “balloon” {oktat imple the ction ook place along tne age tera contraction of ore Ina (have lane) rom orn ge ome down’ or wen Tying, “lan, socket Fyer: i E i i i Mangaiin 43B Apuin re) App-install a by Ux ASH Jonburi ZUR Ro BE, Be 27k 2%, Re x * 2 i g 3 -¢ ) Uy, Bo i i ey Ui Ve i 44: Mangajin Tiles 7 F Daiyamondo Diamond Woman: ¥4 HAE C Daa ga haenakute ‘amond st) oul yeas) ae clk ot RFR Ste faa nishita “we iw Bi fe madeit (gute) sy nen is, s'il "You're going to tell me you. so you decided to get a tire (PL2) diya the abbreviated form of the Fall Japanese rendering of ‘the English word "diamond." Taiya i the Japanese rendering ofthe English ‘word tire” The similarity of daiya and aiya allows them to be associated here, but obviously the same association does not work fr English + kanal ea negative form of kaeru ean buy") whichis the potential CCean/be able to”) form of kaw ("buy"); the -t form is used to indicate a + Slit isthe past form of ~ ni sur, which means “make it~" inthe sense of making achoice/decision. + esa colloguil equivalent of quotative ro; it marks the complete thought/sentence daiya ga kaenalute tiya ni shita(“[yoa] couldn't bay a ‘diamond so [you] made ia tie/decided on a tire) asthe specific content fof what she thinks he wantfntends to say (2) Mam EL. bo8 filh Yoshi, “ae the Mlagit over xe ‘po “Allright, get outta here.” (PL2) Sound FX: 30 30) Koro koro (effect of rolling) + atch isan informal equivalent of achira ("that diection/over there”), and ite isthe abrupt command form oft ("go") atch ke is used Tike the English expressions "go away/gel out of here/get los” Mar BxtrELE thor fiw a dapamonde teats ne es coe emcee ieee Aetually, a diamond was to expensi (PL2) Sound FX: 77 17 olaete Rast rte + jitsu ato” and jon wa = "ie tet iin fcc js was ‘en asl ay. id of elace to sofn award explanation «taka se pt form of ie env ekes Csexpensve 1 Race neonmachon oft pani tode Cbecumel) Ax. Woman; ¥4EY KH HCC Daiamondo ga takakwe ‘amon was expensive aus) T-EYK ELE oT A} 02 Gmondo—rishita “te “tw no? Simonds "det (gute) say (expan?) ‘Are you going to say that a diamond was too cexpersive so you d (Play sd to get some almonds?” Man: + takakute isthe te Form of takai; again, the -e form is used to indicate a reasonvcause, + the common -amondo ending allows the association between dayamondo nd mond hice sone ofthe sna ean be seen in English as weli Apu-In App-Iinstal by UE AA) Jonburi aSe& Title: ba) O-hatarairi siting the Ancestral Grave Ghost: 35 D Fh ik FH & RL Khe Ueki no shison wa _Lotoshi mo dare mo kom owetany fads afer ayer de tos atcoe "nce again this year nome of my descendants have come?” (PL2) Woman: #8 th, RELA L. Otome,” Kinase e aie cee Srandfather, ve come” PL3) Gravestone: OO Maruman ke ana fut So-and-so Family ‘+ his iteraly “inside.” butts used frequently to refer one’s owa house ly uch mo = "my house’s/my family's” or in tis ease just "my." and tuchi no shison = "my descendants” + daremo followed by a negative verb means “no one (does the ation Kom is contraction of konai, negative of kuru ("come"), 30 dareme kon = "no + imashita is the polite past form of kur (“come”) + (manu tit, “ctcle" isa common way wo indicate a blank or variable Japanese writing, They most commonly come in twos: OO) = mannan. TE] Gust: 2, cae att eo FR "Svat & this cate isms descendant? (PL2) + kann maiying an adjectives fo Koma mek, so Lanna rena 2M nach eve sso enh ge TB Ghost: do. 50 F Ue. a ono toe inj tat cha DEN Rt bO KOT Lee Ayanenmae Ks gna oma no ko “Tknow, i's that girl 105 that girl who visited 20 ‘years ago.” (PL2) 4 indicates the speaker has sun nticedrecogniredeaied something, iike"OntMhat's etl Know Jats used by many olde male speakers a substitute for da sere" “mae (on-scene time span means“ [that much time] ag.” dita the pas form of ur come"), and nifnen-mae isisa complete thoughvsentence modving ano una no ko “that girl who came 20 years ago.” (]WonmB: 55 = > BE ott Chino hata dey eveanty"S he is my tami pa + soisofen used emphasize information hat he spear hk he tener Perales to Mengaiin 45Comics for the Career Woman As Japanese women establish a more prominent presence in the work force, a new genre of manga has emerged— chronicling the life of the “Career Woman.” by TR. Reid Mao Fone mnge ieee ees ds usc meraieaameeians Spt sestoata ems See es Sa eeeaeee ee eee: ones ee eee Eee res eee Sr See eetee Ee eras eee ein Ogee: Rice ey Seen Pikenignient Seema eens ae a ; eee i oF lite ee are, in essence, a female version of the covering Japan is the laryman, they are never called ‘salarywwomen,” Rather, the approved term For this new breed of female is kyaria imam (3° (ar, =e > that is, “career woman,” turally, the popular forms of entertain. ‘ ment are reflecting this trend. In the TV dy-dramas”—weekly serials that appeal 2 {o young professionals—such popular stars as Yamaguchi Tomoko, Koizumi KyBko, and Ishida Hikari Porte section chiefs, restaurant mana copy writers, lawyers, etc. Trendy manga have fee taken up the cause as well a we now routinely cast as cor Te"O-shigsto De! sth te rapping of. ranks oun = FR MLE Fk arias / BRIE IY & ia hpi sur ty = SBS hive na / Fi gin na Mangain 69Kates cer (64 Mangain c Ona wit to, sper-banker Harchine ‘ond inter er compan or bong Me mstermind bind ‘ecoup da Japan's famous uniformed Office Ladies, or OLs, have long been featured in business manga—as in the comie strip OL Shinkaron, familiar to Mangajin readers. There are also manga dealing with female secretaries. The best of the lot, to me, is “Jdvakw Hisho Rina” (RAK W'S 1), or “Rina—the Director's Private Secretary,” written by Imano Taumi, In tis series, Narita Rina, secretary toa senior director at the Marunouchi Bank, takes it on herself to solve various business crises confronting her boss. Rina’s strategies are invariably i cessful, but she always sees to it that her boss gets the eredit enious and suc Sut ORM ODETS HED shah de no shh (ke ove ne Fhe carcersomen manga, in contrast, the woman is often the boss. A good example is the poplar “O-shigoto Desut” (B{L'%-CF"), by the famous manga artist Saimon Fumi, This series, whieh bears the English subtitle “Women’s Company,” covers the travails and triumphs of three women who have jess of their own, Their company. called Little Bird, consists of a retail kitchen-goods outlet and a related restaurant supply firm ‘Over time, the women run into various business crises and opportunities: they slo meet ther share of Sexism, In one recent episie, a man who i making 2 disturbance in the store is approached by the hero ine, Nojima Kotor, who asks him to leave. "Oh yeah? And who might you be?" the man replies. “I'm the Shc’ pmesiden of the company) here" Nofima says almly.“Shacho?” the man spits out. “Aren't you & Tite itis wo be a shacho?™ ‘Other careerswoman heroines work for bigger com- panies. Mangafin readers ae familie with Harashina lett their jobs to start a busi Hiromi, the quietly aggressive and ambitious bank executive who is the central character of the set Kono Hit ni Kakero” (= 9) Ie 8f3 2), oF “Bet on ‘This Woman,” by Sha Rydka and Yumeno Kazuko. (An excerpt from this story ran in Mangajin issues No. 47-55.) Hiromi, too, faved sex discrimination early in her ‘career at Yotsuba Bank, but recently the tales in “Kono Hiro” have focused more on her often daring exploits, fon behalf of the bank and its customers, In the eatly days of the series, we were worried that Hiromi might lose her job because of animosity from some male officials at the bank. Nowadays, Hiro ther work—but she is already worrying about a poten- tial “glass ceiling” that could impede her progress to the top ranks of the bank. PAWS duidohono yakinten «paw coling = 77 DIM hin iidomariFor my money, though, the master of the career: woman manga is Oze Akira, the creator of wo popular women-in-business series that manage to be informative, provocative, and heart-warming In the 1980s, Oze gave us “Natsuko no Sake” (8 #-Oif, “Natsuko’s Sake”). This long-running nar: tative concemed the bright daughter of a saké-brew- ing family in rural Niigata prefecture, Determined to escape from the sticks when she finished school, Natsuko landed a dream job—as a copywriter in a big Tokyo ad agency (a place that looks a lot like Dentsu, Japan's top advertising firm), In one of her first assignments, Natsuko is asked to write an ad pushing the products of a giant saké factory in Kobe. The job gives her severe guilt pangs—because she knows saké well, she is aware that her clients product is actually rotgut. In short order, Natsuko quits the ad biz, heads home to Niigata, takes over the family business, and makes it more successful than it has ever been. used to love the tale of Natsuko when it was run ning in Comic Morning magazine. For some reason, though, T had trouble getting my friends interested in it; they seemed to think there was to0 much inside lore about how to brew great saké. This prob: Jem ended, though, in 1993, when the TBS network (that’s Tokyo Broadcasting, serialized drama of the story, with the gorgeous. ‘Waku Emi in the title role. Since almost everybody in Japan loves Emi-chan, the whole country turned imo fans of “Natsuko no Sake, But by then it was to0 late. Oze had finished the comic version of “Natsuko.” He had another series up his sleeve—one that most people agree is even better: “Minori Densetsu” (22 0) (ai, “The Leg- end of Minori”) ot Turner) made a ‘Svxieae Minos is 2 28-year-old joumalist who sud denly becomes, hog «blend of desire arnt neces- si, afelance write his ter shortened in Japa- nese 10 7) 4 9, fr ral. She has count- les adventures, mectingvoretnes with rump and sometimes wih sehack, both journalistic and Finan- cial. Meanwhile, she has varius bo rends—none terribly serious—and is constantly fending ofthe ap proaches of her moter and grandmother who think Minor had dared well bter get marred before she turns 30 The following excerpt comes from the very fist chapter of he long-running “legend” Readers may be please to know that i ater episodes, Minor * he seks = JV [OUTS ashi go chim dieu Iau-inaka»votgut = FE daha / LO rebounds from her somewhat shaky start here and builds 1 solid career contributing to major magazines. Her specialty seems tobe stories along the Lines of “Tokyo's ‘Top 20, "e.g. the best curry restaurant, the best boitled waters, ete. Ove has fun with these tales, because the “Top 20” type of story in fact appears all the time in the real-life trendy magazines of Tokyo and Osaka, Socially. things are going great for Minor these days, She recently tuned down a marriage proposal from a decent but unexciting guy. The latest episodes of the legend,” as of the end of 1996, have Minori being ‘courted by a famous rock star who has fallen hard for her decency and down-to-earth manner. # z i " ““Minori Densetsu can stand on its own as an enter taining glimpss time, itis @ representative sample of the most impor- lant new manga genre of the "90s so far: the career- (*O-shigoto Desu!” currently appears in the manga magazine Big Comie Spirits; “Kono Hito ni Kakero in Shitkan Morning: and “Minori Densetsu” in Big Comic Original.) (0 one woman's life. But at the same TR. Reid is a correspondent for the Washington Post, He is currently on leave from the paper, writing a book about Confucian values and making a series of doc ‘mentary films on Japan for the (American) TBS network. 19 hou no ware sake «fend off = °F Kawa The tite sarater of “Minor Density” « Pesan ten Pesan aigament er domeMi Moms L2% BMS Bn mae ni hoshino nuleru yona—amoi de wakareta ‘go become parlyaed type. thooghiectings with "pared Bo ik, Bebe FSELT. hhanashi wa, oi-ot sur to shite ey ie yay wae tale of the man I broke up with three months ago feeling utterly debilitated, I will get to it by and alka! Glick click click (clicking of hecls on floor) + mits = sankagetsu ="3 months”; mae ni after atime span means “(that much time] ago.” Seeerniemgae eens Geena eens ain arc coe eens See ee ey Beet eceecerer — Bagged Aa SE te paper ts sme ul mde Dee a eater iver Imisdemaen kas mo radera yO mat mei de wakarc i a carplte again eae Gabe eetian earorea astalaecoa Ee er Sie cts ge reece crea oe ces eed (3 months ago [1] broke up LE] Narration: iso. Fa, AN HH, ional,” 16. roca haa Sra ya a [see next frame} Soma FX: 27 117 fat te Click click (clicking of heels on floor) Interview with Muramatsu Masumi (cominued from poge 14) religious jokes and ethnic jokes are best avoided initially But after the ice is broken, after some beer or saké and after you become friends, then do share some of your favorites—parochial jokes, ethnic jokes, and occupational jokes. And ah, yes, lawyer jokes and doctor jokes. The Japa ‘nese understand these fairly readily. If you are an. Ameri- can lawyer, by all means offer one of your humorous law. yer jokes and the Japanese will be impressed. We'll think ‘you're great because you can laugh at yourself. S$: One last question. Decades ago RH. Blyth wrote a won- derful book titled Oriental Humor, which had! a section on Japan. Today there's a critical need for a new book on Japan. Do you have any plans to write one? M: I've been saving essays I've writen in English, and I'm beginning to transcribe many of my lectures, so I hope to be able to condense them into a book on Japanese humor. ris Japanese humor really an oxymoron? Ahh, how [love that big word, “oxymoron.” St Do you think the word might be in the rile? Mz Well, why not? Perhaps I'll deliberately misspell it with an, instead of an “r.” Frederik L. Schodi's most recent book, Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga, is described on this website: utp:Jowwwstonebridge.com/dreannland,hemd Mangaiin 674 0 0) IB + Minor! Densetsu Rhus 0 4 ROW xOeS OR Rwegsre a meg re Sea” eae Ope F 68 MargajnNarration: Editor: ) Baitor: BR koh aLL ELON & Fie Lb OH & ROTOR Ook Bar fag toteane, line arts ae day 0) slid apts ot ye a eed apn age became, Liner sy (hj) ne gore : Tso fecame ae 38 had died that ths wed the da of new al any rate had decided that today, June 20th, the day I turned 28, would be the day of a new departure forme. LD ayy Kal tat Click click (clicking of heels on floor) -sai isthe counter suffix for years of age atta isthe plin/abeupt pas form of naru become”) and to marks the result, so nithassa o mata = “became 28," ‘which modifies atash (a variation of watashi, “Uine,” used by female speakers)" who became 28." Kimere tas the past form of Kimete iu (“hasfhave decided), fom himeru ("decide"); o marks komo hi (‘his day”) as the ‘object of her decsion-—what she is deciding about—and to marks arata na tbidachl no hi" day of new departure”) as the specific comtennature of the decision—what she has decided kono Mis, ro dana isthe pas form of the explanatory no da. e “Hun?” (PL2) oat Bam (fect of slamming envelope down on desk) tos hs Letter of Resignation tA + decharna isa conteaction of dete shimatta, tet Tele! form of derw "come/z0 out) and the past form (self-pitying, embarrassed laugh) tsa hich afr the te form o ser im Ath Hbeot, Foye tu Dlies the ation i/vas regretblefundesirable Hanaji_ dechana.”” Tsshuw nai? ‘Hanayi ga deru asa phrase means “gta bloody Aoebled cape cutee) ste nt ave? ose” oF “ones nosebleeds. Rly nose ik bleeding, Got'a tissue?” (PL2) + ssh from the English Word “tissue.” Zo. EH HL LDED KOI: H, AOD LA oF So ka, 58 kW mitsukera ka Minorihun mot that way (that way (7) finally "found ) (ame fam), so “ls that right, is that right? You finally found one, too!” (PL2) hth XN¥) OD th HbA BT. Sorosoro airieiri mo sen damon Iyyandbyhoon barely whi iit of linlpestion is actus (clog) Bhé He GR tt Lee At Ore mo _hibi —shingai wu shera—_dal? 1 ho everyday woryanaety for was deinghaving (expln) "You were soon coming to the position of being a the limit, so T, too, worried about i every day “You were coming right down to the wire; not a day went by that it didn’t weigh on my mind.” (PL2) Pe RACH FUE) Ot? Na nan desu ka. girigird te? {samen what “ie (9) barely within it (qt) “Wh- what do you mean—right down to the wire?” (PL3) =z isan atemate spelling for 2 2: (is that soi that right); many manga artists ike wo use katakana long ‘marks instead of adding hiagana for long vowels, -mitsnkera is the plaifabrupt pas form of iskera Cindiiscover"), stun more failia equivalent ofan ("Mr /Ms."), is used mainly with male pers or subordinates, but ina corporate Setting superiors use it with subordinates of both sexes sir-gir implies being just barely within a iit and sr Sen = "barely within the limiVright up against the limit” ‘mon isa contraction of mono, which afer da/desu means “because it's ~"; ~ da mon na = “because it's right?" and elongating the na gives it abit of acontemplaiverterlecting feeling. ‘shinpat s 3 noun for“ woerylconceranxiety.” and shinai suruis its Ver form “wory/te": shinai shite-ta is a conrac- tion of shinpashze ta ("was woriedansios"), past form of shinpe shite ru ("am Wortiedanxious”) inserting wa ads ‘emphasis. te here sa colloquial equivalent ofthe quotative phase toi no wa (3s for what you refer vo as ~") ine") can refer to a “positionleveUArack: g-gn no isn't Mangan 69BL + Minori Densetsu 20% wedi & Rompe HRERY QCM DROS Bo ee RR AKA & Reem R” Sah oy ROBY PRON want awe 70 Mangain& @ i i emia? De, shit wa itu? ei commony atc when “So when's the ceremony?” (PL2) b EhkA Cebvseay k oo Bt & HOS O 1 AME DOL Sonnan ” “jaarimasen'” Oma ga haisha 0 Sameru no wa ekkom ig artim of tng “Temat woman (0) 6.0 (0) "gu pepe aor eape or han BLoiew ACH FA it Jangacrarenai desu ka. desuku wa? {n't thaimagine (eplan7) man edoryow 2 for “That's not it at all! Is marriage the only reason you can think of for a woman to quit her job?” (PL3) ‘+ sonnan = sonna no ="a thing lik thavthat kind of thing,” andjaavimasen isthe PL3 equivalent of jamal (“snot”); sonnan ja arimasen = “t's nothing like that's not that at ll@hat's not iat all” ‘+ ‘nos a nominalizer that makes the complete thoughUsentence ona ga kaisha o yamera (“4 woman quits her company? job") act asa single noun, and yea marks that noun as the topic (inthis case secondary topic, ater desl). + angaerarenai isthe negative form of kangaerarers (“can think"), potential form of Languera ("hi"), + esukis from the English “desk”: desu i used in Japanese newspaper and magazine publishing as a word for “managing editor. Editor: tu: Iz hE DH? Hoka ni nanika ‘are noha? “Is there something else?” (PL2) Editor, £2, 0roEL THOR OE? A. masaka, hyowe shite ano ban mo koto? (Gives sirety ot, cult thigh of thing “Oh, surely it’s not... this isn’t perchance about that one night, is it?” (PL2) & bDe Mok VERY T, EO, RENE EFM Kok do. A ‘arya ora ikiod de, sono. tama-tama hotera-gai data ara (ammer as forthat got dusk impetsimpase Got.) hychance. fect dict “wa tees ‘that was just a drunken impulse, you know, because we happened to he in a hotel district ...” (PL2) BANG kh Leite Seluhara ‘ola ja nakure Sua harsment or someting aso It wasn’t sexual harassment or at 222? (PL2) + masaka emphasizes statement of disbliet/ineredulity. For this use, the sentence typically ends in a negative conjecture, ‘nai daraidesho so that is the ending implied here: ~ je nai dard = "surely i's not ~/srely it can't possibly be that — Ion shite (or hyoto suru to) s used to introduce guesseconjctures with the feeling of, it just might possibly be that in a question it becomes “could it possibly be that ~7" He switches in the middle of his sentence from believing it couldnt be to wondering if maybe it could, lrya isa coniraction of are wa ("as for that ‘ota isthe pas form of you become drunk”), modifying iio’ impetsimpolse") > “drunken impulse.” *+ ‘Seluhara is shortened from sekushuaru harasinento he fll katakana rendering of "sexual harassment.” Minor #...0... CF Aad aor no deve in PL ap ae bea” Sing carerng soe on hy se ae “ket me expla meting to you..." (13) Inuped obs rb coc eo mile: 30 on hon mthloe soa hac sa ie tot mee ether” (12) fut aon taplics"t wonpobinked™ = hat’ n Sound FX; 1% Pachit ‘Snap! (sound of snapping fingers) Editor: boot! bi #7 SRA O BH RD fh mr Wakarat “Are ha? Putasuki-bun no kytryo miharal no ken ka? derstood that (2), 2memths worth (=) ary upd of materease () ‘know’ Is it that? Is it the matter of wo months" worth of unpaid salary?” “That must be it! It's because we fell two months behind on your salary, isn’t it?” (PL2) * waar, the plinfabrupt pas form of wakaru ("come to know/understand") is used idjomatically as an exclamation for Low i've got ve figured i out!” * fiuatsuki = nikagetsu = "2 months.” and -bun afer quantity means “enough frfequivalent to that much or “that much ‘worth (cominwed on nex page) Mangajin 7140 1) {RB + Minor! Densetsu 72 Mangajin(cominaed fom previous page) [eo] Bator fir voces bo Lot REBT MOB oc MIE Boch At. Ginka ite miro yon Tokku-td—matomete—furitonda we shacho nectar fank” try gone (epi) loge since comMine together transfered (quote) co-pres_ was saying (mph) "Try going to the bank, The boss was saying he'd long since transferred it all to your account.” (PL2) + ies the efor of tu ("20"), and mira isthe abrupt command frm of mira (seeNook at”) aform of mir after the te for of a verb implies “ry [doing the ation] and see [what happens/what the situation is) + matomete the te frm Of matomera (pat togethericombine into one") 1 furitona isthe past form of furikomu pay by bank transfer”): matometefuritonda = “combined and paid by bank transfer” —> “pid the combined arnount by bank transfer past of ite ru from iu say") [Mink Beet atl a 7y- E RORY KO oH Chigaimasa! Atos wa fart ni marti dake desu! i Nie atte tefteance fo wat iohesone aly NO! That's not it either, IJust want to-go freelance” (PL3) Minor 947— LT ELV rin ot, Raita toshite dobre shia dake desu! fice ay wag w stand alonebecome independent aly “Ljust want fo strike out on my own as an independent writer!” (PL3) + furitis shortened fom furiransu, the katakana rendering of “freelance.” ‘arta is the “want "form of aru ("become"); marital dake = “just/only want to become.” rad ere isthe katakans rendering ofthe English word “weiter” 1 dolurisu shina is the "want to" frm of dokurizu suru ("become independent”). stm, fe SE Bator Sasuga ni sata ni mare to wa tenakata, ‘Swen expect authornoveit to, wil become (ghee) 48 for could no sy Still, Teouldn’t bring myself to say T was going to become an author. (PL2) + sasuga ni typically implies thatthe action fits what you would expect of the person under the circumstances; here she has ‘Uneapectedty turned Jecisive and boldly announced that she's sting out om her own, but it fits with her underlying timidity that she cans bring hersll to publicly claim the goal of sak, + perhaps even more than the Word “author” in English ska refers a composer of literary work. 3] Billo: GA7, the Zk m Nanda. sonna kowo ka pits thang of hig Oh, is that all?” (PL2) Bator: oA ety AODCA. FH Wolfe E it bbs MA Hb The a ‘jana, Minori-han Kone ippal_ to wa inca,” asta kara demo. {feerine extn) ‘vam eamesan} non doen te) or toy omomow fom ven Cie Minor no osteo ying (oUT aough ue cd of hs oth, even fom tomorow {you canbe independent.” Phat should be fine, Minori. Why wait until the end of the month? You can start tomorrow.” (PL2) + nan da literally “what i "a the begining ofa sentence often expresses a feling of letdown, Here it gives he {eeling of Oh has all ti "ovelapping with he meaning of soma oo ka is ion] that kindof hing?) + nj nai spoken with the intonation of «question is iteraly hike "i's~. st 90” but idiomatialy its eqavalent to's protablysurely ~" ort should be ~ «+ tppai aerate word referring va dy/week/ month/year makes an expression for trough th end ofthe specified dhywesk/month ear” «+ yao is equtvalen to anoide, a negative orm of iu ay") > “instead father than ying.” Minori: 1? Wa? “Huh?” (PL3) Bie BR LA ho AN BH CRRMbA D 2é HH SEL TE Le Nanise fukyd damon ne Sin’ seirh dekinat mon kate,” sok shach koboshiteta shi all saesion scutes) poronne astmaen ean"! do thing () (que) frcquerly 0. pres was gambling ats fter all, i's a recession. The boss has been grumbling alot lately that he wished he could reduce staff.” Lay + nanise isa colloquialitect variation of nanishiro which can take on a variety of meanings depending on its context "at any rat/l mean/you know Jin'in seit (personne adjustment”) essentially means “staff cutsayoff¥downsizing.” {einai isthe negative foam of dekir ("can do), and mon is eotraction of mono thing”), o deknai mon kis iterlly can'tbe done?” > Twn iit cat he done?” implying “I wish itcoutd be donell wish I could do it) form of iyo ("goadsfine"), here meaning “oflewfrequent” rather than “well” 1 Koboshitesta is contraction of Kohoshise ta ("was complaining/grumblig”). for Kobo (‘complain 1 Shemarks the preceding as the causefreeson for something here, the reason he thinks Minori can quit ih away, ‘Mangain 73+ Minori Densetsu AOURR ASAD ANDY Mov se AMRO2% ARUN Rime" Heb eouey mt | MGW Ae hp 74 Mangaiin(tamer dense “G- goodbye!” (PL3) «ma (orm i verbal “warm-up” word that often hs no equivalent in Enlish—though sometimes words like “well ‘ean/you know work as equivalents. «+ Fanbote isthe 1e form of gunbure ("be dogged/persisienunflaging”in the fae ofa challenge). The te Form i often Sand asa cheer in athletic competitions implying “srive hard/give it your al,” and in mach the same manner, the editor {soffering Minor’ encouragementwishing her good luck inher new challenge. + thosutfte-eha means “during/in the mids of" 0 shutchd-chi = "(inthe midst of being] ona business trip.” 1 tok i a contraction of ite oka ("wl go bead and tell), from i (“sayell) CERRO eAStterally “rudeness?bod manners” and shimasu isthe polite form of suru ("do"), othe expression essentially serra illdolcommit a rudeness." This is «polite way take one’s leave like saying “excuse me,” and in many formalpolite contexts i's the proper way o say “goodbye.” pn [Bt] DMO F PHM = Bw, PIRI Im a, furit rot. | Kore “taisha” no tal no ji machigare-ru Oey glacier “thin tashein tat for kai ™ is wrong (em) "Hey, freelance writer! The kanji for taiin taisha is wrong.” (PL2) “fui ats shortened fom furiransu rata (from the English “freelance write”) ‘Mdshats writen with kanji meaning "withdraw and “company” —> “resign [from a company]-” cn enc sa contraction of machigarte iw Cis wrong/mistaken") from machigaer ("make a mistake/g0of up". ‘sa rough. masculine particle for emphasis [B] Narration: 4% 0 SORA BV BIE Kore Kec desaenai haha daa Aronflssivaranddepesing company “wot twas a cheap, depressing company. (PL2) RK HTB OO HR RR HO FATE DAILT BLT. FUER cancmnbu no. soshu gyohai “SN o. mein ni hurjite koi shite. Fe ee sete tala hot Sekay magne (3) ain ae reves conccing Bsns ‘With a liquor i gern having a roan of 00 hr masta barely ‘managing to stay afloat. 2) «when describing peopl, keh is a noun refering toa lack of generosity, “tinginess/meanness,” bin this case, thas tno the meaning of small worhlesscheap.” eon acne frm of oer (be cearahurpimasterulsuccessul) > “be dlldepressngnfTectansuocesfl.” corre Ditton and burt = mmber of copie so hatk-sd refers to “numberof copies pblshed™—* “oa Greulaiog Bust counter suis for copies of «newspaper or magne eee ienernEuropeaniqeorvin.” ia gener: en fr all kinds of lcbolc beverages introduced to Japan Fran eel incloding wine and bec as well x diilled liquors like whiskey, randy, vodka, gn ec + larae = “bayer retical coin eaeeeig tothe owner and nanagemenvunnng of «busines nd ce shits the the pat Form Artis tne ic nnn a bsinss) fom the vr kee wr ran a business) Karte Rete she iui fel rum the busines“ barely staying afloat.” BRL Zo 6 WES OM, sdombRE OFfor ‘Atashi” wa soko de yonen mono aida, koki-sukawareta no data {ine aoe tere aful years Of perigd was worked hadesploted (expan) I worked like a slave there for a full four years. (PL2) Bit 0 fH po WH 179 %a- RH EC CATH PHENTEE OK ok Tasthtethya de Kikaku kare rape, intaby “kit made, nandemo yaravarete kita no data darren ee chaning tram scparing_imerview ales a faras Crerything, “nas made 11do expan) ‘For next to nothing, I had done everything, from planning to reporting to interviews. (PL2) sno after a quantity implis tha amount sat, so yonen mo = all of + years! enti years"; no makes this a modifier For aida (*umespan/period”) "x period of 4 all yeas.” Hoenn pat form of ktulewarent whic isthe passive form of kok-sukau *ivefwork[somenne] hard) enc honed from raporutaji the fll Japanese rendering ofthe French reportage (reporting/ spore”) eae arerc the te formot yarusarere ("be made to do), the causative passive form of yar ("do"), and kia is the yar ps fom O ra (come) kuru after the Form ofa verb olen implies movement toward the speaker— Fete a movement in time from the pas up t the present ‘Mengain 7540 9) + Minor! Densetsu mea ROLUER pons 5 CHE REE Oe pahow RLICRES HORRU PL! 76 MargapnCs Minori: O~ chun» Mott Ano, Kore) ron umemasu? (Ges) the’ foun can asemblentake ot “Excuse me, can a loan be taken out for this?” “Excuse me, can [buy this on credit?” (PL3) ‘and isa hesitation word similar to “uhlVum.” I's often used to get someone's attention, essentially lke “Excuse me.” ‘Kumemasu i the polite form of kumers, which i he potential canbe able to") form of the verb kuemu (“pot together! ‘assemble:”or when speaking of loan, “take ouvdraw up") In this ease, kumemasi? = umemas ka? BEAAL Hl EC OK! BEA Ho My ch M4 —t MNCS RM LY Mochiron! Jukhai made She! Okyaku-san me a tahal. Kore ga. ima ichibam wree-ru Kish yo! courte times upto OK thon -eusomertyau eye (60h) high the (a) tow most selling oe igh) “Of course! You can pay in up (0 ten installments. You have a discerning eye, Miss. This is the best- selling model right now!” (PL2) ai isa counter for“timesfoceasions,” and when speaking of loans it refers tothe numberof times payments will be rade — “intl.” ‘me ga akai (i, “ee is high”) is an expression fr “ave discerning judgment/z00d taste drcte i a contraction of ure iru is selling”) from urera ([sometbing] se"); na ichiban wrere-nc is a complete thoughtlsenteace Ci] is selling most now”) modifying fishu ("model") > “i's the best-selling model right now.” St... Wa, SHR dh ie RD ETA? OM ke aaa ari arisen? Salesman: Minori: TE]. Narration 1 20nsallment payraats (0 wont it become ‘make it 20, 2” (PL3) -tara irom haa (changes tb fo euphony). a noun form of hara pay ior ataing bow many toalnents loan ros be pido n tara she ple form of naranai (nt bece”), native of nar ("bem"). Spoken a question it tery trea wen i Uecome 7 but here this actly an nest a) of asking "cant you ake = ‘Broken asa questo a pitelormalhuh?nha’s taexcuse me 8 number plus kal barat isthe term BH Lady + nega shimas is erally & polite “I request it Onegai —_shimasu!? ‘ eauvalent please tom segues do he aforementioned acti “Please!” (PL3) ve merely a8 8 wb LEL. ind of hesitation word ike *wellecthat i." ‘a. shikash {arwmer solve! ut SW! well, But. BE Lat beh eit DOTTY Cees Bon “yn! elton of) aang re pret exitine od ‘SPiease! You're my anty hope!™ (PL) BEROTELY OLE M BR RS KW FEELS PELAGY oO bt Anata no yesasil hitkoto ga, rekishi ni nokoru jorytsakka 0 tao saserukamo shirenai no yo!l fs ind oe word bj) sory in wllemain wore suo) veh ey possibly (expan) ph) ne kind word fe ld give birth to a womal se name wil go down in histo (Play tayori = “reliance”, the person or thing ove is relying upon for some purpose -> “hope.” ‘ekshi ni nokors ("Ishefner name] will remain in history") modifies jor sakka C*woman author”) ~ “a woman author ‘sho will remain/go dawn in history.” Taj isa noun for“birth” and Yan saserc is the causative ("cause 1 be") frm ofthe ver tam suru (“be born”), amo shirenai =>mighi/mnay possibly,” s0 tan sasera kamo shirena is Uterally “may possibly cause to be bor.” SUELO Be THot T-70 i bELO WM O bddn Kot Nalenashino okene de kata widpuro wa, alashino kakugo no araware data mall qaaniy of mney wth bought word peso ae for my commitment of marfetalymbol was ‘The word processor I bought with what litie money I had gave concrete shape to my commitment. (PL2y + nakenashi no is used when speaking of one's meager cash/possessions: “what Title ~ one has." tetas the plainfabrupt past form of Kew ("buy"); naenasi no okzme de bara isa complete thoughsentence (“0} Fought it with what litle money Thad”) modifying wapuro ("word processor.” shortened fom wad purosesod. te full Japanese rendering of the English term). Wapurr i Japanese usually refers to dedicated word-processing equipment with builsn software and a printer rather thant a software application for use on an all-purpose computer ‘Mangan 77Densetsu 4D EM + Minori PreNKet 485° lane “(do the ation} as if T were ~fike ~ would.” dare is actually a pronoun for “he/hin” bat it also sed colloquially as a common noun meaning "beyftied.” and in this case ahe is extending it to mean “bridegroom/spouse.” tei ireta is the past form often ireru “obtsinfacquite”: direct object of his verb, erally “puvtake into [one's] hand”). 0 marks Aare asthe AdCRUS BL I-FUbeAM “AT # ' Misutenaide ne, Wapuro-chan!?— Futari de shiawave ni narot ort atandor(eanes log) word procesorcdimin) topetier e's become Rag jc Word Processor. Together we'll be happy.” (PL2) Imisatenade is a negative te form of misuteru (“abandon/escr/walk out on/leave in the lurch"); the te Form of a verb fen makes a relatively abrupt requestor gene command, and aaegative-e form makes ita negative reuesteommand: "please) don’t ~ ‘hams disnutive equivalent of -san(“NIr/Ms.") most ypically used with the names of children or among close dull icnds. Except among children adding -chan to the names of inanimate things generally has a humorous effect, tt ere its essentially an extension of her bridegroom metaphor. “Please don't abandon me, my Shianse = “happiness.” and nara iste volitional (Tet SM shall”) Form of mare ("become") so shiawase ni nar “ets become happy bb, ADDS eA, BHD. ‘+ ara isa feminine interjection showing sudden awareness or su Ara.’ “Minori-chan, " _obaert prise, “ohloh my goodness! finer) (aame-diain} welsome hae + bkaer ison informal abbreviation of okaer nasa, a eatively “Hi, Minori. Welcome back.” (PL2) gentle command form of the ver kaeru Cretan ome”, 30 its RIVE, BESAL Tterally the command, "Go home/Come home.” But with the hon- pe ese is es pies gree foo) stone 2 Weloome home/ elcome Sack” eta ater car «ileal esos "egh ne stb i's he standard “Hi, Obasan?” (PL2) sreeting used when eturning home: Its actualy an abbreviation ‘of tadoima kaevimashia (have just now returned borne”) ‘basan (“wuntaunte”) can be used to refer to any woman past her mid-twenties ors Hoth 9 EAD) BOA, BWTEI! ik fane-ta no yo) Minori-cham.—Omedeta!_— Ho ho tees waling expan) (emp) (eame-dinin) congratulations (fem lah), Twas waiting for you, Minori. Congratulations! Ha ha .».” (PL2) ‘maite-ta isa contraction of mat ta, past form of mare ine (“anvisare wating”). From mats wait”) fomedet(goseimasn) is a congratulatory phraseleecting used fora wide vanity f joyfulauspicious occasion. EC CHE k BIEA. NF me BRD HOR eH UE, Yoku — go-zonji ne. Obasan Nippachi da kara amari —medetakumo nai hedo. (Gerse om -Aaow (cll) oundsuaie 28", am because very moc, 0t parcuay joyous bat “How did you know, Obasan? Since I snot really all that ‘but ...” (PL3-4; PL2) BE Bock 9. feat ies le "Gh, nonsense?” (BL?) Jol oh being of enn can expres sursmazemen athe acinar meto o-sn de wen eet honed equation ashe Chane) so ole goconh= Pm ud you know = how i Sevtnow ope ori 2 an hac changes t-ppfreuhony) can fro he 2 and Rh mom (Febuary and ‘esc ne aon tenor get eae hy ae sow base ent, baht be ag Dmerober ape ‘coed ons ae Mangsin 79Oa | \ LN 180 MangajnTroms) pedenahunai is the negative form of meeta (“joyousiauspicious”: omederd comes from this word) inserting mo give phasis ike "hot even joyous” or “not a al joyous,” but this s tempered by amari, which before a negative means ot very much” —~ "noi realy all that joyous. «inom ins comraction oie rare saying: Nant ite co? is erally what are you saying?” Ba iiomatclly it fen implies -wonsenseflo't be ical. (2) Lanatady: 28 Hot Xt SRR bb, BBES HRV LeRY O, ata dite ial ay nr mei en Nhe ioe pein ite cenit (em ca)(ed eh tence eyees aes Go ‘here's no punisiment for being 28. In fact, it makes tall the more joyous.” (PL2) + atte is used as «colloquial equivalent of mo ("even/toa/ls0") ot de mo ("even it heeft is” or “even if welyoulthey fare") —here the late. + bachi is "divine punishment"; backi (ga) ataru (lit, “punishment hits [youI”) means “be punished" ot “get what you deserve," and but (a) atarana isthe expression’ negative form. + jana no literally asks “srt tthe case that 7°; but tsa purely hetorical question thats actualy afi strong assertion. {+ ‘Minor! meant it wasnt particularly joyous tobe gaining her independence atthe ripe age of 28, The landlady thinks ‘Minor’s geting married and that Minor is saying its not particularly joyous to get marred at that age, whichis thre® years past the traditional “deadline” for young women to get marred in Japan, So she contadicts Minor, essentially implying that itis especially joyous when an unmarried woman so far past the ideal age is til able to get married. Un- ‘married women pas the age Of 25 have long boea compared to unsold Christmas cakes after the 25th of December— Jmplying they are of litle value and hard to sellin the mariage marketplace. But the actual average age for a woman's first marriage in Japan has apparently ben rising in recent years and is now over 26. [2] Landiady: i231 cbt Hat! Talioabin ite dace package ere! This was delivered today.” (PL2) Sound FX: 2 Dom! Thump Minor 3 58 Uput Oot" + tabkytbin isa gener term for “package delivery serve” and it ean also be used to reer to the package th [El Landtady: Bi «74H OT ADVECKHOBBEA TL2? Siginae Faso te. Minorichan no olan desho? {ekeone cg name) qos) Gane tnin), ster seth “Suginae Fusa is your mother, right?” (PL2-3) Rak ® db it. MHL RA BH Sos0 10 ‘ita wa yo, konrei _kagu dai-ichigot ett dy, cae om sta) cp) wei untae Ne “It's already arrived—the first item of wedding furniture!” (PL2) +e ere ina colloquial equivalent ofthe quotaiv pase ou no wa fr the one called ~ 1 tatoo deste) Healt makes conjecture robablyaey 1), or wih king inlonton, conjectural question. ‘Often se purely tctricl questo that expeets the tenet o confirm he cnjetr! n'a «Stab bul pis hath ston aes place" soo [someting] beginoscus” "eck vita delay” Tiers the planta pas form of un ("cme"), 0 sos 0 ta hte mpi Tt} cae as son asthe plans were made” + Bidaibeye a numbers ike “No. "The counter sti 90 so mos typically aan 10 "NO" (clam) “Goodness gracious!!” (PL2) + the bundle contained a complet sto futon bedding; the futon cover prominently featuring cranes a symbol of longevity tnd good luck, makes it very abviously 4 wedng st. Atypical fulon set ieludes two hes¥y cotton shikibuton under futon” > “mattress in combinations, changes to P for euphony) and one lighter Aakebuian ("overtuton” —> “qui” ‘Mangain 81Uf + Minori Densetsu BR mos AY WO Vmet BML Shae Ane 82 Mangajin[3] Lanataay: [4] Landlady rx [5] Minor: Minori: p cde. Doite bh fk wolf) bond bo ka x hs. Ertan oto crete ere Bre mae phe as ech as Shiga Hamidi cto mt 2) ira him : ‘Flutter flutter (effect of butterfly flying) «+ ira hira represents the effect of something light, thin, and soft Ahteringewayingaling erly. Bm 7 xy Bata bara Flap flap (effect of buterfly flapping desperately) Yarikuri: &~%. 7EO # I HHEoBEOT. Ha,” sumo no ito ni karamaichane. (Gries) spider "treads in became entangled fer) “Oh no, it got caught in a spider's web. Ly, Wht bejbee Baka na choco. foolish barerfy “Dumb butterfly.” (PL) 4-ais a sigivimerjoction of disappointment or lament, like “oh ‘welV/ohnoftoo badwhat a shame” ito = “thread,” so faomo no io i literally “spiders threats). Karamatchaite \s-4 contraction of Karamatte shimatte, ftom ‘karamaru (become entangled") and shimau, which afte ie -e form ofa verb implies the ation isa reretablelundesirable + chacha (*btterfly") is often shortened to chdeho in colloquial Speech, FX: SP UHND ta bara isa baa ‘Wriggle flap wriggle flap Ma A 9 2k i HAA KA, Fito no koto wa ten dro Beton abou thing a fo can't ay sueypotaly Surely you can’t speak about other ple.” “You shouldn't be talking about others.” @L2) Jtabara represents lapping one's arms and legs about and ‘or wriggling and writhing to try to escape from something! omeone—ie,, a desperate sigele to regain contol or freedom fen isa contraction of ienai ("can’t say/speak”), negative of ‘era, which isthe potential ("eansbe able to") form oft say"). ddaro isa shortened dard, which makes a conjecture (surelyiprobably"), but in this ease t's a strongly assertive conjecture Mangajin 85pop japanese Let Them Eat Barley ere are more atifuets unearthed during my archeological dig into popular Japanese slang from the Postwar Era. Corrections and com- ments are welcome. 1950 was one of the many years in ‘which comic Tony Tani was on a rll, spouting catch phrases like O misuteiku! °Ob, mistake!” —a phrase first uttered in September by a crimi ral as he was arrested). With the new decade, Japan's media, like America’s, shifted its attention from the moralistic platitudes of disered- ited gray eminences to the consum= crist whims of apple-cheeked rin’&jt (Fy eH Fe —, “teenagers” Economically, it was a good time to work in industries whose names were written with kanji characters contain= ing kane-hen (Zi, the metal radical, ie, steelmaking) oF io-hen (ff, the thread radical, meaning textiles). On the literary front, 1950°s equivalent to The Bridges of Madison County was ‘Toka Shohei’s Musashino Fujin, a novel in which the wife of 4 jealous aristocrat falls in love with her servant The lives of Koreans who'd lingered in Japan after their homeland ceased to be a Japanese colony in 1945 grew immensely more complicated on June 25, 1950. Forces from the Soviet-occupied sector of Korea (north of the ‘sanjthachido sen, 38%, or 38th parallel) invaded the south- fem sector where US troops were dug in, The economy revved. up as Japan became the chief US supply base for this civil ‘war that spit families and pitted the Communist bloc against the capitalists. (The reddo paji, or Red Purge, of Communist Party members from theit jobs by General MacArthur had begun in May and would eventually result in the dismissal of over 1,100 teachers and government workers, not to ‘mention over 10,000 workers in the private sector.) 'As for those Japanese on the other side of the issue, it would ‘seem that the prospect of largesse begat arrogance. Asked by reporter to comment on the high price of rice, a conservative politician blurted: "Binbanin wa mugi o hue!" (2 2 8 Ad 4% $2, “Let the poor eat barley!) Perhaps this notorious fat cat had plumped himself out by tsumami-gui (2 2 2 ft 19, “eating with his fingers”), which is the sly way to refer to dipping into the public cookie jar and stuffing one's cheeks withthe tastiest morsels. Caught inthe act, the pol would have done well to ape the droll drawl of comic author Bunroku Shishi, whose 1980 observation on the state of things in general was: “Ware honma ni yo iwan wa" (“I most assuredly 92 Mangain by William Marsh dunno what to say”). Others felt the same way, since the silly expression zondemo happun (2 4e "C47 77 of which avery free translation might be “T mean, how of the wall ean you get”) entered the language that year and still ops up a times when tut seems ‘much stranger than fiction 191 brought Japan one year closer tothe end of the Occupa- tion, yet the influence of America ‘was undiminished. By now it was clear that in social-poliey matters, the Occupation was on a gyak- kes GI %, “reverse course” but that did not prevent large numbers of Japanese from feeling pained astonishment when Douglas MacArthur, who as Supreme Commander of the ‘Occupation forces had stood tall before their emperor, was fred by President Harry Truman. The generals famous eulogy to him self (old soldiers never die, they just fade away"), delivered before Congress, entered Japanese as “Roel wa shinazu, tada Kiesaru nomi.” (A one-liner equally prized by Japan-hands allegedly surfaced on a Tokyo placard in suppor ofthe great ‘man's presidential aspirations: "We play for MacArthur's erection) 1951 was also the year when Japanese adopted from English the expressions pitaru (2 ~ 7 ~ J), “PR"—public relations) and nairon (F487, “nylon. The hit novel of 1951 was Sanid.jfyaku, oF Third-Rate Executive, by Genji Keita. Japan's perennial oversupply of same assured that the tag sanrjayake (= 95) stuck and thecame all the rage. Nor was thee a shortage of punsters or trend-watchers. In 1951 they began to cannibalize the imme- diate past for inspiration, recyeling shayd-coku (BBB, the “ettingesun tribe,” Dazai Osamu's famous 1947 label fr the dying aristocratic lass) as shayd-zoku CHI, the “company business trie.” referring to good old boys who, then a8 now, shamelessly ran up huge tabs on their expense accounts) ‘Another vatiation on a theme was to refer to buses manned only by the driver as wanmankz, a swipe at Prime Minister Yoshida Shiger, who so dominated Japanese polities that from 1949 on his rivals and erties spoke disparagingly of wanman (72-7, “one-man” rue. William Marsh (marshbil@gol.com) isa freelance verter based in Tokyo.