JAPANESE

POP CULTURE
& LANGUAGE
LEARNING

'EI
,,,,,
l::s&

$4.50

M A N G A J I N

S PE C I AL

No. 20

FEATURE

So you want to learn Japanese

BRAND NEWS
A slick slogan and a c lever name from the Post Office

31Tl:ifl
Sangyo Kakumei
A revolutionary slogan: sangyo kakumei written
~ ~ (sangyo, "industry") + 1(i ~ (kakumei, " revolutio n") refers to the Industrial Revolution, but the
people at Toshiba changed .tangyo to 3 fT (sangyo,
"three lines") and used this as a slogan for their
"revolutio nary" new word processor that prims
three lines simultaneously. This printer can turn out
230 characters/second as opposed to 70/second for
their standard printer.

v ~'J7.A

Retakkusu
Not a great pun, but it's note worthy that
even the Post Office uses clever names for
their services. The word retakkusu is a combination of " letter" (transcribed into katakaoa as
v 5' - retli) and "fax" ( 7 7 -;; ~ .A ,Jakkusu).
The main advantage o f the retakkusu is
speed. ff you apply at the post office by 3 PM,
your message can generally be delivered that
same day. The basic charge is 510 fo r one
page up to size 84 (approx. I O"x 14"), and
310 per page a fter that. You can a lso send
money or fl owers along with your retakkusu,
or, for those who want that special touch, the
retakkusu can be put on a card with an origami
crane that spreads its wings and plays an appropriate me lody when opened (for an additional c harge of only 1 ,100).

Thanx to: D.C. Palter and Matt Durbin

Send us your examples of creative product names or slogans (with some kind of documentation). If we
publish your example, we'll send you a MANGAJIN T-shirt to wear on your next shopping trip. In case of
duplicate entries, earlie~t postmark gets the shirt. BRAND NEWS, P.O. Box 6668, Marietta, GA 30065

MA NGAJIN 5

MAD*AD

Mad Amano is well known in Japan for his satire and political parodies.
A former planning manager with Hitachi, he left the corporate life in 1974 when
he won the cartoon prize o f Bungei Shunju, a leading Japanese journal o f political
and social commentary. Although he works almost exclusively for the Japanese
press, he now lives in the U.S., and he targets the politics and happenings of other
countries as much as he docs those of Japan. Mad Amano makes full use of the
punning potential inhe rent in the many homonyms found in Japanese.

111x: :1: .:m,

Buckingumtape ~~..-:J~:/jlh7-7o
6

M AN GA JI N

lJij

'*

~ r.~

~ ' 1:.'i ~ I') I:

Bekkyo no sai

no

I f. "/ .:f / if]_, 7 - -.10

Bakkingamu
Tepu.

nizukuri ni

separation of occasion Cs)

packing

(purpose) Ruckingum

tape

When packing for your separation - Buckingum Tape.

<,

rJ: ~ tv?T"' a

<-=>-:::> ~ ~-t
Kuttsuki-yasuku

hanare-yasui.

sticks e.asily-and

separates/comes off easily

1G1r

JP>IIJW: Goes on easy comes off easy. + Easily joined/united, easily sepa rated.

bekkyo is litera ll y separate living," and refers specifically to marital separations.

the partic le ni indicates purpose in this case. so it could literally he trans lated as "for the purpose of ' "for."
;<:-;; =f /if J... Bakkingamu is how " Buckingham" trans literates into Japanese, and because "-gham" and "gum" come out
the same in katakana, it sets up a pun with 7! J... 7--! gamu tepu. literally "gum tape," which is the name for "gummed
tape" in Japanese. The fu ll Rakkingamu Tepu is also a ncar pun on an alternate name for the tape,
"J =f / 7 7 - -! pakkingu ti!pu, from English "packing tape."
kullsuki is from kull.l'llku ("[something I sticks") and -yasuku is the continuing form of -ya.l'lli, a verb suffix meaning the action is "easy to do/easily occurs." hunart! is from lranarem r come apart/separate/leave").

1'

GJ

~U h'f

O)li n',

Bekkyo 110 hoka

~~~~, -fX~.Pf,

,'HJi.f!PqJ(

0)

{.:im IJ r:

t I&~ o

riko11, yonige,

shorui f1shii

no

ni::.ukuri 11i

mo saireki

separation in addition to divorce escape by night sciLure of documents of/for pacl.ing

(purpo;,c) al;,o moM/especially suitable

Besides se arations, it's ideall suited to packing for divorce, escape by night, and document seizures.
Mata

saruR IIt.wwa ni

again/also gag

ga

mo kalntreru shinpai

(purpose)

al~o

have a rash

nai

no d e anshin desu

worry/fear (subj.) not exist because is safe

Also safe to usc as a gag since there is no fear of rashes.

hoka ="other," and ,,. 1w lwka =''othe r than/besides/i n addition to''
yoni~:e combi nes the words for "night" and " night/escape." for a noun meaning "night/escape by night/under cover of darkness." The word was o nce a largely military term. but today is mostly used to refer to givi ng one's spouse. creditor~. etc.
the slip by si mply leavi ng without notice - no t nece~sari ly at night.
shorui ="paperwork/documents/files: and rl.1'/u7 ="seizure/confiscation."
kaburem can mean "break out in a rash" or "cau~c a rash"
shinpai is a noun meaning "worry/concern/fear," and whe n it comes directly after a verb it refers to the worry/fear that such
an ac tion/occurrence will take place " fear/worry of ..." or "fear/worry that ..."
an.~hin is a noun meaning "one's heart is at ease/free of anxiety," so an.l'hin de.\'11 means " there is no cause for anx iety"
"[it] is safe."

Semere niz:ukuri gu rai

:u

lca~t

packing

(j:
wa

go-issho ni

about thai much a,-ror (hon.)-togcther

"At the ver y least, you should do_y_ourpacking together ." (PL3-4 implied.)
gurai (or kurai) essentially refers to an approximate amount, "about -: lt occurs mo~t commonly after numbers indicating
quantity, size, etc., but it can also occur with actions to mean " do at least that much." In this case semete further emphasizes
the feeling of " at least" "at the very least."
go- is an honorific prefix just like o- (in fact it's o ften written with the same kanji, IJIU), but the two are not generally interchangeable. The o - vs. go- differentiation must he learned on a word-by-word basis.

~~

12

Eikoku iJshirsu

~I:JlL

;<.:;.::f/7fL7 - -.I

go-aiyo

Bakkinganw

England royal hou'c (hon.)-favoritc Buckingum

Tepu
Tape

The British ro al family's fa vorite: BuckingumTal!e.

in speech, one is more like ly to hear Eng land referred to as 1 .: J 7.. lgirisu, but in print, ikok11 occurs frequently, perhaps even more frequently than the katakana name. The kanj i name has a more formal feel than the katakana name.
rlshitsu, combining the kanji for "king" and room," means "royal family/household."
aiyo combines the kanji for " love" and "use," to make a word that literally implies '' lsomeone] lovcs using [something!."
When the word is used to modify another noun (aiyo 110 Bakkingamu tifpu is implied here), it means " regularly used/favorite/trusty." The verb form would be aiy ll sum, ''use !something] regularly/as a favorite."

M ANGAJIN

Sugiura Hinako
and the Roots
of Japanese Comics
by Frederik L. Schodt

The story is set in Edo period Japan, and the style of

drawing is reminiscent of that era. but this work is done with
the frames and balloons of modem-day manga.

MANGAJIN

I am frequently asked why Japanese people read so many

manga. There is, ofcourse, no single answer. Munga fans wiII simply
say it is because they are "interesting." Others will say it's because
modem Japanese urbanites spend so much time in environments like
trains and coffee shops. where manga arc an ideal form of entertainment- portable, quiet, and not too serious. Yet others will claim
there's a link between the visual-semantic clement in kanji ideograms and comic drawings, that both are a forn1 of hieroglyphics. All
these arguments are to some extent true, but I think the best explanation may he found in history.
The modern Japanese manga. with its sequential illustrated
panels and word balloons. is a twentieth-century phenomenon, and
did not fu lly develop until after the war. It is essentially a fusion of
Western forms with a long tradition of narrative art that is humorous,
fantastic, erotic, and often violent. The fi rst Japanese manga, in fact,
is often said to have been Clujjt7giga, or the ''Animal Scrolls," a
hilarious parody of twelfth-century society. reportedly executed by
the artist-priest Toba ( 1053- 11 40). Monkeys, frogs. and hares costumed as priests and nobles cavort across yards of a paper roll to tell
a story. The spi rit of the drawings is remarkably like that of the early
twentieth-century animal animation so popular in the United States.
Until the end of the Meiji period. Toha-e. or''Toba-pictures," was the
main Japanese term for cartoons and comics.
So much of early Japanese art is humorous, entertaining, and
fantastic that one occasionally wonders if there has not been a worldwide conspiracy on the part of museum directors to deliberately
ignore it. In addition to scrolls which flourished in Japan's early
feudal period, there were monochrome Zenp,a ("Zen pictures"),
originally executed as a meditative aid, which became a type of
cartoon. and Ot.w-e, or "Otsu-picturcs," drawings for travelers near
Kyoto that started out as Buddhist amulets and also became a massproduced type of color cartoon.
Almost all art in the early feudal period was created in some sort
of superficial religious context, but in the Edo period ( 1600-1867) as
the Japanese feudal system began to change and a money economy
emerged among the urban merchant class, art as entertainment came
into fu ll bloom. With woodblock printing technology. it could be
mass-produced and made avai Iable at low cost to the ordinary citizen.
Manga, the current Japanese word for comics (and cartoons and
animation), comes from the famous woodblock master Hokusai
Katsushika ( 1760-1849), who created a fi fteen-volumc collection of
his drawings and sketches called Hokusai Manfw
Townspeople in the Edo period were crazy about humorous
woodblock illustrations and illustrated humor books. Many of these,
although they did not have sequential picture panels and word

St r alght Schodt

"balloons." bore striking resemblance to

modem comics. They usually consisted of
twenty or more pages, with or wi thout text.
which were bound with thread or opened
accordion-sty le. In the Osaka area. Tohtle books. featuring pictures of long, spindly-limbed characters in amusing antics,
were the rage. I n the early nineteenth century, J.ihyoshi. or "yellow-cover" booklets. prol iferated by the thousands. L ike
modern comics. they grew out of illustrated tales for children and gradually cncompa~sed more and more sophisticated.
adult material. Often each page consisted
of a drawing. with the text in a hlock above
it. forming an illustrated. running story.
Like comics todny. kibyi5shi were frequently published as a seri es.
When European. and later American.
styles of cartooning were eventually
adopted in Japan. the traditional forms of
humorous art died out. hut the love of
entertaining. narrative art remained. Most
modern manga bear little re~emblance to
their Edo-period cousins in terms of urt.
style, hut there are some direc t links hetween the old and new. With the explosion
of manga that has occurred in Japan in

recent years. ar1ists have steadily vied to

find new and original means of expressing
themselves. Several have begun drawing
in "retro" styles.
Sugiura llinako is a premier example
of a young manga arti t who has delved
into the Edo period for inspiration. In
school she studied visual communication
and design. and dreamed of one day becoming an art director for commercials.
But at the same time she also became
increasingly fascinated by feudal Japan.
This led her to become a disciple of Seishi
Jnagaki. one o f Japan's most respected
scholars of the Edo period. In 1980, she
made her debut in the ex peri mental manga
maga.tine Garo with a hort story et in the
Edo period, and ever since then she has
heen a chronicler of life in old Tokyo,
e pecially the Yoshiwara entertainment
district. Descended from a fami ly of kimono makers in Tokyo, she grew up wi th
a rich sense o f tradition. and in her own
work she ha!. been more than a historian:
she has been a virtual apostle of a revived
Edo aesthetic. Her Edo period is alive, and
thri ving. even today . Something of a media celebrity recently (she occa~ ionall y

appears on television dressed in a kimono).

he also has been called a modem ukiyn-e
artist.
Sugiura often draws in a pseudo ukiyoe fashion. imitating thestyleofwoodblock
masters two hundred years ago. She claim .
moreover. that the Edo-period kihyiJshi
illustrated books have been one of the
biggest influences on her artwork. Her
hort story 1/anageshiki Kir.wne Kiidan
('Ta les of Foxes at !Jiower Viewing
Time"), puhlished in the early eighties.
directly reflects this influence. for in it she
not only reconstructs an old fable with
careful anention to period clothing and
tradition, but she executes it in the old
kihyli.~hi fom1at as well. She abandons the
drawing pens, sequential panels, word
balloons, and typeset text of modern manga
for a brush and a tradi tional narrative lay out. Text is hand-leuered in calligraphic
style. Her main concession to modern times
is to adapt the language- few Japanese
would be able to read Edo-period Japanese
withou t a dictionary!
Frederik L. Schodt, aurhor. rranslaror. and
regular contnhutor to MAM;AJI'~. operates out
of San Franci~co.

A scene from
Hanageshlki
Kitsune Kodan
of Foxe~ at
rtowcr Viewing
Time"). This work.
publi~hcd in the
early 1 980~. is
done in the old
kihyii.rhi style. with
hand-lcucred text
surrounding the
illustrations.
('Tale~

MAN GAJ IN

Calvin and Hobbes

I F\N\) T\-\1\T

'IER"''

DISnJR.BI~<;!

Hobbes: "It says

here

(rrc:ttll,;;: Ft-?

-+ ,:.

(!)

Kono
this

that

by the age of six ..."

c.

s~i"t'l: ...

~(. $ ': J: J.> C:

6mt
~ -rl: .. .
klji
ni yoru to
roku-.wi
made ni . . .
article according to 6 years old by (the time)

It IJ, ~c $ (7) .: o
by the age of ... ~, 1iiJ f.&. i ~ 1:

[2]

Hobbes: "... most children have seen

a million murders on television."
1Hivt'G'>T1Jt
~t..:::tn 1 6?~ 10075i"IG'>>W:A
7'1.-l::"t'
-+ t:. tt' -r: v' (!) r~ lj: 7 v 1:: "'(' 1 oo H @I
~
(f)
Taitei no
most

kodomo wa terebi
children as-for TV

-r: -r:

~A
:,; - :.--- ~ ~ ~ tt '
satsujin shiin
o
mite kite iru
murder ~cene
(obj.) have seen
on television (TV) 1.: (;t 1Cf B~ (;t ~ t?

Calvin: "I find thru

C. .~&~. ? (~$1Jf{.T; X.~ .: t

de hyakuman-kai
mo
no
on I million times (emph.) of

J.J A.J!.

'?

-r: o

n da.
11e
(explan.) (quote)

~ 'o

very disturbing!"
)

t -r (> $i'U : 1J: ~

~ -?"1? ~-?tJ: o
to
komatchau na.
when am disturbed

-+ -f-?flfl< C
So kiku
hear that

Calvin: "It means I've been watching all the wron channels."
~P~ T ~
.t;- :i "t' ~ '( e t..:
~'( G'>rJJ~ :d..: -T "\' / ~-iv
-+ 0 ~ I? , ';r < if'
t rd1 j4 ":) t:. -r "' : . - ;f, )v ~
Tsumari, boku
In effect
I

Calvin ! 7

-r ":)

ga
zutto
machigatte
(subj.) all along mistaken

channeru
channel

v ~"t" 100 7J@ <b ~A~-:;,--~~ -r "' 7j: v'(7)~,

n' ? t::. t .Ffl, -::>t::. o u- t IJ t.: rt ~ (7) L. -r "' ;., .:. t 1:

Ji -r: t::.

o
mite-ta
koto ni naru
(obj) was watching turns out that

* IJ i!HL

1tl!G0r~(7)~

t.: n';,., r. o

)a nai ka.
does it not?

-r v' 1.> -r 1' :;,--;f. Jll ~ ~ "Cv' 7j:

The Essential Calvin and Hobbes. copyright 1988 Universal Press Syndicate. The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes, copyright 1990,
Universal Press Syndicate. All rights reserved. Reprinted/translated by permission of Editors Press Service, N.Y.

10

M ANGAJIN

Calvin and Hobbes

Calvi n: ul've been reading up on paleonto!Qgy,_ It's amazing stuff."

~.ve ~ t..:
i!i~~q:1.: :n 'C
.11 < ~ i!< (, Q)

-+ 1i ~ ~ q,:

(/)

~Hi

l 't' ", ~ !v t!. o i" :::: ", lv t!. J: o

Koseibutsu-gaku 110 benky~ o

.~hite- iru
paleontology
of study (obj.) doing

n da.
Sugoi
n da
yo.
(explan.) amazing (explan.)(emph.)

read up 't', Ml~!i!(liJf:fE)T .0, ni'cJ,.t..:i6 .o, ~1Uv't' .t3 < (on = ~: -::n,,q
paleontology [peiliantaledzi I paeliontol- ] rti~!lt~
stuff ~;1:, f.t
- ~~ 1: f b 0') J 0') .'!J:P~ o

<

Calvin: "Scientists can tell how old something is just b~ analyzing

n~.t. u: b n 7.>
-t ttn( e-n < e; ~.-, r'i ~.- n ~.jfi-t 7.> t.: lt"t'
the layers of dirt it's in."
I.Q)Ir$

-t-tti.Jf.A. --:> --r~.o J.,

Kagakusha wa, mono ga

umatte-iru
chiso
o
shirabem dake de,
scientist(s) as-for thing(s) (subj.) is/are buried in din- layer (obj.) investigate only by

t tt < I? "\ ?1 "'

-t- tt -IJ<
sore

f.:O

that

(subj.) how much

how+ adj.+ it Is 't',

[Ol__

-IJ' b -IJ' ~ lv t!. 0

fu rui ka wakaru n da.

dore kurai

old

('?) know

c.' lv ~ 1: -t ;h..1Jf1uJ 4

(expl an.)

n'(~~ ~~J), O)~l*o

"H_e_y_!"--------------------------------------------------------------~

j:; "\ !
C_a-lv-in_:__
Oi!

Hobbes: "Why, you must be

siuears old."

4HJ: ... l.::i!i\ ~.o,~~.o slit

(~~)

-+ b-? tJ,

~-

1;!:

6.i;l

1: i:, -/){It'~ v' 0

Fiimu,
kimi wa
roku-sai ni chigai nai.
(exclam.) you as-for 6 years old must be
Why li, flfltl:~ !~P!J!~J"t". B~ (~~) . Jj:~ ~:. ~ i --:> -r .0 t: ~ ~ ~'n', >b t, 7:> lv ( LJ ~0)-:. t ~ t')o
rmT-O)""f l:t~:a-~--:>;btr-.: t ~: J:--:> 1:', Calvin ~:-?v"( v'o "layer of dirt"= f~ t ~-? t..: t/veJ :a-?Jq""
-c v' .o b ~t(ffH& 0) ::1? 1: Hobbes O)fli;t; n{~ <~ ? -r v' .o ).

Cal vin: "Oh,

you're a scream."

(~ill) ~ ~ t.: IH:> 1) L.~.o A.

-+ .1:> -IJ' l

<'t'

t.:. i I? ~ "' A

t!.

:i' 0

Okashikute
tamaranai
hito
da
ne.
amusing/funny past e ndurance person is/are isn' t it
scream li ::\'- i'

'J ::\'-

-v "J ~-) .: t

't' you're a scream = (it?~ t.:. !)i:l-IJ L.

< -r t::. i

~ ~ v' A 0

MAN GAJIN

1 1

So you want
to learn

by Ginny Skord
Late I y it seems as if the stud y of
Japanese is the onl y industry that's booming in the United States. High schools that
never before ventured beyond Spanish and
French have now added Japanese to their
curric ula; a dizzying array of Japanese
language texts are selling like sushi over
the counter; Japanese dominates bi-lingual help-wanted listings. and consulting
firms and translation services are enjoying
a new prosperity. Having somehow she lved
their traditiona l distaste for learning foreign languages, Americans are lining up in
droves to study Japanese. while the Japanese are still a little puzzled as to why
anyone would wantto bother. After all, it's
not the easiest of lang uages to learn, it's
not widely spoken outside of Japan, and
the Japanese themselves have tried to spare
us considerable pain and effort by learning
English instead.
Those who do bother stud ying this
som etimes sweetly logical but often exasperating language find that it has its own
rewards, ranging from the gratifying ability to deciphe r restaurant menus and Japanese comics to a whole new way of looking at the world and oneself as well. Language ability alone, however, does not
necessarily translate into a high-powered
career. Japanese media personalities like
12

MANGAJIN

Kent Gilbert or Dave Spector notwithstanding, there are precious few openings
for g lib but otherwise unskilled gaijin.
Even Gilbert and Specto r are not w ithout
considerable tale nts -inc luding keen instincts for marketing and unabashed selfpromotion. Neither American nor Japanese firn1s hire merely on the basis of
linguistic proficiency; unless your dream
career is hostessing, Japanese should functio n as the final clincher on a solid resume.
Once you have committed yourself to
learning Japanese, settle in for a long seige.
True ability is not woneasily, certainly not
overnight, or even in several years. A few
guide lines and ground rules can help you
avoid wasted time, and maximize the return on that investment.

Where to begin (see OPTIONS ...

on the facing page) .
Prospecti ve students of Japanese now
have a plethora of learning options. many
of which hardly ex isted even ten years
ago. At o ne point or another, I've experienced all of the options listed, either as
student or instructor, and can ne ithe r
wholly endorse nor utterly dismiss any
oneofthem. Yourchoiceshouldbeguided
by your own learning style, schedule, and
budget.

Dealing with your instructor.

Most people teaching Japanese in the
United States fall into one of three categories: w ives of Japanese employees on a 3to 5-year assignment; students or assorted
mavericks for whom teaching is a lucrati ve way to subsidize their main avocation;
and trained professionals, including both
native and non-native speakers. Effective
teaching is as much a function of personality and common sense as of credentials,
so if your instructor is lively, bright, and
knows how to c rack a whip when necessary, don't worry too much about academic credentials. In fact, the most problcominued on pa~e /4 )

CONTENTS

So You Want To
Learn Japanese .......... p. 12

Choosing the Right

Textbook ..................... p. 16

Mini-reviews of Texts .. p. 16

Review of Kana
Learning Software ..... p. 24

Case Study/Review
of Kanji-Flash .............. p. 32

F e a t u r e S t o r y

OPTIONS for Learning Japanese

Option 1 : Go to Japan .
Go to Japan and try to ''pick it up'' on
your own. Some people actually achieve
passable results this way, particularly if
they're young and linguistically talented. If
you put yourselfintoa situation in which you
either speak or starve, you're Iikely 10 make
some progress. This method tends to produce practical, if fractured and ungrammatical, Japanese ability. Once ingrained. however. bad habits thus acquired are extraordinarily difficult to break, so you 'rc beuer off
combining your on-site learning with a more
systematic approach.
Option 2 : Take a class.
Whether in Japan or abroad, joining a
class is standard procedure. Classes vary
tremendously in size, ability of instructor,
cost, and composition: you should investigate before commiuing. If possible. observe
a class. Do you hear any English spoken?
Bad sign. Does the instructor dominate the
c lass? If the instruc tor speaks more than 30%
of the time, you're not going to get in much
practice of your own. How many students in
the class? Class size can vary from intimate
groups of three or four to mobs of thirty to
forty. Arc there separate smaller drill sessions? If groups larger than ten or twelve
comprise the bulk of class time, you' re wasting time unless your only goal is to become
skilled in passive listening. How are responses elicited? Students should be called
on at random, after a question is posed. so
that everyone is equally likely to be called
upon. Get a feel for the pace- it should be
brisk but not overwhelming. What kind of
atmosphere predominates? A cenain amount
of tens ion is unavoidable. butthroat-sliuing
competition is counterproductive. The more
mutually supportive and enjoyable the class.
the more you'llleam.
The most obvious place to start looking
is a local college or university, which is the
most likely to have trained instructors and an
established program. Tuition at private institutions can be high-from 200 10 over 400
dollars a credit hour. If you don't need the
college credit. you might be able to lowerthe
cost by registering as a non-credit student.
Tuition at state and community colleges

tends to be less expensive, but it's harder to

predict class size. Once enrolled, if you sense
that a class isn't for you, most places will
refund the bulk of your tuition if you drop
within a week or two after class starts.
Some colleges offer special language immersion weekends. but don' t expect to get very
far if you're a beginner. Steer clear unless they
offer a grad uated series of such weekends.
These programs are best for polishing up rusty
skills, not for forming new skills from scratch.
Local adult education program~ arc another good source. Here you 'II find courses like
conversational Japanese" or "Japanese for
the Tourist. .. These are usually one-shot dealshowever good the course. attrition rates are
high among adults with only a casual interest.
and there probably won't be enough Mudcnts to
justify a equel. Still, the programs offer an
inexpensive way 10 commence your study and
find out if you want to continue in a more
serious vein.
Most major c ities now have JapanAmerica societies or like organizations. most
of which offer some form of language instruction. or. if not. can point you in the right
direction. In ew York City. for example. the
Japan Society runs a staggering array of classes
at fairly modest rates. For specifics. check with
the local Japanese consulate or businesses that
cater to a Japan-oriented cliente le.
And then there are the commercial language schools. Tuition may be steep. but class
size tends to be small. Be warned. however.
that in many cases the instructors seem to be
hired merely because they arc native speakers.
The re arc a number of such schools in Japan,
and the only advice I can offer is to visit before
you plunk down your hard-earned tuition.
If none of the classes you investigate
seems to suit your needs, you can create your
own class by gathering other like-minded individuals and hiring a private instructor (see
option 3 below). The biggest problem here is
that your fellow stude nts may soon become
disenchanted with the entire project. leaving
you stuck with the instructor and the bill. Japanese affiliated companies or those that have
significant dealings with Japan arc usually willing. if not eager. to sponsor classes by providing meeting space and possibly tuition, so it's
worthwhile checking with your personnel de-

panmcnt to see what can be arranged.

Option 3: Engage a private tutor.

Your most likely candidates are moonlighting instructors from established programs. Universities with applied linguistics
programs usually have more than a few
Japanese students: post a sign at the department office. Signs in stores and locations
frequented by Japanese will yield at least a
few re~ponses. In major metropolitan areas,
expect to pay $30-60 an hour. In addition.
you might want to pay a certain amount of
"earnest money" up front. just to seal the
deal. although in this country most Japanese
wouldn't expect it.lffinances penn it. schedule your sessions to meet at least twice a
week: less than that o nl y allows you to
forget more between meetings
Option 4: Join a language exchange.
This extremel.Y inefficient method is
almost guaranteed to create sore feel111gs for
at least one party. " You teach tne Japanese
and l'llteach you English'' kind~ of set-ups
either end up lopsided and completely unfair. or collapse in no time at all. leaving a
messy puddle of unfulfilled promises and
expectations. Still, the method has one compelling feature: it's usually free. if you
don' t count the cost of broken relationships.
Proceed with caution. Set up guidelines
before you begin. and establish the amount
of time to be devoted to each language.
Stick to your schedule and be profuse in
expressing your appreciation.
Option 5: Self-study.
This tennis used to refer to two different kinds of activities: an arrangment
whereby you work on your own with tapes
and text~. periodically checking in with
someone who evaluates your progress. and
true. solitary, unguided learning. The former
is often practiced by colleges that don't
offer Japanese: in essence. you become a
long-dbtance student. In such endeavors,
success correlates directly with your level
of sclf-di~cipline and the amount of actual
contact with your tutor. For beginners outside of Japan, the latter makes no sense at
all. Return to option one and begin again.

MA NGAJtN

13

Feature Story
(cominuedfrom pap,e 12)

lematic are those originally trained to teach

English or kokugo (the Japanese language
curric ulum of the Japanese educational
system). These types tend to adhere to the
same grammar and blackboard-centered
pedagogy still practiced in Japanese public schools. You don' t want to learn Japanese the way most Japanese learn Eng I ish.
It may be tough going at first, but
there are advantages to learning from an
instructor who isn' t very comfortable with
English. Skilled English speakers or those
who have resided abroad for more than a
few years usually switch to automatic
English pilot when speaking with nonJapanese. Yo u must take the lead and he lp
them to break this habit by strenuously
resisting the urge to use English: otherwise lessons wi ll deteriorate into speaking
about Japanese rather than in Japanese.
Read the grammar explanations before
you begin a lesson, and don' t interrupt the
flow with a two-bit question or comment

thai is best reserved for after class.

Since most native Japanese language
teachers are female, it's likely that you
will be exposed to predominently female
speech patterns, including pitch and mannerisms. This is fine for female students,
but males producing marked feminine
speech can give off signals utterly at odds
with what they intend. The natural human
te ndency for voice pitch to rise when feeling tentative only exacerbates this problem. Of course, good teachers are a lert to
this, but they can ' t always swoop down on
every nuance, so males in particular need
to be vigilant in establishing and maintaining appropriate speech behavior. The same
ho lds true for women studying with male
instructors. If you harbor a resistance to
these requisite gender distinctions in the
Japanese language, squelch your feel ings
for now. You have to know it before you
can subvert it.
Don't panic if your instructor turns

out to be a gaijin, but do try to ascertain his

or her actual ability. lfhe sounds close to
a native speaker sight unseen (on the telephone, for example, where such features
as blue eyes don' t act as a dead giveaway),
you' ll get as much, if not more, from a
non-native as from a native speaker. Otherwise, use him for information about the
language and get your actual verbal training from someone e l e; learning from a
gaijin/Japanese team of teachers is one of
the best ways to go.

Class clowns
Native Japane e teachers don 't always ride herd on a c lassful of pote ntially
rambunctious Americans as assertive ly as
they might, which can lead to some pretty
disorganized classes. Compulsive English
speakers, habitual late-comers, and the
chronically unprepared are sabote urs who
deserve the full force of other students'
collective disapproval. Gently voice your

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F e a t u r e S t o r y

objections; smilingly cut off their English

mid-sentence; glare at them menacingly:
kick them under the table-employ whatever means fair or foul necessary to mend
their errant ways. Just don ' t allow them to
waste your time and tuition, or to reinforce
the Japanese perception of Americans as
rude and unruly.

Pitfalls and caveats

Accent and intonation are of fundamental importance. The deceptive simplicity of the Japanese sound system tends
to lead students to assume otherwise. and
instructors themselves tend to be less than
rigorous in enforcing an authentic accent.
A long as a response is grammatically or
contextually correct, they'll usually let it
pa , so you "ll have to police yourself.
ever settle for good enough for a gaijin. Your mouth should ache after a good
session in Japanese-if not, you've probably been lazy.

Take extra care with long and short

vowels (e.g .. slwjin vs. shiijin. to quote my
personal favorite), double consonants (e.g.,
kaki vs. kakki) and Joan-words (gairaigo)
derived from English. which you'll be
tempted to pronounce as if they were still
English. which they aren't. Many pronunciation mistakes with the above can be
traced to over-reliance on the Japanese
transcribed in English letters used by many
beginning text . Wean yourself from this
treacherous crutch early on by mastering
the Japanese sy llabary (katakana and
hiragana) a soon as possible. If close
vocal mimicry doesn't seem to help your
accent, you' II at lea t get a sense of the
syllabic sound value by reading aloud
material written in hiragana or katakana.
In every class there's a kanji kingthe one who thinks that Japanese ability is
measured by the number of Chinese characters one knows. Don' t be fooled. You'll
learn, forget, and relearn a character only

to forget again-that's why the kanji dictionary (kan ei or kanwa jiten) was invented. Instead of laboriously tracing out
intricate and arcane characters that you' ll
only run across once or twice a year. devote a few hours to mastering the use of
your kanji dictionary of choice. Keep in
mind too that unless you're an aspiring
calligrapher. recognition is far more important than reproduction. Learn to use a
Japanese word processor and you 'II never
have to reproduce a kanji again. (Because
the Japanese usually prefer the personal
touch, I draft correspondence on the word
processor. which supplies the appropriate
kanji in response to kana cues. print it out,
then copy it by hand.) The Japanese have
recently come up with a hand-held computer that functions as a dictionary: these
gadgets can supply a kanji for just about
any word you're likely to know. Prices are
still somewhat steep (30,000-60.000) but
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MANGA JI N

15

F eatu reStor y

Choosing the
right textbook
by Karen Sandness
If you enroll in a regular Japanese
class. you probably won 't have a say in
choosing the textbook (although the book
used may be one factor in deciding if a
cla~s i s ri ght f or you) . so this section is
largely for people w ho are intere!.ted in
self-study. V ery simply. the best advice
I can g ive concerning teac hing yourself
Japanese is. Don ' t." but if you arc determined to teach yourself. you need to
choose your learning materials carefull y -a m i stake here can lead to much
personal frustratio n.
A bookstore with a good foreign
lang uage section will offer a wide range

o f tex t books. and the cover blurbs of

l>Ome o f them announce wonderful new
methods that w ill make you nuent in no
time wi t h very little effort. Rig ht. and
you can lose fifty po unds ly ing on y our
couc h eat i ng j unk food all day. The fact
i s that achieving professional competence in Japanese- that"s the abi lity to
li ve your li fe and carry o ut your business
in reasonably correct Japanese witho ut
reco urse to English- requires more time
than most A mer icans are w illing to devote to anything but l>po n s. Y ou can put
in the time over a decade o r two. or you
can shorten the calendar time required

by d ropping every thing else and taking a

six o r eight ho ur per day intensi ve course
for a year or two. but you cannot escape
the time requi rement. Anyone w ho tells
you di ffe rently is a liar. Period.
The most extrav agant c laims come
from authors and publ ishers w ho produce g lo ri fied phrasebooks wi th tapes. i f
you know absolutely nothi ng abo ut Japanese. this kind o f material can prov ide an
inexpensive way to samp le the lang uage.
but like all phn"ebooks, they present the
material unsystematically and leave you
ill -equipped to understand what native
speakers mig ht say in response to your
phrases.
Hav ing narrowed your searc h to real
textbooks. you next need to eliminate the
obviousl y bad o nes. Y o ur fi rst task is to
look at the copy ri ght dates: any thing
more than ten or fifteen years old , no
matter w hat i ts orig inal merit. is going to
present the language and :.ociety of the
past. Then. y ou need to sho w the text-

Some textbooks
This is a list of the major Japanese language texrhnoks 11011' amilahle. We asked se1eral experts to ll'rite brief comments
ahout these hooks, and where po.uihle. we comhined lhese co!lunems info the ""hlurhs"" heloll'. Our panel members were:
Wayne Lammers . Jo/111 Meam. Dal'id Mills. Karen Sa/1(/ness. and Chris Thompson.
Japanese: The Spoken Language, Eleanor H. Jorden with Mari
Noda, Yale Univ. Press, 1987.371 pages, $1 7.95. [tapes; videos;
supplement for learning kanji & kana; 2 sequels; Shinkunrei
roomazi; no kana or kanji in main text]
Generally recognized a\ the mo'>t comprehen~ive and effective ~et of
materials for adult. Eng l i~h-~pcak ing Mudent~ of Japane-.e. Highly
evaluated for natural/realistic language. In addition to its supplement.
Japanese: The Wriu en Language. instructor versions of all volumes arc
available with drills. dialog\. etc. wriuen in Japanc-.e. With audio tape'
and video. a po~~i ble choice for \elf- in~truction. although grammar
explanations can be complex/ tediom. Not for the casual learner.
Beginning Japanese, Eleanor H. Jorden. Yale University Press,
1963. 409 pages. 3600. [tapes; supplement Reading Jap anese;
sequel; Shinkunrei roomazi; no kana or kanji in main text]
Rendered somewhat obsolete by publication of JSL (above). but
some prefer the grammar explanation' in this earlier text. Language and
situations now out of date.
Situational Functional Japanese, Tsukuba Language Group.
Bonjinsha, 1991 . 212 pages, 3000 (notes). [tapes; videos; CAl;
2 sequels; drill books; modified Hepburn roomaji; kana & kanji
used throughout text]
Realistic language pre,ented in natural situations; especially good
for those studying in Japan. The drill book presents a wide range of
exercises for each lesson. from su b~t itution drilb to role-playing; include~ cultural notes and ""conver~ational '>trategie~ ... Combination of
audio. video, and computer ~oft ware i' a plus.
Japanese for Busy People, Association for Japanese-Language
Teaching. Kodansha lnt'l, 1984. 170 pages, $19.95. [tape; CD;

16

MAN GAJ t N

sequel; Hepburn romaji; kana used for dialogs & reading drills)
Thb '>eems to be ~omething of a standard for adult education and
community college courses; not bad for those waming a ""quick lh""
imroduction. but not 'o suitable for serious ~t udcnts who intend to follow
through to advanced levels. Some u\eful content for bu'oine's type'>. but
limited in \COpe.
Nissan's Business Japanese, Hajime Takamizawa. Passport
Books, 1991 . 293 pages, $29.95. (tapes; sequel; modified Hepburn
roomaji ( "hune'); kana and kanji used for d ialogs; mini-essays on
Japanese business culture)
Essays on busincs~ & etiquette are excellent. but the premise that the
\tudent can reach the level of conducting business negotiat ion~ in
Japanc'>e through an introductory level textbook i' unrealistic. Language/grammar explanation' arc weak; l"eful for ~omeone who already
has the ba~ics down and wants to add on business vocabulary.
Learn Japanese the Fast and Fun Way, Carol &Nobuo Akiyama.
Barron's, 1990. 234 pages, $14.95. (Hepburn romaji; kana
introduced in final chapter; text contains activity kit]
A ""cule"" book with a functional syllabus. but introduces complicated
~t ructurc'> in the early lesson\ wi th liule explanation and in~u flicicnt
excrci~c,. o audio tape is a 'enou-. dra'' bad.
Bunka Shokyu Nihongo, Bunka Institute of Language. Tokyo:
Bonjinsha. 119 pages, 1 ,600. [tapes; workbook; teacher's manual;
OHP for classroom use; sequel)
A direct method textbooJ.. wriuen entirely in Japane~c. Excellent
content. meaningful situations. amusing illustrations. University and
graduate ~tudent level.
(umtllllll'tl o11 pag l' /Xi

F e a t u r e

book to someone who can check the

language for accuracy and naturalness.
One self-instructional text currently on
the market was written by an Englishman whose own command of Japanese is
none too steady. But a Japanese author is
no guarantee of authenticity. because a
few feel obliged to "simplify" the language for the poor gaijin.
Next you need to be honest about
your own goals. If all you want is basic
survival skills, you wi ll find one type of
textbook most useful. l fyou want a foundation for professional competence, you
will need a di fferent type. The latter
usually come in a multi-volume series
and move carefully from simple structures and situations to complicated ones.
The books for teaching survival skills
are usually light on grammar and sentence patterns and heavy on vocabulary.
If in doubt, consult the author's preface
for his or her own statement of purpose.
The battle between those who favor

t o r

instruction in romaji and those who favor hiragana from the beginning can take
on the look of a holy war. Having taught
both ways, I believe that the outcome of
instruction has more to do with the aptitude and diligence of the Ieamer than
with the scri pt used in the textbook. If
you are a serious student, you will learn
hiragana and kanji eventually, but if
you seek no more than survival skills,
you need not bother. In real life, almost
nothing is written entirely in hiragana
without kanji. You are better off learning
katakana, which allows you to read coffee shop menus, Shinkansen tickets, and
approximately every other word in fashion magazines.
Having narrowed your search to a
few textbooks. the next step is to look at
the format of the lessons. Are the suggested procedures something that you
could carry out independently? Do you
understand the explanati ons? Is the
amount of new material per chapter man-

ageable? Does the author provide lots

and l ots of exercises to re-enforce the
sentence patterns and conversational routines? Are the dialogues intelligent and
believable? If possible, you should li sten
to the accompanying tapes. Be wary of
tapes where the speakers speak too slow Iy,
because then you will learn to understand only Slow Japanese, a language
not spoken in Japan.
Although not in the category of"textbooks," in order to become truly proficient in Japanese you need to spend time
in Japan. This should be under circumstances that force you to talk to a variety
of people and allow you to continue
tudying. There is no substitute for this
tep, and after all. communicating with
the Japanese people i s the whole point of
your endeavor.

Karen Sandness is an advising editor and

regular contributor to M ANGAJIN.

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MAN G A J IN

17

F ea tur e - S tory
(cmllinuedfrom page 15)

will no doubt fall.

is true that young Japanese speakers in-

Honorific (keigo), self-deprecatory

(kenji5-go) and polite (leinei) speech codes
represent the ultimate minefield for the

creasingly tend toward the highly informal, old habits die hard. Like any living
language. Japanese changes over time. but
you re probably better off letting the Japa-

thumb: simply use the more expedient

tongue. You 'II quickly get a sense of your
companions' linguistic ability. If their English is much better than your Japanese,

average gregarious and egalitarian American. You have probably been told to stick

nese do the linguistic trail-blazing.

don't insult their intelligence by insisting

to "desu-masu" forms. which do indeed

offer a safe haven. At the very worst. these

on peaking in Japanese. but make known

your interest. One ploy I've found particu-

Trying out your Japanese

fonns can only give you a reputation for

The thorn y question of how to engage

larly helpful is to compl iment their English while ruefully remarking upon the

reserve, which isn't all that bad in Japanese society. When with potential friends,
allow them to set the level of speech; with

the Japanese in Japanese language conversation was rai sed in early issues of M AN-

poor quality of your own Japanese in such

a way as to invite their assistance.

GAJIN.

superiors. always err on the side of formality. using keigo if you can manage it. With
" inferiors" (the local street-sweeper? stu-

and there are still no easy answers.

Your primary purpose in learning the lan-

Once you've steered the conversation

into Japanese. one blank look on your part

guage is communication. not linguistic

one-upsmanship. You probably won "t want

may be all it takes to throw it back into

English. where it may languish forever. So

dents? shop assi stants?). maintain the

to address someone in Japanese unless you

""desu-masu" but drop the keigo. Don "t try

to deal with self-deprecatory speech until

are capable of sustaining at least a minimal

exchange: greeting every Japanese face
you see with konnichi 11'a is no different

when in do ubt. fake it. When groping for a

word. sometimes help is no further away
than your nati ve language: if there an

from the Japanese schoolchild's penchant

for shrieking "haro. haro" at every passing foreigner. I abide by a simple rule of

accent. Chances are good that either your

neo logism i s already in common use. or
that your companion will at least under-

you think you can handle the other two. In

general , it's best to observe and then adopt
forms used by genteel Japanese of rou ghly
your own age and social position. While it

English equivalent. try it in a Japanese

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MAN GAJIN

19

L ett e r s
(continued from pa11e 3)

romaji (Japanese wriuen in English letters). The idea is to practice reading the
kana (phonetic symbols) and kanji (Chinese characters) that you know, and to
gradually pick up more. At the same
time, you are expanding your vocabulary of words, phrases and sentences.
For the more difficult mango (like
the feature mango in this issue), beginners will probably rely heavily on the
English translations to follow the story,
but the literal word-for-word translations make it easy to pick out any word
or phrase you want to add to your vocabulary.
On the flip side, advanced students
can read the manga directly. referring
to the translation and notes only when
stumped by an odd word or phrase. For
these readers , we ha1e simply done
some of the legwork. so they can read
right through without putfing the story
down to pull out the dictionary. We have
heard from quite a few trans lators,
teachers, and "near-native" speakers
who say they learn something new this
way from every issue.

Whatever your level. we recom mend that you don' t approach M ANGA
JJN as if it were a textbook in which you
have to understand point A before you
can go on to point 8 . Our hope is that
the manga material makes you wallt to
read on, even if you don't entirely understand why the translation comes out
the way it does. The more you read. the
more things are repeated, and the more
you pick up - not only in specific vocabulary but in a "feel" for how Japanese works. If you're a relative beginner, though. you mig/If wam to "work"
on one page at a time.
This is such a good question we'd
like to throw it open to our readers how do you read and learn from M AN

pretty much self-contained for language

learning, it doesn ' t work quite ri ght i n
my case, because wi thout resorting to a
dictionary it would feel as if (well , not
quite, but ... ) I were learning the spelling of E nglish words without caring
about the pronunciation. In the "pronunciation guide" you dismiss the intonation as mostl y inessential, and the majority of the kokugo, eiwa or waei dictionaries back up your view by simply
ignor ing accent.
I don ' t expect you to further complicate the format of the magazi ne to
include accent marks. I would just feel
vindicated by an acknowledgement that
accent , yappari, is an issue.

GAJIN?

Verona, Ital y

Accent marks
I've grown acutely accent-sensitive by
st.udying (Eleanor) Jorden' s textbook
and I miss the marking of accents on
M ANGAJIN's romanization.lf the idea of
the magazine is to make the material

GIANLUCA G OR 'I

We would not deny that "accent i s an

issue." but we think imitating native
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(conti11111'd on page 71)

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(continued from page /9)

stand it. (After all. many Japanese have

pretended to understand.
A~sumi ng that your diligence has pro-

learned English from instructors who mistakenly pronounce English words much

duced a certain level of proficiency. you

the same way.) A substantial portion of

Japanese communicative competence lies

Japane~e.

in easily memorized fonnu laic expressions;

hesitation sounds (ano, eto instead of the
English "uh'' or urn'') and non-verbal
behavior like proper bowing and body
language also ensure a smooth now. Not
only will you sound more authentic. but it

The better you get. the more it seems to

work against you. Long years of foreignen, 'linguistic ineptitude have led theJapane~e to equate speaking Japanese with

should also be aware when not to u e

For example. strong emotions

being Japanese. so your very existence is

seen as a logical impossi bil ity. I n parts of

are often impossible to express in any

language other than your own. so don't get

Japan. particularly in Tokyo. increasing

numbers of gaijin speaking passable Japanese have reduced the jaw-dropping con-

into a shouting match unless you're very.

very good. If you use Japanese for business purposes. it's probably better to limit

siderably. The phenomenon hits harder

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tiations are carried our through interpreters for each party. While this can make for

the language and fewer sti ll can be said to

speak with any degree of competence. As
greater numbers of non-Japanese demon-

way to indicate attentiveness and agreement without actually having to put your-

some rather crowded conference rooms.

it's the only professional way to go.

strate that they can both learn and function

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self on the line. If you remain attenti ve.

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have played a part in the process.

what's being said. Obviously. this latter

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cretion. It can back fire when you really

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M ANGAJIN

21

-If 7 ')

~~

Sarari-kun

Sarari-kun: M $

Nani-goro mo
whatever

also

k.yososhin

ga

competitive spirit (subj)

ft'Thlf

f.! -t'/ o

-$";!-

nak.ereba

da

if there is not

is

~o!.

(cmph)

otto have a
Son:

1\1 o

Hai.

" Yes sir." (PL3)

nanigoro is a combination of nani ('"what") and koro ("thing,"
changed to goro for euphony) -> "whatever."
kyiiso = "race" and -shin means "heart/spirit." so kyoso-shin means
"competitive spirit."
nak.ereba is a conditional "if/when" form of nai ("there is not/not
have") "if there is not/if you don't have."
dame means "(is) no good," so nak.ereba dame means "it's no good if
you don't have" "you must have.''
zo is a relati vely rough emphatic particle used mostly by men, but
also occasionally by women to show strong determination.
the child may look like a girl, but actually this is a boy.

Sound FX: 7" - 7"Gii gii

(effect of sleeping soundly)
~'7ft'-'

-t'!

Yoshi.

Mak.enai

zo!

(exclam.)

won'tlose

(emph.)

Son: J: - L o

" All right! I won' t be out-done." (PL2)

yoshi, especially with a long yo, suggests he is gathering his strength

for an all-out effort "okay!lall right!/here goes!"
makenai is the plain negati ve form of makeru (''lose/be defeated").

Sound FX: 7"-7"-t 7"-7"Gil gtl

I Gii gil
(effect of sleeping soundl y)

ishimura So, All rights reserved. First published

in Japan in 1991 by Nishimura So. Englbh
rights arranged through ishimura So.

tran~lation

22

M ANGAJIN

fJ" 7 ')

[iJ

.n Sarari-kun
Wife:

~ <!) 1:: ~ 0

1: J:

Nani yo.

sono himo.

what (emph.) that

" What_is it? Sarari-kun: 1-' 0 ;f. '7 IJ{

Dorobo

ga

string

that strin " (PL2)

I:
koko de

robber

(subj.) here

at

J.E. ~
ashi o

U' :>IJ' t t 1.>

hikkakeru

"?

-c

'7 'T t!.

wake da.

ue

leg (obj.) hook/catch

(quote)

is

" It's so robbers will tri

(PL2)

here."

normal word order would be sono himo (wa) nani yo, "What's that
string?" In sentences with question words, yo can replace the final
desu ka to make an informal question. This generally has a feminine
feel, though in certain circumstances the structure can be used quite
forcefully by men as well.
ashi = " leg/foot,'' and hikkakeru ="hang/hook," so ashi o hikkakeru
means "hook a leg on" "trip (on)."
ue is a colloquial equivalent of to iu, which marks the preceding
phrase as the content of wake ("reason/explanation").
da is the informal/abrupt (PL2) equivalent of desu ("is/are").

Wife: ~lv~l:? i
Sonna ni
so much

< "' < b <!)

umaku

smoothly

i:T

n'o

iku mono desu ka.

go

thing

is (?)

71\1\l\

Aha ha ha.
Ha ha ha ha

" Is it a thing that will work so well?" "It~

never work. (la~h}_" (PL2)

sonna ="such/that kind or
sonna ni ="that much/so much."
umaku is the adverb form of wnai (''good/skillful/successful'') and
iku means ''go," so umaku iku literally means "go well/successfully"
"(something) works." Sonna ni umaku iku ="works so well."
mono desu ka is literally "Is it a thing?" so the whole sentence means
"Is it a thing that will work so well?"- with the implied answer
"It' II never work."

Sarari-kun:

~hfJf ~~c ~:~fJTl.>

blv t!

seiko suru mon da

succeed

thing

J: o
yo.

is (emph.)

risin I effective." (PL2)

Wife: il? 1?,
Ara.

~??

so?

" Oh. is that so?" (PL2)

sore ga can be used as a sentence opener meaning "But/but actually."
igai to= "surprisingly/unexpectedly."
mon(o) dais literally " It is a thing (that)" but can often be thought of
simply as emphasis. Yo is also emphatic.
ara is a feminine "oh."
so is an informal/abrupt (PL2) equivalent of so desu ka ("is that
so?").

GJl____o_n_B_o_u_Ie_:_i_~----------------------------~
.

Sake

M ANGAJIN

23

I Computer

REVIEWS
Kana
Assisted
Instruction

Learning Programs
The Japanese phonetic alphabets, hiragana and katakana, are collectively
known as kana. Here are six computer programs that can help you learn
these basic elements of written Japanese.
by Fred Lorish
Most students of Japanese, at some
point in their study . want to learn to read
and w rite Japanese. Although some begin
tackling kanji right along with kana. the
convent ional approach is to learn kana
first. Which forn1 of kana- hiragana or
katakana- is another issue. though a
strong argument can be made for starting
with katakana because of the number of
foreign loan words (which arc wri tten i n
katakana) that ex ist in the language.
The kana programs reviewed below
all attempt something they shouldn't: phonology. We need to remember that when
Japanese children learn kana, they already
have a firm grasp of the spoken language.
There j ust aren't enough " tools" available
in kana (or in these computer programs) to
teach the non-native speaker the intricacies of the phonological system.
There is one other point that should be
made clear: being able to write Japanese
does not mean one can speak the language.
Spoken Japanese and written Japanese are
two entirely different things. It should be
clear to all students that unless they learn
to speak Japanese. their study of written
Japanese w ill be of limited value.
With those caveats in mind. here are
some of the commercial software programs that can help you in the first steps to
learning wriucn Japanese.

EasyKana from HyperGio t is a graphically " Japanese-looking'' package for the

M acintosh that combines most of the fea-

24

MAN GAJI N

tures one would want in a kana program:

sound. stroke-order, and drills. The interface is intuitive and easy to usc; there is
excellent control over what you study,
review. and drill. There are no mnemonic
aids. Romaji is evident. but not intrusive.
The study program works well: at any
point you can sec the stroke order and hear
the pronunciation. There i s a set of word
cards that incorporate a graphi c with the
pronunciation of the word. You can also
hear the pronunciation of the individual
kana in the word. The list is not particul arl y long, but does include some useful
word s.

JapanEase: Katakana, a M acintosh

program from Ayumi Software. is easily
the most graphically sophisticated o f the
group. The folks at Ayumi have in many
ways outdone themselves with the visuals
and the design. High points include a marvelous little busine s card maker (which
would be of great interest in the classroom). an album o f scenes (baseball, a
kitchen. a street intersection. etc.) which
displays all the ~airaigo ("imported
words") at a click of the mouse. and a
"notebook" of gairaigo in which you can
toggle off the word as well as the pronunciation (in kana or romaji). The central
part of the program. however, falters. The
pronunciations given are in a few. important cases. suspect. parti cularly for ra, ri.
I'll , re, and ro. The visual mnemonics are
often pushing the edges of crediblity, giv-

ing rise to some strange cues: sa uses

"sign:''ji1uses ''hook:'' so uses saw.'' The
entire ra-column is connected to L -based
cues: log, leaf, loop, leg, and loaf. The
romaji forthiscolumn uses initial L 's w ith
the customary Hepburn initial R 's in parentheses. Even though L 's are used on
these introductory charts (and al so /111), the
nonnal Hepburn system is used throughout the rest of the program. It i s an odd and
confusing choice. The animated stroke
orders fall v ictim to a limitation in
H yperCard's graphic capabilities. Thus,
when there is a sharp angle in a single
stroke (as in, for example, ya), the initial
stroke looks like it is two strokes. Ayumi
has added stroke numbers. but do students
pay close attention to details like that?
There are a number of other cute features-a speaking clock and calendar, for
example-and the program has included
much spoken material. This has great
promise, but there are problems with the
execution. Sentences have unnatural
pauses and cadences. Though I can understand some of the reasons this happens, I
personally find it poor pedagogy.
Ayumi So ft ware has recently released volume two in their series. This one
covers hiragana and grammar. The graphics are, as usual, fantastic. They have
dropped the use of visual mnemonics,
which is a nice change. Everything else in
the hiragana module is the same format as
volume one. T hey have al so added a grammar section (which does not fit into the

SoftwareSupplement

criteria for this review), which seems interesting and innovative. Since I had only
the demo, it is difficult to evaluate; however, even there one finds the wide use of
anata as an equivalent of the English
''you." This is a result of the misconception that every English word must have a
Japanese counterpart. T his kind of usage
of anara makes for "Japlish"-a form of
Japanese spoken only by foreigners.

completed, and the program will keep

track of progress. The program suffers
from two deficiencies: first, it is visually
unattractive; and second, it has no sound.
Consequently, the student must depend on
English words that approximate the Japanese. This can be useful up to a point (as
mentione d in m y commen ts a bout
JapanEase, above).

Hiragana/Katakana Exercises from

Japanese in a Breeze: Hiragana &
Katakana is an IBM program from
Eastword Software. This program is as
pedagogically sound as they come. The
mate rial is presented in a typical manner:
you start with the 46 basic kana, and conti nue, step by step, through the variations
(dakuon) and combinations (yoon). This
program relies on verbal mnemonics: thus
for shi you have " take a hook to fish in the
shi'" There is also an editor that permits
students to add the ir own mnemonics. The
review/testing procedure is thorough; the
student can mark lessons when they are

Anonae Software is a straightforward

Macintosh program that uses a syllabary
chart as its core. At the chart level, the
student can listen to the pronunciation of a
column, or go to individual kana. The
screen for the individual kana shows the
stroke order in an animated sequence, and
also provides a digitized pronunciation.
The screens are graphically simple and
easy to manipulate.
As in other kana programs, this one
anempts to use mnemonic devices to assist
in learning the pronunciation. The results
are disastrous. For example, here is a par-

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tial list list of problematic mnemonics:

u - push
ku - cook
si- ship
ni-> nimble
hu - fulcrum
mi > mineral
wa - ward
gi- g immick
gu--> good
There are other problems. The sound
is often garbled. With the sound level at
the highest setting on my LC, the output
was often difficult to hear clearly. When I
added amplified speakers, there was some
improvement, but it became apparent that
in digitizing the sound, the beginnings of
many sounds were truncated, giving a
somewhat unnatural feel. I fear that some
of the HyperCard links were incorrect: the
hya series sounded like kya, and the sya
series like cha.
T wo dri II programs are provided. The
first, for practicing writing, simply gives
an English word. The student uses a chart
to "cl ick" the appropriate kana to "spe ll"
the word. When done, the student can
compare the result with the correct "spell-

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M ANGAJIN

25

Softwar e S upp t e m e nt

ing." The second exercise gives a list of

Japanese words; the student is expected to
say them aloud, and then by clicking on the
word, the romani zed form is given. Clicking on the romani zed forms reveals the
meaning. Both work well enough. though
the choice of words is perhaps a problem.
T hough there are many beginning-level
words, there arc also many that are clearly
more advanced. Examples abound in
which what is not explained is more a
problem than what is provided. For example, oniisan is given, but ani isn ' t. For
a student to assume that oniisan i s the
correct word for "older brother" could be
embarrassing.
This program uses the kunrei form of
romanization rather than Hepburn (for
example, the name of the mountain is
written Huzi, rather than Fuji).

QuickScholar Software has produced

a number of Japanese modules i n an IBM
format, one of which covers hiragana and
katakana. Their programs were designed

I MacKojien

from the start as supplementary materials

for comprehensive beginning-level Japanese programs, but are useable at any
level. The materials have been well
thought out-nothing is assumed and everything is covered thoroughly. The kana
module takes the student through the
stroke order and the pronunciation in a
manner similar to the other programs in
this review; the difference is that the student can practice the stroke order on
screen using the mouse. If one moves the
wrong direction or starts from the wrong
place, the program will correct the student.
The exercises arc well constructed. using
a picture approach to writing and reading
the kana. The program tracks progress.
Best of all, the price is right. QuickScholar
originally had a complete package that,
though not pricey, was substantial. ow
the modules have been unbundled, and
they are all reasonable.

MacSunrise from JAPAN M edia is a

H yperCard realization of the book Kanji

& Kana: A Handhnok and Dictionary of

the Japan ese Writing System by
Hadmitzky and Spahn. lt i s included here
because it has a kana section. though
clearly there is much more to it. The kana
section is straightforward. You select either hiragana or katakana from the main
screen. The kana screen permits the user to
sequentially go through the initial46 kana,
but nothing more. There is sound. and the
abil ity to add notes about each kana. but
unlike the kanji section, the user cannot
create sets" of kana, nor is it possible to
randomize the kana for browsing.
There i s almost more information in
the kanji section than one might want. But
in spite of its imposing look and feel. there
is much here for the individual user,
teacher, or classroom. It is just that access
to the material is not at all intuitive; you ' II
need to have the manual on your lap much
of the time you use the program. (The
manual. unfonunately. is not well organized. and often assumes that you know
something before there is an introduction.)

-Japanese Oictionary-

$499.95

The premier Japanese reference tool, lwanami

Kojien, is now accessible to Macintosh users in
this CD-ROM application. The Kojien CD contains 200,000 entry words and 2000 graphics.
The package includes both a full apprication
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suports multiple-<:ondition serching and serching by wild card.

An Interactive Approach to Learning Business Japanese!

NihongoWare is a new form of computer assisted instruction sofnvare that
allows you to learn japanese the way it's actually spoken in business situations.
Designed to run on an Apple Macintosh with a CD-ROM drive, NihongoWare uses an interactive approach that directly involves you in the language, with clear sound and animated graphics to lead you through a variety of common conversations. A variety of cultural perspecti1es are also
provided to enable you to communicate in your new language more effectively.
Made up of ten useful, to-the-point lessons, the courses are designed to be
completed in 80 to 150 hours of study. Best of all, the ten lessons are designed to be taken in any order you like, allowing you to get up to speed in
japanese at your own pace, tailoring each study session to suit your specific
needs.

=~'~ ?-1'1\~$'- 7 J[;-7-RO M ~A -

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The Sanseido Word Hunter CDROM contains 12 different
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Ayumi Software

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ffl

,. , , , :

Qualitas Trading Co.

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Phone (510) 848-8080 /Fox (510) 843-8009

t5t Yarai-sho,Suite.WSShinJukuku, Tokyo, 162japan

Phone (03)3267-8766 I Fox (03)3267-8725

l----------------------~
26

M ANGAJIN

Order onquory rn Japan:

Ariadne Language Link Co., Ltd.

Shinjulu Center Bldg. 125-1, 1'\,lu hnJuku
Shinjuku-lu, Tokyo. 16:>-06 japan
Phone (03) 33441221/ Fax (03) JJ.I-l-1246

Order rnqurry on U.S.A

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2029 Duran! A1enue, Berkele), CA 9-lro.:
Phone (510) 848-8080 / Fax (510) 843-8009

JI

SoftwareSupplement

ot

n
Jt

:e

r,
ss
'II

;h
he
,a-

,w
n.)

Stroke order, s troke count. pronunciation

a nd meaning are immediately evident.
The pronunciations are g ive n in romaji: all
caps for the on-yomi, lower case for the
kun-yomi. The pronunciations canal o be
audible. Stroke order is displayed eithe r
stroke by stroke or with sequence numbers
at the beginning of the s troke. The learning
progression can be manipulated. and selftests can be created by the user, as can
flashcards. The program can also be used
as a dictionary. with a variety of search
options. MacSunrise comes in three different configurations: with I 00 kanji, with
500 kanji, and with 2000.
Version 2.0 adds some important features. The student can c reate special sets of
kanji for study. The set can be presented
~equentially (u ing either ascending JIS
numbers or in order of appearance inKanji
& Kana) or randomly. The set can be
easily turned into flashcards using the
program sprint utility. These sets can also
be studied within the program. allowing
the s tudent to either give the meaning (as

defined by the program: there are no variations allowed) or the pronunciation.

This review is based on the I00-characterconfiguration of the program. It takes
up 6 MB of hard dis k s pace (the 500character version requires 23 M B. and the
2000-charac te r version 72MB!). The program is not particularly responsive: I felt
I was always waiting for the program to
catch up with what I was doing.
Clearly. MacSunrise was designed
primarily as a kanji-learning tool. The
kana section seems to have been added as
an afterthought. Since there is no kana
u ed in the kanji section. knowing kana is
not vi tal. However. the kanji module
would be improved dramatically if the
student could toggle between kana and
romaji. If this were the case. then improving the kana section would definitely be
worthwhile. As it stands now. it is not
particularly useful.

As I look at these programs, three

things stand o ut. First. I personally have

difficult time us ing mnemonics. mos tly

because they have the tendency of pus hing
the edges of what makes sense. Perhaps
more important is that they connect English words to Japanese sounds when culturally, linguistically. and pedagogically
this does n't make sense.
Second. I find the use of romaji a
crutch.l'd personally like the option of not
having it available a t all, so that a stude nt
will learn the kana as strictly symbols that
reflect a pecific Japanese sound. Since
some texts are ro maji-based. having the
option is important. but tying everyone to
romaji is unnecessary.
Third. I'd like a way of tracking individual work. Only Japanese in a Breeze
and the QuickScholar module permit this.

What to buy. As critical as I am of the

Japan Ease materials, they arc s till graphically the most interesting. Us ing s pecific
sections of the program (the flas hcards. for
example. and the albums) will be very
useful. But spending nearly $200 ( Yo l.l:
(comirwed on pa~l' :!9}

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complete reference tor Intermediate to advanced Japanese readers.
A convenient Kanji Dictionary. and two Japanese-English Dictionaries
(General and Technical) rolled Into a rapid computer reference tool.
Fast. seamless operation compared to Hypercard-based programs.
Cross-references to popular kanji dlctlonarles.
Includes the new Kanji Alphanumeric Code (Kane) lookup method.
Search dictionaries using any character or combination of characters.
Save compounds. readings and dellnltions to text tiles for use In the
Hypercard drilling stack 'Kunren.
Five easy to-use kanji lookup modes.
Access to hlragana. katakana and 2965 kanji (JIS-1 set).
KanjiSama Is a stand-alone application (not Hypercard-based) and
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The Kunren dnlhng stack can have any number ol 'flash cards' lor dnlhng practiCe
import kan/' readongs. and meanings from KanjoSama and practiCe by using the
bu1h-in inte hgent drilling mechanism-or use Kunren to create your own exercises

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27

OL J!Ht~

OL Shinkaron

-------------------------------------

Title:

~Mi

fl)

Dan no Kyofu
s1ep of

!error

The Terror of the Bulge

dan means "step/layer/stage, .. so when someone's s10mach protrudes
10 the extenl that it makes a "step" or "platform," that can be referred to
as dan. Such a dan is the source of the terror in this strip.

[Q

OLl: 3??

77

:1 /

A!

Kontakwo

ffi t L t.:. ! !
otoshita!!

(exclam.) con1ac1 lens

dropped

"Q!rns! I drop_ped my contact!!" (PL2)

otoshita is the plain/abrup1 pas1 form of the verb otosu ("drop"). She
omits the particle o (kontakuto Q otoshita).

I.>J:s
?

t:

1:

f,t

fp
q)

OL2: .Z?

l;fC

1:?

Yuka ni?

(cxclam.) noor

on

"Huh? On the floor?" (PL2)

OLl: 3?A

t~o,'

tto

t.: t '7 ~ o

daijobu.

" Ah it's O.K."

:B t:t. n' fl) _t
Onaka no ue

1: 3? ? t.:. 0
ni atta.

s1omach ('s) lop on was

" It's o.n top of my stomach." (PL2)

Packag_e: H-It lv-"(
0-senbe(i)

Rice crackers

the tto after her ii is like saying " With an 'ii"' - as if she were givi ng
her own sound effects.
... no ue 11i "on 10p of ..."
aua is the plain/abrupt past form o f the verb ar11 ("is/are [for inanimate
objects]"). The present tense is typically used in English in this situation ("It is on my stomach"), but the use of the past tense in Japanese
is also logical if you consider that the contact was there even before the
searcher located it.

OLI : i:> t:t.n'

fl) ...

'7 .Z?

Onaka no . . . ue?
stomach ('s)
IQJ!. of

" On

10p

m stomach?" (PL2)

this is one of those situations where the word order of Japanese and
English can't be reconciled unless you go with a slightly looser translation like, "Did I say 'on top'?"

OLI: v'?t:J 1:-

~lv

Itchi

11i-. san

one

two

Lshi-

three four

" One t wooo three fouur ..." (PL2)

Book: ~ .::r.. 1 7' 7 "I 7'
Sheipu
Akiwki Risu. All righ1s reserved. Firsl publishc~~
Japan in 1990 by KOdansha Lid.. Tokyo. English
1ransla1ion rights arranged through KOdansha, L1d.~

30

M A N GAJIN

Appu

Shape Up

she's calling out the numbers as she exercises. so ichi ("'one") becomes
itchi and the vowels of ni ("two") and shi ("four") are drawn out.

OL

Jjfd~~

OL Shinkaron

Title: 1J

~.: .::. Jfi-L'o

0 ') -

Karo rii

ni go-yojin.

calories

of be careful

Be Wary of Calories
go-yojin is a polite warning to " be careful/beware (of something)."

CD

it~

~"?,j't_:

li

shokudo

mitsuketa

good

restaurant

found

OLI : v' v'

f!. o
da.

/v
n

(ex plan.) is

" I found a ood restaurant." (PL2)

shokudo refers to informal (often small) restaurants where you can get
a fast, cheap meal. They cater to (and are invariably packed during) the
lunchtime rush of local business people.
mitsuketa is the plain/abrupt past of the verb mitsukeru ("find/ locate").

OLI:

.:!- =.. .2
Menyii

~ttl) 1.: 1J o 'J -~ff,

zenbu ni karorii hyoji

menu (cards) a ll

-/){
ga

iV.> o

(J) ,

aru

no.

on calorie markers (subj) there are (emph)

"All the dishes have the calories indicated."

v / SSOp:j
480 cal.
Omurersu. gohyaku-gojii en, yonhyaku-hachijukkarorii
:1 o "I 7
500p:j
630 cal.
Korokke, gohyaku en, roppyaku-sanjukkarorii
4T 7 .Y 480p:j
350 cal.
Sarada, yonhyaku-haclujii en, sanbyaku-gojukkarorii

Cards: :t A

Omelette 550 en 480 calories.

Croquettes, 500 yen 630 calories.
Salad 480 en 350 calories.
menyii is used much like the English word ''menu," but in this case refers to the individual cards by the samples in the window.
no indicates this is why she thinks it's a "good restaurant."

t.J.o
ii

Kore wa
this

wa

ne.

as-for good (emph.) isn't it

"This is nice, isn ' t it." (PL2-Fem.)

OLI : -r L- .t o
Desho.

"lsn 't it." (PL2)

desho is a colloquial, slightly abrupt form o f deshO.

t:: 'IJ 680 ~ A,

J:t;,'IJA,I
:,/ a t::-=.
J tJn

(J)

l.t

Chef: lv-

.::. tt U:

N-

Kore wa

hmm

t.. lv t!.-h' 680

nan da ka roppyaku-hachijii

this

as-for somehow

1J o ') -

(J)

1J / :J t!. t.. o

680

-) lv -) lv

karorii

no

kanji

da na.

Un,

calories

of

feeling

is, isn't it

Uh-huh, uh-huh

U/1.

" Hmm, this one's sort of 680 calorie-ish. isn't it.

Uh-huh, uh-huh." (PL2)
Wife: ... GV.>!vt.: .. .
Anta ...

" Honey ..." (PL2)

nan da ka is literally " what is it?'' > "somehow/kind of."
da is the plain/abrupt form of de.m.
anta is a contraction of anata, literally " you," but used by Japanese
wives in addressing the ir husbands.

MANGAJ IN

31

;t;;"" -q L 1 T 0 -jama Shimasu

tj lv t_:
nan da

First Friend: ':J.. J. / fn ~ ill=

Gomen Rusuban
sorry

"Sorr
(PL2)

gomen, from the honorific prefix go- and menjiru ("exempt/excuse"), has become an informal word for apologizing.
rusu refers to "absence from home," and ban means "watch/guard."
Rusuban (o) suru refers to the act of staying behind to watch the
house while the others are away, and rusuban is the "title" of the
person who remains behind.
nan da shows he is making an explanation, "it's that .. ."dais the
PL2 equivalent of desu ("is/are").

(2]

2nd Friend: .::. t1. i.P C:> Wl:

Korekara juku

1: fT ~' tj ~ ~ ( tj lv } tj v' lv t_:

ni ikanakya {nan}nai
n da

from now cram school to

must go

(expl an.)

"I have to o tom cram school class now."

(PL2)

juku refers to private, after-school classes many Japanese school

children attend in an effort to gain an advantage in the entrance examinations for high school and college/university.
apparently the artist/letterer made a mistake and the nara, or more
likely its contraction, nan, was left out of ikanakya (nan)nai. This is
a contraction of ikanakereba naranai ("must go"), from the verb
iku ("go"): ikanai = "don't/won't go" --> ikanakereba = " if don't
go" --> ikanakereba naranai = "it won't do if (1/you) don't go" =
"(1/you) must go."
n da shows he is making an explanation. The explanatory form for
after a verb or adjective is n(o) da; for after a noun, na n(o) da (see
first frame).

IB
Tsumannai

t_: -::> t::. tj

ichinichi datta

boring/uninteresting one day

was

nil
(exclam.)

"What a borinl! day it was!" (PL2)

tsumannai is a contraction of tsumaranai ("boring/tedious/dull").
-nichi is the counter suffix for " days."
datta is the PL2 equivalent of deshita ("was/were")- i.e., the past
form of da seen in the first two frames .
ending the sentence with the short sound na would be like reflecting to himself, "it was, wasn't it?'' (the expected answer being
"Yes"). Lengthening na to nil gives it the feeling of an exclamation, "What a ... it was!"

40

MANGAJIN

Imazeki Shin, All rights reserved

First published in Japan in 1988 by Take Shobo, Tokyo
English translation rights arranged through Take ShabO.

;t:; -t 7 L.. 1. T 0-jama Shimasu

A : 13 i i
Omae
you

14

sii

(J)

.:

~ i t::. .: c en ;., n'?

shorai no koto

( pause) future

r s)

kangaeta koto aru ka ?

things thought

have you ever

" Say.. have ou ever thou ht a bout the fut ure?" (PL2)

8 : /'jlt' J: o
Nai vo.
not exislihave not (emph.)

"No." (PL2)
omae is a rough/informal. masculine word for "you.''
sa or sa is a particle used colloquially as a kind of verbal pause. some

CD

thing like teens' use of "like/you know" in colloquial English. In this

case he is essentially trying to get the other fellow' s attention.
shorai is used when referring to the future of someone/something in particular, while mirai is used in a more abstract references to "the future:
... no koto is an expression meaning "about ..." when followed by
verbs implying speaking or thinking.
kangaeta is the plain/abrupt past form of kangaeru ("think").
the past form of a verb plus koto (ga) aru ka asks the question. "Have
you ever ... T With a non-past verb it becomes "Do you ever ... T

B:

~- i JJ

-t J., c

I 0#

Kangaegoto suru to jiibyo

~ ~-::> -t:;, ~ -? !v t!. J: tj

de nemwchau

deep thinking do when 10 second~ in

fall asleep

11 do yo na
(expl) (emph)

" When I think a bout thin~ I fall asleep in ten seconds."

(PL2)
A: li 7?
Ha
"Oh?" (PL2)
kangaegoto is from kangaeru ("think") and koto ("thing''; k changes tog
for euphony), and it implies not just ordinary thinking but "deep
thoughts/ ponderings...
to after a verb has a conditional 'if/when" meaning.
nemutchau is a contraction of nemulle shimau, from nemuru (''go to
sleep"). Shimau after the te form of a verb implies the action or its result
is complete and/or undesirable.
11 da is a contraction of no da. which indicates he is making an explanation. He implies. " I don'tthink about things because .. :

A.: t;t lv ~

!!:

lilt-::> -t:;, ~ -?

lv t!.

Nande

nemwclwu

n da

why

fall as leep

J: ?
yo?

(explan.) (cmph. )

" Why_do you fall asleep?" (PL2)

t;t 1v ~ 0 l
l 'b t;t

ann

Nande

lie

iwarete mo

111i

why

(quote)

even if is said

(pause)

"Even if I am asked ' Why,' you know ... "

-+ " I don' t know. I wonder . . ." (PL2)
aski ng a question with da or 11 dais masculine and can sound very rough,
with or without the emphatic yo. Here it's more the feeling that he is
"pressing" for an explanation because he's puzzled/mystified.
iwarete is the -te form of iwareru, the passive form of iu ("say"). "Even
if I am asked why?" implies "l don't know how to answer."
nii in this case functions as a verbal pause while he ponders an answer.

GJ

Sound FX:

< en --::>
Guii- !

Snore! (sound of powerful snore)

A:

(j: 7 .. .

Ha
(sigh of comprehension & resignation)

M ANGAJIN

41

:;f ~~ )' ')

7 / Obatarian

Narration: ;;f ;'\ 7 ; 7 /

::I- 71

1;;1:

Obatarian

;f, 1

wa kodineito

obatarians

-r: ~ lj ~_,,
dekin.ai

as-for coordinate

cannot

Obatarians can' t coordinate (their outfits). (PL2)

Arrows: ~
ff.ft
Murasaki

Midori

Purple

Green

Husband: -f -f tL ~ -c

v'

So sore kite

iku

< (J)

tl'?
ka

no

wear-and go (ex plan.) ?

th- that

" You're going to wear that?" (PL2)

dekinai is the negative form of dekiru ("can/able to do").
kite is the -te form of kiru ("put on/wear" for clothing that involves putting arms through sleeves). Kite iku is literally "put on and go" "wear.'"
asking a question with no ka shows he is seeking an explanation.

Arrow: {{;
Clta

Brown
Husband: -f -ffl) (-::> (;;!:

<

(/)

iJ'?

So sono

kutsu

ltaku

no

ka

th those

shoes

wear

(explan.) ?

"You 're oing to wear those shoes?" (PL2)

ltaku means "put on/wear" for apparel one puts one's legs or feet into/
through, including pants, stockings, and shoes.

Obatarian:

-J {> ~ "'
Urusai

wa

ne-

noisy/bothersome (fem.) (colloq.)

"Oh be uiet!" (PL2)

~ f: }.. ""? t:. b (/) ~ -c filf

-/){

!'If; \, \ (/) J: warui no

""?

Ki ni ilia

mono kite

nani ga

yo-!

like

things wear

what (subj.) is bad (expl) (emph)

" What's wrong with wearing things I like?" (PL2)

;{_ C;, -f -)
1: ! ! 5t (;;!: c.-- -) lj (/) !! iZ. - ""? !!
Eraso

ni

Jibun

wa

do na no

- !

air of importance with yourself as-for how (explan. ?) Huh?

"You talk like an authorit

self? Hunh?" (PL2)

but how about our-

urusai! when spoken sharply is equivalent to English "Shut up!/Be quiet!"

wa is a colloquial particle used mostly by women, and ne in this case
serves as emphasis: " You sure are noisy" "Shut up!/Be quiet!"
ki ni ilia is the past form of ki ni iru, an expression meaning "to like/be
pleased with." ki ni ilia mono= "things I am/you are pleased with"
eraso is the adjective erai ("eminent/important [person)") with the suffix
-so indicating "an air/appearance of," so eraso ni implies "[act/speak]
with an air/appearance of importance/authority."

Husband: :b L (i
Washi wa
Ume

*::st7<:

daijobu

as/for safe/a ll right

''I'm safe ..." (PL2)

Husband: ::

Kore
this

-*1

itchaku

L -/J'
shika

ij "'

iJ' C:J

nai

kara

one suit/outfit other than don't have

because

" ... because I onl have this one suit." (PL2)

Hotta Katsuhiko. All rights reserved.

First published in Japan in 1989 by Take Shooo. Tokyo.
English translation rights arranged through Take Shobo.
42

MAN GAJ I N

washi is a word for "1/me" used mostly by middle-aged and older men.
itchaku combines iclti ("one") and -chaku, the counter suffix for suits.
shika followed by a negative later in the sentence means "only."
nai is the negative form of aru ("have/exist''), so (irchaku) shika nai
means "have only (one suit)."

:t ;< ~ ') 7 /

Obatarian

Narration: ;f 1 <? ') 7 / li -:k C7)

Oba1arian

~~f4

t:

if' fL ~ "'?

ni

f uhei o iu

about

complains

wa 0110 no kyiiryo

obatarian

as-for husband ' s

pay

Obatarians gripe about their husbands' ~ (PL2)

Obatarian:

-t- -J

7j: (/)

So

na no

like that

J: -

yo-.

(e)( plan.) (emph.)

ltsu made talle mo

't()i *"~~ ! !
yasu-gekJ:yi7

is forever

cheap-monthly pay

"\ "?

i l" t::. ? l t

"That's ri2ht._(His salary is) forever such a measlv

salary." (PL2)
kyiiryo is the most general term for referring to "wages/salary." Gekkyii
in the second sentence refers specifically to " monthly salary."

na no is the form of the explanatory no for after nouns/pronouns. II can

be l iterally thought of as " It's that . . ./the situation is that ..."

yo is essentially an emphatic particle, but it often takes the place of da/

desu ("is/are'') in feminine speech. So yo = " it is so/like that" "that"s
exactly so/that's ri ght."

irsu made talle 1110 is an expression meaning " no mauer how much time
passes/no mauer how long one waits" "forever."

yasu- is the prefix form of yasui (''cheap/ inexpensive''). The prefix usually implies "cheap'' in the sense of "shoddy/inadequate/meager."

[TI

Obatarian:

-t- -)
So

l" L J: deshii-

likc that right?/isn't it

"Right?" __.. " Isn ' t that the truth!" (PL2)

Obatarian:

~ lv 1j:

lv

Anna

"'C:'
de

that kind of (nom.) with

t- {'? -r

~tiS"

do valle

seika1su shiro 11e

ho~

L-?

J:biu

live (command) (quote) say

no

yo ne-

(ex pl.} (emph.)

" How does he expect me to live on that kind of pay,

an way1" (PL2)
Sound FX: '" 1)1-\ 1)
Bari bari

(effect of biting/chewing crisp rice cracker)

n is a contraction of the no that makes what precedes it into a noun. so
anna n(o) is literally "that kind of one" "that kind of salary/pay.''
ya11e is the -reform of yaru ("do"). so do ya11e is literally "doing how/in
what manner" "how?''

seikarsu shiro is a command form of seikatsu suru, which means " to live"
in the sense of "gening by.'' A sking a question with a question word plus
a quoted command form is like saying " What/when/how is [he] commanding me to [do]?" " Wh at/when/how does he expect me to [do]?"
ne-at the end of a sentence shows that the speaker expects/assumes the
listener will agree. In this case the expected agreement is with the implied
meaning: that it's preposterous for her husband to expect her to get by on
his small salary.

Sound FX: :f;t; :;

Obatarian: A, Dt

Coho! (effect of coughing/clearing his throat)

J~~ Jj:L !!

Kyo 1110 :angyi5 nashi

today also overti me is none

"Today, too: no ovenime!" __.. " He's home again

today without any overtime!" (PL2)
nashi is the classical Japanese form of nai ("is none/does not exist"), but
is still used in certain idiomatic expressions today. It often has a more
emphatic feeling than the equivalent form of nai.

MANGA JIN

43

Beranmei Tochan

44

MANGA JIN

Beranmei Tochan

Co-worker: :to ? '

0!

y 1- ~'v'?

r' 1

-t-? 1 :tJ.

-lT /

naui

Sandoitchi

kai

sandwiches

(?)

ne

(exclam.) now-ish aren't you

" Say, you' r e reallv with-it! (You brough!l_sandwiches?" (PL2)

Tocha n : :to

-J

0
"Yeah." (PLI -2)
naui ("up-to-date/with-it/fashionable") is the English word "now" turned into a Japanese adjective by adding -i (this makes it look like Japanese adjectives uch as samui, katai, etc.). It' s
written here completely in katakana, but it' also seen written as -t-? It', with the final i in hiragana. More properly, foreign words (including words which are adjectives in their original language) are made into Japanese adjectives by adding -na - e.g., gojasu-na ("gorgeous") - so
when naui first became a vogue word some years ago it sounded something like " now-ish"
sounds in English. We considered translating naui as "trendy," but 1- v / 71 (torendi) is also
used in Japanese. A brief survey published in the January, 1992, issue of Nikkei Anthropos
magazine showed that many readers considered the word naui to have become passe.
kai is a colloquial equivale nt of ka, the que tion marker, but kai has a softer, friendlier tone.
Tochan:

1-' ') / 7

Dorinkt1

wa

aisutii

yo

drink

as-for

iced tea is

(emph)

" And m y drink is iced tea." (PL2)

dorinku and aisu tii are from the English.

in informal speech, the emphatic yo can replace da/desu ("is/are"). Or, you could say that the
verb da/desu had been dropped here.
Co-worker:

r' ') /

7 t::. ;i;

-t-?1

Dorinku

tii

masu masu

naui

ne

drink

as-for-saying

all the more

now-ish

(colloq)

"Callin

(You' re getting) more a nd more with-it." (PL2)

Sound FX: .:C 7' .:C 7"

mogu mogu
Munch munch (effect of c hewing food)
lochan:

GJ

Co-worker:

ih t::. ti'-? J:

;J, .{5

(J)

4: i tl

J:.

Atabo

yo

Koiwa

no

umare

yo

of course

(emph) (place name) (of)

birth is/was (cmph)

"Of course. I was born in Koiwa." (PL2)

atabo is a slang/dialect equivalent of atarimae, ("of course").
tii is a contraction of to wa, indicating a quote.
Koiwa no wnare is literally "(my) birth (is) of Koiwa."
these men think of themselves as Edokko ("children of Edo"), but Koiwa, on the far eastern
frin ge of modern Tokyo proper, would no t have been part of old Edo. h 's a "modern/progressive" suburb compared to the traditional shitamachi ("low city") part of Tokyo most closely associated with Edokko. Part of the humor here derives from the fact that Edokko are known fo r
be ing diehard traditionalists - hence the remark about his using the English word, dorinku.
J' :/

-r: :t1t~ .0

fT)

~'II' ?

Hashi

de

no

kai

chopstic ks

with eat

(explan.)

(?)

taberu

" You eat them with c hopsticks?" (PL2)

Toc han: .:
Ko-

L. :tJ. "' c

~?

shinei to kulla

like this if don't do

ate

t::.

~ ~{

L. b.

Ad!.

ki ga shine n da
not feel like

(ex plan.)

" If I don't do it like this I don' t feel like I've eaten." (PL2)

shinei and shine are both masculine, (shitamachi) dialect forms of shinai, the plain negative form
of suru ("do"). The expression ... ki ga shinai means "don' t feel like ... "
kulla is the plain past form of kuu , an rough/ informal verb for "eat" used mostly by males.
to after a verb has a conditional " if/when" meaning.
n(o) da shows he is making an explanation.

M ANGAJIN

45

What's Michael

46

MANGA JIN

What's Michael

-17!1-

-*

Title: -:<11;- Jv
Maikeru famirii
Michael

q)
110

1 B"
ichi-nichi"

family

The Michael Famil

fa mirii ("family" in katakana) is written above the kanji that would normally be read as ikka "(one) fami ly/
household.'" Strictly speaking, the fa sound does not exist in Japanese (only ha), but it can be synthesized this
way with th e combination jiJ +a. The a is usuall y written in a smaller size to indicate that it replaces or
blends with the u sound inji1.
the kanji * (ka) can mean " house,"' or "family."
kyofu = 'fear/te rror/dread/panic"

QJ

Sound FX: '/ / ;;

Dan!
Bam! (sound of the plastic shampoo bottle being banged down on a hard surface)
the smallrsu (:;)at the end of this sound indicates that it is cut off sharply, an effect we approximate with
an exclamation mark.

Bottle:

~Iii
cat

:,.-\'/7'-

ffl
yo

Neko

shanpii

for use with/by

shampo:>

Cat shampoo
yii ("use/usage") afte r a noun means "for use w ith/by ..."

"Sound" FX:

;\-tj" ;;

Basal
(sound/effect o f towel being thrown down o n a hard surface)

"Sound" FX: ;\ ;;
Ba!
(sound/effect of hair dryer suddenly landing on the towel)

Sound FX: 1- -\' ;;

Cha!
(sound o f a zi pper closing)

Woman: J: - - l o
Yoshi.
"All right."
-?J.,

iP!!

Yaru

ka!

do (it )

(?)

" Shall l/we do

it?"--> "~"

yoshi, litera ll y ''good/all right/OK," is used to express determinat ion o r resolutio n when starting a task.
yaru ka, literally " [Shalll/we] do it?'" is a rhetorical question indicating that she is in fact ready to "do it." It
could be considered as a kind of last-minute check-"1 think I'm ready; is there anything else I need to
prepare?" It's something like the English expression "Shall we get started ?'"

Kobayashi Makoto. All rights reserved

First published in Japan in 1987 by Kodansha Ltd.. Tokyo
English translation rights arranged through Kodansha Ltd.

M ANGAJtN

47

What's Michael

1
7
Jv

"

48

MANGA J IN

What's Michael

01

Michael: 7 I \ . . .
Kulla
(yawning sound)

~------------------------------------------------------------------------------~

~~L_---M--ic_h_a-el_=_; _--------------------------------------------------------~
_

"__
... hm?"

Woman: 717 Jv!! ;t; :; ;t;

H~'"t" -Maikeru! Poppo!
Oide" Michael! ! Poppo! Come here." (PL2)
oide is a polite word which can refer to the act of coming. going. or being in a certain place. Although it is
inherently polite/honorific. it can also be used by parents to children with a rather firm tone. The single word

oide is short for oide kudasai (polite request) or oide nasai (gentle command).

Poppo:

t .. .
M11 .. .

"Guffi."
Michael: 3? 3? tt.

t;t .. .

A - are

wa .. .
"Th- that's ._,__."

GJ

Michael: h. h./v~ !!
Mi- minna!
c-

everyone

~~f~ -nigero-

escape/nee

~"i/7- f.' '

Shanpt7

da!

shampoo

is

"E- everybody!! Run for it ! It's the shampoo!" (PL2)

Sound FX:

1-'

r 7

do do!
(a thud thud sound of paws hitting the floor as they run away)

Cats: 7 .: -1' :;
Fugya!
(a creaming/wailing sound)
nigero is the plain command form of the verb nigeru ("run away/escape/flee"). The final o is lengthened
because the word is being "called" out instead of simply spoken.

Woman: 3? -::>
A!
(excl)

1'

v t.:.
bareta

tr .. .
ka . . .

discovered (?)

" Oops! The eat's out of the bag ..." (PL2)

bareta is the plain past tense of the verb bareru ("be found out/discovered''). T he question here, of course.
is rhetorical.

MAN GAJIN

49

What's Michael

o~
0

50

MAN GAJ IN

What's Michael

@]

Woman:

f;f-t;lj:~ -- v'!

Machi-nasiii!

.:-t-

koso

i$\:v'lT 1J' G
araimasu kara

tl!!
ne!

wait (command)

"Wait! 'cause I'm

Poppo: ?=--v-Unyii!
"Meoow!"
Kitten:

~.:f---y

Pikii!

(squeal of fright or surprise)

machi-nasai is a gentle command form of the verb matsu ("wait'').

koso adds emphasis to the word preceding it. In this case, kyo koso= "definitely today/today for certain."

Woman: i -f
Mazu
10

i;;l:

wa

begin (subj.)

;f-':;;;f, t.: !!
Poppo da!
Poppo

is

"First, (it's) Poppo!!"

"Sound" FX:

7f y

(sound/action of the woman grabbing hold of the cat)

Gal
~_po:

7.::. 1"'-- y

Anya- !
"Meaaw!" (variation on nyii, the standard "meow")
mazu ="first of all/to begin with/for starters."

Michael: ih - : y *' !!
A- Poppo!
"Oh no, Poppo!!"
Kitten:

77--!

Mamii!
"Mama!"
Poppo: ih 7j: t.:..-- !
A nata-.'
"Honeeyl"
Sound FX: 7' 7':;;
(thumping sound of running feet)

Dada!

Michael: ; y ; - - !
Poppo!
"Poppooo!"
anata, literally, "you,'' is often used by Japanese women to address their husbands, something like "dear/
honey."

Sound FX: ;< )' /

Batan
Bang!

Sound FX: :J 1"'Jii!

(sound of the door being slammed shut)

(sound of water running)

Poppo: 7 : 1"' 7 7 7
Fugyaaa (screaming or wailing sound)

MANGAJ IN

51

What's Michael

52

MAN GAJIN

What's Michael

Poppo: '7 = -1- - Ugyii

'7 =-~' - Ugyii (screaming/wailing sound)

Sound FX: :J-\'- -:;

Ja!
(sound of running water)
Woman:

t.J:
Ft tlT
Korosareso-na koe dasu

~~h-t--J

as if being killed

voice emit

/vl:.~t.J: -~ v'!!

nja niii
(neg. command)

"Don't scream like you're about to be killed!" (PL2)

korosareso-na ("as if being killed") combines korosareru, the passive form of korosu ("kilUmurder") and so,
a suffix used to mean "as if/like." The final -na makes this into an adjective.
koe = "voice"; koe (o) dasu =literally " put out a voice" -> "say aloud/raise one's voice."
n ja nai creates an emphatic negative command.

@]

Woman:

L:.? t L.. "( t.J: ~ v'

Jitto shite-nasai

? "( IJ-ttebii

hold still (command)

if (I) say

"I'm tellin
Sound FX:

;'i-;_, -1-

ou to hold still!" (PL3)

;\-;_, -1-

Basha basha

(sound of splashing water)

Poppo: 7 = -1- = -1- = -1- = -1- - Fugya gya gya gyli (screaming/wailing sound)
jitto shite-(i)nasai is a gentle command form of jitto shite-(i)ru, from jitto suru ("hold still/be quiet").
... tteba is a contraction of ... to ieba, " if/when I tell you ..." The implied meaning is "If/when I tell you to
hold still, hold still."

@]

Woman: 't" - - !!
De
"Ooouuch! !"
Sound FX:

=.~ /'

Con
Bonk (thudding sound of helmet hitting the wall)

II

;\-;_,-\' ;\-;_,-\' ;;

Basha basha.'

li

(sound of splashing water)

Poppo: 7 = -1- - Fugyii (screaming/wailing sound)

de comes from ite, a corruption/slang form of itai ("Ouch!/That hurts!"). This substitution of e for the ai
sound is typically rough, masculine speech, but is sometimes used by females in moments of stress, especially in informal situations where there are only cats around.

@]

Sound FX: = :;
Gil

Woman:

@]

Poppo:

Squeak! (sound of the door opening)

I\ 7 I\ 7 I\ 7
Hii hli hii
(panting sound)
I \ 7/\7 I \ 7
Ha hii hii

(panting sound)

(i
Woman: J: --L..
Yoshi
tsugi wa
okay

next

as- for

?1 7 Jv J: ! ! I
Maikeru yo.'.' I
Michael

(emph.)

"All ri ht next is Michael!! Where are

@]I

t ' .:.

t.!. - - I

Doko dii.
where

is/are

?1 7 ;v -Maikerii
Michael

ou)? Michael!" (PL2)

Woman: lv . ..
N
"Hmm .. ."

M ANGAJIN

l ,,

53

What's Michael

54

MANGAJIN

I!'

I''

What's Michael

@]

Woman: C:' -j t...-c -f lv ~ t::

Doshite sonna ni
w hy

~"\'

to that extent

/'1'-

shanpt7
sha mpoo

nr

ga

~~~'

~ (!).

kirai na no,

(subj .) dislike

~~ t..: ):i
1 - anata-tachi wa-

(cxplan.?) you (plura l)

as- for

" Whx do xou guxs hate being) shamp,oo(ed) so much?!" (PL2)

Sound FX:

r' r' r'

Do do do
(sound of running feet)

Michael: ? =- "\' =- "\' =- "\' -Unya nya nya

" Meow meo meooo!" (PL2)
although il corresponds in usage 10 !he English verb "'hale," kirai is ac!Ually a no un, and so lakes the panicle
go (subject marker), rather !ha n o (objecl marker).
since kirai is a noun, it's necessary to add 1he par1icle 110 before the informal questi on marker 110.
the suffix -tachi is a plain/ informal way to make personal nouns p lural.
this semence is an example of inverted syntax- the topic, a11ata-tachi, is stuck on the end of the sentence,
almost as an afte nhoughl, o r perhaps to e mphasize who it is that dis likes being shampooed.

E)

Michael:

I' 7
Ha

I '

1,

(panting sound)

Woman: J:. t... -*!!

Yoshi rsugi
" All right, next!!"
Kitten: t: :\'--'\'--'\'- -'\'- :\'- - Piki ki ki ki kii
( frightened shrieking)

Woman: h. - Ft7
"Whew."
~0

fE:.tl

Yauo
finally

zen 'in

1-h 0 t..: -owatta

all members finished

" At last, thex're all finished." (PL2)

ze11 'i11 = au the me mbe rs/the e ntire g roup."
owatta is the plain/abrupt past form o f the verb owaru ("endlfi nish/complele").

[Ji] l

Woman: lv . ..

@]I

Woman:

@]

Woman: -f tL t.: {'

Sore ja

" Hmm . ..?"

~ -- 0

A!

then/i n that case

nan ni mo naranai

ja nai no-

it doesn' t become anything

is it not that

" If xou do that, it' s all for nothingll" (PL2)

i 0 t..: < 'b - Mattaku mo
" OQh, you' re so aggravating!"

sore ja is a contraction of sore dell'a ("in 1ha1 case/ then").

naranai is the plain/abrupt negative form of the verb nartt ("become/come 10").
na11ni mo 11aranai = "it doesn"l become anything.. --> " il comes to nothing."
ja nai no, a colloquia l form of dewa arimase11 ka, makes a rhelorical question that is in e ffect an accusation.
mattaku mo is an exclamatio n of exasperatio n. Mattaku lile rally means " complete ly/utterly," and mo lite rally means " already/no w."

MAN GAJ I N

55

What's Michael

BA ~ J:
1.>BtLL

;e 0) c:
t:. ~
~

56

M ANGAJIN

What's Michael

Michael: h.!v t.t

M in.n.a

;!W;~

buji

t~-::> t::. n'

datta ka?

everyone without incident was

(?)

"D id everyone make it through the day safely?" --> " Is e ver yone OK?" (PL2)
Poppo: X. X.
c' -') -? I?
:"~d~!
11)
I8
nr ;j% h -::> t::. h P. o
e
do yara
kyofu no ichi-n.ichi ga owatta
wane.
yes

somehow or other terror

of

one-day

(subj.)

ended

(fem. emph.)

"Uh-huh somehow or other the da of terror has ended hasn ' t it." (PL2-fem)
buji is written with kanji meaning "without incident; imply ing "without (harmful ) incident'' "safe/OK."
since the word buji refers to (the absence of) incidents that might have happened during the course of the day,
it is natural that Michael uses the past form, da11a.
e is a colloquial affirmation used like hai.
do yara ="somehow or other/with difficu lty''
owal/a is the plain past form of the verb owaru ("end/finish/complete").

Michael: J: L --f :h. t -t-o fli'J 8

Yoshi sore ja ashita

no tame ni neru zo.

all right in that case tomorrow

for

sleep

(masc. cmph. )

" All right then, (let 's) et some sleep for tomorrow." (PL2)
Kittens: li "' o
Hai
" Yes, Daddy."
no tame ni = "for (the benefit of)/for (the purpose of)/on account of"

zo is a masculine way of adding emphasis.

FX:

7" 7" 7" 7" ...

Gu gu gu gu
(a pulling/stretching effect)

FX: 7. -t - Suyli
(effect of sleeping peacefully)

7T~'I-

Narration: "'<' 1 7 Jv Maikeru famirii

Michae l

fam ily

!i
wa
as-for

9' B t
:if ~ll t.:.-::> t::. o
kyo mo heiwa datta.
today

also peace

was

The Michael family was at peace again today.

M ANGAJIN

57

Tanaka-kun

Title: 1!

8 75 A U

Shuku Hyakumannin-me

Congratulations! One-Millionth Patient)

shuku means celebration/congratulations ... but it is a written form whereas
Omedeto gozaimasu is a spoken form.
hyaku ("hundred") + man ("te n thousand") makes "a hundred ten-thousands"- i.e., one million.'' - nin is the counter suffix for people, and - me

a
0

is the suffix for items in a sequence ("first/second/tenth/hundredth/etc.").

~l

_____S-ig-n:~~=~=~==~------------------~
Bruin

Hospital

Doctor: i:> ~ -e t

-?

::_~~,.'iT
gozaimasu
" Congratulations!" (PL3-4)

Omedeto

Sound FX:

J-{1- J-{1- J-{1- 1'{7" J-{1-J-{1-

Pachi pachi pachi pachi pachi pachi

Clall cla n clap clap clap clap

FX: ,'{ y !
Pa! (effect of ball with banner & confetti popping open)

Banner: 1H.!

l 00 Jj A I I
Slwku Hyakumannin-me

CoQgratulations! One-Millionth Patient}

omedeto go::.aimasu ("congratulations") is the standard expression for offering congratulations verbally. In informal speec h, omedetiJ is sufficient.

Doctor: if.! ~ t:. iJ{

'1H~i !*:
tiJ-byoin

f#l it

J...:H*

kaigyo

irai

Anora

ga

you

(subj.) this hospital open for business since

<7)J3~~i

.IJA

't't' o

hrakumannin-me no o-kmku-sama desu

('~) cusiomer

, millionth

is/are

" You are the one-millionth customer since this

hospital opened." (PL3)
ro- (!:1,1) is a prefix meaning "this - /the present -/the - in question," and
byoin means "hospital," so to-byliin ="this hospital."
kyaku is literally 'visitor'' (o- and - soma are both honorific), but it is also
the word for "customer/client." Patie nts are usually referred to as kanja-san/
soma, though. so o-kyaku-sama sounds a bit more business-like than one
might normall y expect of a hospital.

Doctor:

J2. ~ 1:
Kinen ni

muryiJ de

as a commemoration

without charge/for free

miJcho no slwjutsu

sasete itadakimasu

appendix of operation (obj.) will have you allow me to do

' 'To commemorate we will give__y_ou a

dectom~"

free~

(PL3)

Tanaka: b- H H):~ - lv
Wii

Okasa-11

" Waahh, Mo-m-my!" (PL2)

Sign At Door: 'Ffl:r~
Shujutsu-shitsu

OperatingRgom
sasete is the - te form of sasertl ("cause/allow to do"), which is the causative
form of the verb suru ("do"), and itadakimasu is the PL3 fo rm of itadaku
("receive"). Sasete itadaku literally means ' I wi ll have you allow me to

do," which is actually just a polite way 10 say "I will do."
58

M ANGAJIN

NINGEN
KOSATEN
Yajima Masao Story
Hirokane Kenshi Art
Yajima Masao and Hiro kane Kenshi found success in the manga world by largely ignoring the standard formulas. In Ningen Ki5saten there are few exotic locations, minimal sex and violence, and no
continuing characters. The series, which ran for ten years in Shogakukan's Big Comic Original (I! /
1
f ::1 .:;. ;; 7 ;;f ') :J T Jv ), produced a remarkable collection of stories about "intersections" or
"crossroads"
j .~: k.i5saren) in the lives of humans CA
ningen).

ex

ra,

Each story in the series is selfcontained, and there is a photorealistic quality to the drawings,
which present modern Japan
with all its beauty and warts-no
effort has been made to glorify or
sentimentalize it. Still, the uniformity of Japan's post-war development allows readers to recognize their own hometowns.
Fans treasure these scenes since
middle-class neighborhoods are
gradually being replaced by steel
and concrete buildings; an aura
of impending loss is ever present
in the series.
There are heroes and villains, but most of the characters are just people muddling through life the best
they can. They are easy to recognize and to identify with, and the fact that they are drawn as real Japa-

e
II

nese- no huge, round blue eyes, and no exaggerated features-adds to the feeling of everyday reality.
Their language is also realistic and direct.
In Japan, every person has two sides: tatemae (M! "( Mfi), the public face; and honne (;<$: iif ), the
tme inner feelings which remain hidden to all but one's closest friends. Ningen Ki5saten deals with
honne, giving an honest look at emotions in Japan few outsiders ever see.
The artist half of the team that created Ningen Ki5saten, Hirokane Kenshi, is now enjoying tremendous success with his new solo series, Kachi5 Shima Ki5saku (~ ~ :liJf 1'f'), which appears in
Kodansha's Comic Morning. He has also teamed up with another writer, Inose Naoki, to produce a
.:J. - A).
new series for Big Comic Original called Last News ( 7 A ~

=-

M ANGAJIN

59

A F.ll :5( :m .!. Ningen Kosaten

60

MANGA JI N

A l!ll X'* .9:

Title: ~A ~iS
Dai-rokuwa

N ingen Ki5saten

~
Mado

Stor No. 6: Window

QJ

Narration:

:mwc

:l?- m
Keihin
(name)

ldai

Fuzoku

medical college attached

Byoin
hospital

Keihin Medical Colle e Hos itaI

Sign on Roof: m~

Keihin

~*"~- *<~)

lka

Dai(gaku)

Keihin Medical Colle e

*Jlt

Keihin, combining the last characters from the city names

Tokyo and fJI\i~ Yokohama, is used in the
names of quite a few institutions and businesses that are located or active in the area of the two cities.
idai is a n abbreviation of 12H4:k.!f: ika daigaku, " medical college/university."
fuzoku means attached to/affiliated with." The word frequently appears in the official names of hospitals
and high/middle/grade schools that are affilimed with colleges or universities.

Stlm:

~c~
Kisha

4 ~
kaiken

repon ers interview

4t~
kaiji5
~ite/meeting

place

Press Conference Room

Sound FX: -If. '7 -If '7 -If '7
Zawa zawa zawa
(the buzz/hum of a c rowd - usually representing the re latively low sound of acrowd in the distance/background, or of a nearby crowd talking with lowered voices. c f. wai wa i , gaya gaya)
kaijo combines the kanji for " meet'' and "' place/location."
1:

Sound FX: -If '7 W '7 -If '7 -If '7

Zawa zawa zawa zawa
(the buzz/hum of a crowd)

Yajima & Hirokane I Ninf:en Kiisaren. First published _in Japan

in 1984 by Shogakukan, Tokyo. English translation n ghts
arranged through Shogakukan & Viz Communications.

L..__

MANGAJIN

61

A llll ~: .?f. Ningen Kosaten

t.t::..T--?
l'

c * l'

l:'M"l::..

T~fiiJO)
? t ra,
!!t.:J:t

tr

li' -j
tJ. t.t
IJ

'{'>

62

MANGA JIN

A lnJ ~ X! lf. Ningen Kosaten

- - - --

Rel}orter:

mr

Gtm

.'i!?. :t-

7j: t tJ' ~ fltJ I:H l f.:

~~~
nado kara rekislmtsu shita ranso

kanja

cancer paticnt(s) etc.

from

.'.Ht. 1: J!lr; !Vfl"

1* >'i- ~ft'l

kanja ni mudan de

taigat JIISei

~
0

extracted/took out ovary/ovaries (obj.)

fl)f~ 1:
kenkyii ni

1\E -? f.:. t

v'-)0)

(j:

4::!:1:1 l"TtJ'? !

rsukaua to

iu

wa

homo desu ka ?

patient to without notice in vitro fertilization research in/for

used

no

(quote)say (nom.) as-for truth

is it?

" Is it true tha t y_ou have used ovaries removed from cancer patients and others for in vitro
fertilization e~eriments without the patients' permission?" (PL3)
rekisl111tsu shira is the past form of rekisl111tsu suru, a technical-sounding word for "extract/take out."
tekishwsu sareta, in frame 6. is it passive form: ''are/were extracted/taken out.''
raigai means "outside the body" andjusei refers to the process of fenilization --+"in vitro fenilizatio n."
to iuno wa is a quotative form that essentially turns the complete se ntence preceding it into a noun and
makes it the topic ("as for ...") of homo desu ka ("is it the truth?" " is it true?").

Reporter: -? 1t' .: (!) rdl

Tsui kono aida mo

just recently

1:.

T-dai

de

too T University at

onaji yo na koto

ga

same kind of thing

alta bakari

ja nai desu ka!

(subj.) has just occurred

isn't it/hasn't it ?

" Wasn't there a similar incident at T Universitv iust recently?" (PL3)

FX:

.t, "I

Mu! (an FX word indicating his angry reaction)

rsui is used with time words to emphasize how recent the time indicated is.
bakari afte r the past tense of a verb implies the action/occurrence took place very recently.
ja nai desu ka is strictly speaking a question. but when spoken in an outraged tone it beco mes an accusatio n. He is essentially accusing the doctor of an erro r in judgment, not really asking him a questio n.

Kataoka:

"f. ~f>j
Shujutsu
>urgery

ni youe

tekishwsu sareta ramo wa

by means of

(be) extracted

ovary

haikibutsu

to

kangaeraremasu.

as-for waste matter (quote) can think/consider

"An ovary_extracted in surgery can be thought of as waste.'' (PL3)

Kataoka: f.!..-IJ' ~ , 1iJf ~ 1: 1~ -J .: t 1: ~t l "( !ff 1:
.'.fl.~ (J)
[iiJ 2:

-IJ<

Dakara
kenkyii ni tSukau koto ni taishite wku-ni
kanja no doi
ga
so/therefore research in use
(nom.) in regard to especially the patient's consent (subj.)

(j:

.m ", -tt 1v . . .

hitsuyo

10

wa

omoimasen . . .

necessary (quote-emph.) don't think

-r l f.= o
deshita.
didn't

"So J don' t ... didn' t think ~~ecially needed the patients' consent for using_them in research!' (PL3)
kangaeraremasu is the PL3 potential ("can/able to -") form of kangaeru ("think").
Kataoka almost stops with omoimasen ("I don ' t think ... "): but realizing that that sounds too stro ng. even
defiant, he softens his stateme nt by quickly adding deshita - to make it past tense and imply he may think
differently now. The structure o f Japanese is ideally suited to uch last-second adjustments in one's tone.

Sound FX: -If '7 -If '7 -If '7

Zawa ;:awa ;:awa
(buzz/hum of reponers reacting to his statement)

Reporter:
shikashi

desu ne

but/however (emph.)

jusei sasete

baiyo shita

fenilized-and

cultured/grown ovum/ova among

ranshi

several

t .:

~): 1*
botai

no uchi no ikursuka wa

~= }X; -tt ~
7:> -r It) -? "( It\ t.::
llfl ~ i l f.: ! !
ni modoseru tokoro made
itte-ira
to
kikimashita!
mother's body to can return place
as far as
had gone
(quote) /I} he..rd

"But I' ve heard that among the ova that were fertilized and grown, several reached the
point where the could be returned to a/the mother' s boiD'.,__" (PL3)

-t-CT.>
sono
that/those

ij~f- ~
ranshi o
ova

(obj.)

't=- ~
seimei
life

t ti
to wa

~-~~"'
mitomenai

btt"'t:'-tn~?!
wake des11 ka?

(quotc-emph.) don't recognize is it the case that?

"Don ' t ou recognize those ova as being alive?" (PL3)

desu ne after shikashi (''but/however") can be thought of as a verbal pause intended to draw attention to
what he is about to say, so its effect is essentially e mphatic.
jusei is "fertilization.'' andjusei sasere is from the causati ve verb form,jusei sasen1 ("cause fertilization").
(continued mrfollowing page)

M ANGAJIN

63

A rdl x

64

MANGAJIN

.!. Ningen Klisaten

A Pll ~X:: l,i, Ni ngen Kosaten

-------

~"::"'_

(com in uedfrom preious page)

@]

Ell

Kono kenkyii ni kanshite wa

Ihis

diJbutsu

researc h in regard 10 as-for animal

jikken

dake de

expenments

11'0

fujtibun

wilh only

'"''I

to

omou.

inadequme (quole) lhink

" For this research,_Ld_on't think animal experiments are sufficient." (PL2)
A IIll (J) ~~ -=f i' fiE -? t.:. ~ ll uJf JE -If: ;R ~ ~ :h. -c 1t' t.:.

1.1

Ni11ge11 110 ranshi

human ('s) ova

II

tsukatta kiso

(obj.)

used

basic

ke11kyi'i ga

motomerarete-ita.

research (subj.) was soughllneedcd

" Basic research usin human ova was required." (PL2)

ts11kntta is the past form of tsuka11 ("usc'' ). and ni11ge11110 ranshi o tsukatta is a comple1e thoughlfsemencc
modifying kiso kenkyii ("basic research") "basic research using human ova."
motomerarete-ita is from motomerareru ("be soughlfdesired/demanded"). 1he passive form o f motomeru
("seek/demand").

@]

Kataoka: ~ '{~

(J)

711 :&-

lgaku

110

shinpo

'j:
wa

J,!;: IV!
kiso

medical sc ience ('s) advanccmcnl as- for basic

<

MJE (J) fill') :i!! L. ~ L. ""C (j:

ke11kyll no kurikaeshi naku shite wa

ih I'J l~} ~It' o

research ('s) repclilion

canno1 exist/occur

if e liminate

arienai.

"The advancement of medical science is not ossible without the re etition of basic research." (PL2)
k11rikaeshi = " repetition/ reiteration": here it implies that basic research must be piled on more basic re~earch.
not that the same researc h must be repeated.
naku shite is the -te form of nak11 suru. from the adverb form of nai ("no t exist") and suru ("do/make"). 11aku
suru can mean make disappear/e liminate" or "lose."' and naku shite a can literally be thought of as " if it is
lost/eliminated" -> "without."

@]

Sound FX:

~~~'\"

;'\~-t

1~:/-t

Pasha
Pasha
Pasha
(effect of reporters' cameras flashing)

@]
Kataoka kyoju mo watashi mo slwjmsu-go de
Prof. Kataoka

too

1/me

hijo-ni

ts ukarete-imas11.

too after surgery is/arc very/extremely

arc tired

"Professor Kataoka and I have both ' ust finished surgery and are very tired." (PL3).
~ 1 L ,;~< &? IJ i -tt 1v 11{.
~ ~ >L
1i
.:: ~
l;IJ ~ -tt -c ~ t.:. ~, , .lj!l, ", i

Jc

.rr -;

Moshiwake arimasen

ga

kislw kaiken

I'm very ~orry

but

pre~~

wa

kore de

conference as-for with this

uchikirasete itaqaki-tai
would like to cut off/end

-t 1 .

to omoimas11.
I think

" I' m very sorry, but ll..think) we would like to end the press conference at this point." (PL3)
kyoju following a name is equivalent to the English "Professor" used as a title before the name.
.vlwjutsu = "surgery/operation'' and the suffix -go means "after/post-" so shujw:w-go ="after surgery."
de is a continuing form of desu ("is/arc"), so shujwsu-go de is literally "is/are after surgery, and . . : " have
just finished surgery, and ..."
tsukarete-imasu is the PL3 equi valent of ts11karete-im (''am/are tired") from the -te form o f ts11kareru ("become tired") and iru (''be/exi t").
mi'Jshiwake arimasen is a polite/formal apology. It literally means "I have no excuse" but is beller thoug ht o f
simply as 'Tm very sorry" or "Please accept my apologies."
11chikirasete is the causative ("make/let ...") -te form of uchikim ("cut off/ put an end to [an event !"). and itadaki-tai is from itadak11 ('"receive"- po lite). itadaku after the -te form of a verb implies having someone
else do the action for oneself, so uchikirasete itadaku could literally be thought of as "I will have you let me
put an end to"- which is merely a polite way of saying "I will put an end to."
-tai to omoimasu is the PL3 form of -tai to omou ("l think I want/would like to - "). This ending. too, adds to
the politeness by making the statement less direct.

Ran so o

teikyo shite mo ratta

ovaries (obj.) provide

byoin

ni wa,

jikken no koto

)did] for/to you ho;pitals to as-for about the experiments (obj.)

itte-allan desu ka?

had you spoken/told ?

" Had you told the hospitals that rovided the ovaries a bout the experiments?" (PL3)
reikyo shite is the -te form of teikyo sum. "offer/ put at (someonc's) service/provide." Its noun form. teikyo. is
heard constantly on Japanese TV in ex pressions equivalent to Eng lish 'sponsored/brought to you by."
moratta is the past form of mora11 ("receive" - neutral). which after the -te form implies having someone do
the action for oneself- here meaning for the doctors. Ranso o teikyo shite moratta is a complete thought/
sentence ([you] had [them] provide ovaries for you") modifying b)'ll in ("hospi tals").
itte-a11a is the past form of itte-tmt, the -te form of iu ("say/tell") plus am ("exists"). am after the -te fo rm
means the action has already been done.
(COil/iii itt!d Oil fo!IOh'iiiR

pogt')
MANGA JtN

65

A rdl x ~ .~ Ningen

66

MAN GAJIN

K~saten

A r~1-$<:: i .a Ningen Kosaten

(continued from previous page)

@]

Reporter:

~~ ri ~ lv o
Marsue-san.

"Mr. Matsue." (PL3)

Reporter:

~r-1
~
ranshi o

fiE A 17)
Tanin no

othe r people's ova

flfii~B'.J r"'~~

1f9J: .:f 1:
katte-ni

jikken

ni rsukau koro

(obj.) arbitrarily/without permission experiment in

tj"'

use

ni

(nom. ) with

"t"Til'!?

lv

rinri-reki mandai wa
nai
11
desu ka?
ethical
problem as-for doesn't exist (explan.) is it?/does it?

"Isn't there an ethical roblem with usin other eo le's ova for ex eriments without consulting them?" (PL3)
katte-ni implies doing something solely for one's own convenience or by one's own will, without consulting or seeking permission from anyone.
koto, literally ''thing," is here being used as a "nominalizer," to make the precedi ng clause into a
noun: ran in no ranshi o katte ni jikken ni tsukau koto ="(the act of] usi ng other people's ova for experiments without asking them.''
mandai wa nai =a problem doesn ' t exist," and 11 desu ka (n is from explanatory no) is li te rally like "is it
th at .. . ?lis it the case that .. . ?" so mondai wa 11ai 11 desu ka means " is it the case that no problem exists?" " is there no problem?" "isn't there a problem?"

lgaku

no shinpo

no tame ni wa nani

medical science ("s) advancement for the sake of

yalte mo ii

anything (obj.) is okay to do

to

iu

koto

desu ka ?

(quote) say thing/explan. is it?

"Is the s ituation that it's okay to do anything for the sake ofthe advancement ormedical science?"
->

"Do ou mean an thing is permissible if it's for the advancement of medical science?"

(PL3)
yane is the -te form of yaru ("do"), and -te mo ii (or -te ii), literally, ' 'it is good/okay even if') is the standard expression for granting permission or declaring an action acceptable.
. . . to iu koto desu is an expression used in making explanations. In this expression, koto (lit. ''thing") can
be thought of as meaning "situation/explanation." Adding ka makes it a question.

@J

Horiz. Headlines: .@. :?i 0)

~~ r

~ Wf -c'

Kanja no ranshi mudan de

patients'

ova

~~
jikken

without notice experiment

Patients' Ova Used in Experiments Without Consent

Vert.Headlinel:ft~
Taigai
in vitro

~t1i

~~

jusei

jikken

.::.l])ii-c' "'" '

Kono mama de

fcnilization experi ments

as is

il)iJ'?!

ii
no ka ?
good/okay (explan.- ?)

In Vitro Fertilization Experiments: Is the Status Quo Acceptable?

Vert. Headline 2: ,1[1, :?i P.l ?!.\
Kanja a zen
patie nts agape/aston ished/stunned

Patients Stunned
Vert. Headline 3: 1iiillll.

~ 1>!

l])t~>J~>l.'

Rinri

mushi

no tankyiishin

e thics

ignore/disregard that spirit of inquiry

S irit of Inguiry that Disregards Ethics

Vert. Headline 4: Jt ltrrl~t~
15@: ~ :if'!'g'
Kataoka kyiJju inaori
Prof. Kataoka

taikan

defiance resignation

Professor Kataoka Defiantl Resi ns

Vert. Headline 5: &1!fl' l..lj " '
Hansei shinai
does not repent

Unrepentant
inaori is the noun form of inaoru, which literally refers to adjusting one's posture and s itting up straight,
but has the idiomatic meaning of "change one's attitude" - especiall y "to take a defiant attitude."
hansei shinai is the negati ve form of hansei suru, which means to reflect on one's own actions in the
spirit of mending one's ways '"repent.' '

(co,rtinued 011 following page)

M ANGAJtN

67

A P8 ~ 21! .~ Ningen Ki5saten

68

MANGA JI N

A 1111 5I: tit.!. Ningen Kosaten

(cominuedfrom previous page)

Miin

Miin

Sound FX: ~ - /

Miin

(the sounds of semi, or 'cicadas")

~- /

Miin

~-/

~-/

Sound FX:

Miin

(the sounds of cicadas)

" Sound" FX: ~ 1)

Peri (effect of paper or something similarly thin suddenly tearing/breakin g through; a more protracted
tearing would be beriberi or biribiri )

Kataoka: ih
A.
"Ah." " OORS"
among the vendors sta lls at Japanese festivals, no matter how small, there is usually at least one stall
where festival-goers are urged to try their luck at catching goldfish using a very flimsy paper or wafer
"net/scoop." The game is known as kingyo sukui, "goldfish scooping." For most it is an impossible task
because the water quickly tears the paper or makes the wafer melt into mush. but some eventually learn to
catch more than one with a single "net." The kingyo sukui stall in this story is a more permanent fixture
among the stalls lining the path leading to a popular shrine.

Vendor: 7 :A :; o
Kusu!
(a stined giggle/laugh)
kusu.' is a laughing effect more commonly associated with females, though it can also be used with men.

Mo

hitotsu.

more

one

" One more." (PL2)

mo before a number means that many ''more."

Vendor: .}.)

t. ~ lv, -*1F

Ojisan

hamoshi

uncle/mister

mo

mainichi

half-year even/all of everyday

kavotte-ru

have beim commuting even though

~r!!:

-?i<t.tC-;f.tlt'

b,

71\/\/\/\!!

zen zen

umaku naranai

ne.

A ha ha lw ha.'

at all

~::'
no ni,
{/)

don't become good/skillful do you? (laugh)

"Mister, even though you've been coming every day for half a year, you still don't get good at
it, do you? Aha ha ha ha! !"--> ''You' ve been coming ever y da for six months but ou don' t
show any improvement at all do you. Ha ha ha hal!" (PL2)
~-/
~-/
fu>Jlnd FX: ~ - /
Miin

Miin

Miin (the cries of cicadas)

ojisan (lit."uncle") is commonly used to address men older than college age (roughly) when you don't
know their name. It is less formal than English 'sir; more like calling someone "mister," but it's still quite
polite, so it's not unusual to go on addressing someone as Ojisan even after you know his name; for politeness, children are generally expected to address adult men as Ojisan even when they are close acquaintances.
mo after a word indicating a number or quantity implies that number/quantity is "a lot."
kayotte-ru is a contraction of kayotte-iru. from kayou. which essentially means "go back and forth" and is
used to refer to commuting not only to work and school but any other place one goes on a regular basis.
zenzen followed by a negative form means "not at all.''
wnaku is from umai ("good/skillful"); umaku naranai is the negative form of umaku naru ="become
good/skillful."
ne at the end of a sentence expects or assumes agreement/confirmation from the listener. Here it softens
her sentence by showing familiarity. She is laughing with him rather than at him.

MANGA JIN

69

.
Kosaten
A roll :'X:;.~ Ntngen

70

MANGAJ I N

A [Ill x k

-----Karasall'a
(name)

.~

Ningen K~saten

7 ~~-"
Apiito

apanment

Karasawa Apartments
~~iiiil
Karasawa Setsubi

Sign: Fli1R

(name)

C~
Kogyo

1*;~:\~H
Kabushiki-gaisha

equipment manufacturing industry joint stock company

Karasawa Equipment Manufacturing_Co.

aplito is an abbreviated katakana rendering of English "apartment."

,]

Sound FX: 1- ;t! /

1- ;f- /
ropon

Topon
~lop

Mats_y_e:

plop (effect of something quite small/light dropping into water: cf. dobon for heavier things)

c:-?

l t:. lv t!.?!

Do shita n da?
what'~

wrong?/what's the matter?

" What happened?" (PL2)

~ ~

-~;{

rtJt 1 J.>

Sawagi

ga

shizumaru

made mi

uproar/hubbub (subj.) become quict/scnlc down

until

~~-l t:. v'

kakushi-tai

c
to

;:i-? -c,
iue,

self (obj.) want to hide/secl ude (quotc)said-and

"Saying you wanted to seclude yourself until the furor died down,

:rrJf 1e ~
kenkyiisho

a- c
o

scholarly books (obj.)

'? ~ IJ
dossari

lots/loads of

r.r -c *-c iE 'itt L -c J.>

'?

~
lw:u

t. ~ t.t. -IJ' '? t:. (}) -Jp.

ja nakaua no ka?

molte kite

jiiden shite-m

bring-and

be recharging supposed/expected to wasn't it the case that?

weren't you supposed to have brought lots of scholarly books here and to be recharging your-

self?"
~ " What 's going_on here? You said ou wanted to Ia low until t hin s settled down so I
expected that you' d bring lots of research materials and be rech:rrg~el f." (PL2)

do is "how/in what way" and shiro is the past of suru ("do''), so do shira is literally "what did you do." but
it is often used idiomatically to mean "what's wrong/what's the matter?"
n i a contraction of explanatory no. Asking a question with n(o) da sounds quite rough, like he is demand-

ing an explanation; female speakers do not generally ask questions this way.

mi can refer specifically to one's physical body. but here it is being used more like "self.'' mi o kakusu
literally means "hide oneself' ''go into seclusion,'' and mi o kakushi-tai makes it ''want to go into seclusion.''

moue kite is from morsu ("hold/carry") and kuru ("come")-> "bring." The -re form of kum here gives the
meaning of "and."

jtlden shite-ru is a contraction of jiiden shire-iru, the progressive ("am/are - ing") form of jiiden suru, ''recharge."

kenkyiisho o dossari moue kite jtlden shire-ru is a complete thought/sentence ("bring/brought a lot of scholarly books and am/are recharging.") modifying ha~u. a noun meaning "what is expected/supposed to be.''

... ja nakatta no ka is the past form of ... ja nai no ka, ''isn't it the case that ..."

Letters

(colllinu!'djrom pafo11! 201

explanation gil'en in writing. This is true

for all matters ini'OIIing pronunciation.
which is exactly why our pronunciation
guide has 1/te disclaimer you melllion.
(The guide was left out 1his issue to
make room for Obatarian.)
It' s interesting to note that nati1e
Japanese speakers outside Tokyo speak
otherwise standard Japanese (hyojungo) will! different "pitch accents" (this
is what we are speaking of here. not dialect accents) and never have trouble being understood. For the student of Japa-

nese. a flat. e1en intonation will always

he understood. and for Americans (and
some Europeans) who tend to gi1e their
words 1ery marked pilch accellls. this
may be a f?OOd way to eliminate some
un-Japanese sounding speech habits.
When two or three words sound exactly alike except for pitch accent. context is f?oing to resolle the ambiguity
virtually 100 percent of 1/re time. In
practical terms, accent is probably the
lea.\'/ important aspect of.lapanese pronunciation 110 matter what your/net of

language skill.
On the whole. we think most people
are best off following Jack Seward's
ad1ice (Learning Basic Japanese, p. 15 ):
"the degree of variance in pitch is so
small that the beginner is ad1ised to
voice all Japanese words ... with a
steady evenness of pitch ... Sooner or
later. depending 011 the sharpness of
your ear, you will come to he able to
distinguish among and mimic the existing minor variations in pitch... ~~~]

MANGAJ IN

71

A rdl ~ ~ .~ Ningen Ki5saten

72

M A N GAJ I N

A 1111 ~ ~ lf. Ningen Kosaten

Matsue:

-t-n

nr

Sore

ga

that

(subj.) book one

hon

(}}::"? Jj: "'

:Fo'ffBm t: v,c

hitotsu

borobeya

ni ite,

not e xist shabby room be in-and

-c .. .

il[~
renraku

l iJ' b
shikamo

nai

b J: .::. ~ Jj: iJ' -:d::. Jj: lv

mo yokosanakatta
nante .. .

furthe rmore communication eve n didn ' t send

(quote)

" But vou' re in this shabbv room without a sinele book and on too of that the fact that vou
didn' t even send word . ." (PL2)
hon lritotsunai ("not have a sing le book") modifies borobeya ("shabby/run down room/apartment").
yokosanakatta is the past form o f yokosanai. the negati ve form of yokosu ("send/deli ver [to me)").

Kataoka: .::. .::. li

1ft t;r
ore ga

Koko wa
here

!if ? t::. W

Jj: lv

sodatta machi

na 11

as-for Ume (subj.) grew up

-e

t.= ~ ~ 1.-' t.: flHJl b .:. .:. fE lv t.=

da. Toshioita lrahaoya mo koko de shinda.

town/neighborhood (e}lplan.) is aged

mother

also here

d ied

"This is the olace where I erew !J.P My aeed mother died here too." (PL2)
FX:

;-e 7

r~

Para para (effect of sprinkling fi sh food)

ore is a rough, masculine word for "1/me."
sodatta is the past form o f sodatsu ("mature/grow up").
when written
machi usually re fe rs to a district/neighborhood within a larger town.

m.

Kataoka: i" Q)

~ 1ft

ore

that

Ume

time

Ell

l-c t::. t

li

Sono toki

wa

nani shire-ra

'"'' J ...
omou

to

as-for what was doing (quote) think

< I? n -c "' t.:

rut~

{i}f?'E

research

research with was being endlessly c hased by (emph. )

1:

Kenkyt7 kenkyt7 de

~"' ~

oimakurarere-ita

J: o

yo.

" What do you think I was doine then? I was beinl! driven relentlessly_ bY research and more
research." (PL2)
~ ~ 1: a; I? Jj: n{ t:> . t :. ? t::. - A Q) ~
(J) ~ ~ b
JtiJ tt t:>
1:
Jj: .. .
lslra

de ari nagara

doctor in spite of being

hitori

only

I person (=) blood relation ('s) life even without being able to save (colloq.)
m y. onlv blood relative in S.Pite of beine a doctor." (PL2)

" Without beinl! able to save

.:. Q)
1: tl: lv 1: i" Q)

no 11ikushin

'*

Kono maclri ni sunde

.::.
Q) ~
sono koro no imi

this

that

town

in live-and

thing's

~
o

no seimei mo

n. -r

ratta

~ ~ t.:
kangaera

rasukerarezu 11i

11a .. .

~0
sa

Q)

no

meaning (obj.) thought about (explan.) (emph.)

" Livine in this town I thoueht about the meaninl! of that." (PL2l
oimakurarete-ita is a passive form of oimakuru, a combination of ou ("chase/pursue/drive" ) and the verb
suffix -makuru meaning " relentlessly/without cease" "was being driven relentlessly."
tasukerarezu is equivalent to tasukerarenaide, the negative potential form of tasukeru ("help/save").

@)

Matsue: ~ !!= W.

lgakukai

.g-JJ J:. ~ ~ t

-c (J)

kitte 110

gori slrugisha

med ical world the most/gre atest

pragmatist

15 :b

n t::.

to
iwareta
(quote) was called

i:> ~ ~ 1: l'i? ~ ih ,
omae

ni shiclrii,

you

for

''For someone who was called the ereatest oraematist in medicine

-t;, t. -:~ t
1i ~ t.:
iJ' I? -:~ -c ,
~ 1v ~ b ? t.: Jj: o

-r",
zuibun

chouo
a little

hosareta

kara

lie

had livelihood threatened because (quote)

a lot

kawaua

11a.

c hanged

haven' t you

" vou' ve sure chaneed a lot iust because of a little professiona l nack." (PL2)
omae is a fairly rough, masculine word for "you," a nd ni shichii is a contraction of ni shire wa. which essentiall y means "for": .. . to iwareta omae ni shichii is literally "for you who were called ..."

Tokorode

sorosoro

a110 sawagi

by the way

by and by

that

" By_!he wa

Jl--f*l11:
Gutaiteki ni

tsukare mo

uproar o f/fro m faLigue

I&nt::.

t.= 7:> ? .. .

toreta

darii . . .

also was removed probably/1 imagine

I ima ine our fati ue from all that furor is about one b now . .." (PL2)
fJJ < J: ? 1: ~tft.~t
il' I? -\t -:~"? iJ'n "Cv'o !vt.=o
ugoku

concrete ly/de finitely move

" We are bein

no

yo ni

yakuhin-gaislra kara

(command) pharmaceutkal co. fro m/by

seusukarete-iru
is/are being pressed

n da.
(explan.)

ressed b the pharmaceutical com an to make a definite move." (PL2)

. .. yo ni iu (iu = "say/tell" ) is an indirec t command form, "tell [someone]to . .." Here, iu has been replaced
by settsukarete-iru, a passive form of setsuku ("demand/press for").

(cominued on following page)

MA NGA J t N

73

A rJJ X i'iL\'!: Ningen Kosaten

*t:. 51

.i> :.l!

~ ~

l;t
O) ""Fi.>'
nn:~.f

tJ

-?

',,/ -r

74

MANGAJ I N

c tt
-r

A till x ~ .!. Ningen Kosaten

(cominuedfrom previous page)

Kataoka: M~PJT
Kenkyiijo

kaneta

yaru

kai 'insei no

ff

iJ' .. .

ken

ka .. .

research center (obj.) combined with membership-based

en a membershi

&? h
Are

7j:: c, ~ :> t..:.. 0

nara vameta.

that

if it is stopped/qui t

"lf it's that, l quit."--+ "~

lf~
th
wa..,t'-''s"'--"
w'-'h"'a._.t-J_!,!.!!...~--'!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.!-'.
ft !j:, ::_il) iafiJTtl)
i~UffiAf_;J.O)m~ 1: !MJ:>7.> ::..t!:i:k:nt..:..
Ore wa
lime

kono kinjo no

as-for this

sanfujinka no byoin

neighborhood's

Ob-Gyn

in rsutomeru koro ni kimeta

hospital at

work

(PL2)

yo.

have decided to

(emph.)

" I've decided to work at an Ob-G n bos ital in this neighborhood." (PL2)
- o kanera is an expression meaning "combined with-" or "that doubles/also serves as-,'' so kenkyiijo o
kaneta ... byoin is " a hospital that doub les as a research center."
kimeta is the past form of kimeru ("decide"), and ... koro ni kimeta is "decided to .. :

~l_____ a-ts-u-e:--~==!?===-~~~------------------------------------------------_j
!?

M
__

" What?!" (PL2)

Sign: J!t.l.~J'Il
Tojo Yakuhin

Toio Pharmaceuticals (corporate name)

Sign: ~~~
Kaigishitsu

Conference Room
1st Executive: it
Kimi wa
you

kita

no kane?

as-for with that tamely/unforcefully withdrew/retreated came

sore de

omeome-to

hikisagatte

(explan.- ?)

" And with that you just meekly withdrew?" (PL2)

hikisagatte is the -te form of hikisagaru ("withdraw/pull back"), and kita is the past form of kuru ("come").
A form of kuru after the -te form of a verb often indicates that the action moves toward the speaker(s).

1st Executive: -)t;,

!j:

Uchi

wa

J:tliYil~f~
Kataoka kyoju

Prof. Kataoka

and

this company as-for

-t-c!:
sude-ni
already

/()

;g

0)~1:,

kimi no tame ni
for

you

t::

}l ~.9: L- "( v) 7.> lv

~
o kensersu shite-iru n da

~Jf~iW
kenkyiijo

research center (obj.)

are constructing

-f''!!
zo!

(ex plan.) (emph.)

" We are alread buildin a resea rch center for you and Prof. Kataoka." (PL2)
uchi literally means "inside" but is used frequently to refer to one's own family, company, or other group.
kensetsu shire-in~ is from kensetsu suru ("construct/build [a building/facility]").
zo is a rough emphatic particle used mostly by men.

~ 2nd Executi e: t.:. /v, 1tP. tl)

~ n"b ~t

ra no

yakuhin-gaisha

iJ'

ws I!Ji:

tl) ~I ~ ~ ~ iJ{

ka byoin no hikinuki

ga

&? -? t.:. lv "t" L- J:: -7 o

alta

11

desho.

pharmaceutical company or hospital ('s) recruitment (subj.) there was probably/no doubt

otten an offer from some other harmaceutical com an or hospital."

1!1011[

7j:: v' o

Muri

mo

nai.

unreasonableness even is none

"It's not unreasonable." "It's no wonder." (PL2)

rabun means "probably,'' and is often echoed at the end of the sentence with another conjectural form. in
this case deshiJ ("is probably so").
hikinuki is the noun form of hikinuku, which combines hiku ("pull/draw") and nuku ("pull o ut/extract.. ). In
the corporate context, the word refers to raids on the talent of other corporations.
(continued on following page)

MANGA J I N

75

A rdl ~ ~ .!.

~ ~ II ~
H ;/)~J

1:. .Q ~ -!;
/~ ; ~ / J
::. -; }j .

-- ,._.

?) . .: ;

76

M ANGAJIN

.:

N ingen Ki5saten

A Ill] X: ~ .!. Ningen Kosaten

(continued from previous page)

EJ

3rd Executive: {;$:$'~

Taigai

kara hasei sum sangyo

wa

bitarninzai

gan tokkoyaku ni tsugi.

industry/products as-for vitamins

in vitro

(/)
shorai

wareware no kigyo

1J :'

~::

kagi

ni naru

anti-cancer drugs next to/after

lj: 7.>

i btL-r@i-rv'iT o
to

iwarete kite-imasu.

sangyo strictly speaking means " industry," but the context here makes " products" more natura l in English.
bitamin is a katakana rendering of a European pronunciation of "vitamin." -zai ="compound/preparation"
gan is "cancer" and tokkoyaku refers to a drug that is effective against a particular disease (the kanji literally mean "specially effective drug"), so gan wkkoyaku is "anti-cancer drug:
... ni tsugi here means " next to/following after" in the sense that products deriving from in vi tro fertilization technology will be added to the other "key" products of the pharmaceutical industry.
iwarete kite-imasu is the -te form of iwareru ("is said"), which is the passive form of iu ("say"), plus the
PL3 progressive ("is/are - ing") form of kuru ("come"). kuru after the -te form of a verb can indicate that
the action is "beginning/starting to occur."

@J

2nd Executive: 1 .:f 1) 'A ~

A~ 5I: J:. ~)]

lgirisu

de jinrui

England

in

shijiJ

hatsu no wigai juseiji

human hi story first

ga

('s) in vitro baby

bi'il'~if.L.il'$0-rv'lj:"'

c "'-)

to

iu

tanjo shire

(subj.) is/was born

kara,
from/since

0)1::
no ni ...
even though

assed since the first test tube ba b in human histor

gE ~
kagaku wa

sude-ni sore

science as- for already

that

~:: i

-e 3 J.i ~ -tLJ:. -J

sangyo ni made hatren saseyo

(obj. ) industry as far as

c L. -r "' 7.>

to shite-iru.

cause to develop

to be on verge/in the 'process of

"science is alread on the ver e of developing it [in vitro fertilization) into a n industry."
(PL2)
kara ="from" and kara after the -te fo rm of a verb basically means "from the time" that action took/takes
place, so it can become either "since" or "after" in English depending on the tense of the verb.
the quotative phrase ... to iu no ni here is like saying "even though it is-the case/situation th at ..."
hatten suru ("develop") -> hatten saseru ("cause to develop") - hat/en saseyo to shite-iru ("is o n the verge
of developing'').

1st Executive:

c< lv lj:
Donna

koto

shire mo Kataoka kyoju o

what kind of thing (obj.) even if do Prof. Kataoka

uchi

ni

(obj.) our company to

hipparu
pull

n da.'
(ernph. command)

"No matter what it takes. bring Professor Kataoka to this company]" (PL2)
~
1:: if-
I -:>ltlj:v> !!
Kane ni itom.e
money to

wa

tsukenai.'

fine mesh lines as-for will not attach

" I don' t care what it costs." (PL2)

n is a contraction of explanatory no and da is the PL2 equivalent of desu ("is/are"), but here the combination functions as a command.
kane ni itome olwa tsukenai (literally "not attach a string to the money"), is an idiomatic expression meaning "spare no expense/cost is no concern."

t!. ;_, -) ...

(Thinking): v'-::> iJ' 0:> , .::. lv lj:

ltsu

kara

when from

konna

kuchi no kikikata made

sareru

this kind of manner of speaking as far as is done (to me)

yo ni natta
got so that

daro ...

(explan.) I wonder

I wonder when it ot so the s oke to me like this? (PL2)

kuchi o kiku means "speak" and -kata after the stem of a verb means "way/manner of doing," so kuchi no
kikikata ="manner of speaking."

~l. ___N__am__e_p_la-te_:~Matsue
th=\=ii==~------------------------------------------------------------_j
MA NGAJ t N

77

A rdl

78

M ANGAJIN

x ~ .!.

Ningen Kosaten

Matsue: t::. t!. 'v \ 1

fill~~.!.

Ningen Kosaten

Tadaima.

''I'm home."
tadaima literally means " right now/just now," but it's the standard greeting used when returning home.
Mrs. Matsue gives the standard reply to this greeting in the next frame.

0-kaeri-nasai

anata

lma

welcome home

dear

now just/exactly

chiido

Masahiko-san

ga

(name-hon .)

" Welcome back dear. Masahiko has ust come and...

~7J:X. t
Sanae to
(name)

*s~~:tl:
(J)
kekkonshiki 110

with

wedding

;f~~
siidan

~
o

kite,

(subj.) come-and

(PL2)

l"'Cv\o t .:7:>
shite-iru

('s) consultation (obj.) are doing

lJ:(J) o

tokoro

na no.

place

(explan.)

" ... is talking over the wedding_(!lans with Sanae." (PL2)

kaeri-nasai is a relatively gentle command form of the verb kaeru ("return home"), so it is literally like
saying "Go home/Come home." But with the honorific prefix o-, it is the standard greeting given when
someone comes home: "Welcome home/welcome back." Informally it is often shortened to just o-kaeri.
anata literally means "you," but it is also typically used by Japanese wives in addressing their husbands.
s!Jite-iru is the progressive ("is/are - ing") form of suru ("do").
tokoro literally means "place," but when placed directly after verbs it can imply, depending on the tense of
the verb, "just now did/are doing/will do.''
na no is the form the explanatory no takes when following a noun; na no desu is implied. Ending a sentence with na no has a feminine sound.

lssho

ni ichido

na n

desu mono,

one life in one time (explan.) is/are because

"ill_ecause) it's once in a lifetime," (PL2)

.i:>'fuill
(J) ~
!i P,?,I'JI'I ~~iff
o-ironaoshi

no toki wa

shomei o

. I:Lt::.v\

goka

b-:; 0

ni shi-tai

(hon.)-change of dress ('s) time as-for lighting (obj.) splendid want to make it/choose

" I want the li htin to be reall s ectacular for m entrance after

(PL2)

li I?,

:::.. (/)

Hora

kono kiisu

look/see

this

:::I-

t!. t

:A

:i: ~

*~ !!

h. t::. 'v' "("

da to Takarazuka mitai de

course/plan if it is Takarazuka

suteki!

is like-and

wonderful/divine

" Look! With this Jan it's reall wonderful like the Takarazuka Theater." (PL2)
ironaoshi, literally ''color change/correction," refers to the Japanese wedding custom of having the bride
go through at least one change of dress, and often several, in the course of the reception.
... ni shi-tai is the "want to" form of ... ni suru, " make it . . ./choose .. .'' "want it to be ... "
Takarazuka is an all-female theatrical troup famous for producing spectacular musicals.
hora is an interjection used to get the listener to focus his/her attention on something.
kiisu, a katakana rendering of English "course," is used in Japanese to refer to a wide variety of pre-packaged plans/deals/set menus/etc.

Masahiko: -f

n -z:

Sore

de

that

with

o t "A 8 TJ fil

yaru

to

roppyakuman-en

gurai

kakaru

do

if

6 million yen

about

will take/cost (colloq.)

ne,

" If we do it with that P-lan, it will cost about 6 million yen." (PL2)

nHT

To bIt

t!.

iJ' I? ,

Sono hoka ni

Yiiroppa

ryokii o

suru wake

da

kara,

besides that

European

trip

-(- 0) ii iP 1: 3 -

t:1 / I {

(obj.) do

(explan.) is/are because/so

"Besides that we'll go on a tri to Euro e so ..." (PL2)

7J: lv t!.iJ> lv t!. "(" fil iii < 7J: 0
J: 0
Nanda-kanda

de

+:n

issenman-en chikaku naru

one thing and another with 10 million yen near

yo.

will become (emph.)

" ... with one thin and another it will be close to 10 million

to after a verb gives a conditional " if/when" meaning.

kakaru means "takes/requires," or, when speaking of money, "costs.''
wake means "reason/cause" and can often replace the explanatory no when giving explanations.
at the current rate of exchange, 6 million is approximately $48,000; 10 million is $80,000.

MANGA JlN

79

r., ~ ~ .~ Ningen Kosaten

tJ.
(J)

f.L. ~ ii
' IJ'

J::HL~

t.J I! t, A.

-~ "'('>'

....... ??.{ ..., ;;:

"'"t~t.:.

....... 13 J: ~.......

11

~ 3~ ~~ il I 1:**. ~-ft~

--

80

MANGA JIN

--

- - --~

A /Ill::;.:: X: .'.'i Ningen K asaten

------------ -----------------------

-------

Daijlibu

yo

11e,

Oriisama.

okay/all right {cmph.) righl?

Farher

"That's okl!)'.jsn' t it Father?" (PL2-4)

11e with a long vowel means the speaker strongly assumes agreemenr from rhc person being addressed.
Orosama i~ a more polite equivalent of Oto.mn (''father"), but yo 11e makes her tone informal and very familiar. It is not unusual for children of polite'' families to be taught to always address their fathers thi s
way no matter how informal they may be in the rest o f their speech.

Mats ue: -

c: + lv ~ ;131fz

T !J fii?! c' -? l 'l

/sse11ma11en?

Doslrire

10 m1lhon )CO

why

~~~A
kekkonslriki ni
"cdding

sonno

o-kane

kakenakya nara11ai

11

have to spend

(cxplan.-?)

for 1ha1 kind of money (obj.)

da.

" 10 million ven ?! Why s hould we have to spend that kind of monev on a wedding?" (PL2)
kakenakya naranai is a colloquial equivalent of kakenakereba naranai, the "must/have to'' form of kakeru
("budget/spend money").
asking a question with n(o) da sounds quite rough. and is usually done only by males.

Mrs. Mats ue:

if>~ t.:.

M
Nani
"hat

ille-ru

no

(obj.) arc saying

...

anata ...

(explan.-?) dear

" What arc you saying.__dcar?

{ ;l ll~ i$1:

Wlfi;' Lt.:.

Jt;JJ
Se11gersu
lm.l month

anended

Pror. lwnla

MU.~

f))

shusseki shita Iwata kyoju no

!v

musume-san

no kekko11slriki wa,

('s) daughtcr-{hon.) ('s) wedding

as-for

" Professor Iwata's da ughter 's wedding that we attended last month '--'--'

=r TJ

t'-? )X. t.:.-? 'l

do ktmgt1eta ue

nisenman

li

-IJ' n'-=> 'l ~ h o

11a

kakaue-m

no maucr how (youjrhink !of II 20 million al least

cos1

ll'a.
(colloq.)

" ... cost 20 miJiion no matter how you look at it." (PL2)

.:.

n --c- ~

-t.L.

ri

Warashi

ll'a

kore de

Ume

a~-for

thi s

1110

even

'!i ~ ~ ~ t
yasu-sugiru to
too cheap

.'~'. ? 'l -t J: o
omortemasu yo.

(quote) think

(emph.)

" I think we're heine too che:w~ven as it is." (PL2)

i~ a contraction of iue-iru. the progressive ("is/are - ing") form o f iu ("say"). kakaue-ru b a contraction of kaka11e-iru. the progressi ve form of kakaru ("take/require/cost"). and omoue-masu is a contraction
of omotleimasu. the PL3 progressive form of omou ("think").
dii kangaeta tie is a colloquial equivalent of do kangaere mo, "however/whatever one thinks."

i11e-ru

(Thinking):

*li },)

Kekkvoku

(j:

1: -IJ'

wa

kane ka?

the end/fin:ll analysis a~- for money ?

So in the end, it' money, is it? Ever ything comes down to money. (PL2)
7 ;'\ -

Karascn,a Apiiro

Karasawa Apartments
Sign: JliiJ~

~f.tfRU I;R f*.r\:~1

Karasall'a Sersubi KogyiJ Kabu.1hiki-gaisha

Karasawa Equipment Manufacturing_Co.

Oji~an.

mara sakana kogashiclwrra

unclc/mJ\tcr

again

fi'>h

:ffF~~ ~ Y.~ .~k II

Waunhi r\'iiri ::.en::.en dame

;fl. ,

lime

cookmg no good a1 all

vo!

scorched (regret)

~ (J)
na 110

(cmph.)

J:

b ,

""'- ""'-""'- ""'- o

yo

ne.

he he he he!

(explan.) (emph.) (colloq.) (laugh)

"Oji an,. I burned the fis h again. I'm us t no g_ood_at cooking._am

I?~"

(PL2)

the young goldfi h 'endor continues to call Kataoka Ojisan even though they are now on more familiar
term~. " M ister" is not really an appropriate translation any more. and the more literal translation for ojisan.
"uncle." doesn't \\Ork enher. ~owe use Ojisan as if it were a proper noun.
kogashichaua is a contraction of kogashite shimaua, from kogasu ("scorch/burn") and shimcm ("fini sh/
end"). Shimaulshimatla after the -re form of a verb implies the action is/was undesirable/regrettable.
~en~en followed b) a negatl\e means ''not at all": using :en::.en with a non-negative like dame ("no good">
is a kind of slang that ha' emerged fairly recently in Japanese.
MAN GAJIN

81

A rdl '3(: ~ .!. Ningen

K~saten

'"~.f~

_,, c, 7 :
_,, lj '/)'

_,, '/)' !
> "')

c,

fi

~ l..
A.~

"(

;t,

c: "') "')

'

82

M ANGAJIN

J, llll

------------------

,m !'.

Ningen Kosaten

~L-----M--a-ts-u-e:--~------------------------------------------------------------~
I

"Huh?"

"Sound" FX:

:r-

1)

;t; 1)

Pori pori
(effect of scratching hi head -

Kataoka:

a gesture of embarrassment or confusion)

'k li
Jirsu wa

isslriikan-mae

kara issho ni kurashire-iru

actually/in fact one week before/ago from

n da ...

together

"Actually, we've been living together

have been living (ex plan.)

since a week !lgO." (PL2)

jirsu = '' truth," so jirsu-wa is literally "as for the truth .. .'' In many cases it is used to confirm the truth or
correctness of some information, but it is also often used primarily to show politeness or reserve, as when
breaking some bad news to someone. or when revealing an embarrassing secret.
-mae after a time word means that long ago" (in relation to the present) or "before" (in relation to some
other event/point in time).
kurashire-iru is the progressi ve form of kurasu ("live" in the sense of passing the time/getting by from one
day to the next). lssho ni kurasu ="live together": dosei suru ha the same meaning. but has more of the
tone of "shack up wi th...

']

Vendor:

-t-?!
_,
SQ,
is so

"That's right." (PL2)

Matsue:

a;;, ... -t-?1.1' ! } lJ '?7j:1.1'?t.: ,

J\J\J\1\ o

so ka!

Shiranakarw.

Ha ha ha ha

Oh

is it so?

didn't know

(laugh)

"Ah ... I see. I didn' t know. Ha ha ha ha." (PL2)

shiranakaua is the past form of shiranai ("don't know"). f rom shiru ("come to know").

Nl}l7nen
20 years

ijo

omae

more than

you

ro :wro

" I've been/worked with you all

:: :: .f.1f rdj
(J) i:l i X. Ii
koko /uuuoslrikan no
here

half-year

of

issho ni ira

kedo.

wi th all along

omae
you

was/were together with but

along for over 20 year~ but .._._."

wa

7JUA
bersujin

(7)

J: -? t!. o

no yo da.

as- for different person is/arc like

" ... here in the last six months_j'ou seem like a diiTerent__person." (PL2)
:uno by itself can mean "a long time: but when another period of time has been mentioned. it means
" steadily throughout' ' that period.

ita i the past form of iru ("be/exist").

kedo = keredo ="but"
koko literally means "here/this place," but the word is used idiomatically with time periods to mean "the
recent/the last [specified period]." Koko hamoshikan 110 omae is literally " you of the last half year."

@]

Vendor:

-r '? ?

lue-rasshai.

l ~ v' , i:l L. ~ lv !
Ojisan!

" Have a nice day, O~an!" (PL2)

iue-rasshai is the standard phrase used to send off someone leaving for work, school. an errand. or any
other excursion from which the person will return home. 'Have a nice day" is only an approximation. The
phra~e is actually a contraction of i11e irasshai. literally. "go and come (homer spoken in command form.

to be continued
in the next issue of MANGAJIN
M ANGA JtN

83

VocabularySum m a r y

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bareru
bekkyo
bya
byoin
lti]jl,
doi
ro;ff?
dorobo
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dossari
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eikoku
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f ujiibun
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gan
~~
goka
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gutaiteki ni
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hanare ru
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hansei suru
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hasei suru
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hatten suru
3~161:
hijo-ni
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hikinuki
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Li'-=>ii'ITJ.> hikkakeru
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himo
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hitsuyo
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hyoji
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igai-to
~~
igaku
ika daigaku
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~~
jikken
t.-=>ti"J.> jitto suru
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jiiden suru
kaigishitsu
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kaijo
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kaiken
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kanga egoto
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kangaeru
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kanja
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kanji
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kayou
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kekkonshiki
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kenkyii
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kensetsu suru
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kimeru
Rc;gkisha
i.l:ft
kiso
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kogasu
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kontakuto
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kurikaeshi

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be found out/discovered
(marital) separation
second(s)
hospital
consent/agreement
robber
lots/loads of
England
complaint
inadequate/insufficient
c ancer
splendor/gorgeousness
pragmatist
concretely/definitely
come apart/separate/leave
reflect on/repent
derive from/originate in
develop
very/extre mely
recruitment/scouting
withdraw/pull back
hang/hook (on)
string
necessity
marker/indicator
surprisingly/unexpectedly
medical science
medical college/university
experiment(s)
hold still/be quiet
(re)charge/electrify
conference room
meeting place
interview
(deep) thinking
think/ponder
patient(s)
feeling/sense
calorie(s)
commute/go back & forth
wedding ceremony
researc h
construct/build (a building)
decide
(newspaper) reporter
basis/foundation
scorch/burn
contact lens
repetition/reiteration

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kyofu
kyiiryo
mado
makeru
matsu
mitomeru
mitsukeru
modosu
mandai
motomeru
muri
musume
nanigoto
nigeru
ningen
omeome-to
ash ii
otosu

terror
wages/salary/pay
window
lose/be defeated
wait (v.)
recognize/acknowledge
find/locate
return/replace
problem
seek/demand
unreasonableness
daughter
whatever
run away/escape/flee
human (being)
tame ly/unforcefully
seizure/confiscation
drop (v.)
O tt
chase/pursue/drive
owaru
end/finish/complete
ran so
ovary/ovaries
renraku
communication/contact
rikon
divorce (n.)
rinri-teki
ethical
sanfujinka
Ob-Gyn
sawag i
uproar/hubbub
seiko suru
succeed
seimei
life
setsuku
de mand/press fo r
shinpai
worry/concern/fear
shinpo
advancement/progress
shizumaru
become quiet/settle down
shokudo
restaurant
shorui
paper(s)/document(s)
shujutsu
surgery
shusseki su ru attend/be present
sodatsu
mature/grow up
taigai jusei
in vitro fertilization
taikan
resignation (from post)
tanjo suru
be born
teikyo suru
offer/provide
tekishutsu suru extract/take o ut
tsukareru
become tired
tsukau
use/make use of
tsutomeru
work/be employed
uc hikiru
cut off/put an end to
yakuhin-gaisha pharmace utical com
yuka
floor
zangyo
overtime

The Vocabulary Summary is taken from material appearing in this issue of M ANGAJIN. It 's not always possible to give 1he compo.~
range of meanings for a word in chis limited space, so our "dejinilions" are based on I he usage of I he word in a panicular SUWl

88

MAN GAJ !N