In background: em fe fein nance companies Housing loan companies ca AXYTEMADO BU & sakippuofunisusn ——_genba_— 0 Siope spoticene (08) SB =o Sarw kage fats leave shadows to (count) Two shadows that leave the spot skipping along ‘Two figures skip lightly away from We at Yamada Shin (On direction si fee Jisen housing nce companies Housing loan companies By car: FIDIIT FDID chiki takku chil taku fcktoek ‘ektock ‘Ticktock Ticktock Caption: HM ARC jigen bakudan naizo- sha de rarit tine bomb bailein eat with tally senussueneees 9 — lying i in ana ‘time bom + jasenis an abbreviation of ‘taker senmon-gaisha (te ‘9 P22, “housing special ization companies” —*“hous- ing Toan companies”). ‘number ofthese firms have ‘become insolvent due to loans ‘made during Japan's “bubble ‘years that tured sour when Tan prices plummeted, subippuo fm (li, "step a Skip") is to “skip.” and esute after the -masu stem ofa verb makes itwhile ~ing.” sukippuo faitsutsu genba 0 ‘sara is complete thought Sentence ("they] leave the Scene skipping”) modifying age (shadows) + jigen bakudan naizd-shais ally “time-bomb-built-in ‘ear -* “ca witha built-in + rari the katakana rendering ofthe English “rally.” reter~ Fing toa long-distance car race ‘hough unfamiliar eritory. In {his cartoon, Hashimoto and Kubo are racing as ateam, with Hashimoto driving and ‘Kubo navigating Artist; vs 3 Kojima Ko batiom: © Kojma KG Angi reserved. Frat pubished in Japan In 1996 by Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo. Engish vansiaton rights afanged trough SSKC. (EERE ES ees a a St Mangajin 19mit Humorous Haiku Poems submitted by our readers lustrations by Anthony Owsley (original language appears first, followed by translation) ED Shinnen no tee it shigoto-haime wa MOSOE vyameru koto Starting out the New Year fresh eee by quitting Tokyo, Japan Attained satori when the ancient Zen temple had Western toilet Hee Zendoraya Fst h 4 bic yea oe SLN5S by Michal 8. MeFartand Setar uu LaGrange, IL Around and around the Yamanote Line— coat caught in the door SEE Hasamareta a-hkeEw Cd koto to megur Uae ‘Yamate-sen by Richard Breedon Davis, CA 65. orto sennuangajin com.) (Franek cinta 0 San Mangan 15et ih WBIBWWAR | A) ite = SSH Otoko wa Tsurai Yo a of te fi & Bi Original Story by Yamada Y6ji It’s Tough Being a Man ‘Writenby Hayashi Norio Art by Takai Kenichird Cast of Characters Kuruma Torajiro is an unmarried ged man who! ZX OFchan, Torw-sn's ule il S\ 3 2B) int Sbecan is totown peddling books another items \ together own Kurumaya, { \ at festivals. Tora-san is lovable but {Roy } Shop selling the Japanese- \ | ict tnipanvousy ites NY I& se smpigs ete J inate would sete down “Home” is =~” gang, Since ors’ parents withhisaunandunclintheShibamata ae dead they serve a hs surogate parents _ Wvels fromiown, hort ish her /( Spain Shop and is tiend of /p f 12) ject ei ( ie: oh weet \ Be”, svoman tomy ihe wayward \\ works for the Asahi Print Tora-san. TL Shop. ode... Hoping to turn their the home ofa local family, where he broaches the idea of a match between Tor the fa re daughter. Knowing Tora-san’s reputation, however, Shach®- the prospective groom. The situation gets In the last e 3 sheep into family man, the Kurumas dispatch Shacho-san to san and nily's marriage: san wisely refrains from revealing the name sticky when the parents start asking questions, ‘What line of work is he in?” asks the mother. “Sales, Shach0-san replies smoothly when employed, Tora-san peddles cheap books at festival bazaars. The next hurdle is education: “He had thiseduca- tional philosophy, you see, that instead of attending some e should get out into the real world. ossing over the Fact that useless colle All hope for success ends when the father asks the sweat wachi-san for an answer that can’t be fudged: the \ge prospect's name. “As it happens his name is Kuruma Torajits.” Shach-san reluctantly admits, “Do you take us for fools?” shouts the father as his ddauater bursts into tears, Shach6-san is kicked out of the house and returns to Kurumaya with the bad news. “There’s no point,” he notes, “continuing the search in Shibamata.” The situa appears hopeless—until a new prospect appears. (© Yamata Ya Haye Noi Takai Kenichi. All sighs reserved Fir pulsed in apni 194 hy Gakken, Tokyo, English anation sighs ranged tro Gn, Mangaiin 25wis 8 hae hyoivo dane. Rodina log) “Well, this is the day!” (PL2) REA | Misam——va? es teother 38 for “Where's Tora-san?” (PL2) ‘noiyo is used when referring to an event that i “imminent/near at hand,” generally withthe feeling of “finally long last.” ‘dais the PL2 equivalent of desi (isare”) ne with a Tong vowel means the speaker strongly. assumes agreementlcommon feeling on the part ofthe person being ‘addressed. In situation lke ths, ithas the effect ofa mild exclamation. * ‘within th family, younger siblings generally refer to their older siblings by their kinship titles (o-niésan, “older brother," or ‘onnésan, “older sister the lonorifico- is optional in both ewes) rather than by their names. The ante tiles ae used for older Frothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. Tora-san is Hiroshi brother-in-law. ‘+ ating just atopic + wa (as for”) with the intonation of «question asks very generally about the status/condition of that topic, (2) Oi-chan RECET. Bo fo | btoe RD LT A Okie ie, rmeshi kute,” 1 agatta-Rkiri mani shite nda ka folupandcame-and rice/meal ated went upstairs) only hat isdoing expan.) “He got up and came [downstairs] and ate breaktast, then he just went back upstairs, and what could he be doing?—{we haven't heard a peep out of him since. I” “He got up and came downstairs to eat, and then just went back upstairs, Who knows what he’s upto!” (PL2) okie isthe -te form of oki (*wakelget up"), and kite isthe -te form of kur (“come’ ‘meshi, "(cooked rice,” i also used as an informal word for “meal,” mostly by males, uate isthe -e form of ku, an informal word for “eat” used mostly by males. ‘agatta is the plain/abrupt past form of agare ("go up"), here meaning “go upstairs.” in colloquial speech, Kir’ (or fir) after a past verb implies that that isthe only action that took place typically carves the feeling of “and nothing else has happened since” + shite m dais a contraction of shite tru (progressive “isare ~ing” form of suru, “do”) and the explanatory no da. O, to mark ‘nant asthe direct object, has been omitted. + something like wakaranai ("don’t know,” negative of wakaru) is understood at the end ofthe sentence. An abrupt question ending in ka, no ka orn da ka followed by wakaranai essentially makes an inditect question: "T don’t know/can figure out what ~." In direet speech, da does not occur in abrupt questions; the desu ka of PLS speech simply becomes ka in PL2 speech. But in indirect speech the da can be used before the question particle ka. I's largely bevause tis usage is Limited to indirect speech that we can tell something like wakaranai is understood at the end letters (continued from page 8) They got lazy when it came to finding a replacement imerpreter. For one thing, Dallas has agencies that supply professional interpreters (of spoken language) and transla tors (of written language). As a Bible Belt city, it undoubt- edly numbers among its residents former missionary kids who ‘grew up bilingual and probably even rooted for a Japanese baseball team in their youth, Still, language ability is only a necessary, not a sufficient, (qualification for a professional interpreter. I earn about half ‘my income translating written Japanese into English, read Japanese mysteries for pleasure, enjoy unsubtitled Japanese videotapes, and function comfortably in an all-Japanese environment, Yet I refuse to interpret except in very infor ‘mal social circumstances, because I can’t change linguistic channels instantly. An experienced translator of my aequain- tance, a former missionary kid whose language skills are above reproach, interprets only reluctantly, because doing professional job of itis so mentally exhausting. On the oths hhand, I've met interpreters who thrive on the rapid-fire give and take of a live conversation and can't imagine sitting at 4 computer surrounded by piles of dictionaries, Even these People specialize in particular fields or insist on a thorough briefing before any assignment, and they turn down jobs for which they don’t feel qualified Kent Brown did the best he could in an impossible situ- ation, just ike @ high schoo! baseball player thrown into the ime, The fault lies with Major League Baseball for putting him in that position, Kanew Sanpyess Portland, OR Mangan 2728 MangajinB [2] Souna Fx: 3) x [4 Oichan: Oba-chan: ae Pot (effect of tossing something —here the picture of his prospective bride) XKy uct (effect of sliding across the tatami) Fey Dere! (effect of going gaga over the picture) dere! comes from deredere, which represents a slovenly effect in alitude, movement. or dress, or the effect of going silly! ‘gage over a member ofthe opposite sex, ebm BRAID HF HOTRT CRA GOW A RI A Tomokaku “orea Kono hanashi 0 motte kite kurete gozer-sama ga hont6 ni hotoke-sama ni mieta ze any rate forme this proposal (obj) brough-for us). ist (ob) truly Buddha as. "saw (emp) “At any rate, for me, the Reverend who brought us this proposal realy looked like the Buddha.” “At any rate, when the Reverend came along with this proposal, it was ike the Buddha himself had ‘appeared.” (PL2) ANMEVIE Kb, Arigaiai Koto dane thankful ting‘ (cltog) “Itis a thing to be thankful for, isn’t i.” “Ittruly isa blessing.” (PL2) ‘rea is contraction of ore wa, the rough, masculine word for “Vime" plus the topic marker war “as for me." hhanashi lit, “talk,” can refer to a wide variety of “talksnegotatons/proposal ‘motte kei the te frm of motte kuru “ring,” from mots, “carry” and kuru, “come"). Kureta isthe plan/abrupt past form of kurery, which after the-e form ofa verb implies the action i/was done forthe benefit of the speaker or someone close to hin ‘g2zen-sama is a word used to refer to nobility (“His Excellency/is Lordship”), or toa person of revered stats in the ‘community. Here Ochan is referting tothe hea priest ofthe local Buddhist temple, soi essentially ike referring to the pastor of a Christian church as “the Reverend.” Kono hanashio monte Rte kureta isa complete thoughvsentence (ie} brought us this proposal") modifying gozen-sama Fonte = “euth"and ont nists adver form, “truly.” ‘iets the plain/abrupt past form of mira ("can seelappears"y;~ ni mleru = “appearslooks to me like ~ £2 1s arough, masculine particle for emphasis, farigcta is the plain form ofthe adjective from which we get the expression of gratitude arjgatd (gvzaimasu), and kot “thing.” arigata koro is literally “a thing that haslears one's gratitude” “a blessing.” ee WE HSES venoms Batic de bed hea eae Seale oti i eentecelt Geil Mec Hoe) Maa eh es oe AR Re Giese Gucbeh cin’ b okfias (ete) cy wee cl eer eenel cared worm ead ees ee ame She's been mand before, Bu she's quits beaut, and estes wo Sogn Toresan “She han married bfore bt she's lea Dents and den ont important al she sys she's ling to accept Tora-san.” ) shit aat k ee ee Be ae anon “It's unbelievable.” (P12) ee eres ty er i ies nea eae IRS thing tem france veced woman at dow ashe resort mn ce hs boca Sxegoe rl eae "as rout" Gm bathe of te pil asd for cag lanes ced oleae mieten toe ops biogas emilee mpegmie rhettas tye Atte moose ea ale ‘aun Ce eoecouny anfso eric Of cones he at tects cae pau woemetc poses ae tetiolsan nvr eae gute wes mosig we acres esa ne ee ba te Sore the non iia heal woman) ie srerpta “wusspencte ei cee a koe Maelo it ores fosOK oven ecornes te nda colloguial sonar of ioe rw Cisse at) ~") plus explanatory da Tes iron tegen 1, she says i's OK even if itis Manaainn 29Bik D5 Wt + Otoko wa Tsurai Yo SRmbee Eo BH = 30 ManganBie Woche She Hyakuman-nen. mattetate kona alin years even i alte this mach Ov i i bS seal k, A hana wa mo hoa 30 al at for agra wont come (pt) Spent be walted a million years, tis good of proposal will not comme again. He could wait a milion yea see a proposal this good again.’ Ew EAW Gey ACT Tb, ‘Nido onai chan desu yo ne ‘wie nov oorur ‘chance is emph) (olla) “ir tat Won't occur a secon: Oicchan; ft} meee BY sell sasenaito nal + matte is contraction of mate ae, colloid valent of mate te mo ven stone waits wating”), fiom mate (wai. ‘ + nf Tle by 8 negutive ver means “no any morn pun” Konal she negative of ru com + Heian foe aacess "ad eR sr ts Ye frm, ‘ceed " Se sasenal she negative of sek saver the catstive “male” form of the ver, lena s understood Siero, completing the Smusthave to” fn of the ver ‘et senate (st ake [i ence) Sakura BS, ALE wh oF ara ‘mina “ita na? ite everyone was ie (xan) “Oh, everyone's here?” (PL2) Hiroshi: At HOME COT Be Nandate ——“ochisutanakae a. rity wae eae a) “Somehow we just couldn't sit stil: 2) + arais a feminine interjection showing sudden awareness/ surprise: “Oh!Oh my!” + fia the plainfsbrupt past form of iru (“existe ina place” for people and animate beings) + asking a question with the explanatory no is common in col Toguial speech, especially that of females, + ochitsukanakaite isa colloquial te form of ochitsukanat (“be restlessil at ease”); the -te form is often used to state the «cause of or reason for what follows inthe sentence, but inthis tase its the reason forthe observed situation, so the rest of the sentence can be left unsaid, (5) Sakura: SL b 29 am. Aaski mo 30 ‘nano. 1 a taruay (expan) “That's how I felt, too.” (PL2) i £7 BA it HS Ol Rb wot. Mada kan wa ‘aru noni ‘Wichaa. fie ator ve cien hough came ahead “Even though I still h of mibedad ame” ei) *+ ashi is variation of wash (*UVine”), used mostly by female speakers + kichata is acontaction of ite shimat, the te form of urn (core) plos the plainvabrop past form of shimaw (Cendfnish/pot away"), which afer thee form ofa verb Can express the fein tha he spear ete action in pulsivelyvithout being blew help hese [2] ofehan: wer BKB, Hk Sakura, eouoK, Game) “Now listen, Sakura.” (PL2) BELAY RD LADD te ‘Omae dake ga tayori nam da kara na ou ony (sab) hope Cexlan.) 40 (olla) ®You alone are our hope, so [don't let us, down] “You're our only hope. We're counting ‘on you.” (PL2) + kas iterally “is it OK2,” but it’s also wed when beginning !udmonitionsinstuctions, lke “Alright now listen up!” + mae is acasual, masculine word for "you" used for people of ‘equal or lower situs + tayori = “reliance”—.e., the person or thing one is relying upon for some purpose -* “hope.” (5) Oba-chan: 2) Bb Rob eA, So da_yo, Sakura.chan, that way, 1S (cit) (eames) “That's right, Sakura.” (PL2) ‘chan isa diminutive equivaleat of san ("Mr/MBs,"), most typically used withthe names of children, but also among close adult friends and family. (6) Sakura: 2 E + | bio TE bbe 1 wakattera wa pine | iso de cn) erie ere + is aretaively casual "yess fomal than ha + faker comraction of waka na hnowrunde Sting" rom wetara (ome w understand. «yo colloquia conbnaon tht provides distin ‘cine chase (2) Torassan: 7% 472 FEMA a. Nandaka sé ni ‘Dmehowor sone ecm ay tm) “For some reason, i sure is noisy “What's all the commotion?” (PL2) Shachd $7, REA, btn 2 i Yel,” Torasan, oho. da nel Seyi! nameshon} smminenvat hand's callog) “Yo, Tora-san, its imminent, isn't it?” huhi? (PL2) *+ nandaka implies something is vague or unclear > “some- Ihowt/forsomte reason.” + urusdis a masculine slanoldialect version of urusai ‘Cnoisy”), Nandake urusat essentially implies “For reasons that are unclear to me, you sure areft sure is nosy.” The ‘vowel combination af often changes to @ in masculine slang and cern dialects, + No! isa very informal masculine greeting, like “Hey'/Yo! Mangan 31UE + Otoko wa Tsurai Yo muss 32 Mangajn( Tora-san: ya Nani ga? te iby What i? “For what?” (PL2) BRE, Oomiak “Your o-miai”” (PL2) BReLCT £, O-miai desu yo, gaat Ss emph,) “Yeah, for your o-misi.” (PL3) since he's actually responding to iyo-iyo desu me ("eis im- ‘mien, init”), he says. “What is?” ‘o-miat (or just mia witout the honorific pefix, as seen be low) refers to a formal meeting between the prospective bride and groom in an arranged marriage. Mi- is from the verb look a/see,” and -ai is from au, which after another \erb indicates thatthe action is mutual or interactive. The ‘purpose ofa mii is exactly that forthe prospective couple to look each other over and decide whether the other would be an acceptable partner. (2) Torasan: 5%, ai A are Gimesy “hae “Oh, that.” (PL2) (B) Sthura 525k, bRbeA, eS AD Chowa, ~ “onichan,” doko e? ite” oon. cer erin) hee 4s “Justa second, Tora-chan, where are you going?” (PL2) Sim: Btt BAS Naat Kasdingo nus gasniewn daplin Famous Mugwort Dumplings + dang are bile o steamed éumplings made most com- Ion fom rice our but ss rom cer ory. Kua it, “ras incookig generally refers oa geen heb of soe ‘ind sa dango are Navored sith an hb ale yomogr (Crnigwor’wormvood) * ifthe ead as mdr, means “aenepresetative”: ut itcam also be read mada, meaning “Taniouvrenowned ‘Nada often appears on tre signs nd on product packaging, Whether ono he tem in question actualy famous forssan: 4) bik ok dia, no spo, 0, Boning of on falk ca SSformy morning walk.” (PL2) FX: 47 Su? (turning abruptly to go) (8) Obehan: BEV oc OE a Miai da te moni ka? Inds“ quote) even tows) Even though it's [your] miai [day]?" “Even though you have a miai today?” PL2 + te here is a colloquial equivalent ofthe quotative fo iain this case not marking a true quote. ~ da fou noni often ‘sed as an expression for “even though itis ~,” (5) tora-san: 2-7 are? mie) “What's that?" (PL2) Becomes EX: (4 Kuru (etfect of spinning around on his heels) Torasan: Bub eA & Oichan, yo. ads) *+ ure? isan interjection of suprise/bewildermenticonfusion: “Huh rWhat?7What's that” + Girchan,sehich everyone uses his name, i actually a variation of oji-chan, a more familiar equivalent of 001 (Cancle”; the prefix o- is obligatory). sometimes used ike this when dre someone, something like saying addressing or rasan EAL, i hn Se ae Pilon a5 “ikea hate KEV HEE = SG RE Léevitenot Ob Sipe Wt te eta Bae Sean ley Cty “Are you saying that if a person has a miai, he shouldn’t go for a walk?” (PL2) Ra Foote toes + leicht ting Nant etn cpl guic paar Chetty ta ace ‘in fang dnt Novel tou sohot a ok + foe plain noma frm a eb can mac Sina ea + fbn aan fhe we nat eee: + evi ere te gtr hi ine in Shiga wha eee api at Oi-chan, £9 ik Hobe umn Hs, Sd wa “ithe inai dare that afr sai-emph,) he not Sey “Lnever said that.” (PL2) * itch ina is contraction of of ite was tna, om iu (“Say Ie inai is the negative form of ie ie (have sid) ad inserting wu adds emphasis. Daro makes a conjecture (surelypobably"), but here its «fairly assertive one: cham: Zh EN. Hh eA, Sore ‘ork. Torachan that mere ian (ae dm) BCS bo BAKE &, fei nea de edo a Nesrandgo ‘hing. (apan) Sa (log) “More important than that, Tora-chan, is what you’re going to wear (PL2) + ~ yor means “more han ~" nti case sore yor implies no jst "more tanta but “noe inp a tha + Hite isa contraction of ite ik the te form 9f hire CCwear" and ik ("0") Kite ik mono = "what you Mangan 39iis 250.4 + Otoko wa Teurai Yo 34 Manganen bet, sore yo. sore. es that (eagh) ‘hat it. That’s the question.” aD Oba-chan: © AD Wik of dS AL Kono hito. no sebiro ga aru nda this person "suit (ubj) exists (expla) Be eh Tt ME pr fede) soe dei al? tat” “hat sith goodOK ‘Ave have Ocha’ uit, but will that be OK?" “Oi-chan has a suit. How about wearing that?”"(PL2) Tora-san: Ube A 0? Otchan not? (game “Or-chan’s sult!?" (PL2) * kono hito, literally “this person,” isa reference to her hus- band, Oi-chan. A similar expression is uchi no hito (it, “the person of [my] house”), used to refer to one's husband when he is not present 2) tora.s Eno tk. Soitsu wa, mani ki, iharthing astor what) = Ee tome mono wa jot na no kai? Boodslqualty for superior ‘explan?) That, what, are the goods superior?" “What—is it a quality suit or something?” La) + soitsu from sono yatsu, means “that guy/Tellow/thin hee referring to “that suit [which you just mentioned}.” Blow: Le on? Ji ne? cenit “Quality suite” (PL2) + te cll quoative ns commonty wd wit te to: tion oft gtesuon when pening soeting he ther person has said to ask for clarification something like “what do you mean (by) ~7" Torasan: RBM Ow CL) (tT Fikokuse: no Ait de, anima Bntheade as ead sever 1D b TELE LOE HT OF mmo suru ‘yOna shiromonoka tte na! Keogh conse goatee Xenia) ‘Tineam i tthe kind of suit made of fab- ric imported from England and costing several hundred thousand yen?” (PL2) + 8h (Eu) thekanji name for “England”: the katakana sine girs (71%, om the Portuguese Ingles) ‘widely used in most context + the sulfix-se appended to place natne means “made in ="! appended othe name ofa material t means "made 0 x 10,000 = 100,000, and nan Finan = “several hundred thousand.” At current exchange ates, ¥100,000 is about $1,000. + suru after a monetary amount means “cost” patie mo implies the a inserting the em nts large forthe vontex. [Eloba-chan: Zh WE O SE Cie HE Sore odo mo Koto de wa nai kedo that degree ‘of thine isnot ba “t's nothing th Dut..." Obecchan: b2CE% HAL HM FRCS LO Sulunchasomo ania gaia Kiera. mono tea Soa’ i) now wenag ing zy BRL RB ea ee pore se a hn a ek poreye a ‘atleast is beter than the jack tearing ght news thighs” PLS + mashi (“is better [than)preferable (o]") is typically used ‘when comparing two not-so-g00d items: yor! marks the lesser item ina comparison, so yori mashi da = "is prefer: able to ~.” Wa has an emphatic effect, 9 inserting it gives the feeling of “at least” (in this case reinforcing sukunakutomo atthe beginning of the sentence), (] Torasan: 22k BMS LET A ta, Chotto o-kikishimasu ga ne, ‘litle "hon ask but (colog) will ask a little question, but “Let me ask you one wee little question.” Torasan: WEVoT OD kk Ww bO ATE miai tte no wa it mono bitekeba mmiai (quote) thing as for good thing. if wear BEKUK oT bO ROMW? swmaku iku ite mono na no kai? gowell (quote) “thing explana?) “Isa miai something that turns out well if you go wearing something nice’ Oicchan: h% =k Sonna Koto wa ne ‘dard kedo sa. that kind of thing 2 or nt oxst ply bat (Clg) “I don’t suppose you could say that, but...” (PL2) + o-Kiki shimasu is a PLA humble form of kik (“ask’), Using ‘PLA form ina PL2 sentence ean sometimes carry a sr Cast tone, as it does here, + Litekeba is contraction of kite ikeba, a conlitonal “if when” form of kit iu (lit, “wear and 0") + més masculine slangiilect for nai (“not exisvhave”). Sonna koro (wa) nes a idiom for denying the accuracy or validity of whats just been said Tors te, We Cada the Ha, i Jane ka. intbarcasehhen goadOK “eitaoe? “All right, then.” (PL2) Tora-san: 472 1fFI:2, ROLE BH E Kakto tsukezu ni yo, su no mama no ore 9 appear. wo putting on realnatra "me (bi) RULHI, LN CM Abe ROO? mite morau. Kore de iin janaino? have erm se this with OK (exp isnt “Instead of putting on Jet them see the real me. Ist that the way + kakko (or kako) refers to external appearances, and kakko tsukezu isa negative form of kakko tsukera, lit, “pit on ap ppearances.” + kore de ican mean either “this is enough” or “this is how it should be." N ja nano ="isnit the ease that?” (continued on next page)E+ Otoko wa Tsurai Yo Rass RORMMS Rte Rpowonr< Pee HiBte SD + She 36 Mangajin(continued from previous page) Sakura: 2 fa, he that way (dog) “T suppose so.” (PL2) Sakura: Zi! wus MELE EU Sore ga fimo. kama shirenai. that (tb) gooOK (expan) maybe “Maybe that’s best.” (PL2) + s0 ne expresses agreement or acceptance, like “that’s true, isn't ivthat’s a good idea, init» “righ¥OKJmaybe soll suppose so/good idea.” Gai BLNEZ O REA & Anu gamama mo niisan 0 Behe sho is tthe (bi) WUbG ATH fa. mite moron ndesu ne. have them sce (expla) igh? ‘So we have them see Tora-san as he really is...” (PL3) EoD ETO A Lek o7 Soitsu wa mazui mn“ janai no? that as foc "bad. (expan), ‘isnot expla.) “Isn't that a bad idea?” (PL2) + aru ga mama (or ari no mama) isan expression for “just as hei.” No makes this a modifier for nisan ("rother’) —* "orother/ Torus just as he + ite isthe te form of mira (“seevNook at") and moraw after the fe form of a verb implies having someone else do the action + soisu (that guy/ellow/thing”) inthis case refers to the plan/suggestion as summed up by Hiroshi» “that idea.” (B] Torasan: th oto Ya! Nenita tha ha Mkt ‘Breting sid Came) “Did you say something, Tako?” (P12) ‘FX: Yo ira (effect of giving Shach® a dirty look) + Tat erly “oto s Sacha" pater doniplinen- tay aielame 3] Shachd: Ue a A, ya aves.) 6 Stine” (PL2) + iva isa more colloquial word fr ie 0") [4] Torasan: =. Jann ine “See ya.” (PL2) Sakura: bHbeA, / SL & FoF or Oonichon,"” + ash moi ka? ee ata “Tora-chan, shall I go along?” (PL2) + ja(a contraction of dewa) i literally “in that case/then/vell then,” but it serves idiomaticaly as x casuaVinformal Cc BEA HF Nande “omae ga tultekunda yo? tshy “Sou ub aecompany-explan) (emp) "Why should you come along?” (PL2), leone Sakura: oC, HEL & BGO Ic Dame,” “atashi mo o-miai nb (eons) “Time” aso (hon mat HTS AL Oh doseki sure nda mon. ‘Mend wih expan) becatse “Well, because I'll be going to th with you.” (PL2) nnande isa colloquial naze (*why teat isthe -1e Form of souk (“ataestck to") and ku i a contraction of kuru ("come") plus explanatory no, s0 suite Fun means “come along/ascompany.” the conjunetion date i often used t introduce explanations further elaborations on what the speaker has just said cause alll mean ~.” dose, literally writen “same seat,” refers to two or more people taking seats at the same meeting sure makes ita verb: “attend/be with [someone at a meeting)” inda mon sa contaetion of explanatory no da, plus mono, Imeaning “fecase"aogeter implying "beats thesia Tora-san: ANH. BH i] Pe Anon” ore wa / chgat 6 {totseu ow: te a fo junoe gh fo BRIS EE Lhe AH 2 jens steak Jaa nde, {tke eam gra shoaer am not ie You know, I'm not some grade schooler ing off to take the entrance exam for Junior high.” (PL2) + ano nds a mostly masculine equivalent of amg nd an iter. ‘Jeti hat ean be Spoken wid shar, scolding tne, ke “TistenLook ere" or with a somewhat geet cautionary tone, like “You know/Hold on a minute/T hate to say this,” when the speaker wants ost the istenee staf about something + jen is noun that refers to “taking an alssions test Stance exam,” and ading suru makes ia ver, Chgake 2 juken sur sa complete thoughsentencs((Uhe] wi take an entrance exam fr junior high schoo") modiying shogatuse pra schol Stade) Torasan: TA 2% Shinpat sin na te denver (qt) “Don't worry, I tell you.” (PL2) Tora-san: F ~ it SeAE OSMMY IS Tera e wa chanto jkan-dri ni ‘Gone & atlor propery “onschebae we be & itu bara yo wil go because (ph) “T'll be at the temple right on time * shinpa isa noun for “woryanxity tion of suru, which makes a ver hinpa sur be ansiowsi + afer the plain form ofa vet can make a prohiition/ negative command: "don't =.” + the coloquitquotative re canbe used atthe end of a en- ence for rong emphasis ike", sf tell yu,” + canto basically implies ding the proper OF necessary thing Under the eieumstances; ts more cxaet meaning ea range, shite widely according to context "daly propetyperferiy/ feallysuccesfullyfafelyas expected” + Tari is x suffi meaning “(exactly as/accondng to." kan dl n= "right on tineton schedule * (PL2) To be continued... ‘Mangan 37by VA / Takeuchi Akira Garcia-kun depicts the life of a Colombian laborer who has come to Japan to earn money for his family back home. such as Gareia-kun are typically given the jobs least desired by the Japanese (often called 3-K [san-ke| jobs: “kitanai, kitsui and kiken™ “dirty, difficult, and dangerous”) and are often exploited as a source of cheap labor. Such work, and the fact that the Japanese tend to view foreign laborers with a measure of preju dice and mistrust, makes their lives in Japan a challenge, But Garci and delivery man for a flower shop. is a virtu- ‘ous, hard-working guy who faces the hardships with grace and humor reign laborers Garcia-kun author Takeuchi Akira is a manga artist and sign-painter in Akita prefecture, located in Japan’s snowy north, Interestingly enough, he denies any attempt to provide social commentary or to raise Japanese con. sciousness about racism. In fact, he has never traveled outside of Japan and has no contact with foreign laborers in the area where he lives. He insists his goal is merely to create humorous manga, because, as he says, “if it's not funny, it’s not good manga.” 38 Mangan kun, working as a janitor (© Takeuchi AkLok fem oe ie, Yovatu shite ta hana-ya, desu kedo. eservation ha donelmage Mori “am. bat “Tm the florist who made reservations.” (PL3) Signs: ist Aaa Onsen Sukii0 ‘rene slopes ‘The Springs The Slopes + yonaku = reservation”; adding suru (‘do/make”) makes it a verb, “reserve/make a reservation.” Shite ita is the past form of “Shite iru *have done”), from suru (“do”). The employees atthe flower shop where Garcia Works are taking a company trip. + doyaku slut ita isu complete thoughsentence (“(] had made a reservation”) modifying hana-ya (“florist * Suki isthe katakana rendering of "ski," and -)0 isa suffix meaning “place offfor,” so sultijo™ "ski aea/tesorslopes.” Maid: ii i, SHR Le Toi sohoro, _gokurd-sama —deshita discam "place om yhardchip-hon.) was “It was good of you to endure the hardships of such a long journey.” (PL3) Florist: itaki=%0 EF. O-sewa mi narimase ill receive favorfidhosptaity “We will be receiving your favor/hospitaity.” “Thank you for your hospitality.” (PL3) + gokurd-sama combines the word kurd, meaning “trouble/suffering/hardship,” with the honorific prefix go- and the honorific ending -sama that is usually used with names. It’s typially used as an expression for thanking Someone for thet labors oF showing sympathy for their troublessuffering/Taigue, but here it's essentially a weleome greeting tothe visitors who have had t9 luavel along way to get there. + sewa refers to “help/aidifaver,” and o-sewa ni navimasu is the PL3 form of sewa ni nara, meaning “receive help/aid/favor.” (O-sewa ni narimasuis te standard greeting used by inn guests or houseguests when fits arriving, serving as a thanks-in-advance forthe hospitality they will receive. The same phrase is used in the past-ese form when leaving: o-sewa mi narimashita, Saat eR Gokird-sama— deshita, hon ybaréshiphon) was “Iwas good of you to endure such hardship.” (P13) D4 BALES Hai,” yoroshiku yefellwel/favoraly “Yes, please take good care of us.” (PL2) + yoroshiku i short for voroshiku onegai shimasu, literally, “wellfavorably” + “(hon,)-request” + “do/make,” or something like Lrequest your favorable consideration/treatment.” I's a standard expression used when meeting someone for the frst time as well as when one has asked for o is about to receive favors of some kind. Mai um LeS A CLs, Be CL Gokura shiteru nm desho,” Nihon de. {hon hardship ar doingraving Cexplin) ‘reht? Japan “Such hardship... you're experiencing, right?- Garela 122 Ha? “Huh?” (PL2) + presumably because of stories in the news about hardships endured by foreign workers in Japan, the maid suddenly thinks of the more literal meaning of Aurd and winds up asking Garcia about his hardships rather than giving hit the greeting she gave the others, Kurd shiteru is a contraction of kurd shite iru anuisfare experiencing hardship”), from the verb kurd suru an dergo hardshipisuffering”) + desho with the intonation of a question is ike a tag: “right?” Japan.” (PL3) Mangaiin 39Garcia-kun bytiiva / Takeuch! Akira Fob Tol, Enlh b Takashi Akin. Al igh sen 40 Mangain [sound ex: #5 9 ¥Y Chattn Ship (eect ofcuning flower) DESL, OE EF CF he Rowan, Ubon Jon ee femctie’’ towepetincng sll ae" foo) “You're so good at flower arranging, Ms. Kotani.” (PL3) On Apron: {i/8 Honaya Aower shops, Florist + ga, to mark ikzbana (“Tower arranging”) as the subject of jozu desu (“sh are skillful), has been omitted. + the suffix ya can refer to shop or to the person/people running it, so ‘hana-ya can be either flower shop” or “florist.” [] Kotani: At Mk, AH Koma no kantan yo! Asameshicmae So. {Birkind of onething “eaty"(emph-in) eloe beat engi) "This kind of thing is easy. I's a betore-breakfast task" “Oh, there's nothing to it It's so easy, Lean do it before breakfast.” (PL2) Garcia: (34 Ha Xn” (PL) + kona Cis kind of) is often used to inthe the pronoun “one” or like "thing," so konna no Something like this. + twa to mark the nominalizer mo as the subject of kantan (“easy omitted. + the emphatic patel yo by itself ean often stand for desu yo (“iva emphasis) especially i feminine speech + asa ="moming,” mesh = "icemea! (informal) and mae = “before” 0 ‘sameshiomae iterally means “belore breakfast Asamesi-mae i ab ex pression ike i's easy apie” of “i's a pcce of cake." essentially imply Ing the tasks so easy ean be done in wice before breakast. Although imesh is mosily masculine, asameshi-mae is used by both sexes [3] Woman: 77, ABA. HB ke Ara.” galisan chikaramochi ne Ges) oan) stot cll 5) ‘Goodness, young man, you're so strong.” (PL.2) HR, MH oH Hie ‘has” Aa gohon-mae. desi (Glemmc) eet eleva ‘SiUright! Pm before breakfast.” (PL3) + ara a feminine ineection showing sudden awareness or srrise: “Ob! ‘Oh my iGoodness™ + ding the espectol sfx son to gaijin oreignr" a elaively polite ‘ray to fer t nonJepanese + hikaraoch i writen ith kanji meaning “Senet and “possessing” + “sirog [perso + gol is more Tormal word for “ice/mel"andin most ase anagohan {th be considered a more polite synonym fr asamesi, so Gari thnks he's saying a more polite “theres nothing to vit easy a ie" But only {samesht mae is asd for tat meaning that's why the lady responds te shay she doesn the not pane referred w, and no “this kind of thing? ) has been Woman: s-< Tabetet ‘aban 20 “Please eat.” (PL2) + tabetete isa contraction of tabete it, the -te form of taberu (“eat”) and the -te form of thu ("20"), A Tor of thu after the -t form of a verb implies ‘doing the action before going/leaving. Using ae form with iku makes it fn informal requestinvtation,Garcia-kun by / Takeuchi Akira 1n199by Fab, Tyo, Engh aston righ aranged hough Fata, (Garcia: 2 LAr 2 ¢LeAl EXiuohin! kRishun! Ker-choo! Ker-choo! Bos: BR? He VL TA D YUE FLT hy ya? Dareka Gurushia-kun no wpasabanashi 9 shitert ne, Gates) someone onme-fum) about” gmp. (obj) doing (coleg) “Aha, someone's gossiping about you, Garcia.” (PL2) + the standard FX word for sneezes is hokushon! (i < L.& A) but there are a ‘number of variations + ya i an interjection used when suddenly noticing something, often with 3 Teoling of mild surprise "rumor/gossip.” and -banashi is from hanashi (“talk." the noun form of hanasu, “talk/speak": h changes (0 2 for euphony). Adding -banashi ‘doesn't change the meaning [2] Garcia; 2 < Le At Gare Oke Ker-choo! Boss 198 it (HRS), 208 ted, Hivotswme wa “subi,” futatsusme wa “kirai, fi stor Second a or ditikerate 30H ik [RENCS) oT BD AK Imitsume wa “aisarateru” “te “iw nda yo Thiet" astor are loved (quote) say (explan) (ei) “They say the first one means someone likes you, the second means someone hates you, and the third means someone loves you.” (PL2) + the counter suffix -me is for places in a sequence, “firsUsecondhir,” ee, 50 hitotsu-me = “fest,” fuatsu-me = second,” and mittsu-me = “thi” + isareterw isa contraction of aisarete ir, from aisareru ("be loved"), the passive form of aisuru (“love”) + tte isa colloquial quotative ro. + n da (a colloquial contraction of no da) shows he's making an explanation sob ke ete time wa nan desuka? inc essathen "fom afer wa, i “in that case, what is the fourth?” “Then what does the fourth one mean?” (PL3) Boss: 498? Yotsw me? fon ‘The fourth one?” (PL2) + jitis a contraction ofthe conjunction dewa, “in that casethen/well [2] Garcia: 24~9¢L2At Hi-tiushon? Ahh:choo! Boss: ot, 408 it mL Watasta” Yorswme wa ha derstood "foun aster aol, (emph) “Oh T know! The fourths a cold” “Oh, I know! The fourth means you've got a cold.” 13) + wakaa, the plaivabropt past form of wakaru (“come to known Stand”), s used sdiomaiclly as an exclamation for "I know Ive Te pured i out! Mangain $1by TAS Takeuchi Akira kun Garcia- 42 Mangajinin} Daughter: Bae BR [HJ Announcer: ya awe cere “Listen up, everyone.” (PL2) HVUTS BW MOH. t BVT Tl are ean Stee een arte WLS BORO kGE FH AK Ze Cee ee meee Pi ad ences a ‘Don’t do anything that’ re of feel lonely.” (PL2) ‘hing admonitions/instructions, like “listen hereisten up!” Tam Ceoumtry here asthe esting of"bomeland" [6] Garda: ~ yO ni suru means “make it so that ~"", when it fol- . lows 4 negative (~ na ym suru, becomes “make i $0 that shit doesn't "so the boss more teal Shs cae io that Garcia doesnt po lonely by think- ing of home ss: Gareia: Hi b..2.10...8.. VEE WT yo wa onimassneki Heda teloy for bon iiton” —eeicand “(Thank you) for... i it...img... Me... today.” (PL3-4implied) Arrow: 4 = Meno Notes Bass: Boss: HF VO HG, Bh, kato ‘sau va ii karo, 3d,” agate dng esr go eed tec iy) Sone ‘mind the formalities. Come on in.” ro Yokoso, “Weleome.” (PL3-4) o-manelt itadaite arigatd gozaimasu, which Garcia Goesn’t get a chance fo Finish, isa very polite and formal “thank you for inviting me fi means "good/OK/Tine,” but wa iis an idiomatic expression for "~ is unnocessary” or “never mind : fagatte isthe ‘te form of agaru ("go upleome up,” here the Tater); the fe form is being used to make an informal requesUinvitation (this use of -e forms is repeated several times below). Since entering @ Japanese home cequires a Sep up from the ground level tothe floor level, agate {hadasai) is the way to ivite someone to come in. Garei 7 Boru Rik WT KAN Kazoku ik — karaoke tia? family confrontation ‘Karaoke contest “Family feud karaoke contest!” (PL2) PLE MLT. Terebi _keshite TH sumottarcapest) “Turn off the TV!” (PL2) 5k OD BoA Meds. Un, watashino uni mo sakk inkl ar. tiehuh my sountey aI soccer popularity has “Uh-huh, soccer is popular in my country, too.” (PL2) WY LES Te Shimatte. ball poaway-reques) Put that ball away!” (PL2) =n xD ORY CH? Kore, fit no tori desuka? thivthese husband and wife that are birds,‘ they? “Are these birds husband and wife?” PL) te bye BLT. Dareka tori 0 soto ni dashite. Samcone binds (0b) ouside, to put ours), Someone put the birds outside!” (PL2) goat wat “Wow!” (exclam.) bE WEF ty To tomikakw 1abeyo ka. case shalleat (sammer) in SWewell, shall we eat?” (PL2) ch BRO EA WM KO te Kore ga Nihon no shopatsu ryori da 30. ae" (Ry pun "e NY's tes re cn) Japanese New Year's dishes.” eat.” (PL3) azo is a polite word for urging the listener to {do something: “please [do the action].” Spoken ‘when serving food of drink it means “please g0 ahead.” BULY.. BO Eb Oishii." Kuni_no Razoku mimo elcioos home ‘at fully 10 also Garcia: 2A, we Acro feseiticiotse “Musume-san ita mdesu tabesasetakatta desu. aghectton) exstodhad expan. tamed oe et “sitar you hada daughter i; [PS delicious. wish my family back didn't know you ha daughter home could have had some, too.” (PL3) ss: HU BO # ER DED, Bo ne at Watashino chi ni mo. tito shalputseay ri ‘home/family in also one person “Lets clean up.” (PL2) “Lave one. too,” (PL?) ibesasetakatta de the PL3 past form of tabesasetai, Bos: 25 {12% the want to form of faesasera(makelt et) om Mh las aber (eat) er oaeane + Katazukeyo isthe volitional (“et’s/l shall”) form of ‘Go somewhere else!” (12) aazukeru (tidy wp/put away Mangajn 43by TIA Takeuchi Akira 1a- MAG Gare 44 Mangal(i) Arrow: eee [Bonin + iru “pan roasting” or “parching.” rayon) * isulutchaw is contraction of ttt shina, the te ao if form of rsukuru (“make”), mi Eero “end/finish/put Landlady; \*\> V5 OR, away"), which after the -1e form of a verb can is the: a kai Atdsha ne, action is/was the wrong thing to do. ee B0UOK Hei” seforme (all) = Tere o fe ¢ pac GO) Landy Ute || Ubew oc Ho arene Se mmamemaki—shinaval_ “te itara een a oni a ete ean donna que) when id Mc Moc bourne ato ticki no naa meni fai ti hate monahal” nda jo, i re neta ae oe felon of insite fo “tury and Nei setae wees ca et) “yen T said to scatter the beans, you naearaene ie eet planted them in the ground?” (PL3) rites before vou go home to your coun ia: (kd. tries.” (PL2) fee, + kai makes asofterfess abrupt question than ha. ka is "Yes.ma’am.” (PL3) literally “ip itOKT but’ algo used hea begin + mamemai iste term forthe “bean seattering” custom sudmontionsfinstructions, ike “Ustenherfisten ‘mentioned in the note above, and adding suru a0") + tasers contraction of aussi wa, where ats is 8 sakes ia verb shina elavely gente com. ‘mostly Feminine form of warashé (Ve) and wa isthe tan for of sr topic marker asf), + tea colloquial equivalent ofthe quotative + nein the mile ofa entence i «kind of verbal pause. + thuch = "irsoilground and nas “insides + ane ee oof ar a0 Nos) ad moral touch no nak ster “in the so/ground. th te form of mother verb eas he speaker wants the action fo be done (S) Landindy: Bebe. 6). tM Cc, ee sy te ean aa andidy: Zh OM Hn, Hk Ssforme yam see mY ore ga man del Seguin Hl ‘just feel so discouraged.” (PL2) a iy te i ayer Sping oor Gace fo anaes BRED DT & Hock!s Ly ‘Sie suimasen citi, mane 9 hat a_i Seer ee cy Stack” scanints 06) buy tng coe and SWelve very sorry.” “Sut look what you do. For Setsubun you Sema ane a and buy snack peas...” Assohenmel yarnasa tara be me ‘Welly harder next time.” (PL3) i) am + mo (i, ale) bes i oxy for xpbass ‘Yes, ma'am.” (PL3) ‘ atenatie fete lcm haplene Wh ne + asking a question with da can sound quite ough and is plies the pes feels saddened and discouraged bythe generally vestrcted to male speakers “though in cemain Situation. Using ate form usually phe the sentence Informal situations and when speaking fom «positon of wil continue, bat here she softens her sentence by authori female speakers cane ts wel iesvng the rest unsa + Sctubu's the st ay ofthe year on nc aitional Japa aese slr calendar found Feary on te Gegonen [6] G&Friend: Bk §K rd s010, ond ot wch Calendar. On this day Japanese scatter beans usualy soy Manet il gi, sc beans-—inside and ouside their houses To drive demons al Koper ue een fe away, chanting fuku wa uchi, oni wa soto (IAP), AEA, ‘Good fortune out, demons it good forte i, demons ou”), 13) + faite ura is literally “by and come,” bu it's used like Landiady: 83 0 Hob’ ALe~~1 the English "go buy” Chigan to tone ja-t + shis an emphatic “and/and moreover” for connecting {erent gone) am saying eta) clauses of a sentence, Her sentence continues all te Way “That's not it, tell you!” (PL2) to the Sh panel. I's aPL2 sentence as whole lady: bey 1 + fis tentative and uncertain ha yes"), here used mainly Lantiade: 14) > to show politely that he hears what she is saying Tran Landindy AB MS Ae LMA + Garcia and his friend manage to serew up agin by get- jm nda i oshictara ting the chant backwards. Soya (0) (ta em) en + fori contaction of ie ora, equivalent oie iru SHE feobed (Cam saying’) fom i 349"), ore eke + osha teed det oe’ energis ora ‘nh cs ad major exertion, such s this lying karat kick. hen {tel you you's posed to rast sovbeans, Yau tam them ‘nto a bean dish... Garcia: 12%, Ha “Yes, ma’am.” (PL3) Mangaiin 45IFX: ¥xU Kyapi (girlish chatter) SarsQOWR bd, RAK HEY dr. Sore demo Megezu! seins speek j {Sinn sorindeteasctmony con ine Never Say Die! “Ah, they’ mast be on tir way home from the : como: i) by JI188—4 / Kawabata Issei eee Gut (eect of taking frm hold of his arm) Wife: # OD F. HUTS bk, Hana no sin, neblonl wae ore me in orilg (om copny "he space under your ose stretching.” “You're starting to drool” (PL?) oun fr “coming of gueaching adulthoa” (adding suru makes ome ages an dl”) and sha “ceremon)." 40 selimshitt = “coming a agectemoeys Jana) LSthis Sein no Hi Coming of Age Day) in apr shal No day on hich owns a ces he econo oral wales Selyeacokis auinoos + Sgr sa noun forma ier osu home") 5 selinhit gard ‘tert thirbeing on ther way back om ie ceremy, + haber acontestion of noble iy Cs sch sete") from nabirw omen} lngthensetches") Hane neste in) bic i.e space ner your notes sthing"ravson Expression an no shia ga nag “he space ener hs Noe a Ion) wed deneribos san whoa asst er semen rece Shey amorous tclnaons, Wie: > MO He It ry & HE Onna no hontd no miryoku wa hatachi 0 supite woman's techn at fr age 20 (08) having passed PHO LERPE “OD CH, Kara no shinayckasa nano desu aller ‘of erceffnement (expan) “is “A woman’s true charm comes with the grace she acquires after age 20.” (PL3) ho, “Hmm.” (PL2) + susie ip thet form of sugiru (“pass bylgo past), and Aara after the te form ofa verb means “aftr [that kes placefhas taken place” + Shinayakasa eters “piabiltysuppleness” but unless the subject is 2 contortionist, “grace” seems (fit beter when speaking of general feminine characteristics Husband: Lawns ic ety Shinayatase ni kan fEpeelefinement 10 oases “Here's to a woman’s grace.” (PL2) Wife: 77. Un” “Right!” (PL2) Wife: hob» - Yotoharna became drunk egret) “Pm drunk.” (PL2) Husband: Lists tt. Shitauhasa mi Kanpa. rceseociowness 10 tastes “Here's to a woman glazed!” (PL2) but have diametri duplicate in English + the humor isin the two words that sound s cally opposite meanings (an effect we can’t here). When speaking of drinking, sitataka implies heavy drinking, ‘or becoming extemely drunk; when describing person it implies _great strength and ferocity. On both counts, it's quite the opposite of and refinement, and even the “plisblity” that comes drunkenness is wot the kind normally associated with shinavakasa,BRTeOPSR oa ssenpected not anywhero Sour seanring At doing clog) Sore demo Megezu! ahs eapested nowhere i doing bean-seatering, Never Say Die! “Just as [thought, no one’s scattering beans.” (PL2) Employee: HHA & Lakin, by |\|3%—E / Kawabata Issei Shikata nat n — janai suka, ante Pepe explan) ati ‘Tait cas that can't be helped “Times have changed.” (PL informal) + Nappact is colloquial yahar, which implies tha situation or out- ‘Some fits one's expectations; "sure enoughafier alljust as Thought.” + doko mo can work together with a negative later in the sentence to ‘mean “not anywhere/nowheze.” + mamemaki (literally, "bean Scattering”) refers to the custom of scatter- ‘beans—uswally soybeans-—in and around one’s hovse on Setsubu, ‘the last day of the year onthe traditional Japanese solar calendar (around February 3 on the Gregorian calendar), in ordet to drive away evil and encourage the entry of good fortune. * Yatienat is 3 contraction of vate ina, negative of yate iru (“are do. ing”), from yaru (an informal word for "do”). 1 shikata nai (ot shitata ga nai, literally, “thece is no means of doing,” is an expression for “itcan't be helped it’s unavoidable.” + jana su kas a contraction of ja nai desu ha, which ashs, “isn’t the ‘case that ~?" Often the question is purely rhetorcal-—essentially less director softer way of making an asertion, i Empl: bel fhm HH it BeKIC z Watashi nanka bd wa seidaini ine ‘as for today for grandiymagnifcely RUTEELE VE hh mai kimashita kedo fateestanceame ‘Sat lig) “"Tdid some liberal seattering of my own earlier today, though.” (PL3) Boss: 7H it SHED Bot? 49 wa soromawari——"danaro? iaday an foe ouside worn cls waste, eh? “You were out making the rounds today. righ 12) + nana i a colloquial nado (“somsething/someone like”), here essen- tally functioning to mark the topic, like wa ("as for + mate ithe te form of maku ("sattedsow"), ad kimashita isthe PL Past for of kuru ("come"). A form of kuru ater thee form of 8 ves {ypically implies “po/vent to do the ation" or “dad the action and somelcame," but inthis case we find oi i's more like “id the ation ‘while out ahd about” + Sotomatvar refers to work that akes you away from the office, suchas calling on lens. + datnaro isa contation of dat, pas form of da Nae"), pls the onjectural dara, which when spoken with the intonation 6a question ‘soften like the tag question “ight?” Empl: #8 S58 or Flu ya whi od nol food forune safer inside Tsay (cma) "Good fortune in,1sayi™ (PL2) Sound FX: 237 437 Shon ‘sukon Plunk plunk (ctl of pachinko balls dropping into holes) * the custom is to chant Fula wa wehi, oni wa soto (it, “Good fortune ‘in, demons out”) when scattering beans ia mameraki + tsi slang contraction oft fu (quotative fo plus iu, say"), and no here serves as emphasis, 3 i 2 il ‘Mangan 47BRCSOWTW Tie fee (Gum) om some (cl) peas a Sore demo Megezu! “Wer, die plum bosoms ae prety.” 12) Boss: i WS 7B ks MRE Never Say Die! Miashi i bana to tebo ; Tonga ator owes gate) enn by J\|%%—4E / Kawabata Issei He Dok Rat £3 ti, neo eo dona ib dag Bom Boncns of thing as Gent 6 $n the olden days, if you sald lomers' it meant plum blossoms, but. ‘+ ne refers to “Japanese plum a.k.a, “Iupanese apricot”), whose ‘uit is somewhat smaller and less sweet than European plums and apri- ‘cots. Its blossoms are welcomed as one of the fist signs of spring, + ~ no koto is titerally “things offabout ~," and data is te past form of dda isfare"), so. ~ no koto data = “it was about "> "it meant ~.” + 30 da implies he is repeating information he has heard from someone else or that comes from a secondary source of some kind. Bos: 7 if ERA : ima wa hana to “ieba sakura — da ow as for flowers (que) sivhen say chery blosams ivare “if you say ‘flowers’ now it means cherry blossoms.” (PL2) Employee: oO HR ot ume no hanami “ite that iththen say plum blossoms of Mower viewing (te) period of Japanese history, bu the shift to “Hlowers = cherry blossoms ‘actually took place by around the 11th century, time most of us would include in mukashi + except when the speaker specifically says otherwise, hanami (it ‘ower viewing”) always blossoms, usually while having a party or picnic bens + kikanai isthe PL2 negative form of kiku ("heat") and desu makes it PL3. More propery, the PL3 negative form of kku i Rikimasen. G) Emp: Brot movers m 6 $e 1k, Chane “hawaisona mo. sur nae Z Beech aa, a Kahana desu ne é onthe (calla) 3 “Now that you mention it, you never hear about £ flower viewing parties for plum blossoms, do you?” z PL3) i + the boss's remark is correct if mukashi applies only to the earliest ia’ | Sintety be oang cr te (ae) “Itmakes me feel alittle sorry for them,” (PL2) Boss: $1! 4H it 36 © WRB P55, Yost! Kyo hatch de umemitbe. yard OK dy ss for my hose at pin veing sake fe do “AIL right! Today let’s have some plum-viewing ‘sake at my house.” (PL2) ~ ki ga sure or ~ i mo suru after a word describing an emotion means el ~ Ihave feelings of ~.” Kawaisé na kimo suru ="feel sorry for.” yoshi! (or ydshi) isan interjectoy form of I/yoi ("good/OK"), often used ‘when declasing what one has decided to do. -zake (from sake, “rice wine") attached toa word describing an activity ‘refers to enjoying sake while doing that activity, Both: ised io apni 1998 by Fats, Toyo, alah BUN AY ‘anpai ‘Cheers!” (PL2) + Kanpai means “a toast” and it's also used like “Cheers'/Bottoms up!" instead of viewing plum blossoms, they are drinking umeshu ("plum ‘wine”) while looking atthe large jar Of wmeshu on the able between then, Umesha isa sweet alcoholic beverage made by pouring shih (a distilled spirt made from grain or sweet potatoes) over green ume and sugar and Teting it sit for about 3 months,tmoMt a ton tat ina. Kono Hito ni Kakero — Bet on this Woman — aff IRB Story Shu Ryoka i - S37—F Arte Yumeno Kazuko r Inevents preceding this episode base \ { on 30-year-old Harashima Hiromi is gra il SY 5° transfered from the head office of oe Py 2 Yosuba Bank toa faiting Branch 2am 1 UA? Zig, office. Her new position is Com age x 7A mercial Services representative— ee J | BEEN essentially « dooro-door “salesper- é son” for the bank AN Harashima's unconventional ways and forthright manner are shocking 10 her new colleagues. A rivalry soon develops between her and Mr. Kato, the star of the Commercial Services department, who despite two years of work has not been able to land the Shinwa Enterprises account. When Harashima brashly accepts the challenge of landing Shinwa in only two months, the tension between them escalates, 7 Harashima bumps into Kamiya and his son, Rydichi She researches her region—and Shinwa—by spending @ few weeks just getting to know the neighborhood. While doing this, she comes across some interesting gossip: the president of Shinwa, Mr. Kamiya, is an art aficionado who has two sons working for him, one of whom is the product of an extramarital affair In Harashima's first meeting alone with a Shinwa executive, she is warned that the president, Mr. Kamiya, is fiercely loyal t0 their current bank and will never make the switch to Yotsuba, She is ‘not given the access to Kamiya that she had hoped for, but then, on the way out, she has the good for- tune to bump into him. Preferring to take an indi rect approach, Harashima chats with Kamiya about his art collection, Kamiya suggests that she contact the vice president who is in charge of the collee- tion—his legitimate son—for a tour, It’s an important meeting, a chance to reach the president through his son. Harashima decides to ask the hostile but knowledgeable Kato to accompany her. "So you can get a feather in your cap?” he retorts. “I can’t believe you're the kind of person to get hung up on something like that,” she argues— and wins his reluctant support Harashima convinces Kati to come along. (© Sha & Yumeno, Al sights reserved Fist published in Japan in 1984 by Kedansha, Tokyo, English ransation rights arranged through Kodansh, 50 MangajinHere are some of the key vocabulary and grammar constructions found in the following story. We suggest previewing this section before you begin to prepare yourself for words, kanji, and patterns that are new to you Many of these items do not appear again in the notes. CE aSieaoe fushin drinnssonnein ff INE mmrude tichicompley oat nesshin na setigus/devoted bore suru ‘omoitsuki whin/random idea makaseru tema theme naishin tana shelf (n) oborera rekibishii ddemanding/severe/harsh . - ara hamersu destruetion/ruin jisyo undertaking/business isogu Ieieisha manager/businessperson kersuron kid teajectory/track reise ni kyokuron cexireme argument/view shorai oku interiot/innermost recesses sugusama oyaji dadiold man takusura bei rnumerous/many people vobiyosers | sain abilityrtalent | sennen suru give undivided attention to shisan assets/property/wealth uketsuegn soshitsu consttution/aptitude % yucuriukeru (AT eure LBD, (Wt bet deus) (~ wate desu) De LREW (kao shirena) Cele, (koto wa nai) ‘andeki suru indulge infbecome addicted to backing/support innermostirue desire ‘drown/be drowned abdomenfbelly hhandan suru judgefmake a judgment rushvhury (v.) decision/conclusion calmly/tealistcally future (n.) immediately summonisend for inherit receivevobtain/inherit “[B] takes place in conjunction with/at the same time as [A] “is only/is no more than ~" “musvshould [do the action)” “the situation is that ~" ‘mightmay possibly be ~ “there's no needireason to ~ CON Wiens sal cite waded ioe] ina a ow oper righ comer of the Hast. | 34 REA FSA ETE ANS BS EM om piles, the first letter changes 3U ¢KU TSU #NU FU &MU®YU SRU P-sound (e.g. \t > If = ha > pa). AE UKE USE CTE NE SHE OME ARE 5 2k ES £15 BN GEE PB ovo BE co When the “voicing mark (wo lines tat ook like &doble-quote nk 8. Ts and He sgtablen, the SU 380 aR SR MG aw U8 ReGen to Band Hob 53 115 S85 SEE 2MB ayo GES v0 fog > oko po Ai and te make thelr voiced ca Se Some oe caulvalents inregular as well £3 sH0_ 51H LEMe oF iho iio do Setu> SAKYU D23H0 FacHU =aNyU eaHyU ya RYO Ji, anc =tsu > zu. *eKYO %aSHO #43CHO =a3NYO Ea HYO 3 RYO. Mangain 51[i] View President: SABRE CL? “A point of doubt about something” “You look puzzled about something.” (13-4) Bembiog: ner SESOMIE, F—VE ERG BAT 9 “As for this shelf, both the themes and the dates are completely scattered ...” Boca cieens 5 FHRERIE LEO 2. “and I got the impression that [the picees] have been arranged by whim, so This shelf seems to be a complete hodge- podge of themes and dates... as if the pieces were placed at random.” (PL3) + 7% = *doubsuspicion/queston,” and 78 is iterlly “point of doubVsuspicion"—refeting to anything one might find questionable or Iysteious. = is an hononfe prefix + femeans “date” nthe broader sense of "period! erate date.” = G9 represents a satering effect ands often ‘sed as an adverb, but here timplies 169 269 7, ‘which means the items under discussion ar¢ eatteredsparate in locaton or nature. + EF isthe plailabrupt past form of <3 Carangelset Side by side"). 29 © (is) like”) makes i094 Cib- “going too far. + BOL is often translated “hobby” (see below) but italso has a somewhat broader meaning, refer io more general interest/astes, ‘suffix that implies "changing/turning into,” so 578 = “turning [something] into 8 business.” and adding a form of ("do") makes ita verb; LC." isthe “hasfhave dane” form of + 5 [S]Vice President: thd, RECTRCB ERE, BLO WOM CE ELPA. “That is only the small portion of people ‘who are blessed with wealth and talent” “That's limited to those very few who are blessed with both wealth and talent.” eL3) Vice President Aisa "AS for art, the inner reaches are deep.” “The warld of artis deep.” PL2) eee KC ANE eo oaOMMCT &. “It can ruin you if you give yourself over to it when you have limited aptitude and backing” (Pt) ital Lt FCs Soe aT UE om Born reece Bess + 3 102 (be blessed”) is the plain/abrupt past form of 24, the passive form of 18 ("blessfbestow favor”) {= marks what the person is blessed with + 124.0 is used with words implying small amounts/numbers to mean “a mere ~/the merest ~ ‘one partportion,” so 13.2% = "the meres one par” “a very small part.” + J isa plural form of A, “person”: RIE-€-HEACIR# 17 isa complete thouehsentence ("fthey] are blessed with wealth and talent”) modifying (2 A.W) ("a very stall part ofthe people) + is « noun for “indulgence/addiction,” and adding a form of +8 ("dD") makes ita vetb; L ?=% is «conditional ("when") form of #2, [z] Vice President: Wetiow Ret, ak: BEREEATH. “A businessman of my dad’s means should be content to let art remain a hobby.” (PL3) 53. Mangajin.EDI REY 4 » Kono Hito ni Kakoro BABA, SER OBNS EE BO Leakbivern, “And the situation is that your father also told you not to get addicted, didn’t he.” “And your father warned you that you ‘shouldn't become too caught up in art ther?” (PLA) + BRHF (or the less formal 4¢2.4) isthe proper ‘way t0 refer to another person's father, while 32 Gee next panel) isthe proper vay 10 teler 0 ‘one’s own father; Male speakers can aso use the quite inform #15, seen above, to reer to their ‘own father-—though it can sound disrespectful ‘when used in a relatively formal conversation like this. Note that the vice president uses it ‘when he isin effect biting his father. + ALE means "drownlbe drowned,” but is also used idiomatically to mean "indulge inbecome addicted to/give oneself over to." % after the plain, dictionary form ofa verb can make a pro- hibitionhnegative command: "don't ~ + fsquotative, and 23> Lt 42s the past form of 8 Le 2, a PLA honorific verb for say.” = marks dif. % as the content of the quote; i= marks 27: yoo") asthe person fo whom it +8 :bU-C4 is used in making explanations: “the imation is that ~"; 12 is like a tag question that assumes agreement from the listener: “right?/ fsn’t itd’ he?" resident: Hib, BORIC E a RITE L to RODS LAEL “It may be that, in his heart, my father wanted to leave the presidency fof the com: pany] to me, his eldest son, and immerse himself in his hobby.” “I suppose what my father really wanted was to leave operations of the company to me so he would be free to throw himself into his true interest.” (PL3) Sound FX: Click click (sound of shoe heels clicking against floor) + Pict is strictly speaking a noun for “one’s innermosvtrue desire,” but the word offen func tions more like an adverbs “inwardly” > in his hear. + TE5) means “eldest son.” > here marks £23 and as referring tothe same thing: “I who am his eldest son.” + (60°C is the -te form of fE#2 (“entrustleave ©”) + B= “oneself” and it becomes “me/mysef,” “hehhimsell.”“you'yourself” ete, depending on the context unersion/being absorbed in,” and 223 Lfciho is the past form of SL f21 the 54 Mangajin ‘want to” form of 51% (“immerse oneself {inJbecome absorbed [in ‘matks what the person is immersing himselffhersef in. is used when making explanations—in this ease it is a tentatived hypothetical explanation + OG LLE-A is the PLB form of #4 L tue (might belmay possibly te") [3] Vice President: L, REURROTBaE oR, tne act. “But I had no aptitude for business. That was the problem.” (PL) out” ithe plain/abrupe past form of #1 (“not havelnot exist), + = “problenndiffculy.”© DEB + Kono Hito ni Kakoro Ea) Kasse i LL&L, Mit 2 eu, 29 fame Bsnsceacvels >. “But the vice president is still young. Surely there is no reason to rush 10 4 con- clusion so hastily.” “But you are still young, sir. Don’t you ro 4 cies pecs ‘think you're jumping to conclusions?” az @L3-4) st ra ice President: a We, ae ae a “Not at all.” (PL3) e ‘+ Bl. is a prefis for titles meaning “assistant! deputyivice ~," and #ESE = “company presi- *vive preside Japanese speakers often use thei listener's tite or name in situations where an English speaker ‘would say “you.” + 20 = "young"; placing the honorific prefix before the plain form of an adjective makes it very polit, + Hit = “conclusion,” and 2.38.2 is an honor- ‘te form ofthe verb ¢ Crusthurry"); fa 8. ="rush toa verdicUjump to a conclusion.” + E(k after a non-past verb can mean ‘there's no need/teason [t0 do the action)” +SEE 9 makes a conjectare ike “surly/prob- ably"; after a negative if becomes “surely/ probably not” > “surely there's no need...” Vice President: Seid, Meciky 7 9088 PMR LACT. MAB, ‘My father judged that he could not entrust the future of Shinwa to me. Cool: headedly “My father determined that he could not ‘entrust the future of Shinwa to me. He ‘was being realistic.” (PL3) Vice President: ZLT. TCE SS EHH. “snd he immediately summoned [3] Kata: Ryttichi.”(PL2) a + ibis the negative of 2, potential orm Sacre s) 78 (entrust) 7s the planfalrupt past form of #1869 + the suffix & A. (°Mr/Ms.”), which is added to people's surnames for 1 (Sjudgelmake a judgment), 2 marks #8 politeness, is also quite commonly used with given names—mmuch more Seseetsatietter asthe conten of the than "Mn" and"M" ate used with given names in English and without Jdgment any feeling of humor, incongruity, o ffetedness, chow he is making an explanation ; ‘ioip a mounor“coolneccomposuseen- [4] Vige President: ity and FAK: adver for calmlyeo0 Beawow.. ECs et ate “My younger half-brother... the managing director.” (PL3) modify #81 U7 + = “abdomenfelly" and 12 is « noun form of #63 (iferbe «Fh ads colloquial emphasis, Gitferent", 0/8522. Iteraly means offrom a diferent belly" "of é tc = "andand then” 2 differen mother.” + C55 = ¢ =“immediatelyat once. more 1875 isthe plaiva summonisend f it past form of FEO [someone}") 55 Mangal(i] Mice Brestdent: ius ZOHO, RORREL CORRES Hace “That Rybichi had inherited my fathers abilities as a businessman.” “Ryuichi inherited my father’s instincts asa businessman.” (PL3) Th. RHEL, BeKomod em RICBONET, “But you have received a different talent of your father's.” “But you have inherited another gift from your father.” (PLA) + £0 refers back to what has just been ‘mentioned, so 2s something like saying “he aforemensioned RyQichi”; but this use of = is far more common in Japanese than use of “ihe aforementioned isin English, + 322) is possessive ("my father's”), and it modi- fies BARE L CORK Cinstinets as a busi rnessman”), TELCO ee SSHRC is the -te form of HBS (" hherit"), and 17: makes it*had inherited” (past form of Bi akvr"C+ a, “haverhas inherited”) + Hla = other/another” + HD SEA9 isthe te form of 3h) 849 (* eivelobtain/inherit”), and 236 fis the polite form of 232218, an honorific equivalent of 1°, which after a -te form can make the havelias ~""form of a verb + “have received inherited.” [2] Harashima: BIDE LIES... EMM city SAM “To build another Shinwa . your mission?" (PL3) isn’t that + 69 efore a number or quantity means “that much] more," and 02-2 = "one," $069 0 5 ="one more.” When is added to make ita modifier for another noun, the meaning changes to "anotherthe other. + fez = "make/build + 2h = “that"—referring back to the previous Sentence. 2 marks its the subject of th ber + th =“missioncaling.” TRH DF EAD PLS) (] Vice President: EjBEODY YT? “Amother Shinwa2” (PL2) you," and & 2:22 isthe possessive: feud (PL 56 Mangajin ED KIER Kono Hito ni Kakeoro eRNSUOREY pas eed cas RAS SAC MEMS masa ca ow 5 & a x 3S a 2 7 Poaieed RADRSTOD Brae oan aee Soeur To be continued...Story: Mohri Jinpachi Art: Uoto Osamu RPBAL-# In this episode . . . Ke no Hito, first serialized in the weekly maga- zine Big Comic Original in 1989, centers on the life of Kawata Yoshio, an eccentric judge. The series has since been dramatized for TV, and the stories, which are still being written, now fill 13 tankobon compilations (each cover 200 pages). ‘The popularity of the series seems to stem from both the .g00d-natured wisdom of the series’ hero, Judge Kawata, and the glimpse the series offers of Japan's judicial sys- tem as it deals with current social issues ranging from divorce to substance abuse. Judge Kawata Yoshio is considered a “rather strange fellow” by his colleagues. As the son of a Supreme Court justice, he has an excellent chance of advancing to the upper echelons of Japan's judicial system, but he couldn't be less interested. He remains instead at a low- evel family court in a remote city where the rural setting gives him the opportunity to pursue his true love—plants, In between hearings, on lunch breaks, and just about any time he isn't in court, Kawata is squatting in nearby flowerbeds, running his fingers along bushes, or staring (off into space in a park. He may be strange, but the lessons Judge Kawata leas from his experiences with plants come in handy when dealing with people as well. Many of his cases deal with wayward children, divorce, and the general trauma of human relations gone awry. Seeing parallels in the way both plants and people respond to love and attention, he maintains a perspective that often leads to more humane solutions in the courtroom. Judge Ishimine Wataru has just been transferred from Tokyo {to Harukawa City, a major detour in his career. Assignments to small regional courts outside of Tokyo typically mean being sidelined from promotion to the highest ranks. [eves wife, Sara, is a French national who is fluent in Japanese and well versed in Japanese culture. Unlike Ishimine, she is looking forward to starting a new life away from the bustle of Tokyo. ‘The word Kasai moans “family court” when written as $i, an abbreviation for katei saibansho (NEI "WDD. The authors of this manga have created a pun of sorts by replacing # (sai, "judgment/decision”) with 2 (sai, “planting”). Mangajin 73,HMO A + Kasai no Hito {SURRY tego SHO Hep Tem RO Pano Sh ORR HES POR S MONEE BEY OV EM eee Oe vie bape pe i 74 MangajnHarukawa -hatsu —daiisshin (placename) “from no. message ‘rom Harukawa: Letter No. 1 Letter: #5 Hale {lution Dear Professor, (PL3-4) Letter: 642, mR | CT Sensel, —o-genti desu ka? cher (hon yiealhy/vel re) “Professor, are you well?” How are you? (PL3-4) WEE HR & MNS BA PoTEELKS bboy Todo hanarera hig ate Kia mally Tokyo fom separative day (0b}) ” hascome Finally the day of leaving Tokyo came. ‘The day of my departure from Tokyo finally arrived. (PL3) Hoi HOK ie GO HT Watashi wa Tokyo Chisai kara Jicken no Harthawarshi ni Une stfor Tako ditneteoud from Gpretectue 'm(aamerey i 2 RAB: Iivasaki—Chikasai—HarukawaShibu ni (ame) stk & Tamil eours ams) branches 0 Wem ELT MEFS LE kok Oct. haribo toshite tennin suru koto ninata no dese fsuisan judge "a “tanfer hingtaaion ‘came ex vhtesa em ith aves tht a igh tytn on he mdi The bB exis nated thas come about that I have been transferred from Tokyo District Court to serve as an assistant judge in the Harukawa branches of the Iwasaki District and Family Courts, located in Harukawa City in G Prefecture. Thave been transferred from Tokyo District Court to Harukawa Ci ssistant judge in the Harukawa branches of the Iwasaki District and Family Courts. (PL3) the suffix ~hatsw afte a place name designates a point of departure; afer atime it designates a departure time. ‘hake’ (meaning something like “I respectfully submit’) is one of the most commonly used salutations (there are ‘many) for starting a personal letter. I's used without the addressee’s name but it essentially comtesponds tothe “Dear ~” salutation used in English in G Prefecture, to serve as (which is placed atthe end ofthe letter), + sensei teachet/professor") is here being used for direct address in place of @ name, just as itis in spoken conver- sation. Using this kindof direct addres a the beginning of the letter body (never with the salutation) i purely ‘optional ina Japanese letter. + enki isa noun refersing to both good spirits and good health, so o-genki desu ka essentially asks “are you well?” I's. a very common opening line in personal letters, + iyoiya is used when referring to an event that is “imminenvneas at hand” or has just occuted “fnallyat long lasts, fated" ‘or day implies the event or day came “at lengthafter considerable time.” ioiyo Tokyd o hanarera isa complete thoughsentence (I finally am leaving Tokyo”) modifying hi (“day”). ‘ate kimashita isthe PLS past form of yatte kuru. in which kuru meaus “come”; yrfe kur in reference to an event + chisat is short for chihd saibansho (753K, “district cout”) and Kasai is short for kate saibansho (HENCE, “amily cour”); chikasai combines the two to fefer to “district and family courts.” Japan has 50 district and family courts, each with 201 shibu ("branches"). Above them are eight Wd saibansho (i618, “high courts”) and a ‘aikd sarbansho (RBS BLP," ? preme cor + -ken isa suffix for designating “prefectures” (which can be thought of as roughly corresponding to Am states—though their constitutional satus is different) and -sht is for designating “cities.” The prefecture and city ‘names are fictitious. + hanji = “judge.” and hanjiho = “assistant judge.” + tennin is @ noun for “transferreassignment” to a new post by one’s employer. Adding suru makes ita verb. + ~kovo ni natta isan expression that means “it was deeided/arranged that "or “ithas come to pass that ~,” but it's often just an indirect way of saying that the stated action or event took place. Mangajin 75RHO A + Kasai no Hito HRMS WTEC ECR J] 199 Seb Bata TH AUR PAREN M MATES aR A IT HR ee OIL Soten te” 78 Mangajn[Bilconinaed from previous page) Dhimine 2222 3H I: ALY A MK fon, Sokosoko Toive ni lawashit toga Kiwkw——_harano Somewhat Tokyo wit familia penon (<9) nosecopie abot cos fr AEX BK ww BL ke pe ome (8) egret macy (cag) “at apparently needs to be jut well enough ka sil recognize i for what itis (P12) wn that those who have a passing familiarity with Tokyo Sara WAST. RAST. Taka-sugizn, yasusugion “Not t00 expensive, not too cheap.” (PL2) + kuwashi! means “detailed/minute;” but when a person is de- scribed as ~ i kuwashit it means he is “coaversant within- Ishimine: = 3 #55 = > formed about” the topic. 4 + Xkurai no ¥ means “about enough ¥ for X to occur.” gn ps”. + ye’ na = “fanous,” and yamei-sa = “fameldegre of fame.” 2 * Taka-suglw and yasu-sugicn are negative forms of taka-sugiru and yasu-sugira, the stem forms ofthe adjectives takai highexpensive") and yasui ("cheap") plus the suffix -sugiru, which, ‘means “too ~/excessively ~." Osa wa: te Ths ints > te Nandaka mendokusai none tontehow/vaguely woublesomescompicated (expan (clog) thing seems: “Itsure seems complicated.” (PL2) seems ike) 1” for statements about how some- “somehow/somewhatisor ofvaguely [it (E] tshimin ZAR <, 350 wtih BER cH HD, Wo AB COSNET ELL Nantatie, chino Kaisha wa o-akusho desu kara. zanrel_ ga daiji_degoxaimasu yo, 10. sheet ‘oor co /eoun as for dong. office 6 becamaso precedent (stb.) inportan is (engl) (ques) “After all, our shop is part of the government, so precedent is everything,’ he said.” (PL2) ‘Sign: Hi Deguchi Exit + antate isa colloquial equivalent of nan to ite mo “after allwhen all is sid and done”) * Japanese judge referring to his workplace as kaisha ‘company/corporaion”) is something like an American judge speak ing of his “shop” or “business.”'The kanji for saibansho (‘court’) are provided to clarity exactly what Kaisha tele t Der, * yakusho means “governmentipublic office.” With this word the honorific o- invariably caries an ironic tone its added to show disdain forthe kind of hidebound bureaucratic inflexibility so typical of goverament organs, de goraimasu is a PLA equivalent of desu (“sfre”), making the quoted sentence PLA, but this oo is part of the ironie tone. ‘Using only afo to quote another senteuce i possible at any level of politeness, but Ishimine has been speaking informally, so his Sentence as a whole is best considered PL2. [3] Meter: ieanty kT CMT ALL VSIA O Sd Bit CP Harukawa-shi wa kenchd shocaichi de aru twasaki-shi nitougn, jink3—nijsan-mannin no chilis toshi. desu Letter; List mt (naneciy as for pret population "230,000-count) of replonal ‘ity i al gov't scat which is (aame) city second Harukawa is a regional city with a population of 230,000 and is the next largest city after Iwasaki, the pre- fectural capital. (PL3) see YOR HR HB ELC OAL owe UCB, Kinnen, Too ken no eised_tashi toshite jinkd ga fuectsuzukete or, Insecen years Tokyo spheriatios within satelite ity as population (bj) aetna wand De ORR shonenjiken ya kaji_—_jiken wack keihniare to ‘ite ima Jvenile cides nd domes licens atfor increasing tend atc inion (quote) ave head ecent years, as one of Tokyo's satellite cities, its population has seen steady growth, and I understand that juvenile and domestic cases are on the rise. (PL3) NE oO M if A OFF Mammicd Shikashi saibankan no acu wa gomei no mama succkarete ov tut dees” OF umber as for Sacount) ain has teen ett ind i, 3 Me RAS RE RA ORM ie MH CRT CE REIT Ywatashi wa chino saibansho to katei saubansho no saiban jime 0 ryahd konase koto ninarisd desu, Hine for dintit ‘court and family court of teal _predures (by.) aah handle. station i seem wil ecorne sem HH) SOE Bc Es However, the number of judges has remained the same, at five, and it appears 1 will be handling decisions in both the district and family courts, (PL3) + ken = “prefecture,” and Kencha refers to both the “prefectural government” (ts organs) and “prefectural office” (the buildings), Kencho shocaich? means “prefectural seavcapital,” and kenchd shozaichi de aru is a complete thouphusentence lit] s the prefectural sea”) moditying Iwasaki-sh ni fsugu means “comes next altectanks second to ~"; Aench shozaichi de aru fwasadi-shi nits isa comp oughtsentence (“it] ranks next to Iwasaki, which i the prefectural seat") modifying jnko mits mannin no chi tosh "regional city of population 230,000") ue-tsucukee i the ster of fuer (“inerease”) plus the te form of to fuetsucukete ite, conjunctive form of fue-tsucukers ("continue o grow”) > "continues to prow, and (continued on next page) Mangajin 79 cru (vontinue"). Fue-tsucukete or here is equivalentno Hito _ RROD A + Kasai 80 Mangan(continued from previous page) the -s0(da/desu) ending ofa verb implies “it seems/looks/eels as if (the setion will occur.” ~ koto ni marisé desu is form of the expression ~ koto ninavu encountered on page 75. ew WLC HE CE O&M RAFTER mH ok, Tokyo ni kurabetara taishite omoshiroi kowo mo nai dard edo, kel machi dao ‘Tokyo with if compare {not] mich ‘neresting things (mph) aotexist probably but" ‘ite _goodhice townie (edb) “Tsuppose it doesn’t of interest compared to Tokyo, but it’s a fairly nice city.” (PL2) Sara: DARD TRS ke tes LULU ‘an rclntake easy if is goodesirble colog “Thope we can relax our pace a bit.” (PL2) + urabetara isa conditional “it” form of kuraberu (“compare”) * tuishite works together with a negative later inthe sentence. When it modifies a negative adjective it gives the meaning of “not very/not particulary the stated quality,” but the negative ean also occur in a longer phrase containing regular adjective, in which case the negative emphasis shifts somewhat. Tuishite omoshirol kota mo nat is iterally “iterating things do not even exist very much” —* “there's not much that is of interes.” ‘etka asa mogifer for an adjective means “quiteleonsiderably.” ‘nonbiri dekine isthe potential form of nonbiri sure ("relawtake it easy") * fo after a plain non-past verb can make a conditional “ifwhen” meaning. ~ to ii na (literally, “if [the described situa- tion/action occurs}, its goodidesirable”) is an expression for stating a wish or hope.HORS whom YY — HEPESIB (continued from previous page) + Suki narsd i from subi ni nara, which means “come to like/will come to like,” Narisd isthe verb naru become”) With the 59 (da/desu) ending we saw above—implying “it scemsllooksfeels as i {the action will occur)” In PL2 speech, the da is often omitted, especially by female speakers; it must be omuted when asking a question, as here (males ‘cn also replace da with ka instead of simply omitting, but female speakers tend to avoid the abrupt-sounding ka) ‘+ mat ne affirms what the other person has said in-a vague way: “Yes, in a vay/Yes, you could say Uh! suppose! eah, 1 ess, Ay ALE A thus Un, hisashiburini sora ga hiro yesh fo fst time ong time sky ub) 8 widerroad “Uh-huh, for the first time in a long time the sky is wide open.” (PL2) Aisashiburt is a noun referring to something occurring forthe First te ina long time, and hsashiburi iis its adver form. Coming from Tokyo, she has’t ad such a wide open, unobstructed view of the sky in longtime, (1 ishimins 409 HE O BER, MLC KEM! Gashbsck) Ima. mo shoes no ackotoba, se¥kai sie kudos! on! Sf chetou "hon monde react neque) “The words you just now said, please retract them!” “I must ask you to retract what you have just said! (PL3-4) + oho means “headlchietdirctor” and shocho refers to the “headchietxecto” of any organization or body whose off- lal ame ends with sho (i). Here refers othe “head judge” athe cour where Ishimine Was previously posted, As ‘soften done in Japanese, Ishimine is using the head judges le where a English speaker would refer to his listener Simply as "you" “+n between two nouns makes the frst into a modifier forthe second ina ide variety of ways, When the fist 2oun refers to «person the no is possessive, 80 shock® no = "the chie?sMheadjdge"s on this ease “your”: shacho no ‘stoioba = "your words,” When tree or more nouns are connected with no, various groupings can apply, Here, te ist ‘naa mia n0%”) into» modifies forthe combination shocht no o-Kotob "yous words of mo" >the words thal You spoke just now <> “what you just said.” + eka a noun meaning “retraction” and fekAa shite isthe te form of tek sur, is verb form. Thee form ofa ‘eth pls kudasai makes a polite request thatthe ation be done. (2) Sound FX: 124) YN tye (inpwesent) Pashari pashari pashari (sound of camera shutter) Mangajin 83RHO A + Kasai no Hito W arwoce en wueeneess HUHRWVCE VISOR MiB from D-SOSV iro’ oh" ak 3011-2" 83 SHE IRE 0.0 eR OY MM OVB EM HE CG Bitte SEO YS whee MBYOV ER EY Se HORA CDESC lobes) PaHeoweV RM OY SS | Rit 3S LUM OR XR US ON? 84 Mangajin[) Letter: 31 tty ge a Hikkoshi no rimotsu ga mada —_‘kansha sping of ugsbfeeh (th) (yet offal reikne x! notated because 23a) for hous Our household ot vet several days. (PL3) ate HE SCOM. Ech Ho m I: Rants = % be OCS #, Chakirin sisatsu made no aida, dokoka betsu no mach! ni umogakure umm te mmo ara nadesu ah Taking up post pectin thetime unt somewhere snoler town fo dsappear coureloption tno exis (emlend Se Bb LAL HL HO Ros kM EL sassoka. towna 10 fidari, atarashii machi no tanken-gokko 10 ai-narimashita’ eat te cites tel atts ote cinema eee io e could have chosen to sip away to some other town lay Lam to formally present myself and take up my post, but my wife and I decided to start right in exploring the city. (PL3) Letter: e007 i B2GE mem Llc gel mi x, Harukawa-shi wa motomoto jokamachi to shite hattatswshiua toshi dev (aame}city — asfor ‘orginally astetomn a8. developod ‘chy. esa 7a) O aoch & hv khPe of Bocuss. shinai no achikochi i furai iatazumai ga ‘nokome imasu ii tect ttn an 0) perme) ema Harukava originally developed as a castle town, and vestiges of those times can still be seen here and ‘there around the eity. (PL3) SMELT Shes IH mR DO MOM) O MR ee ARE RObD co. ‘Koen to shite hozon sarete iru Edo jidal no ‘horiwari no. fied nado-nakanakano mono de. Park a ispreerved Edo etvpetiod of caalatervay of sSenerysomcting ikea considrabeline ing iand ee Eb BO HR RChABaRE bo 8 ee mLAELAL Sensei ni mo | zehi Ihido mite tadakital mono. da to. tsuma. to hanashi-aimashita ee ee ‘he ld do-pero canal setae a pu pats pent a inpresve Spectacle, tad th my wife and Lagree jeu really musi come st hem someting, ED ‘+ ka refer to the government and is used in many kanji compounds for government-related things: kansha is housing provided by the government for is officials and employees, ‘+ todokanai is the negative of sodoku (“be delvered/arive”) ni marks de destination ‘+ kumogakare sur (lit, “hide behind clouds") is an expression for “disappear/drop out of sight." + te (lit, hand”) can tefer to a “methou/means/course of ttion,” and the expression ~ Jem artis Uke “have the option ‘of ~/eould choose to + fanken = “exploration,” and -gokto isa suffx efersing to "pretend play,” so the noun fanken-gokko i literally “playing exploration)pretending tobe explorers” “exploring the city.” the prefisi- quite frequently occurs es «rhetorical flourish without any significant meaning in eters Ai-narimashita ‘here isthe same as narimashita the PL3 pas form of naru become) + ‘hatatsu shia isthe past form of hattanw suru develop”); motomoto jokamachi to shite hatatu shite isa complete thonghusentence ("it] originally developed asa caste town") modifying fash City”), the PLS form of nokutte ira, ftom nokora ("remain let). from hoon sareru passive of hrzon suru (“preserve”). Koen o shite hozon sarete iru is a complete thoughv/sentence they] are preserved as parks”) modifying Edo dai no horiwari ("Edo period casa) + nakanaka isan adverb meaning “considerablyfhighly,” and nalandka nosis fort for modifying nouns: “consider: ble.” Nakanake no mono (it, considerable thing”) usvally implies “remarkably goodineimpressive.” * mite is the fe form of miru (*see"), and itadabita isthe “wan to” form of itadak (“ceive”); ada aftr ate form ‘means “have [someone/you] do [the acton]”; with uadakizal it becomes "want haye (someone/youl de [the action] ZO iis fee om AMee Ath BE Lie Tokorovde, sono shinai sansahu mo aida ni, fushigi na———_jinbuisu ni aimashita Incidentally’ those within cy walksmeanderings ‘mystoriouvunusoal penlpersonage mpevencountered Incidentally, in the course of our meanderings about town, we came upon an unusual person. (PL3) Boy: foc d) beds + mais he form of mat Ci, ere eng used as an infra Maite yo, mica’ Fewest ease 4 ‘Rat Gokeh) ollerteier + younger siblings general refer to their older siblings by their kinshi ‘Wait for me, older brothed!” Ui (o-nisan, older brother” of o-nesan, “older Sse he honor Wait! Slow down!” (PL2) 3c opional in both ese) rather than by thelr names. Whimine: 77... Broe BUdIT ALF Hr + ciate is the frm of taker pursue! Fas choo oikakete "miyoka? hase, and mip is the volition (lea (Ghat, hate Shatter dates? ‘question, “sll we ~") form ‘a form of mirw after the -te 5 form of a verb implies “ry [doing the action)" Omoshiroi shashin torer« amo shirenai ‘rd [the action} and see what happens.” interesting pices canake "maybe + torerais the potential ("eanfoe able 10”) form “Lmight be able to get some interesting pictures.” (PL2)* Strom¢taie “Ha ha, shall we try going after them?” (PL2) HELO BH RLS Mangajin 85EMO A + Kasai no Hito Binds! FS 537 Chi Chschtc “Tweeeet (weet-tweet-tweet” (PL2) 26 MangajinHBO A + Kasai no Hito TE Vi< Sram Ne ako | MIS DL Sub AMR NEY Soo KBP SRT MEL BR RCT BOM 3 AEP LOL RBS AEWA SH woe " ROM OU HWE OV 3 whe? NX Clea FIG SY" Sete Vyox”® HENS [HY PHOS Eoxguveey 88 MangalLetter: Letter: BOO EROS Re BRL PAT DP 7-KAD BR Be Pre. Fieri nokodemo 9 mita tok futo— Daign Abasu no shashin pa alama 0 Kasumete, roervons (2) etukren (ob saw" when siddenly (ame) “pros (oy) heaalnind (ob) skiimed-and ko kk FRR EMEP OTL I. tsuma to issho nt Rodamo-iachi 0 oikaketa no deshia fife topetherwith eile (obj) chased (expan) ‘When I'saw the two boys, Diane Arbus’ photographs came flitting through my mind, and my wife and I ‘the boys together. (PL3) FRE ZO-HT b BLY BK O KEE AY D ok Me SAocHes Lhe Kodomo-tachi wa sono itai de mo mezurashii suhon no Okina kashi no shigerta miwa € haiteskimashita. Gilden ator tha. areas (empl) re several (mod), lange Oaks (Gubj) grew shy adeno ener aa went ‘The boys went into a lush garden with several magnificent oaks, which are unusual in this area. (P13) Hb oth AO Fo MMshchs MR Eonk HN ETAL ME att Ae Eo Satecrete, eet re) © mata eeipann tay ct, Hee ig AG lati atte compel “ome ‘FaougT Gy Garde” hore was no indication that it had been shaped by human hands. (13) Hoe ” ait ment teh MhK. ee ee ee wee OF Bui he ee ee O twiot Bah bb, ark + O te Ge AM LELES reuse ps en ot ethan) et moo ng. » ess ee oe eh es he ground trees " ‘Within the is - rounded by glossy-leaved! tre ‘mds. bamboo was a clearing where wild grasses, grew thick, and a strong smell of moss and earth filled the air. (PI.3) MOO MW ER RCRA oe A BO Bs DK Re MLC at, hina no suni ri wd, Yokusan no shida ga tagaini Kisow yoni ha 9 mobashiteimaru Te ne cite set “abun fens (o)) mualy compete ato leaves (bj) ofeach ospreating At one side of this garden, a profus ‘ferns grew, stretching their leaves up as though in mutual ‘competition. (PL3) furari no Kodomo 0 mita is a complete houghvsentence (“I] saw the two children) modifying rok ("timeltime when") —* ‘hen T saw the to children,” Lasumete isthe te form of kasunere (grazeforush pastskinvski”). ‘ikakca is the plo’ “abrupt past form of oikakeru (*chase/parsue"). Jono ia de mo. “ashi is a complete thought/sentence (“{they) are rarefunosual in that area”) modifying Kashi oak) Sthonmna ("sovera. dkina (*latge”>also modify kashi, 0 son0 tai de me mezurashi sion no Okina hash = “several large SEkS which are un, inthat area.” No marks ths as the subject of shigezta (past form of shigery, “grow tushly") ‘ono tal de mo mex._sshi tion no Okina kashi no shigeta isa complete thought/sentence (“several large oaks, which are ‘ihuswal in the area, grow lushly [there)”) modifying ne garden”). Nivea could peshaps be translated as “arboretu” in this ‘case, but we've left it as "garden” because ofthe way he qualifies the term Jrate is the-te form of hair (°a0 inolcome intofener”) nd ikimashiva is the PL3 past form oft ("0"), which claiies that har in this ear “veans “go into” instead of “come hema ina conditi.svenif form of i (“say”), ~ to lite mo is a common way of qualifying what one has just si. ‘ear carete tru is. -° eirt-sarera, passive of seiri suru Carrangelteorganize”). Hito note de selrisarete iru is complete thoughi/sentence (is, las been shaped by human hands”) modifying kekar *sien/indication”) natu =""completeiy." or when followed by a negative, not) at al.” Arimasen isthe PLS nepative of aru (“exists havo} Cit, “plossy-leaved toes”) refers to broadleaved evergreens such as laurels and camellias whose leaves have a shiny, lossy appearance ttomnantie is from kakomarera, passive of kakemu (surround); ni marks wha the person or thing is surrounded by. Shaves ‘ja mawdchike ni kakomareta is & complete thoughusentence modifying shikichi (“the ste/grounds”), ishtgeta isthe plainfabeapt past form Of otshigeru (“grow thickly/uxoriantly"), ass0 no oishigeta isa complete thou! Sentence (*wild prasses grew dick (thene)”) modifying akichi open lovelearing? hormakes Koke to suchi Cem" and earth”) a tnadifier for nioi ("smell") tsuyot strong”) also modifies not, Mol ga shimashita isthe P” form of nici ga suru, which is essentially equivalent to the ver “{something] smells Tisocevielcompete"; yaa verb means “as ft ~," and in eflect makes the verb into an adverb deseribing the manner Gfihesentence’s main ver. dashite masts the PLS form of mobashize iru ("isle stretching,” fom aban, “stretsh"), 80 fagat ni lison yO ni hao nobuonite imasu = “are stretching their leaves as if 19 mutually compete.” oO A ok ED OME LeMaAT OR OCF. Kudan no JJinbusu ‘sa sono mae ni shagamikonde ita no desu Tearnensoned “pewor «¥¢ thaithose infromtof was squating (expla) The a vrementioned pw was squatting in front of these ferns. (PL3) audan no like the English *: aforementioned,” basa rather stiff and formal feling, and is not generally wsed in colloquial ‘conversations Shugeikonde ita iste past em of shagamikonde iru (“s squatting downs squatted down”). Shagamikonde i the -te form Stahagamitone, combining, hagcime (squat down") and kom, which asa verb suffix can imply the action is done fully, at Tengtt‘or with particular int sity. Shagama tends to refer straightforwardly tothe at of squatting down, while adding -komu Suggests there's a particular ality about the act, o that i carries some special significance. To be continued... Mangajin 88Wiermercan Comics MMMM ddd Calvin, od HObbES vox Ws SOL WANT YOU TO GME TO SOHOOL AND EAT IM, OK? WHAT JF THE CARETERIA TROIS WONT LET Mie EVTA, MARY CL OM DS A, HH KH Ot O VP Ht Hobbusy,, tanomitai koto ga are nda. Gaki -daisho no, MO no yonsu ga fame) wantto request. hing (sob) exists (expla) rude kid Header who is (name) who stat guy. (Sub) ee Oe e WEOS | AS oka rio koto, shtsuboku tiimenc nda Ue febaulng agwesivelyperietly harasevpustes around (enh) + bully [HERE O bo Fo ae * push, ..around | (AE) WLS ASIAEHF |, keep... ing lt (LATS | CE OED ERTS EE List <, keep pushing me around |t [EEO LORIE VED SDeTHEU) in: “So Lwant you.to come to schoo! and eat him, OK" Bhs BER. PRI RC BOD EROTNL, 27 Botora “omac.” galkd ni hie “alte 0 hate ure yay na? Peete OMe” Sos To coment eat penon (oh) at forme. ph log, come #4 Feat ik E& a, [pEachbickcu lo, eUcihemscl vs) DMR. want you to 2 to Calvin: “Sure! Tigers eat people all the time!” 25 BF PE Ke £9 OA Hal So sai Tora wait kd mon darol iar way (etog) ger a for people (bj) eat thing sey E: + sure (OEDA/EIL OL RE. MUR RERDTE Set CAMS. « allthetime ld [OCG] HA, COMBA MeL L COMER TSE, [2] Hobbes: “What if the cafeteria ladies won't let me use the oven?” Ee, OR O BIESA At-7y fibetnamokhs eee ® a? Feds etic op “obasan ga” Oban teavasetehrenakatara’, dB suru no 80? Rated, Rlieceed Cher (aa) ven a are “shat He] do (expan (clog + What... BL... LEBEI REMI + worit= wi nt ; * catetonaledes RiioiHiics, Fhebun7 = AKOMROBILS AMET So. AWE <, cafeteria ladies & 12 90 MangajinWit Rmerican Comics MMMM 'S0,GARFIELD, HOW WAS PERFECT, AS. S!OUR DINNER? THANK 4ou, THANK $00 © 193 Pans All ps sewed Danae Unveal Pass Sy, o tH BEACH 71 W PK, Gafirudo, came) Jon: BAS BES Kot ‘banmeshi wad data? ‘mer aloe “how vis Garfield: "Perfect, : WOOERY, EME OK fae Iisuno dori, kanpeki dane ssusuallways perfect i (ale) Jon: “Thank you. thank you.” B. HYVMEFZ. HOMES. Ya” arigata, arigato ines.) ankyou thank you [38 Ef 096 easy | + consul & Garfield: a i e BVO BE FE AY ES fe PETC eS ry Als hod uma mesh {hat person compared to well foodéneal (oj) can fom seaop out + Bec sHtiocnutkobinky, 2onkeoge, UMMM Wl. fpr 4 Pa * NAY MRL LC, Lceee Dy hrocwasnce), 0 fan kara sukuidasera yatsn wa BR 4% RIEU NO MAN CAN SCOOP A MEAL OUT OF A CAN LIKE THAT MAN CAN fecacrat| evox, ik wes te emo alfor doen't cnet cena) io bono * Noman can ~ ike that man can (~), [SORT Sec (U2 9¥I) ~cR aber) — 6% ORL HE LIVI) 028) [HOH BE LIT! OF. Like tt, as DHRC. ERG AEC CABELL TOO, ‘Tid as well Mangan 91MANGAJIN By BASIC JAPANESE through comics Lesson 53 « Never stop trying: ganbaru ‘The Japanese are famous for working hard, and ganbaru is the word that keeps them. going. It basically means to “strive hard” or “be dogged/unflagging” in pursuing a goal or facing a challenge or obstacle, though how you actually translate the word must be tailored to fit the context. Ganbaru is most commonly used, in reques or command form, to give encourage- ment. Situations range from cheering on a baseball team to cheering up a friend. And of course, ample opportunity is provided by the battalions of late-night workers in offices throughout the country. Other uses include expressing determination (plain or volitional forms) and offering congratulations, praise, or acknowledgment of a job well done or at least a good effort made (past tense). Besides the translations of ganbaru featured in this lesson, some other possibilities are “be aggressive, ‘show us what you can do,” “show some spirit,’ “may the best ‘man win,” and “rise to the occasion.” Come on! ‘The manager of the flower shop where Garcia works just noticed that Takanohana, a well-loved sumo star, and Akebono, a Hawaiian-bor wrestler, are facing off. The man in the middle is ‘concerned that the manager's seemingly ethnocentric cheers might offend Garcia. 94 Mangan ‘Manager: BIT or sve Takanohana —ganbare! (came) ity hard % thir P2DAK. Akebono naka. yatsukeroi (came) someone like” tins of “Try hard, Takanohana! Finish off that Akebono!” “Come on, Takanohana! Blow that jerk Akebono away!” (PL2) Wawa (sound of crowd cheering at sumo tournament) _ganbare isthe abrupt command form of ganharu. I's a very Common cheer at athletic events, especially when the player ‘or team is struggling rnanka here has a belting oF derogatory feeling Yattsukero’ is a colloquial variation of yartsukero, the abrupt Command form of yatsukeru (“do in/finish of").asicsJapanese Go for it! Michiru was just demonstrating his skill at cat's cradle. Tonight all the younger employees at his company have to participate in a talent show, and one of the older employees thinks Michiru has a good chance of winning a prize for his unique talent. Older employee: FH 2 Lk, as |i Romie fe tht ds Gare t 4 Sei) acre‘ tog Sarena ey RH |; “Tonight's the real test. Go for i PI) nee 2 ya im |i {ames yeavOx na LE ‘Yeah ie . ing" and “ose ees t0 mi ichconestshowdown oro the cls momen i teh : + toting sombre a cee ing an abl cotes sot g rest by bt ig the sat comma for oer situations can be considered mostly masculine, Female speakers might use it in informal situations but usually are more likely to use the te form (see next page). Good luck! Afier one year as an office worker at a large company, Sara is fed up with the polities and stress of his job. He has just told his boss that he has decided to quit and pursue his life-long dream of becoming a potter, Boss: BROT (HEL Ganbowe —ludasai, velry hard (fequest) “Good luck?” (PL3) Sara: 502 FOKVST. Arigats gocaimasu thank you “Thank you.” (PL3-4) + ganbate isthe te form of ‘anbaru, and kudasai afer the fe form of a verb makes a polite request Do your best This man has been “promoted” toa position in remote Niigata a ity north of Tokyo on the Sea of Jgpan. He is not too happy about this sudden change in his career path, but his boss acts as if it’sa great opportunity Bos: BYTE}. BoC dareka 27% uwasabanashi BENS — aisareru ae kaze WL sabishit a raiko Ke takai wt kesw 38 aja ER shogarsu KREA — oyasan a aor BAS —oboerw 3 mame KE daizu me iru + tsuchi HS umeru at hand/imminent wwake/get up sice/meal g0up at any rate tulk/negotiation/proposal quite/considerably ‘beautiful woman/a beauty absolutely succeed be restless/ll at ease time (1) reliance/support morning walk (v2) wear (02) suit (2) superior made in ~ fabric at least come along/accompany Sit withibe with junior high school take entrance exam elementary school student worry/be anxious/fret properly right on time/on schedule reia-kun, p. 38 reserve/make a reservation Hloristflower shop hhot springs distanvfar away Flower arranging ‘breakfast foreigner strong person. breakfast gossip (7) be loved cold Tonely/lonesome confrontation. meeting turn offfextinguish husband and wife New Year's landlord/landlady observance learn bean/mut soybean roast/parch soilground (n.) bury thirties nasakenai isshokenmei uk iscouraged/pititul very hardiearnestly good fortune ‘demon From Sore demo Megezu, p. 46 BL NUE Ag 6 aieant Hee oe ae HRMS we let Hee DAVY ES mer ELS BBNTS BR SFR RATS Mah owigS DPDD eT. AVES a5 Leate seijinshiki nobirw miryoku sugira Shinayakasa you shitarakasa seidai ni maka makashi hanami ‘coming-of-age ceremony Tengthen/stretch charm (n.) pass by/go past _grace/refinement ‘become drunk cexcess/ferociousness. agrandly/magnificently scatlerfsow plumiplum blossom Jong ago lower viewing From Kasai no Hito, p. 73 hanareru chisaé kasai hhanji saibansho zennin-chi chiho-shoku ‘mingeihin Kashi ~ ni kuwashii izuku yakusho Kencho shozaichi Fink ken isel toshi fuera ‘shonen aj sueoku ssaiban jimu konasu kuraberu nonbiri suru dokan suru tekkal suru wmogakure suru tanken jokamachi hhattatsu sur fushigi na ‘oikakeru kasumere oishigeru kisow shagamu separate fromileave dlisteet court family court, judge (n) transfer (to 8 new post) court/courthouse Previous post Fegional color folkeraft sweetpastey be familiar withhknow well notice/ecognize governmentpubic office precedent Prefectural seaveapital population Sphere/adius satelite city increase/grow juvenile domestic mater leave unchangedas is court procedire/business smanagefhandle compare relax/take it easy accompany retractwithdraw sappeatldeop out of sight ‘exploration castle town develop/erow ‘mysterious/onusual chase/pursue Skim/grazerbrush past arrangelreorganize grow thicklyluxurantly vieloompete Squat (e) The Vocabulary Summary is taken from material appearing in this issue of Mangajin. I's not always possible to give the complete ‘range of meanings for 4 word inthis linited space, s0 our “definitions” are based on the usage ofthe word ina particular story. Mangan 101