Political Campaigns in Japan : The Art of Connection JAPANESE POP CULTURE & LANGUAGE LEARNING | DE ; mAIARITRI® FAL AR ani | li BY All NG IN JAPAN selling Ameri Came Sal's \. oY aia Ale, , AES 2) Pesuaiaty Japan ‘1M5 > MEBIET OR Kaji Ryisuke no Gi Kaji Rydsuke’s Agenda by 5h Re = P Hirokane Kenshi Scandals, deception, infighting, gridlock—business as usual for polities in Japan. The artist Hirokane Kenshi (the well-known ereator of Kachd Shim Késaki and artist (of the series Ningen Kasaten, both Featured in earlier issues of Mangajin) approaches this, inexhaustible subject from the inside with his latest solo project. Kaji Rydisuke mo Gi Kaji RyGsuke, the 39-year-old second son of « powerful politician, is from Kagoshima fon the island of Kyushu. A graduate oF the prestigious University of Tokyo, he has built a successful career as an elite salaryman at one of Japan's Foremost corporations. Becom: a politician like his father. Kaji Motoharu, is the farthest thi ented. confident, and hotheaded (one colleague compares him toa hhe evokes both respect and censure from those around him, from his mind, Tal ild thoroughbred”), Kaji Yukiko, RyUsuke’s wife, lives at the Kaji family home in Kagoshima in order to be with their son who attends the elite prep school La Salle Yamamoto Makio is sccretary-zeneral of the Nishikie club, Kaji Motoharu’s political support group in Kagoshima, Shortly after the story begins, Rytsuke and Ayumi are awakened (post-lusty encounter) in their Tokyo hotel room by Rydisuke’s beeper his office had received an urgent call from his wife in Kagoshima The news is grim: driving home after a long day of campaigning in Kyushu, Rydsuke’s brother had fallen asleep at the wheel and his father was killed instantly in the crash RyUsuke rushes back to Kyushu. His brother dies in the hospital, but not before implori political tradition for the sake of their father's memory—and for the country At the funeral, the prime minister himself (a longtime friend of Kaji Motoharu) asks RyTsuke 10 run for office. With seandals wearing down the party's popularity. only someone with the powerful Kaji name can win the Kagoshima race. The party can't afford to lose that crucial district if it hopes to retain the leadership of the Diet, Even so. Ryisuke refuses the prime m to his face—a shocking thing, indeed, Rysuke returns to Tokyo. Having politician. Although accused of being protect the prime minister The plot thickens—: he ela misinterpreted, it has weakened the party’s position. If RyUsuke doesn’t run for office, the party is doomed. Rydsuke’s lover, meanwhile, tells him that she is pregnant and wants to keep the baby. We pick up the story a few days later as Rydsuke meets Yamamoto in a Tokyo coffee shop. Rydsuke to carry on the family’s wd some of his father's memoirs, For the first tim nvolved in a sca he begins to respect his father as it looks as though he was simply made the scapegoat in order to n from the prime minister's scist comment while visiting the US. and altho Mangajin 17IM 38 BE O&K + Kaji Rydsuke no Gi Re aOTY NOLL ae avy dpa 408s Bene REA Bom 18 MangajinWaiter: Wo Levdtae Yamamoto: Kaji Irasshaimase, ‘welcome “Come right in!” (PL4) Jrasshaimase is polite coramand form of the PLA verb iassharu (“come”). I's the standard expression for weleoming 4 visitor to one’s home or customers to one's place of business BIKA oo AL Rytsukeskun Koko desut {meri (vamestam.) here ise “Oh, Rylisuke. I'm over here.” (PL3) ‘Yamamoto, as a longtime family friend and a generation older than Kaji addresses Kaji here by his fist name plus the Polite but relatively familiar -kun, Below. as he begins tying to persuade Kaj to run for office, he switches to the more polite and formal -san, el Spe E96. WeSA. Yat Korya. domo, Yamanarosan retin) asters npn) (amet) “Ah! Hello, Mr, Yamamoto.” (PL3) oF yd can be used as an informal “hi/hello” by male speakers. ‘domo is actually only an intensifier, but its use with expressions of apology, thanks, and greeting has made itn a ;pose shorthand for those same expressions. Itcan be either formal or quite informal as suits the aceasion. Koryuadmo. (orthe uncontracted kore ra démo) are common variation FAREA, Ht OGM th BIROTLOE LE Stanimasen, o-shigoto jikan chit o-yobidashi iashimashite (apology) hon ork ‘how's doring chon }callsunnin ou-cuse) “E'm sorry to have asked you to come down here during working hours.” (PL4) Wee WO ENS mS TON Aho Je. Itsw Kagoshima kara dete Korareta desu ka? fio when (placename) from came out explana?) “Not at all. When did you come up from Kagoshima?” (PL4) sumimasen can be a polite apology or thanks depending on the con the suffix cfu? means “during/in the midst of,” so shigoto jkun-chit = “during work hours, yobidashi itashimashie is the -e form of o-yobidash itashimasa, a polite PLA humble form of yobidasu, from yobue (eallsummon”) and «dasa, which implies the action takes place in an outward direction —* “call out/away [from some thing)” The -t form is often used to state the cause/reason for what comes next inthe sentence, but inthis case the syn- {ax is inverted and it is stating the eause/reason for his apology fe isa shortened e ("no"), olten sed like “not at al. ‘Kagoshima isthe name of a major city and a prefecture in southern Kyushu dete korareta isthe past form of dete korareru, a PL4 honorific form of dete kuru ("come out”). From the perspective of the city, dete kuru is used to speak of someone traveling from the country tothe cily: inthe case of Tokyo, country” includes any regional A CS. SH ik Ht PSA MHL ES BueLc, Kin desu. KyO wa zehi_Ryiisuke-san 0 settohu shiyd 10 ‘omoimashite ee ay, Amy dace Peat ome fo) oh sal sm ava) eto “Yesterday. And today I intend to persuade you no matter what it takes.” (PL3) setfoku shiyds the volitional (“Ie shall") form of settoku suru (“persuade”). to marks zehi Ryasuke-san 0 sertoku shiyé a the specific content of is thoughts ‘omoimashite is the -te form of omoimasu, the PL3 form of omou (“think”). The ~te form is again used to indicate a rea- ‘son —his reason for asking Kaji to see hrm Bok, WEED RMT & CODSRELE BL AA, Oto, ikinari uch kurawasaremashita ne. Ha ha a ha (Ger) suddeniyfabruply surprise atack (ob.) ws fegiven (coll) tla) “Whoa, you hit me with a surprise punch right off the bat. Ha ha ha ha.” (PL3) ‘otto isan interjection used when a person is caught off guard and suddenly realizes he needs tobe careful lest he make a mistake/put himself in dangerlget in trouble, Juiuehi refers toa “surprise attack/ambush.” and fuiuchi o kur (or ku, literally “eat” very informal) is an expression, for “be ambushed” or "be attacked wien one’s guard is down.” Kurairascaremashita i the PL3 past form of urawasareru, the causative-passive form of kurau Mangajin 19$n © Sh + Kaji Ryusuke no Gi SMES tte as KG BH ato a ARBs - Mow cahLered RYBROPeL BSIRMC Re * oe Seeet ERCKBALMY suns Gans 5 Dat ae ame On Bak Eneey KK PLAYS Sees ames aS Be aKaL PPL eG awn’ | 20 Mangajin1] Sound Fx: (2) Yamamoto ‘Yamamoto: [] Yamamoto: aK Zu zu (sound of sipping coffee) Bi Led kr ko WR i kA MLC Far Onegai — shimasw yo! Taugi no senkso ni wea cel rikkdho shite kudasai? thon Freques! make (cinph,) next election i ser bya mans sands candies) “Please, P'm begging you, you really must run in the next election!” (PL3) Forsa a Wetethud 308MM HELO SA: nied: WM BRL Rovsute-san ga tatanakerebasanj@nenkan ji shite kita Kaji Motoha no jiban waa shimaste {ramehon.) (abi) itdon'tstandun Oy. pore! maintainal-and.came ¢name) —"s covatitveney a6 for sll collapse “ifyou don't run, the constituency cultivated by Kaji Motoharu over the last 30 years will disintegrat (PL3) ‘onegai means “request” and adding surudshinasu turns it nto a verb. “make a requestask a favor.” Unless another sub- ject is specified, it is understood to be the speaker who is making the request, so the expression essentially serves as 8 polite and formal “please Vikkoho shite isthe -te form of rikkaho suru, literally “stand as a candidate” > becom ‘Kuudasad after the se form ofa verb makes a relatively polite request ass often dane in Japanese, he uses his listener's name ina situation when an E taranakereba isa conditional "if" form of tatanai, negative of tars Stand.” he * "if you don’t ru fii shite isthe te form of ii seru Cmaintain/sustavkeep up”). and kta isthe plainvabrupt past form of kuru (* ‘which after the -fe form of a verb often implies the ation continued from sometime in the past until the present. Sanit henkan ij shite kita is a complete thoughl/sentence ("|we] have sustained [it] Tora 30-year period”) modifying Kaji Motohara no jiban Kaji Motoharu"s constituency”) Ihakai shimasi isthe PL3 form of hokai suru (“collapse/disintegrate” Mo tt AF MH Be EmOTHS E ik BRETA, Watashi wa jibun ga seifi_ ni muite int to wa emoemasen. Vine a8 for” self (subj) pois for iam suited (qte)(emph,) cannot thinkbelieve “Tean't believe that I am suited to polities. just don’t think of myself as suited to polities.” (PL3) jibun = “onesel,” and it becomes “Wme/myself,” “hefbim/imsel ‘mute ira is from muku (suivbe suited [tofor]") ‘omoemasen isthe negative form of omoeru (“can thin sandidate/run for office. sh speaker would use “you.” to “standing” a “you/yourslf” ete., depending on the context, the potential form of amo (“think”). fe AR BAS KK Kb bhaRO ‘A TH E Muki——fmuki name honnin ni mor wakare Suitabitiy ussuiabiey something lke the person hist To ev “Suitability is the kind of thing that a person can’t judge by himself.” (PL3) Bo A FOO BR AME ots OE IH Warashi jishin ime ng jibun no shokugyd ga honto nt atte rw no ka deka Imyself now of own occupation ¢st.) teily" Tsui. whether 0 ao, sof: #fot = FCH MEM GAL ‘gojien tanta ima demo — gion man da Solve have passed even a present doubtful (explan) “Thave my own doubts whether or not my oceuj me—even now after 50 years.” (PL2) ‘nuk is 3 noun form of mua, so it means “suitability.” and fi is its opposite hnante is colloquial equivalent of nado, literally “things like/something lke.” ‘wakaranai is the negative form of wakaru, which can mean either “understand/come to understand.” or “ean under- lel.” Jishin (selffonesel™) is commonly used in combination with personal pronouns and nouns: watashi/boku/orejishi “myself” kare fishin = "he himsell.” Yanada-san jshin = "Ms. Yamada hers.” arte ira is From au *hidsuivimatch”), and (no) kar dd ka after a complete thoughulsent ‘descr situation existVaction takes place).” sans “whether er not [the Horsal Fe MH OAR tk ILO RR PAT ETL feeV. Ryfisuke-san! Imaya Hatomura Naikaku wa naigaino jk kara mite domo abunai {namerhon)now-(emph) (name) ‘abine/gov't as for ternal & external cicimstances from looking (empl) precaiousunsteady “Ryuisuke! Based on what I see going on both i 1d outside the government, the Hatomura Cabi- net is looking Increasingly vulnerable>” (P12) Soek TOE KE OM RR CL Kono mama de ikeba aki ni wa kaisan —sdsenkvo——deshd. AS (means) ifgo. autumn, in as for dissolution general election is probably “At this rate, in the fall we will probably have dissolution fof the Diet] and a general electi “At this rate, the prime minister will probably dissolve the Diet and call a general election this: (PL) ~ kara mite (lit. “looking from is an expression for “judging from/based on ~. kono mama = “unchanged from this," and ikeba 1) form of ik (*goprogress”), so kono mama de ikeba is literally “i things go on like this” > Mangalin 21M18 TRI 0 Hh + Kaji Ryosuke no VOI Uep PROD Sees | 22 Mangajin‘Yamamoto: ‘Yamamoto: [2] Yamamoto: Yamamoto: (party hidden) ‘Stamp: ED Me OAT Fe MW F Labhix Be ATT. Sono tokio nirande ima kara junbi 0 shinakereba gsi desu. ‘at time (obj) seting sighs on now om pecparations (og. if don't d/make iVwil be to ate expan.) “If we don’t look ahead to that time and begin making preparations now, it'l be too late.” (PL3) BP Be chs Ma ch He IRL ERS CHCA HER Katte na negai desu ga, asu ni demo jihyo 0 teishutsu shiteKagoshima ni modote kite itadakitail {elfsh request is but tomorrow on even resignation (obj) submitand (plage name) (© _ want you io return-and-come [cis a selfish request but, even as early as tomorrow, I want you to Submit your resignation and return to Kagoshima.” ‘Perhaps it is presumptuous of me, but I want to ask you to submit your resignation and return to Kagoshima immediately.” (PL2) nirande is the -te form of niramu stare fat ‘shinakereba isa conditional (“t/when’ prepare’ fai ni demo is an expression for “immediately/as soon as possible” (where the frame of reference is days/weeks/months rather than hours or minutes). teishutsu shite is the -te form of teishutsw suru (submit) the -te form here implies “[do the action] and ~” ‘modote kite is te -te form of modotte kuru (“return/eome back"), and itadakita after the -te form of a verb implies the speaker wants the listener or someone else to do the action, fix one’s eyes [on]”). form of shinai, negative of suru (“domake”) junbio sur Bree © th HE ON-FA- WOT) Ryasuke-san no shutsuba —aisaisu no pati waits demo (namerton)"S candidacy announcement for party as foe anytime Wie ka a Det ms Iirakeru "yo jaisei wa toronoere arimasw kara. ‘an openfhold so that readiness as for as Deen established. because “We've already laid the groundwork so we can hold a party to announce your candidacy at any time.” PL3) shuusuba suru means “run for election,” und shutsuba aisatsu refers to “announcement of one’s candidacy hhirakera isthe potential (canbe able to”) form of hirakw (“open.” oF when speaking of an event, “hold/commence”) hirakera yo (ni) = "so that [we] ean hold.” raised refers to “readiness,” and false o toronoeru means “arrangelestablish a state of readiness [to cary out the described fction].” Totonoete is the -te Form of totonoer, and avimasu (PL form of aru) after the -te form of a verb implies the faction was done and the result remains in place, so inthis ease it means a state of readiness has been established and remains in placefon standby ve + fya can mean “no,” but it's also used as a kind of warm-up/hesitation word Iya (Cvell/er/uhiVI mean”) with litle or no fesling of negation, and that is how it's fines) being used here. Though Yamamoto doesn’t allow him to 0 0n, Kaj is prob- “Weill...” (PL2) ably about to express hesitation rather than disagreement. It SEE BWELKW 60 A YET. wat anata ni “o-mise shitai mono ga arias fr “you 40 (hon panto show thing bh) have “have something I'd like to show you.” (PL4) ‘o-mise shitai isthe “want 10" Form of o-mise stunt, a PLA humble equivalent of miseru (*show”). Anata i o-mise shita ] want to show [it] 16 you") modifying mono (“thing”) he PL3 form of aru ("exists” for inanimate things, often implying “exists in one’s possession’ EMIT DELO BLE We FA ak OMNIS BALE EA CT Nijinen-mae ni anata no o-chichive Kaji Motoharu -sensei_ ga watashi-ate ni dasareta tegami desu ‘our (hon)tater(urmame)(given name) Cle) (Sub. addressed tome sent eter is our father, the Honorable Kaji Motoharu, sent to me 20 years ago.” (PL4) II have"). HELA. US SURE Kagoshima (-shi)... Yamamoto Makio(-sama) (city name) (Gumame) (given name-hon.) ‘Kagoshima City... Mr. Yamamoto Makio BA Se Nippon Yabin Japan mal ‘Japan Postal Service chichive isa polite and Formal word for “father”; using the honorific prefix makes it even more polite. Sense, most familiar as the word for “teacher,” i also used as a respectful tile fora variety of people considered worthy ‘of respect, including doctors, writers, and politician. ‘personal pronoun or name followed by -ate means “addressed to [the stated person}.” ‘dasareta i the plain/abrupt past form of dasareru, a PLA honorific form ofthe verb das (“put ou,” or when speaking of leters and other mail items, "send”). hijinen-mae ni anata no o-chichiue Kajé Motoharu-sensel ga watashi-ate ni dasareta is a complete thoughUsentence (Your father, the honorable Kaji Motoharu, sent [it] to me 20 years ago”) modifying tegami ("ltte”) Mangajin 29+ Kaji Ryasuke no Gi meRT OR PADIO-e PHL RbLe us Rompe PROUD RMP ROD He we Rea BHA RMYCL OY BULL CMI OW Bat 26 UeR MES MES 110 MAH BES % ae % ON ROKR CMES F BED 4088 Du aR Hage a Soa ae IS we IO 24 Mangajinto: ‘Yamamoto: [2] Yamamote Yamamoto: BEA FET MS RULCLH) RHA, Mochivon ima made dare nimo miseta koto wa arimasen ftcourse now until [not] toanvone showed have never “Tt goes without saying that I've never shown it to anyone until now. BEE WHT BALTS 60 TH. Ima, anata ni hajimeie o-mise suru mono desu ‘You (0 fort time (hon yshow thing, is tis something I'm showing you for the “Here and now, you're the first person -mochiron isan adverb implying “of course/naturally/without question/needless to say.” ddare mo is followed by a negative to mean “not anyone/no one”; inserting i makes it “not to anyone.” Inisera isthe plain/abrapt past form of miseru (°show"); o-mise suru isa PLA humble form of the same verb, oto wer arintsen isthe PL3 form of Koro wa (ot ga) nai, which after a past verb means “have never [done the action” 20 WH I ML 297 RL CbtoT ht Sono nuiva wa Nishikie Kuru hossoku ni atte watashi ni ‘Stuhr contents astor (aie) cla inauguration athetime of Mine 10 (PL3) VAVAE Me So TREO LO TH Ht irviro 1 shijinasane kudasarta mono desta sarowsly inact things is ut WO th O EEF e EL RATE Saigo no tsuishin no tokore o——vokie "xonde kudasa. i” a pnp tis ple (oh) woicaally piesa “ihe Coftent ae various tings he Instructed me athe time ofthe inauguration ofthe Nishikie Club, but please read carefully the postscript a the end. fe contains various instructions he had for me when the Nishikie Club was launched, but let me draw your attention particularly tothe postscript atthe end.” (PLA) ~ ni atite means “atthe time offn conjunction with” an setion oF event inviro to isan adver form of oir, a noun meaning item/things/kinds. Shit nasae isthe te form of siji naar PLA honorific equivalent of shiji sur (instractidiret”). Kudasarta (the planfabrupt past form of huasaru) alter the te form ofa verb typically implies the action was done to or for the Epeaker by someone of higher social status ~* “instructed me.” Isuishin no fokoro is literally “the place that isthe postseript” —» “the postsrit.” roku the adverb form of fi/ioi ( goodine/OK"). often means “earefullyfthoroughly.” yonde isthe -te form of smu read”) and kadasai alter the -te Form of a relatively polite request. sth 511 KD Wee a HK x BIBLE Touishin Senjitsu Jinan no. Ryitsuke ga Toda Bun-ichi—ni_—_gokakw shit Pr lr yn oe nn ot ‘The other day my second son, RyUsuke, passed the entrance exam for the University of Tokyo Faculty of Letters I. (PL2) rr ee ee Ghonan Haruhiko gotaku no toki_ yori stbai_—ureshii_kimochi da. ‘idestson, (name) passedceepted (mod) time moe than several Fld happy/joyful feeling is ‘My joy is several times what I experienced when my first son Haruhiko passed the exam. (PL2) senjitsu refers toa relatively recent date, ranging from a few days ago to as much as several weeks. ‘Chonan (it. "head boy”) refers toa “Tirst-born son,” and jinan (Ii. “next boy”) means “second son,” Subsequent boys {re simply numbered? sannan (third son”), yonnian (*Tourth Son”), ete. The same patter is used for girls: hdjo (head ‘git "First daughter’), jjo Cnext giel” “second daughter”), sano "third daughter’), et, The last child of either Sex is called suekio (lit. “end child” ~» “youngest child”) TTadat is an abbreviation of Tokyo Daigaku (“University of Tokyo"), and Bun 1s an abbreviation of Burka Iehirui (SL FILS, “Human Sciences I"). The University of Tokyo is regarded as being a the very top of the higher-education hhierachy in Japan and is the most difficult university to get int. ‘gota is angun that refers to meeting a standard or passing an eligibility sereen of some kind, and ,okaku shita is the planfabrupt past form of the verb goku suru. Inthe case of schools and colleges, it means to pass the entrance exam land be accepted for admission, yor follows the lesser item ina comparison: [nt is a prefix meaning “several by itself always means nibai -gobai = “five times. xe than [the time when ~} ‘and -bai is a counter suffix for multiples, so sitbai= “several timesseveral fold.” Bai two timesidouble”: sanbai ="three timestiple.” yonbai = “four imesvquadruple, Mangaiin |it IO MR + Kaji Rydsuke no Gi Liceett auuanete seughomete MERINO STEN 0 Ue -OU MRMNG PRAISE NIND— MS OE HL LE ROINKU Sale 0 gd PEG BISA > KIE-AHEDL OSL REEPOINN 6-88 HU SRKUHS SON HOVPSHS OA NUS HPO UM OVE Oy HR BIMO WE W Lo uO RING BE RIRH RS HoO HEMIOM ERC KORRES URS fone IGM IEEE NOS INR RADUSS TRE IROG! XH! MORSE 26 MangajinLetter: 215, Beir 2 RYE EY ok NUEA ot hb Ke Letter: Letter, $24 1 Letter: #4 C Mi O mk O wi Ek RAF AS 4M Nace nara, Rydisuke wa chinan Haruhiko yori curio deki ga warukatta kara da tcause (name) as foreldest son (name) mere than much more had poor results because is ‘The reason is that RyUsuke always did much worse [in school] than my eldest son Haruhiko. (PL2) Ad THF OD SBPLY AL BE FH BHC O ofr, Jibun de ‘iw no mo okashit ga, Haruhiko wa Rastru jidai no roku nenkan, ‘oneself by sly (nom.)femph) odd ul (oume) as for (sche name) “era of 6 yt pet BYTZIAL wre BF Kok tsune ni toppu kurasu ni ita shusai data, flivays top. clase. at_exsted brighValented person. was Haruhiko was an jent, if I do say so myself—always at the top of his class during his six years at La Salle, + naze nara (or naze naraba) signals thatthe speaker oF writer is about to offer an explanation of what he has just said. As in this e480 it's usually echoed at the end ofthe clause or sentence with Kava, node, of another explanatory form. 1's used ‘mosily in writen Japanese, and sounds a little stiff in colloquial speech. + deki refers to how well made something is oF how good the results are, and deki ga warukara isthe plaindabrupt past form ‘of the expression deki ga wir (lit, “the make/resul is bad"); when speaking of students, the expression refers 0 “doin poorly/being a poor student.” + jibun de i no mo okeshits literally “it is odd for me to say this mysell” the expression is used like “if do say so myself” ‘when making a self-satisfied remark about something connected with oneselt, + Raina refers to Kagoshima La Salle—a prep schoo! famous forts graduates” success at geting into the University of Tokyo. + ssa refers to-a person who outshines others in is class—though it may be as much from hard work as from native intel- ligence. In school, the key measure is top-notch grades —» “a good/excellent student.” i Fife UE TAM WHE O ui ooh & ‘ Ippa Reiseke wa to teba. chitgakused no koro wa benky mo secu, fomithe other hand (nme) a8 for quote) 333 jehigh of period as for study even did ot do ak 7 LE) MOTT, WL IAD IEDR supose bakari suite ite, seiseki mo kurasu noch tei. Spire playing grades tufalo clase of mi-level ‘On the other hand. if T speak of Ryiisuke, when he was in junior high he didn’t even study and did only sports, and his grades were at the middle of the class Rydisuke, on the other hand, didn’t even study when he was in junior high. He spent all his time playing Sports, and his grades were only average. (PL2) SRS Et WoTbneda Masioka Toidai ni iver to wa ommorte mo inka, fempla) “Tokyo Univ, int cowl enter gute) as fe “aida sinktemph) Tnever imagined he'd be able to get into the University of Tokyo. (PL2) 1s equivalent to henky@ shinaide (-withoutinstead of studying nas enyphass: “id even study and ~ of yar do.” oF when speaking of sports, “pkiy"), and ites the te form of iu, which makes the verb e (isle playing”) or “didn't study, and ~"—from benky suru, Koad Kk & ME ROT ROE BHR WH SLE OO % Me E Bors, Tokoro-ga kik mosannen ni nate yatto juken benkyd rashiki mono 0 hajimeta to omottara, ‘buhowcter highschool {oo senior became-and finaly “exam study ike thing (obj) Began (quote) iwhen though ARLE FN & DT WES PMN BHLTLEOK, Imeki-meki Jitsurvoku 0 twukete tomo Raman ni gdkaku shite shimazta tore & morerapidly” aby (0), aequitel-and exceedingly easily passed(unexpected) But when he finally started studying for his college entrance exams upon becoming a senior in high school, he quickly developed his abilities and passed with complete ease. (PL2) VAT GO, Shisai de benky no mushi no aniki 10 wa wagako nagara —zenzen _chigaw taipu na no da oo! stud, send study of bug/worm who is ober bro with 3s for my eilden although are completely diferent type (expan) Compared to his older brother, who was an excellent student and a bookworm, though both are my children, he's a completely different type. ‘Though they're both my own sons, he’s a completely different type from his older brother, who was a good student and loved to study. (PL2) Rte aT S. Fushigina ki ga suru arvolousamaring Teeliseems ‘quite amazing to me. (PL2) + tokoro-ga isa conjunetion that implies something is contrary to the expectations raised by what precedes it; “but/however/ neverthelesson the contrary.” + ‘rashiki mono = °sonvething like/akin to ~"; the festing bere is that even when he started studying, he didn't really have to study al that hard. Ryfsuke's middling grades disqualify him from being called shisai, but his native intelligence is clearly above that of his older brother. + Iajimeta isthe plainfabrupt past form of hajimers begin”); a past vetb followed by fo omottara can idiomatically mean ‘as Soon as [the action took place)” (continued on new page) ‘Mangajin 278 Be I © RK + Kaji RyUsuke no Gi PIACRWWSEVEWNING WRBCUL OPUS “2 BOSCH OMB COMER YY US QOCTKE RRL Y KV CROWOHIER GU UK LMG sHesuaE Sy meC RL aroma Mewien: 28 Mangajin[Blfcontnued from previous page) Letter: Letter: ‘mush means “bug/insect,” and its used much the way "worm is used in “bookworm” to mean “one who loves to read ? study worm” ~» “one who loves to study. sterious/amazing/magical,” and ~ ki ga suru implies that’s how he feels or that’s Jvshigi na how the situation seems. DA a8 HA EFS bP boi Aw Kono fari ga shorai doin michi 0 avume ka wakaranat ga, these Sepsople (un) inture what Kind of “path (obj) walk (2) det know Ba FRO = SD A & LS ML) “Cee, Kodomo no koro kara no faiari 0 mirw shildhood from Spopte oh.) setae init we ik We 97 ae. ew Haruhiko wa kanry taipn de Ryisuke wa sejcka taip da to omow name)” efor bureara type. isand (name) av for poltician Type is (gute) think don’t know what paths these two will tread in the future, but from what I’ve seen of them during their childhoods, I'd say Haruhiko is the bureaueratie type while Ryasuke will make a better politician. (PL2) wakaranai i the negative form of wakaru (“come to know"). A question ending in ka followed by wakaranai essentially makes a i tion," don’t know whofwhenfwherefwhat kind of ~ koro (or goro) typically refers to an approximate point in ime. but it ean also refer to.a general period of time: Kodomo zno koro =the period when one was a child” ~* “one's childhood agri de wa it. "Ets within the limit of ~") after a verb makes an idiomatic expression for “so far as one ean iellsay from [doing the action]. [2] Yamamoto: Yamamoto: * kangaete orareta isthe past form of kangaete avareru, a PLA honorific OL Rh OM FMUTCNSELES MR PHU. Moshi waashi no ato 9 tide heer stare dann. Rytsuke ni | yarasta Time of tacks (obj) follow-(foc me) by frfdecidedly (name). by want wo have do tone of them] is to follow in my footsteps, without question I would prefer ito be RyTisuke, (PL2) Ht 9 fm fit 9 Biot ff =e “Japan's future politicians.” kak isa verb meaning “lack/be wanting,” and bekaracara isan archaic “must not” form, now used mostly only in for- imal writing, so kak bekarazaru = “must not be lacking" —» “is indispensablefessential.” ore kara no Nihon no seii-ka ni tottekaku bekarazana isa complete thoughv/sentence ("[they] are indispensable to ‘Japan's future politicians”) modifying ydso (“elementtrats”) mise: 12 200 HIE ACIS oA OIE & BATHS OCF, Kaji-sensei wa nijinen-mae ni sude-ni anata nokow 0x8 kangacte orareta no desu amenity actor yr ago already “you "bout (oh. that way was thinking explan) “Twenty years ago, your father was already thinking of you in this way.” (PLA) ~ no koto is literally “things offabout ~." or simply “oflabout ~." valent of kangaete ir (“s thinking”), from Kangaeru (think) fldthor, + shiranakatta is the plainfabrupt past form of shirw Shiranakana (come to know"), ‘didn't now ” (PL2) FersA. | Sikh FSV Ryssuke-sam, go-kersudan kudasa. {eume-hon) "(hon rlecision -pesne “Ryusuke, please make your decision.” (PL4) tk REO ae & Hee HAO Bi Bi O i & BATKSU, Naki chichive no ish 0 ‘suide Nihon no tame ni seji_ no mich 0 evande kudasal cease fathers dying wish (oh. carry onllow-and Japan "S. sike for pois of path (ohj.) please choose “i sase follow your Father's dying wish and. for the sake of Japan, choose the path of politics.” feontinted on next page) Mangaiin 29‘MA Be 0 BR + Kaji RyUsuke no Gi AOE S wi ELE, bey foam ati A eas aS a, KSVE PLOT MAMA 4M TT “As one of the blind spots of human people actually tend not to noti thing when it’s ‘va Mk Bk Oi CF shinshd bodat henka — no jutsu des (ame) ninja method impression exagg transform (miodRe is s the Iga School ninja technique of transforma by exaggerated impression.” (PL3) tio Sound FX: ashi moshénosht nosht nos ‘Thud thud thud thud thud (sound of heavy footste + swale the plain form of an adjective + kaete introduces clases that express ‘ormally expect in the situation, Ki ga tsukante= Ki ga tsa kes a conditional “itis Fy to what you wo ithe negative form of ki a tsuku notice” srkangi isan erally means “make a needlefpin as bi a making it hand to pin down a hitral me for it. but withthe Kanji used here shins boda enka means something itansformation by/ol exaggerated impression, + ninja techniques typically have names (often Ver end in no js Ti, “the technique of ~"), xe and wordy 1 ‘grand Sound FX: DL OL OL OL Noshi noshi noshi noshi Thud thud thud thud Guard: bo, 39, ET! Al, kore, mate! Gnies.) Gate) wairsion “Hey, hold it! Halt!” (PL1-2) ion for stopping someone who's about to do some- it “Hey!/Stop that!/Fold it right there!” rmand form of marsu (*wait"); when spoken sharp + mate isthe abrupt its ike “stop!malt Ninja: 4. Nand? what “is Guards 2. YE te bet {ine Int i + betsieni combines with am fer inthe sentence to mean “not par ticularly.” Here, ersu-ni by itself implies a negative ending to the set tence, Something like besten aWLIUS) SR Mies aan Ishii Hisaichi Sensha Sa ane eee a SELECTED WORKS Haun ah el: en en Futari desi ha? Sannin ka na? of ISHII HISAICHI Enlace two men? Maybe three?” (PL3:PL2) CUES ; Sa peer erteen Ad ‘uesion word: “how many people 32 ! "AK te lero bere is eutvalent wo dard ka, which aera question word ass “I deshi ka is the PL3 form of dard ka, but since there’s not a question word inhi cue t's ke“ wonderin ~2isit pape ~/eoldbe —? Harsco geo, wonders ie ep nin, but the first two are ieregu- fur. Nannin is the associated 7 Mt Yoshi. kono beni 0 ol ight thinthese ances (0) “AIL right, I'll take these lunches and sushi (or yoshi) isan iterjectory form of i/voi (good/okay”), of ‘when declaring that one has decided to, offs about to, do some pat action oma can be either “this” or “the Stand-alone word for “thisthese Is only used as a modifier: the shore Ninja A: ivy Ei (ines) Sed a ci isan interjection that is shouted when thrusting/swinging/striking/ {throwing Something ata person or thing. emy: bY RAH! SHON Tw Wat Yara! Keoitsu! Teme! (exclam, guyiellow thixeuy you “Yikes! You jerk! You twit! You $.0.B.!” (PL1) Ninjaa: 34 0 ULL Ef Suinin ii darn. people or mre is colo) At least three, it seems.” (PL. Demo, —tishita meni dle wana x6 desu, but particularly great members ent pps that “But it appears that it's nota very elite membership, “But apparently not a very high caliber of people.” (PL3) ‘ara isan informal word for “guy/fellow.” but ina contentious situation it {an mean "you jerK/you 8.0.8." (oF Worse, Sinniaey, ovr isa contraction of me yas this guyfellowhthing”). an informal way of refering to another person, but when aimed directly at the listener in a contentious situation i becomes “you jerh/twifidior” (or worse). zene is Slurred remae (you), Though remae ean bea faioly polite you.” the slurted fem is very informal or even rough, and in Contentious ions it, to, Becomes "you jorkitwiS.O.B. ina antes a conjecture: “it's instriet usage, ia afer a number rq 1 number? amount] or more”: more loosely. it often means “more than [that number! amount)” (i.e. notin ied nummber/amount) Imenbit is frown the Eng! dads means Mangalin 41by 1A DU / Hotta Katsuhiko 4 i He watt SUT, JH SVAISS ot TKINTIO KH Wk KM HH TB. Obatarian “no oo wa fu -genka 0 suru, ‘bata ‘husband as for husband de wife figbuspat(ob) dofhave Obatarian’s husband fights with his wife. (PL2) Co-worker: Jeb Yen c¥Im Pfu sgenka desu ka? Fuusband & wite fighuspat is “Did you have a fight with your wife?” (PL3) be, BETH LY, Iya, o-hazukashit (ies hon embarrassing “Yes, I’m ashamed of myself.” (PL2) + fife = “husband and wife.” and -genka comes from kenka (“fightquarrel”), so fi-genka = “marital spat,” and jafi-genka (0) suru = “have a fight with one's spouse + ia isa kind of “warm-up” word for exclamations of either consternation or de- lighV/approval, bere the former. Though in many contexts it serves as an informal “no,” in cases like this it can instead serve as an implicit yes.” + inspite ofthe honorific prefix o-, o-hazukashii implies thatthe speaker himself is feeling shame/embarrassment, 2] Husband: Ded Wh & bot ALE A Yarcha ian to wakanerw nda ga iFTdo ig na-good (quote) Know (expla) fund “AT know I shouldn’t do it andsbut + atcha ikan is a colloquial contraction of yarte wa ienai must not do”), from the verb yaru (“do.” informal) + wakareri is a contraction of wakarte iru know"), from wakaru (“come to kknowunderstand”), To marks what comes before its the specific content of what he knows/understands + ga can mean either “but” or “and” depending on the context, and the humor here {depends partly on that ambiguity 3] Husband: —He WLRBE KBD > ‘chido hajimaru to nyabo no yatsu fone When it begins wife. whois guy/person WM i Oeal5ELEY L isshtkan wa kuchio kiko to shinai shi fone week atleast docsn'trytospeak and “once we get going, my wife refuses to speak to me for at least a week, Co-worker: 4% Sonna-ni?! that mech “That long?” (PL2) + hajimare=“{something] begins," and after a on-past verb makes an “iflwhen” neaning. Iehido hajimaru fo = it [a fight] starts once” ~* “once [a fight] stat.” ‘+ nyaba isan informal word for “wife.” + yaisuis an informallslang word for “guy/fetlow/person”; no yatsu after a name Or ttle usually has atleast a mildly belittling/derogatory feeling, and i's com- :monly used when finding fault with the person, ‘+ wa after a number or quantity often has the meaning of “atleast (that many/ ‘much).” + kuch’ o kiki 10 shinai is from the expression kuchio kiku (speak’); -B (0 shinai isthe negative form of the verb ending -0 10 suru, which means "make an effort toftry to [do the action) the negative form often implies not only “doesn’t ry to [do the action)" but “ruses to [do the action] @] Husband: 2% ty PobeF Dakara sui vatchaw therefore involonarily do icCnvoluntary expan.) ‘so Tean’t help myself.” (PL2) + tsuias an adver for actions implies the set tuntariy/without thinking.” In this eas ing included in atcha. + yatchau is a contraction of yarte shinan, from yaru (*do"); shimau after the te Form of a verb ean imply the action is done involuntarlyfin spite of oneself is/was done “inadvertently/invol- sentially reinforces the same mean- Mangejin 43.F Obatarian by SEED U:Z / Hotta Katsuhiko 6B) 9 C94 HT) CICS hp oe By 42 Mangajin What’s an “‘Obatarian?” The name Obatarian was coined from two words: obasan (2312 % A.) lite crally “aunt.” but used as a generic term for middle-aged or adult women: and bararian (79 1) 77), from the Japanese title of the 1985 American horror movie Return of the Living Dead—a reference to the “battalions” of zombies in the film. The wor, now firmly ensconced in the Japanese lan- re thanks to this popular manga, is used to refer toa type of middle- zed woman who strikes terror into the hearts of people around her, of at ist raises a Few eyebrows. After years of managing husbands, children, and household budgets, “Obatarians” seem to be using the authority of their middle years to focus at last on themselves, without regard to the social norms dictated for women in Japan, Narration: 52°5 Mil & OEM Fo Moe, Chigau shuri 9 hitosara zutsu torte. different kindtype (ob) one plate each take-and ke one plate each of two different items and... "and -sara is the counter suffix for “plates, + hito- = "on + totes thee form of tru (take); here and below, te te Form i being used like “and” tink events in a chronological sequence: “take fone plate ech] and [2] Narration: O20 9 Fo fer, his csutabere cme temvpcce each “eat and eat one piece each and... + Inions ia generic counter for “one itenvpiece”: it can be used for almost ‘any inanimate object if one does not know a more specific counter + tabete is there Form of taberu eat"). [3] Narration: #) = & DED Is ZENT. nokori 0. hits ni maomete Temaindr (0) "ene into "combed ‘combine the remaining pieces onto one [plate] and... | remains eft), ing/pttogethercombine"); + nokor’ isa noun form of nokoru (*{somethi + matomete isthe -1e Form of matonnera (* Iitorsu ni matomeru = “corbin into one, [4] Narration: KP PH UT? ie MELO fed Imodosw Obatarian’ rit kaiten-zushi mo tabechaa tetum “Obataran “ale revolving sushi foreaing meted put it back—this is Obatarian's system for eating revolving sus + the verb meosw ¢*returnpat back [tits former place) here isthe ene ‘of complete sentence modifier that began in frame 1: [she] takes one plate Imainder into one and returns ‘modifiers that ultimately + -ririsa sult for indicating a "schoolstye/system” of do $0 obutarin-ryt = "the Obatarian stylefsystem” or “Obata + Kaiien-:ushi (it, “revolving sushi) refers to inexpensive sushi served on plates that circle ona conveyor belt in front ofthe customers for thei se~ Fection, Some shops price all plates the same but vary the quantity on ‘ach plate depending on the expense of the toppingsingr use color-coded plates to establish higher prices for + no makeskaiten-zushi for tek ing method” -» “method for eating revolving sushi” In turn, Obataran-ryit todlfes this combination o give “the Obataran-siyle method for eating revolving sushi.” Finally the long sentence modifier, whic started in frame 1 modifies that whole combination: "the Obatarian methodlsystem for et ing revolving she takes one plate cach of two different tems and ete." The entire “sentence” in Japanese is actually only an elaborately ‘modified noun. not atcally complete sentenceBo ha va ren Aatdonarado Siakionatts * Chemie sets eh erpaty Obatarian Le Ee can inca by HEL DUZ / Hotta Katsuhiko “Which ones don't have sweet bean paste?” (PL2) Narration: EAbADAG OE & BI, SE Tonchinkan na Koo 0 tt i hsrdncongres ting (bj) “sy eh ‘She asks things that are completely incongruous; ES + the amtist has deliberately altered the name from ~ 7/1 F Matudonarude, sex the Katakana rendering of MeDonals.” Bas + anko isa heavy paste made of mashed beans (most commonly red adzuki beans) Sh boiled with sugar: it’s used in many traditional Japanese confections, so a Obatarian is aking what she might well ask ina traditional sweet shop if she did't like enko, oF wasn't in the mood fort + apantcl o mark anko a the subject of hartena has been omit, Haitenal i contraction of haite inai ("is not insidefis not contained”) + anko haitenai (anko is not contained [in it]") modifies the prounoun no (Cone/ones") ~ “ones that don't contain anko": wa to mark this as the topic of the question dore? has been omitted. Sound FX: 9 49 she scoops out ice with the lid of her iced coffee and chews on i Aukidashite isthe -1 form of kakidast (*serapelscoop out"): the -t form is being used like “and”: “scrapes!scoops out and an? Gara gara 29 tle rattle (sound of ice rating) Bz Mina TAA me PRLS Oo £# AisuAiiit no jut de Koei 9 hekidahite. kre St feveotee efi wth ie (obj) sane tad ees eB 3 | Narration: #2hi Liz RPE MS me MAIL, Nagai shita ato yauo kaerw ka 10 omoeha Jong stay ‘did after finally go home (2) (qt) iffwhen think ‘Alter she stays a long time, when you think ‘Is she finally leaving?’ ...” after she stays a long time you finally see her get up to leave, and... + nagai is literally “long stay" and nagat shita i the plain/abrupt past form of its verb form nagai swu, which usually implies outstaying one's welcome. ‘Nagai shit ato = “ater staying a longtime.” + omoeba isa conditional (“iffwhen”) form of omou (thin and 0 marks the Preceding question yatto kaeru ka? ("Is she finally going home?") asthe spe- -antent of her thought RUf bole SIM CS orei mo issho ni gomibuto ni 'stera rhage bin into discard dumps her tray inte trash along with everything ~Abs pouty ut fsa fade ebatrin & fe ct ae 4 the fast food obetarian, ode Obatarian doing Fast food. of the English word “tay nalish words “fast food.” . (together [with}”) here implies gor ro fasho ni (together and fst fade wel dB. Tce 8 nd -hako is from hak (“box”s the ht changes to for + in Japanese this is another elaborately modified noun, with thee complete sen- tenees aeting as parallel modifiers for fasuto ido obatarian (“the fast food sobatarian”), UMEDA TEN Nw) 44 Mangajini: american Comics MMMM Mid. 2 Calin, ond HOBbES eb UW Fr Tae (7S TIME WE HAD A NEW DAD AROUND HERE WHEN DOES YouR TERM ‘OF OFFICE EXPIRE? SORRY, CANIN, TWAS APPOINTED Dad FoR UFE. (Galina Hobs, © 1987 Unisral Pres Syne. Al He "think it's time we had a new dad around here. When does your term of office expire?” DF Ch ZAEA ANE BLY AK LBASNEE BF AL, Uchi demo sorosoro papa o atarashit hito ni kaeru bekida 10 omow nda. urhouse at soon ‘dad (obj) new person to change should. (quote) think (explan.) KA O fE ik WO MLS 0? Papa no ninki wa isu kireru no? ‘dadiyou "s term as for when expire explan-?) is) time + few Ie [~ LC Ole, BIE time i LC. Is. [108] HELA THOSE J+ Tat) Day, an + we had anew dad 25 KiB orisha VExseMeo(, FELTHEN Ee CHEV] CE ERIE. around here lt [ + office t2 FAR. FB . term to [Eh “Sorry, Calvin, | was appointed dad for life.” 47k (EMR) CRIME At CHALE. geste, BO GEC ik BC 2M I Migwence AL Karun wari edo, bok wa shishin de chichiova ni ninmei sareieru ‘n da mame)” —sbudina good but stfor™ forlife. father w have Been appointed (expan) + torte (abate, Hien) [] Calvin: “FOR LIFE?! What about a recall vote? What about impeachment?” 571 5 BD 8? (x? Shishin?! Rikoru whyd wa do nano. sa? Dangai_ wa? forlife recall’ “oie” as for what kindof (expan, (collog) impeachment as for Father: “There are no provisions for either.” kobh WE my ia, Dotchimo itei ni nai ne. either provsionle in not exist (eollog.) £9 8 my no provisions for ether Dt bseAtteN | “Did you write this constitution yourself, or what?” co” HY AC MO» LAd LE bu? Kono kiyaku wa jibun de ‘Raita ka nan ka shita wake? this “constitution a for By oneself wrote or something di ercumstance Father: “Well, your mom helped some, too.” f5kG Yb btok Miok UE & Soda na, mana mo chotto tetsudaita kedo na. wells se ‘mom ako ‘litle “helped though (oll) + orwnat? Ri LOA, [~d eich? /— a, + Wot, CTE U Ihe Sw, Hho meth aur bats bf 2 ene 8 RB ia/ th/ Cb) WE. icles. Sie 48 MangajinVe Viti. Beerican Comics MMMM LLL ddd ELECTION DAY 1S COMING UF TATER BEDTING OAD. PEDPLE WANT TD EXPANDED TY 5 WoH's YouR PRWILESES,, WBA? PRET, ‘SHORTER. Shook, VELL FUNDED? WEBS, BND LESS) DISCIPLINE G calvin: Calvin: (3) Father: “Election day is coming up, Dad. People want to know where you stand on the issues.” RA OFC HRD ER, BHO ae LOWTALE Papa, morsugn tahsi-bi dane. Kakushu no ronten ni tsuite mina aad "Soon “election day 4s (cong) various issues regarding everyone KE OD EL EMDEMTS bo papa no iken 0 shirtaganeru” yo Eadyou"s opinions (b.) wants to know (cnph.) J [aren Eee eid BON & oe 49% REROMUML CHT. stan where HLF oiitt know (ile to CB, RIN “Such as’ RE wats (aur Taoeba dona —mondai? focexample what kind of "issues “Later bedtimes, expanded TV privileges, shorter school weeks, and less discipline.” HOH OE Em TLE WME O Ik, MO GE hak, Shishin kan no ‘kurisage toka. terebi shicho-ken no kakudai, shiino _ who nissit —sakugen ve, ibedime Of posponement “or TV sof expansion weekly #af school days reduction and BUD ARAL AM Kirtsy no kana nana Aiscipine of deregulation shins ike is coming up Fi issues i a, Hike calle eo [ib es | oe LoneeMMIL COs, such as {2 the issues #217 privilege i (44/4 ipradineltc res oy mb 6 oti clita eat “I'm against them all,” + against kALashhhcaS 2 LC, Hblets tor. tm =1am, En BA ke ¥ eS RRMA cc ea SSIES Doremo hantai dane. Voce [bio t) TRIS T [49 /2S1EE | BE ep eta sabes + eo oral, that way. tha 09 007 Calvin: “| ‘response to an explanation or statement, owe GZ] Galvin: “How's your IRA? Pretty wel funded?” : th KR D ALA SILI de i ie ie CHRO POLAT SALT ROMO &, Papen kan tthotae tet han oa it ale ha ChU? Bik htoce? a eee eee eee Prety well unded? i sit prety wel nda? ic Father: "Goto bed.” ibwetorh2 | bus aR, Ot) Pith b HES Ol. & baba. MangajinVii: American Comics MMMM CATS, ARE MORE POPULAR || AND OUR HIDDEN PAWOFFS TO PET THAN Evi CAMERA SHOWS WHY! [= | OWNERS FROM THE POWERFUL Cat LOBBY! ‘Cats are more popular than ever. RIO NA ik ETET bAtoTHSt. Neko no ninki wa masumasu agatte ima cats popularity as for more more ering more... han ever FALE CHE/oKe. Sie WA EO Mi MILE LAt Kakushidori kamera de sono viv 0 kaiimel shimasitat hidden” carers witoior that” reason (oi,) "made cle + shows why = shows why cats are more popular than ever. st: “Payofts to pet owner from the powerful cat lobby!" Bt FI HK A MULE I: MoUs Milk O tu CH Kyoryokuna neko dantai ga Kainushi-tachi ni okutte iru wairo no set desu powerful eat lobby/aroup subj) owners to Wave sending bribery of fault “i “Lies! All lies!” * payots 48 Mangajin KY te Uso da! Oeuso dat ie “iS bigle “is ISA CAH) eR as, tre Tih RG 42. lobby EATHumorous Haiku ENR Special Edition: “Spam-ku” on the Net G par is te trademark name for an inexpensive ined meat made from pieces of pork and ham, seaxoned with spices and pressed into loaf shape. It is ble for its distinctive bright pink color, as well as for the jellytike substance itis packed in. Exactly which parts of the pig are used to make Spam is a matter of ‘much speculation, Popular during the frugal war years and into the 1950s, Spam has earned a place in Ameri culture as a kind of pop icon. Even during this age of nutrition snned meat stubbornly maintains a presence on the grocery shelves. Now. there is a World Wide Web site featuring thousands of “spam-ku" written by amateur poets. Astronomer John Nagamichi Cho is responsible for creating the widely accessed web page, which can be found at: http://www .naic.edu/~jcho/spam/ sha . htm] . Following are some of our favorites from Cho's archive awareness, the fatty Spam U7 HSL La Bets aT sijobb-ea Rilo koe ito CHF BAO‘ t 9 REC A= —Ob RRR 7 utp: www.naic,edul~jeherspanvsha.buml Hehe HELA ASHEA AEH + + 7IOz SME HAIL. AR Err We, RETA THSEY Moin PAPE CH. IZ > C7 O KORO MAHAN S te i, SESEMMONBIGo CHET. Miia PMSA I9SOFE CIAL AMO d FO BEE L-consalic ef a RAUCEA, MTD BH HACORD ILA Ma) CHE KARA, TUB, TOM ETL 7 TW) IT ba HG OT YRAMHZIOY FUR fee FR ea TNA) TR= ih, Fa IH OOe, TRAIL DI, #a7Ko BH L ES Oh tin of pink meat I ponder what you may be: Snout or ear or feet? HOM anno naka— ey 7vAcn pink rik kore ty HY WL? hhana, mimi, ashi? eanffood in” and ka no naka ly means “isi the cvs tin + pink is trom the English “pink.” nd rik means "ne + Tore = "this hana = "nosesnout” and ore hana? can be shorthand for kore nat Ihana desu ka? (ls this snout?) [Ading the wvo oer Hens makes it KE is this a snout or ear or ee + the Japanese version essentially says ‘Oh pink meat inte a Ts this a snout oe + make the som of mara Closet ‘sfeatediel temptation) ad a rendering of + the Japanese version essentially says: About to give th (0 the pink remperess a vegetarian, Manggiin 62 it seomsooka/ fet ike Ihe ation Vegetarian Srseyiustos make ne ASSIA in this case, miwaka (charm? ‘Makeso da EY ZOE Pink no mia nt RYIVFY Bejtarian Pink beefy temptress I can no longer remainmenupiee.” spn a soto ian “ees” word tha gives the sense of something heavy, and Fay shop = salty." ora ie contraction of kore wa ("as Fotis) and ma d= "what si? Japanese version essentially sys pink morsel so fat and sally whats it? Pink tender morsel Glistening with salty gel What the hell is it? er aH = Pista en OSs FRERL EOI ) gto chop LY efit Ze LBD Korya nan da? Old man seeks doctor “1 eat Spam daily,” he says. Angioplasty + tabetis thee form of tern Cea" the te foam in disease indicates the ‘cuusereason forthe next mentioned iehur= “doctor” and -gayo i from ‘sei noun Tor ofthe verb ka ‘Commute tlfrequent. so sega Fs noun for frequenting the doe. 2 AKL Japanese version exsentl y% , 33) carn faving eaten Spam daly, I requc 8 aan the doctor All of our tans RAAT Show hw cat it 4: AEST Sime meaning ints few panes mainihitabete| Sill, but this ome Foss the mont angioplasty bea isha-gayol ‘hice adverb: “unnatura stomatal.” an fshisen Adding makes it 3a uganda = ii'suganda contorted fs contorted nati hate refers "the endifathest in space or mes when spa process, it reters to ‘Suteomefes ‘ritten with this kanji, kaw “coftinfeasket"—providin ‘convenient pn on fa ood tin.” Kan mo make coin” the Japanese version essentially says “Alter having been contorted sunatrally-inside etn, idea Highly unnatural The tortured shape of this “food” A small pink coffin ARE PRIS WRAERTO ands hale Hor an no naka fiction, Try out these sites: Other web sites post English senry on topies varying from polities to scien http://www naic.edu/~jcho/editorial/ehp. html (editorial & political hai http: //wew.columbia .edu/~tg50 (a variety of haiku) http: / /waw.crew.umic.edu/~brinck/poetry/xmas-haiku.html (Christmas-related haiku) also by John Cho) ajn, Ine, PO Box 77188, Atlanta, GA 30387-1188 I be transkted into English and viee versa Semryd, Mangan, In. PO Box 7TISS, Atlanta, GA. 30357-118 ALE i Rat We'll send you a Mangajin Fsbin if we publish your senvya {or to seneyuamangajin.com). All Japanese BATS 7 incom). 43, sib aR-0> ELUM eae ‘Mangai> Kekkon Shiyé Yo PEMGL ES xz Bokutachi no Shippai to Seiko meronnans Let’s Get Married SE BLDS Our Failures and Successes by Hoshisato Mochiru Kekkon Shiyd Yo follows the story of the employees of a Tokyo \wedding hall called Ageha Bridal Garden, Wedding halls, where bboth ceremonies and receptions take place, handle all the details of the wedding—including All a couple has to do is make choices. In Part One of our selection from Kekkon Shiva Yo, however, Ageha wedding planners Masatoshi and Sanae are stuck with a groom who "1 seem to make a decision, lowers, music, decorations, and food. aa 2a8 is8 Aer the meeting, Masatoshi 3 te and Sanae, who were once fe engaged v each other A are ina bad mood. The independent Sanae is angry BBR sr rere vites job: Masatoshi points out that its nother place to criticize. Before Tong they’re having a loud whether they like each other or hate each other.” co-worker: ment in the breakroom, “I ean" tell snickers a pass Masatoshi’s sweet girlfriend, ShOko, also works at Agel Heating the fight, she follows Masatoshi to the rooftop where he goes to cool down, She invites him to her place that evening to look at the photos from at recent trp. Later, over a beer, Sanae shares her opinions with Kakieda, her boss. I'm just saying I don’t like the view of life that equates marriage with happiness.” she explains. The divorced Kakieda (who is secretly in love with Sanae) points out that many young couples fal to antivipate the difficulties of married life. They exchan ificant ‘This episode opens with Shoko welcoming Masatoshi to her apartment jin nin 19M by Shokan. Fake Binh a Mangajin 6:Shoko: Masatoshi: VboL eV. Trasshal. reeting) Come in.” (PL4) irasshai isthe abrupt command form of the PLA verb irasshane (“come”): the ver is inherently polite, so even the abrupt form is polite It's used to gree/welcome visitors to your home; also by shopkeepers and restaurant workers to ‘welcome customers as they enter. bdo, HESeA, ity = ya Wat” Shoko-chan’ —shigeki-eki kako, (exclam,) (name-dimin) stimulating/arousing appearance “Whoa, Shoko, what a dress!” (PL2) EZ m6, Narsw da kava summer is. because “Because it’s summer.” (PL2) ved is an exclamation of surprise, but it can carry a feeling rang Clear how the speaker feels. -han isa diminutive equivalent of -san (°Me/Ms.”), most typically used with the names of children, but also among lose adult friends and family. shigeki means “stimulus” or “stimulation.” and shigek-reki means “stimulating/provocati ‘kakko isa colloquially shortened kakkd, which refers to one’s external appearance—most commonly how one is dressed. from great joy to dismay, so its not immediately 7 Masatoshi: Kirai? dislike “You don’t like it?” (PL2) as in English, in informal speech almost any word can be turned into a question by raising the intonation atthe end More formally her question would be kirai desu ka? (“Do you dislike it? thao. Gt) “Nota al Oh, here, -.2" (PL2) 3 k-unisan informal "yes" and 34 fn epesents pondering bt 33 4 u'un witha sight inflection between the two's means “novnotstallfever mind.” Since the exact pronunciation i dificult to describe. the Mangan tapes ‘would bea good reference inthis eae) a isanimerection wed when suddenly noticing or remembering something Atte BK tb. Swika. "Natsu da kara. ‘watermelon summer 4s. because “A watermelon. Because it’s summer.” (PL2) (exclam) “Oh, my! tee Kirai? dislike “You don’t like it?” (PL2) (PL2) Mangaiin |ee (2) Souna Fx [i] Masatoshi: (2 13 mK OM He (] Shoko: =Ac Hote Fi Shoko: Atf8. Dai-suti ‘gical ike SPlove it?” (PL2) + dai- isa prefix that means “largelarge scale ~,” and suki means “ike” (actually, it's a noun that means “liking,” but it's often equivalent tothe English verb “like") “like very much/love.” Sb Bb Bb Sava sae saw (cllect of gentle, refreshing breeze) save sav is related tothe word saasuyerka (na), which is use 0 deseribe the erisp, cool ref things as Fresh ai, a breeze, 8 morning, after a bath, 2 cool drink. ete shing feeling of such ch, pdt — HolS Lot, Kore, kawaiku —_utsutera ja na this emtely/atructively ire pictured are noe “In this one, you are pictured attractively, are you not?” “You look eute in this one.” (PL2) ye Ky cA Ds Bi, Fiat. Ya da, Korma no. Kao, shimobutture, disagreeabe/distastefol "this Kind of onc face lower part swollen/plump U's disagreeable, this one, My lower face is swollen.” My cheeks look ail puffy.” (PL2) + kawaiku is the adverb form of kawaii (“cute/adorable”), modifying usutteru. * utsuttera sa contraction of utsute iru is pictured”), from ulsuru, which isa verb for“[an image] appearsreflects [on a TV or movie sereea/in a mirror/in a photograph).” When modified by an adverb, it means “appears/efleets in the manner described,” so here he's essentially saying she “looksfeame out cute” in the pictu + jana looks like “isnot” but here it's a colloquial short form of ja nai (desu) ka, “isnt it so?” Ths is often a purely ‘hetorical question, which actually makes it more ofan assertion than a question, The assertion can be mild or strong. depending onthe tone of voice. + fda isa variant of iya da, “is distastefl/disagreeable,” one ofthe most common ways to express one’s objection to ‘Something in colloquial speech. + Kona is this kind of” and no here is like the pronoun “one” ~» “this kind of one” ~» “this one.” Konna is often used to belittle or put down the item it modifies, and that isthe feeling here. + shimobukure literally means “swollen in the lower part.” and kao ga shimobukure da/desu describes a face with fll, rounded checks. KE Hoot bm, Boku no Wd ga hren dar yo. Hotonda me isumuters mono. Wine "ssi (stb strange is (mp) almost eyes ae loved (expla) “Pm the one who looks weird, My eyes are almost closed.” (PL2) + boku isan informal “Line” used by males ‘noha gais used in making comparisons. Its attached tothe greater of the two items being compared, and hen = ‘$0 ~ no ha ga hen means "-~ is stranger”: here it implies “I'm stranger [in the picture] than you are almost completelyfalmos all"—or if modifying a negative, “almost none/hardly at all 1. to:mark me ("eyes") as the object of tsunuutera, has been omitted, asi often is in collogual speech, + tsumuttere isa contraction of sumutte iru isfare closed”), from tsumury, a colloquial variation of tsubune (Pelose one’s] eyes"). + mone Git, “thing”) i oft used as an explanatory form atthe end ofa sentence in colloquial speech, . ahh O be ch 8 RNTE L. Far de tsuteru shashin, rokvna no nai nas Kore mo ‘ureter shi {emporio together are red photog stator oe pt exit lg hs ne plo (cameras moved and SWedon’t have any decent pletures with both of us in them. This one's blurred, too, and: =." (PL2) + the particle de offen marks the amount, number, or scope of people/items involved in an action, so dari de usuttera means iwo people are pictured together"—with “two people” inthis ease meaning “both of us.” Futari de usurtera is a complete thoughtsentence modifying shashin photographs") ~* “photographs in which we are both pictured together.” and na is again equivalent to the pronoun “one” ~» “a satisfactory/decent one.” Ga, to mark this as the subject of nai (“not exist”), has been omitted. + bureteruis a contraction of burete iru, from bureru, whieh refers to the camera moving as the shutter is pushed. The form burete ire is usually applied to the look of the resulting picture ~> “is blurred.” + shiis relatively emphatic “and” for connecting two clauses: it cannot be used to connect two nouns as “A and B” (0 oF a must be used for that purpose). ‘Mangajin 69#898 Lk Dd + Kekkon Shiyo Yo 0" NEP RS p10? WIS OO "being with me.” [2] Masatoshi: -L\> £ Kear ee & Tanoshit yon Tanoshikunaksa ona isfanfejoyable(emph) if mot enjoyable wouldn't gome (emp, "{Yes.] itis fun, [Fit wasn't fun, | wouldn't come.” “Sure. I wouldn't come if I didn’t.” (PL2) + tanoshikunakya isa contraction of ranoshiku nakereba, 1 condi anos is funfenjoyable") "i i isn’Uwasa’t fun + oma’ is ne negative form of kur ("come") 3] Shoko: Honta ni? telyeclly “Really?” (PL2) + honté nis the adverb form of honta itfwhen”) form of tanoshikunai. negative of “trvetruth”), She makes ita question by raising the intonation on ni [2] Masato: 3 4 ow Stina (PL2) AS A Konno-san, (game-hon “Konno-san.” (PL2) + even though they have now been dating for quite a while, she continues to call him by his sumame plus the polite sam (CMe) another sign of Shoko's relatively traditional mindset. It doesn’t actually sound quite as stiff and formal a if fn English-speaking woman addressed her boyfriend as "Mr, So-and-so.” ‘Mangajin 81[4] Masatoshi: Bit ARO WM MW EMLTKS ATH. bon ni iano rydshin_ga_jakya shite kuru n desu. {festival name) afr (place name) iffrom parents (sd) Come up to"Takyo (expla) ‘During Obon, my parents n Ota wil becoming upto Tokyo “My parents in Oita will be coming to visit during Obon.” (PL3) ‘Obon (or Urabon) isthe Buddhist “AUl Souls’ Days" observed each year from August 13 through 15 or 16 (or the same ‘days in July in Some areas) Is a heavy travel time as families gather for the festivities much as Americans get together sv Thanksgvig tine, Here he paren a cmig phe yam he cour, bt ore pial toe ving inte city return to their ancestral homes in the coun Oita te name ofa prefecture in narthern Kyushu, as well a of capital cy. jaky@. written with the kanji for “up” and “capital,” refers to traveling “up” to Tokyo from any outlying area, North, South Eas or West (more than commuting distance is ested). Joh shite kur from ky sur travel up t6 ‘Tokyo"); kurt after the -fe form ofa verb implies the action moves toward the speaker, so the form jOky0 shite kuru is only used by those who live in Tokyo and are speaking about someone else coming to visit she uses the explanatory n desu because she's “explaining” the situation that leads her to make her next request. “Uh-huh.” (PL2) y ROTC HEV. Ate udasai. yest) "fd like you to meet them.” (PL3) dhe Un “Uh-huh.” (PL2) ‘tte is the -e form of au (“meet”), and kudasai ater the -te form of a verb makes a relatively polite request. hatha? oun? (PL) Mangaiin 63Take’emon-ke no Hitobito The Take’emon Clan by HERR TTAT EPL / Sato Take'emon 84 Mangajin Title: #14 ve Shacho Aisarsu 9. pes, greetng/ceremonial address Greeting from the President ilties/formalites, including routine ‘good morning") and konnichi wa ts, seasonal compliments and gifts, cisarsu can reer toa wide variety of daily greetings like ohayd gozaimasu (good afteroon”) as well as client vi and ceremonial addresses. MC: Cit, £4 thE EN OLIE Dewa, _macu shachd yori hitokow, then fist ofall co. pes. from one word “Well then, to begin with, a word from our president.” (PL2) FX: 27 Kokw (Clfect of slight bow) dea, often contracted to jain less Formal situations is a conjunction meaning “in tha case/then/vell vor’ sounds somewhat more formal than kar (“from”) Sign: #st2tt FLL TRB Kabushiki-gaisha Terepashii Kenkyijo ointstock co.” telepathy research center Ath t Nyasha——_-shiki srlercompany ceenony ‘Telepathy Research Center, Inc. New Employee Welcoming Ceremony MG: £HOEO HE OFeLO BILE & Tadaima no shacks no subarasii ortoioba 9 Jistoom of copes. s“wonterfl (bon words (08) BMCA RPO BH it rikadekinakara mono wa Couldnt undentnd. persons at for Wa £) atk I RIETS ext Yori shussha_nioyeber {Gmerrow fom coming o work sume “Those unable to comprehend the wise words be stowed on you by the pr come to work tomorrow. -kabushiki means “stock,” and -gaisha is from kaisha (“company/corporation”; in combinations, & changes tog for euphony) -» “joint stock company.” terepashiis from the English “telepathy.” kkenkyi refers to scientific or academic research, and -j isa suffix meaning “place of/for [the stated actvity|” ~» kenkyi-jo = “research center” (can also be Kenkyiz-tho), nnyisha combines the kanji for “enter” and “company.” to refer to a person's “hiring by/joining” a company, and -shiki means “ceremony.” ‘Nyitsha-shiki refers to a ceremony to formally welcome the “entering class” of new employees. ‘adaima means “just now.” and adding no makes ita modifier forthe phrase shach® no subarashiio-Rotoba (“the president's wonderful words”). rikai dekinakasta isthe plainvabrupt past form of rial dekinai ("ean't un- derstand”), negative of rita dekiru (“can understand”); dekiru replaces suru to make the potential “ean/be able to") form of suru verbs. tadaima no shach@ no subarashii o-koroba 0 rikai deKinakata is complete thought/sentence (“Lyou] couldn't understand the president's wonderful words of just now”) modifying mono (“person”) sisi isa noun referring to the act of “going/coming to work.” ~ ni oyobazu is an expression for “[doing the ation] is unnecessary/need ‘not [de the aetion}.”ray boc Take’emon-ke no Hitobito The Take’emon Clan by FERRY RIT / Sato Take'emon Title: 9AE3 AE Undo -busoku exercise inscieney Out of Shape + the surtix-busoku is from fusoku “insuficiencyfshortage”) cut fot LChwe PL Mite we Goro-gore—shitenailesukoshé wd: suru ka? tlic abo FX) insted of doing all we get a little exercise inst nothing?” (PL2) (PL2) + goro-gom shitenaide isa negative -te form of goro-goro suru ie bout id usually at home, indoors). A verb in the -naide form followed by another verb implies “do the second action withoutfnstea of doing the first action, + mdi noun for “exercise.” and undo suru is its verb form, ee Role ain ie fete oe aon itp? lockey, or maybe Ping Pong all we play hockey, oF maybe Ping Pong?” (PL2) Dog: 9. WIE tee bya gore da Pee ee "No, golt” (eL3) + ott pipon and gorda rm te Engshocky." “Ping Pong’ and ott epee 2 eens + kanaattieend ofa eens pel asks «conju question, won- Gert itis tis penaps Could tbe 2 ps a liste asec er eet [3] sound Fx: ee Pant Whack (sound of gol ub hitting ball) 4 Dog: &-, AFLALSeot, ih Kk Aor. Suet chara” Heian mi) ates jepet) pad lao ceed iced it It went in the pond.” (PL2) Sound FX: i+ Pocka Splash (sound of ball landing in water) Cat HB KG BOK. FY KL tbe Undo —-busokn da kara nt. Twugi. ore da. ore. rise inslficeney is borane (Colloq) next ime “is Vine ‘Because you really don’t get enough exercise, Next is “You're just out of shape. Next it’s my turn, my (PL) + along as an exclamation often caries a feling of dismay/alarm, + suraisu is trom the English “slice,” and its verb form is suraisu suru. Suraisu shichatta isa contraction of suraisu shite shimatta, the -1 form of suraisu surplus the plain/abeupt past form of shimau, which after the -te form of a verb often implies the action was undesirable/regrettable.” + aia te planar past form of hair enter) Wi mars the place cenere + nd adds colloquial emphasis: "you really aeldo ~ + oreisa rough, masculine word for “Vm.” Mangajin 85s | BASIC JAPANESE through comics Lesson 59 « You (Part 1) In our last two lessons, we took an up-close look at pronouns for “I.” Now, we will turn our sights to the many pronouns which can be used for “you.” For every case and situation that calls for a certain “I,” there seems to be a corresponding “you,” again dependent on the age, gender, and social status of the people interacting. It is important to remember that the Japanese generally tend to avoid using personal pronouns, and the use of those for “you” is particularly limited. Entire conversations take place without the speaker once referring to the listener with any of these pronouns. A Japanese speaker is more likely to use the listener's name, with -san or -kun or -chan; or if the listener is of higher social status, his or her title. Still, there are many situations in which the pronouns can’t be avoided—and then the trick is to select the right one. In this lesson, we cover some of the most common words for “you.” These same words are sometimes used in ways that make them equivalent to English words other than “you” (e.g., a wife-to-husband anat i/honey some of these uses, too. Anata as a generic “you” A woman had her purse snatched just as Matsuda was walking out of the hotel where he works. ‘The policeman who came to the scene asks people in the crowd if they ve a description of, the thief Policeman: a)‘: (2? Anater war? you for “How about you?” (PL3) Matsuda: Lie (stammer) no SNeno. 7 (PL3) + the policeman doesn’t ask a fall question, by it's obvious from the =m, Context that he's asking Matsuda the sae thing e asked the oes Qo) ) anata we hain nb 3st rssaimas ka? “Do a ‘Anata isa polite and relatively formal “you"—the safest choice for general use when you don't know your Tistener’s name of tile, 86 MangaiinAnata as a term of endearment Mr. Kat has just promised his children that if either of them can give him a good laugh, he will «give that child a thousand-yen note. His wife, however, is not certain it’s such a good idea. Mrs. Kate: Be? OY OP Anaa, it no? You. isyood!OK (expan?) ear, is it OK? “Dear, are you sure?” (PL2) Mr. Kato: st» AH uu Ade, Hi nda i nda good/OK (expla) is gonuOK (expan) ‘OK, it's OK.” “Sure, sure.” (PL2) + the explanatory no is often used to ask questions in colloquial (© Soin Rye Vv no Un, Stogakohan Tipaneceionnen rypleally utetriaea (youl adress their husba ‘way English-spea ‘women use "dear Anta: less formal—and even rude ‘These women are at a cooking class where they are required to fillet a fish. The middl obararian, while slicing her fish into three or four fillets, notices that the younger house aving trouble slicing even one. Obatarian: Bok HAM, TATE EMI Site” Jou" even wth that sei THe) you har’ the Best you can do and yet you'ea ousewife?! + chott literally means “a little." but i's also used asa infor ‘mal interjection to get someone's atention: “Hey + sore demi literally means “even ifthough [the sit that." implying “sill/yeU/nevertheless." In this ease it slike n't do any better than tha, you stil aref ‘Anta is a contraction of ania, Tthas a very info fa ng. and, even without an agg ‘canbe quite rade i sed inthe wo Sots best avoided by beginners, Mangajin 87Basicnjapanes Kimi (adult to child) ‘The baby. Akio, has just finished a photo session for an adve veral other babies ‘were also photographed, but Akio was the only one who posed just as the photographer asked, Man: b BABU Lmot ta no ‘Akiookun yokatta ne foaiy also (name-fam) “You were a good me iA MD Sp #3 2 M5 & abun,” kimi no bun 9 suka tamu 0. probabiy you, "S portion (oy) "use (quote) think (einph) SL think we'll probably use your part.” (PL2) ‘+ yokarta is the plainabrupt past form of i/o (“goodsine”), + Kimi no bun iterally. "your portionisegmenvshare”) refers to the por= tion of the photo session in Which AKio appeared ‘mostly by males when addressing subordinatessjunios, Kimi (peer to peer) Nitta and that toher. high school and joined the soccer club. When Nitta learns, er, he wants to make sure he will be introduced ka have entered a nk ka already knows the team’s pretty man; Nita: foe eit s fat Kimi to wa tomoduehi “ni navesd da, oor with autor Trends. seems ike [we] ean become oks like you and I can become friends, ink you and I should be friends.” (PL2) Br A, (ies ites sider a “Huh? Oh, me too! (PL: + maresd das from mare the potential (“eave become”) the -33 dafdesu ending of a verb implies Tike [the action will lake place + Kochira erally, “this sieitection”) isa common way of refer= to oneself or one’s own group (“Wave”), and kos is an emphatic le, Rochira Koso can be literally rendered 38 “we all ‘or “ive as much as you: the expression essentially implies Le 10") form of nara sarsooks tha the sentiment is muta. and it's most typically used asa set phrase for returning greetings and expressions of thanks 188 Mangajin‘This husband and wife are discussin The wife has just said that her mother is truly grateful to her husband for allowing her to live with them, the wil Wite: BasicsJapanese Kimi (superior to subordinate) The president of Toa Appliances has just learned that it was Ms, Kizaki who thoughtfully put a vase of flowers in the men’s room at the office. Shachd: Wt KA OLIG de He chi ni Kimi ner ma joshi —shain four company it So ike demale employee Toh AL ta. gu tte hare nda ne {sab exietsfor ws (expan. (call) “This company is lucky to have an employee like you.” (PL2) #1 means “our company” and would normally be pronounced isha. but in this ease the author has indieate that itis pro- sd wehi. Uehi literally means “inside.” but it's also frequently ed 10 refer fo one's own family. company, or other ingroup. Kant no yi na (Iho is} like you") modifies joshi shan CX employee” ite is From the verb rw (“existe [here foam of kurern, which implies bene and kurena is the past atthe preceding ae/verb is for the Kimi (husband to wife) 's mother, who recently moved in with the family I, Hh Gath AME Ha haha, nani" inera dat Adaughy what isare saying (expla, Hit Aah BAT DG. HLA Ce terds Kimi ica hivoré-musume nada haves atarimae ja na ka you as for [operon daughter (explan islare bscruve a mater of course itm Ha ha ha, what are you talki ig about? You're an only child, so it’s only natural.” (PL2) nit BAH ne Sore wa a dar kedo Uta foe ike that explan i but “That's true, but. kh Ha aha Ho ho ho (masculine and feminit (PL2y informal ‘of the eldest som to take eare of the pi an only child, however, the responsibility falls to her. Mangajin 89(© Kuen Eka / Taam Ook CTA NS BO Se Omae (peer to peer) Michiru and Shota are on a trip sponsored by their company dormitory. The previous night, they sneaked up to the girls’ bath area and listened in on the chatter. Unfortunately, Michiru ‘overheard them saying that they thought he was a strange, wishy-washy sort with a weird haircut, Shota: Michiru: and now he is down in the dumps. B. Bi.. ekE A oth TE MELT, 0 amae... kanojo-tachi_ ga" itteta Koto Kini shite (slammer) you” girs tb.) were saying thingy eting boner ‘ou... Are you letting what those girls said bother you?” (PL2) ERR be Shotakun wa ity {mame-fam. 3 for good/ucky (emph.) “You're lucky, Shota ...” (PL2) itteta = ne ita -were saying”), past form of ite i, Kanojo-tachi ga itera (those gies ‘were saying ft") modifies koro things"). Ani shite the -te Foro of ki ni suru mina [itt [itl bother you") ‘when ~ we i yo/nafne follows a personal name or pronoun, i it. “good/fine/OK") can imply “Ithe person| is icky.” Michiru goes on to say that Shotais lucky because he is popular with the gifs, and he has girriend back home. Omae is used mosily by men with their peers and subordinates. Among Friends and family it generally carries a feeling of familia ‘can also sound quite Fough depending on tone of voice. When used with people other than aequaimtances if Omae (superior to subordinate) Haibara works at Empire Finance Company in Osaka. He is now consulting with the company president about a business des where he must decide in favor of either an individual investor ora large corporate one. Shack iW, FO 1 etsudam suru mo wa ‘ecison dake one a foe i RDS te mae yakara ma fou bactuse its (ellog) You're the one who has to make ogame ESO ee Haibara: (© Rok VO Nant Ks 190 Mangaiin li Roan undersood “I-Tunderstand “Y-yes sir.” (PL: ni seyo isa phrase meanit + ye Kara is dialect for da kara, “because itis ~ + wakarimashita isthe PL3 past form of wakaru inow/understand.” The word is often used i -ommandsirequeBasicsJapanese Omae-san Beranmei Tochan has just tripped over an iron on the floor and hit his head on the television, Wife BEVEA, ALE tv? Omai-san. daijdbn bait? yourdhond allright) “Are you all right, dear? “Isitall right, dear?” (PL2) Ie iteste-te! pai SOw-owwww! + omui-san isa dialeet vatiation of omae-san—arare instance in whieh -san is appended to a pronoun. + ai is a colloquial ka, for questions, but with a softer friendlier f Norn ion like this would be asking “are you all right?” but she's actually more ‘oncerned about the television, and. (© Tactanaya Kiko / Boned Tisha Take Shoko + ite isa corruption of the adjective ta (painful), which is also used as an exclamation of pain: “ow/ouch!" ‘Onna froma male spe spoken by a woman address The formal Otaku ‘The appliance salesm: Although Minamida ca Minamida has made friends with a struggling car salesman, Oki. ‘help him out by buying a car for himself, he introduces his friend to Kawai, an appliance retailer who has a truck that’s on its last legs and is thus a potential customer for Oxi. Kawai: FLY ZA BL TCAS © BH Shitadori de sore dake dashivekurera no nara tevin fr thatch wll pay me“ texplan) iti Bi6D Mocetu tt ‘aku mo kurama katte me tio! oureo. "scar am willing to buy igh.) Sif you'll give me that much for my trade-in, I'd be happy buy a ear from you!” (PL2) EL “Really?!” sore = “that” and dake = “only.” but the combina “that much” rather than “only dashite is from das (i. “put/ake out"), which in money matters means “payfeapend.” Karen after the -1e form of a tion will be done to or for the speaker. atte is the -te Form of kaw "buy" presses willingness to do the action, on often means ‘ha erally means "Your homeTioase but Halo serves wa feat foal you Inte corpora etn. where Ws weed [pea dal he raring bees -youyour Gpany” Mangajin 91pop japanese Tease me, squeeze me, dial me re you lonely, frustrated, Japanese? Do you dream of ‘meeting that special someone who thinks you're someone special, 100? Well, you're not alone. There's @ place where you ea ‘others who are in the same boat. It's called a telephone club—rerekura (Fv 77), From the land that brought you the Walkman and karaoke machines, here's the latest in palmtop systems that set you afloat ina world of unchecked fantasy. And you'll be doing what you do there in pairs. What that is depends on you. Encounters over the phone line in Japan can (and very ofien do) involve restrained, tentative conversations between strangers seeking permanent companionship. The terekura as lly conceived is a place where fellows hoping to meet Ms. Wonder- ful (or just to talk t0 somebody) pay to enter tiny booths and hook into a ‘chat line. On the other end are their female counterparts, usually calling from home at no charge. ‘Then what happens? I's up to the couple. Thirty minutes of desultory conversation, a friend tells me, is usually enough for the parties to reach their private conclusions. “I happen to be free tomorrow . ..” one or the other may venture 10 say. “fist no ma ni ka dena o kirarechatna” (“AN of a sudden, the phone went dead”) is one common refrain following such a proposal. Otherwise, the pair may agree to meet in a restaurant or coffeehouse, They might even go so far as to show up and identity themselves. Even if they do, shrugs my Iriend, nothing ever really works ‘out when people connect through ferekura But he keeps going back. Males who ask questions lik ma doko ni imasu ka? Donna fuku 0 kite imasu ka?” (Where are you now’? What are you ‘wearing?”) are cut off instantly. Any hint that the conversation’ becoming a platform for offender in hyperspac This surprised n sms to be a sport enjoyed by both men and women. Ads for it are plastered everywhere in Japan—telephone poles, sports newspapers, erotic manga—and the target audience is certainly not limited to men, “Shigekiteki na deai o yakusoku shimasu” ("We prom- ‘you a stimulating encounter”), proclaims a typical ad in a lady's comic” (an erotic manga for women), which deliberately uses the punning phone number 518-456. These al voyeurism promptly lands the . since phone sex si 92 Mangajin by William Marsh digits can be pronounced go-ichi- hachi-shi-go-roku, encoded shorthand for ko-i-wa-ji-go-ro Clove is a gigolo”), The service being offered is dengon daiaru (1 HEY AT OL, “eal is”) ‘A dengon customer maintains a ige box inside the dengon system, where he/she can post recorded mess responses, or listen to messages posted by others and leave messages for any who seem attractive, The fee for each trans- action is deducted from funds wired to the dengon system in advance, The chances of a call bein returned suffer because the other party may be collecting a fee from the dengon system to spice things up with essages. Even high school girls get into the act, picking up spending money each week based on how many callback ick dialing es and receive Muri requests their messages generate According to a want ad in one lady's comic soliciting applicants for the position of terelion companion, the worker may operate in one of two modes, depending on whether her intent i to initiate ndmaru senyé tstshouto (7 =" 1 4H 2-7 b. “normal priority encounters”) or ere-etch tsfshotto GLEIFI~ Yay b, “elephone sex encounters”) (Foiishowo [*two-shot"}, by the way, was the supercool 80s way to describe a couple having their picture taken together but refers here to the alleged intent of both callers: an actual telephone meeting. Eichi refers to the letter H, short for hentai E88, “pervert”] but usually spoken jocularly so that the nuance is closer 10 “horny.") Tellingly, the want ad cited above was sandwiched betw. other ads offering terehion supiide kyasshu (7 Lak 7 &E = F492, quick cash from loan sharks) and ekuswashit inaikan daiarn (7 %9 Y= 4 Te “total body ecstasy dil,” a series of pornographic tapes for feminine delectation) The ad stipulates that applicants be 18-30. Experience is not a prerequisite: Mikeikensha no kata mo josei safe ga shinsetsu shid itashimasu (“Female staff will instruct the inexperienced in «kindly manner"), and the successful applicant ean start right away, with earings sent to an account of her choosing William Marsh (marshbil@ gol.com) is « freelance writer based in Tokyo.sh BOTS Weed ABTS it ecu, we a3 enn) i a tic kot We aaa Hiv are HUTS HAS ue ae we ag Hate sehi seutoku suru ikinari Juiuchi senkyo rikkoho suru Jiban hakai suru seiji shokugyd rraikaku jrakya junbi karte na nega ily reishuisu suru shutsuba hajimete hhossokw shiji suru tsuishin Jinan chonan okashit shasai inpa seiseki Jushigi na Kanryo danzen gari-teki ersudan ishi ssugie robashin shigiin kaikan angai sunnari to antan ni hatsugen gorotsuki uke no Gi, p.AT by all means persuade suddenly/abraptly surprise attack election stand as a candidate (».) ‘constituency collapse (v.) polities suitbe suited [to/For] ‘occupation fivsuit ¢v.) doubt (n.) ceabinet/government circumstances dissolution stare/fix one's eyes fon] preparations selfish request (n.) resignation submitipresent (v.) readiness arrange/establish forthe first time contents inaugu instruct postscript second son First son much more odd brighvtalented person fon the other hand grades narvelous/amazing bureauerat by fardecidedly rational/pragmatie clements/traits already decision excessive soli House of Representatives hall/building unexpectedly smoothlyfeasily hand overfgive over easily racketeer/extortionist EABA MAL From Kekkon Shiva } BeAELE Folkd, Liane sii Wee LBS ia tag au ‘masukomi nagasu habarsu ass media. Teak (v.) take controlipossession of control (v.) faction Yorks of Ishii Hisaichi, p. 38 suibun medatsu shinobi shinri teki oku isu shurui nokori Sifu nyoba tonchinkan na gomibako sureru danchi daidokoro aid suru shigeki-teki kirai suika kao hen da hotondo shashin roku na chanto shita vappari shikarubeki basko daku bersu ni considerably. stand 04 undercover setion psychology enemy sevleave in a place wound (1) From Obatarian, p. 42 husband & wife wife absurd/ineongruous garbage bin discard (.) _getables stir-fry (n.) housing complex kitehen nall/eramped remodel p.65 almost all photograph (n.) satisfactory request (.) proper/successful after allfin the end table/proper place take [a picture} retire from expeditions/tours cembrace/make love {not} part larly From Take'emon-ke no Hitobito, p. 84 av FILS LUY ECE subarashii rikai dekiru undo sur hokke pinpon first of all wonderful can understand exercise (7) hockey Ping Pox The Vocabulary Summary is taken from material appearing in this issue of Mangajin. 1's not always possible to give the complete range of meanings for a word in this limited space, so our “definitions” ave based on the usage of the ward in « particular story Mangajin 99