What makes the Japanese laugh? JAPANESE POP CULTURE &LANGUAGE LEARNING $5.50
MANGAJIN
I
•I.
Manga for Career Wo•en New Year's Dishes 6 2>
0
744 70 78600
9
1997: Year of the
Ushi
CONTENTS
J
.J
i
No. 62, February 1997
0
Features 12 The Japanese Sense of Humor I s " Japanese humor" really an oxymoron? Top interpreter Muramatsu Masumi explains, sharing a few choice jokes in the process.
Manga
15 Humor in Leadership: Reflections of a Simultaneous Interpreter
page 12
I 7 After Zero • 7 7 -1 -
An excerpt from M uramatsu's book, presented in bilingual format.
0
T he ''Devil's Seeds" start to reveal their devili h natu re.
3 8 Kacho Baka I clzidai • ~ ..& J \ tJ
63 "Career Women" Comics T .R. Reid explores a new genre of manga tories.
-1t
With much pomp and circumstance, the section chief makes lunch.
Departments
42 Our Tono-sama • -? "S (J) ~ ~ i 44 App-Install • if.>~"' lv 46 American Comics • 7 f. ') tJ (J) i~ iiiD
nyanchi; plus,
Oilbert and Gaifield- in Japanese.
66 Minori Demetsu • h. (J) ~ fi
m
A young 'woman takes a chance and quits the job she hates. Can she make it as a freelancer?
84 Yarikuri Company • ~ ~
< ~ tJ /
;~.::.-
9 Brand News It's time for K itty' s keeping away the "sleep demon ...
50 Computer Corner H i-tech, lo-budget mean of studying Japanese.
page 56
54 Book Review Taken Captive, by Ooka Shohei.
SS On the Bookshelf Recently released books about Japan.
56 Cooking Corner Kuri kin ton and other New Year· s dishes.
61 Senryii Humorous haiku- by the people.
Language Learning 86 Basic Japanese: A Laughing Matter page 66
Dec iphering the different kinds of laughs.
Miscellaneous
92 Pop Japanese
S 6 7 94
93 Voca bulary Summary
Publisher's Note Letters Bloopers Classifieds
Wi lliam Marsh explores slang of 1950s Japan. Word from this issue o f Mangajin.
Mongojin is a made-up word combining mongo ("comic:s/artoons') and jin ("person/people"). It sounds almost like the English word "magazine" as rendered in japanese-mogojin. All of the japanese rmnga in Mongojin were created in Japan. by Japanese artoonists. for Japanese readers.
BRAND NEWS ~: ~
lv ~ ~ 1 A
Nyanchi Taimu Through painstaking re earch and development, Japanese pet-food giant Pet Line Foods, lnc., has created a new line of single-serving, easy-to-open canned kitty victuals called Nyanchi Taimu ( t: ~ lv i? -11 L... ). This is not your typical pulverized , gelatinous fare: Nyanchi Taimu comes in five sumptuous varieties, a ll made with the freshest kill (mostly tuna) and pac ked with vitamin and minerals. As most manga readers know. an interesting feature of the Japanese lang uage is that it provides specific onomatopoeic words for de crib ing almost any sound. Animal sounds are no exception: pigs say bii-bii, sheep say me-me, duc ks say gii-gli, cats say nyii or nyan, etc. These sounds are often combined with real Japanese words to c reate special animal languages. Talking cats, for example, ornament the ir Japanese with nyan whe never they can.
The name Nyanchi Taimu is a clever combination of Japanese cat sounds and the common phrase 7 / -f- -1 1 L... (ranchi taimu , borrowed from the Eng lish " lunc htime"). Nyanchi Taimu's wholesome goodness appeals to the cat-lover's practical side, while the name. just like a cat, exploits his soft spot for cuteness.
HiM~ !v ! Suima-sen! Lf lavishing auention on your nyan-clwn (kitty-cat) has made you yearn for a catnap. why not perk up with a caffeine-laced peppermint Suima-sen! (II Iii% -tt lv !) tablet from Beans Company? The name combines the word suima (litlt). "drowsines ." and sen (-tt /v), an archaicsounding equivalent of shinai. " not do" (although still commonly used, sen actually comes from senu, the negative form of the classical equivalent of suru). The resulting phrase could be interpreted as " You won' t be drowsy." Strictly speaking, Uilfl~ -tt lv isn' t proper Japanese, but the word-wizards at Beans Co. have taken liberties with the lang uage to make a pun w ith the word suimasen, a colloquial contraction of sumimasen (" Excuse me'' or " I' m sorry"), a word often used to get someone· attention.
Send u s your examples of creat ive 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 o f duplicate entries, earliest postmark gets the s hirt. BRAND NEWS, P.O. Box 77188, Atl anta, GA 30357- 1188
7 ') .:r. 1 7 1 7~ lff1,~,', 1', '<:> .7. o -1f :-- ~ :::::{ (. t.: "t" Lt..:>? . '!Hl ~i~.i<. -c
. ·lrHt! ~~~d ~~~'iil t "t".i:ljl"& t) T ~ v' , ~1:.\ ·!Jt ~.l ':. t:L ~ jilijJ\. T "/ "\' ·:; 'd:-iffi ',\ L i T o ~ t.: f91J,:. IIU L"C·MniJc<7) ,1:!l ¥. 1.P I? i'iHU 'd:-.t;;·,~-ttv't..:t!~'t..:.tJ];-fr l i , !T!JI1!1!il'll' ll <7) - ill' .If! v' }]1:. T "/ "\' ·:; a- .t.> )iS r) L i T o ~ J(; IJ: BRAND NEWS. P.O. Box 77 188. At lanta. GA 30357- 11 88. U.S.A.
Mangajin 9
may have a new career. A he says, " I'd like to be a comic-an intellectual. bicultural clown who entertains the audience and livens up the otherwise stale banquet." For more information, read his books! -Frederik L. Schodt
Schodt: Many people say Japanese don't have a good sense of humor. Where do you think this comes from ? Muramatsu: Some Japanese humor doesn't go over cultural or language barriers easily, and for years we haven't taken the trouble to explain it to people abroad. Also, business people coming to Japan are invariably briefed not to tell a joke to the Japanese audience because they won't understand it or because the interpreters won't be able to translate it-which is something we interpreters object to. Actually. I think we Japanese have kept our best humor to ourselves.
S: I 've also heard many Japanese describe themselves as a "nation of people who don't understand humor," or "yumoa o kai shinai kokumin." Do they say this because they've heard ir so many times from foreigners that they now believe it themselves? Or do they say it simply to oblige the foreigners?
intenliew by Frederik L. Schodt Shortly after World War II, Muramatsu Masumi began working as a clerk-typist for the US military in Japan. He went on to become one of the world's top JapaneseEnglish simultaneous interpreters, working with world leaders at international conferences and summits and even interpreting on television during the Apollo moon landings. An avid believer in better communication, in 1965 he helped found the Simul Group of companies. He currently serves as chairman of Simul lntemationaJ, one of Japan's premier translation and interpretation firms, and also as the president of Simul Academy, where many top interpreters are initially trained. Like all the best interpreters, Muramatsu has an insatiable curiosity: one of his great passions is studying humor and
A National Treasure its role in communication. He is the author of many books, the most recent of which is titled Shidosha-tachi no yiimoa: Doji tsiiyakusha no toueoki no hanashi ("Humor in Leadership: Reflections of a Simultaneous Interpreter," Tokyo: Simul Press, 1996). At the end of November 1996, I had the honor of interviewing Muramatsu for Mangajin, but I must confess a certain nonobjectivity: Muramatsu is one of my personal heroes, and at the beginning of my career I worked for his company as a translator. A witty. gregarious man, Muramatsu (or "MM," as he likes to be known to friends) packed so much entertaining information into our one hour that, to my great grief, only a small portion of the discussion can fit onto these pages. In the future he
M : Both points illustrate the problem. Of course, we say we don' t have a sense of humor because we've been told so by so many people. In a typical Japanese way, perhaps we have also assumed responsibility for the implication of the statement. But in fact we do exchange a lot of jokes among ourselves, particularly among close friends. The difference, I think, is that in the West, humor seems to be more a tool for communication. People deliberately. even painfully, study to be humorous, whereas in Japan humor is more for private, personal, and intimate conversation. At traditional pubs like akachochin, or at alumni gatherings, or in conversations among contemporaries or colleagues in the workplace, you see Japanese bantering all the time. exchanging jokes.
S: I love Japanese humor, so it 's always been a puzzle to me why some fail to appreciate it. Do you think the problem
is partly because Japanese speakers at conferences usually don't start with a joke? M : Yes. We tend to be formal, because for us the form is so important we feel we should not deviate from it and must read from a prepared text. By contrast, Americans like to break the ice by telling a joke or anecdote to wake up the audience. to attract their attention to the podium. This custom is diametrically opposed to ours. so sometimes we can hardly believe what we hear. I'm sure you've heard the classic sto ry about how the French will laugh when a joke is halftold; the English will wait until the end of the joke for courtesy or by necessity; the German will philo ophize all night a nd laug h the next morning; the Americans will tell you that it's an old joke and that you don't tell it right; and the Japanese. upon hearing the joke, will be full of smiles without understanding. I always quickly add, however, that the Japanese are really goi ng to take the joke back to their office, have a conference to decide whether to laugh or not, and then get back to you the next day! I think laughter may also sometimes be suppressed in modern Japanese society because of the samurai class in the Edo period. The samurai wanted to appear far above the hoi polloi and thus established the rule that they should never demean themselves by smiling or laughing. There's an old Edo saying that goe Bushi wa sannen kata-hoho, or "It suffices a samurai to smile only once in three years, and with one cheek." But the people in the streets were laughing at such samurai. There is a story that I love of a daimyiJ, or feudal lord, who heard a joke and decided to tell it to his wise old kariJ, or chamberlain. The daimyo summons his karo. The karo of course bows to his master, and the lord tells him a joke but the karo is too polite to laugh, and simply goes, "ha-hah," to indicate, Yes, I have heard you. My Leige. The daimyo says, "Kuruslu7nai (never mind). If you think it is funny, you may retire to the next chamber and laugh." I like this joke. In it the
daimyo himself appreciates humo r, but form is more important.
S: There is a rich variety of humor in Japan, ranging from humorous stOJytelling like rakugo to dajare-style word play and puns. What are some of your favorite rypes of humor?
a truly bilingual, bicultural pun.
S: The Japanese language has many imported words to describe humor, such as parodii ("parody") and burakku yumoa ("black humor"). Do you think these words were imported because people liked their fashionable sound, or do you think the types of lwmor they represent were imported, too ? I'm thinking especially of the postwar period ...
M: Rakugo consists of a number of kobanashi. basically humorous little stories or anecdote . Typically the raconte ur begins his performance by telling an anecdote, perhaps based on M: Well. "parodii'' was used before the something that he read in the newswar. You would often see the word in paper that day, then telling two, three, print even in the Taisho period ... or four short kobanashi, and then S: But was it a relatively new type of going into his classical set piece. humor for Japan ? I like rakugo and kobanashi very much. I like them more than the cur- M: There was a type of parody in existrently popular man~ai. Manzai is a ence before that. When Clulshingura, Kansai-Myle of humor, and I'm a true the famous legend of the 47 ronin, To kyo man. or ·'Edokko,'' born in was written. it was a type of parody Nihonbashi and raised in Asakusa. even though it was not comical. The Unlike rakugo, manzai is a comic playwright could not pre ent the story dialog that takes two stand-up comwith the acrual characters' names, so ics to perform. One is the tsukkomi all sorts of strange-sounding names or ·•straight man"-or "person," to be were invented, but audiences could more politically correct, because there immediately identify them anyway. are many women performers, too. The As far as real "black humor'' is other is the hoke or "funny ma n." concerned, it's true that we may not Manzai is very much back in fashion have had many jokes of that on until these days, and I enjoy it. To people fairly recently. in Tokyo, however. manzai comediOn another subjec t, though, we ans' humor often sounds a little vulhave plenty of long "shaggy dog'' gar or crude, but then that's their style. stories in rakugo. You can hear Young people today, whether in Kanrakugo storytellers go on and o n and sai or Tokyo or any part of Japan, on for an hour and then finally appreciate thi sort of humor. deliver their punch Iin e. It may I also like dajare, or word plays depend on word play, or parody, or and pun , which are another imporsituational humor. tant form o f Japanese humor. But these do not go over the language S: Sometimes it seems that the national mood in Japan has changed a great barrier well, and since they are popudeal in the last 30 years, in musical lar they arc yet another reason our terms almost going from a minor to humor is often not understood. upbeat, major chord. Do a more Someone once said that the pun is you think this has happened in the lowest form of wit. But this was humor, too? certainly someone incapable of thinking up puns or understanding them. M : Well, humor certainly changes, but In response I enjoy quoting the Holy even during the dark days of the Scripture, which-did you know?immediate postwar year we had has an inj unction against punning: humor and the ability to laug h at ourHiro wa pan nomi ni te ikuru mono selves. For example, self-deprecating ni arazu, which I trans late as <;Man humor is very typical in the famous does not live by pun alone.'' For readmanga series '·Sazae-san'' and in ers of this magazine-who know that many other works of the same type. the Japa nese word for bread is Where you have themes of poverty, "pan"- from the Portuguese-this is mean mothers-in-law, and so forth, Mangajin 13
~-,a son
of black humor invo lved - m'olves laughing at oneself.
«: )1; I
mterpreter. you obviously have 10 keep up with changes in . \\'hat do you personally do ?
alch CNN, ABC, and other
~,t-ion
networks, and l watch a lol of movies, at least one movie a ~which is quite a lot for a man of m) age.
- .'n )·our new book, and in other books ou ha1·e written, one of your mes-
sages seems to be that in order to obtain true fluency in a language one must be able to understand and enjoy its humor. What advice would you give readers of Mangaj in who are trying to learn Japanese? Conversely, what advice would you give to readers in Japan who are learning English? M : Other than reading manga. I would s ugges t s tudyi n g nazo nazo, or riddles. l just rediscovered on my bookshelf a fantastic little book I
bought 20 years ago. It's edited by Bennett Cerf and contains Englishlanguage riddles. 1 must admit, l don' t understand about I0 or 20 percent of the riddles readily. I have to stop and think about them. But when 1 vocalize or read them aloud, they hit me. The same thing can be said about J apanese nazo nazo or any word plays. Language has to be spoken. Text must be verbalized, not j ust quietly looked at. Although these books are originally designed for children, when it comes to language learning they are also great training material for grownups. And Talso recommend talking with children whenever you have the chance. l learn a great deal from them. Chi ldren like to make fun of grownups. A friend of mine has a son who many years ago attended grammar school in the San Francisco Bay area. He said, " MM, do you know why the chicken crossed the street?" Of course I'm supposed to say, "l don' t know." He then said, " The chicken crossed the street to buy a Chinese newspaper." My immediate reaction was, " Why a Chinese newspaper?" He said, " I don't know either, because 1 read the San Francisco Chronicle." He pulled the rug right out from under me. He was delighted.
S: For the sake of the non-Japanese readers of Mangajin, are there any types of lnunor that you would suggest avoiding when in Japan ? M: Highly political, contemporary jokes, because we' re not fami liar, for example, with the latest Clinton-Dole debate. Also, the minute you mention the word ·'Whitewater," you understand, but we don't.
S: To tell you the trlllh, I'm not sure I understand that one myself . .. M: Also, we have a hard time understanding ethnic jokes. As far as religious jokes are concerned, we have lots of religious or at least pseudo-religious jokes, and with my more liberalminded ''pagan" friends I'm happy to share them. I use the word " pagan" lig htly, since Christians consider everyone else a pagan. Serious ly, (continued on page 67)
14 Mangajin
Interview with Muramatsu Masumi (continued from page 14) religious jokes and ethnic jokes are best avoided initially. But after the ice is broken, after some beer or sake and after you become friends, then do share some of your favorites-parochial jokes, ethnic jokes, and occupational jokes. And ah, yes, lawyer jokes and doctor jokes. The Japanese understand these fairly readily. If you are an American lawyer, by all means offer one of your humorous lawyer jokes and the Japanese will be impressed. We'll think you're great because you can laugh at yourself. S: One last question. Decades ago R.H. Blyth. wrote a wonderful book titled Oriental Humor, which had a section on Japan. Today there's a critical need for a new book on Japan. Do you have any plans to write one?
M: I've been saving essays I've written in English, and I'm beginning to transcribe many of my lectures, so I hope to be able to condense them into a book on Japanese humor. Or is Japanese humor really an oxymoron? Ahh, how I love that big word, "oxymoron."
S: Do you think the word might be in the title? M: We ll, why not? Perhaps I'll deliberately misspell it with an " I" instead of an "r."
Frederik L. Schodt 's most recent book, Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga, is described on this website: http://www.stonebridge.com/dreamland.html .
Mangajin 67
'
-ta
'~'.:'!;•
Bilingual Translation Format I ~~}iff tc. t, (]) ~ - ~ 7 ~a~lm.[Rff(J) t ~ -r s ~ (])~5 J ~1~~:t~~~
J: ~J ~i**
"'( (.\
--;»"'J~A.I.~\·~A.
J.::~~·
m
*~~~~~~i~~ 7 ~~~~-~~t e·P!;J..
t'-':.
:s~.
.,.,
~
~~~ ~ ~ -::> t.:i!,fl: . fJ..J'Jf:illi~ ~ 1.1..~1..
IHtl
't'
rJ/.
~ 1*1 1: Ill t.:.Zffi-~-9 -IJ' •
~ T 1Jt. of~
?II·
L i L t.: o
>
I? f.!·f.'"t" t;J: ~ v' ~
t.;t.;tJ•
c ~ 1: EB 9> ~ ~ iJf
,.
ltJ...
:tl1~ · .:
!§·.
<
f D7$: t;t;rH!I
t:. 0) .::L
I
"':)~ :;~....
.:c
1,
:illi&~~fi~h~ o of~L~I?~? ~~
:; ~ - ~ ~ iJf
·"-6·J.
r~ ~ i
t.t~
>I(
~~ ~
i L-
J m t a v'
.1: ~
0
~·
(I')
i L -r.
~ -::> t
V7 ?
7
,,
l'f:l ~ ~tJ< f ofhli Ef!L b lt ~v '"t'"TJ
• •
.h
~iJ< •ll~ ~· 7 ~!JIII t i
L t.:. o
of~
i-1
Lt.: l?!l!ti
";~~·
V ·:~ ~t~~1.P -::> t.:~~ T o Ef!• t1 ~~1Jt f v ~·v~·-t;,..i-tt~ bJ p
d "' i
by Muramatsu Masumi
When Tanaka Kakuei [Prime Mini ter of Japan from 1972-74] was the Minister of International Trade and Industry, I interpreted for him and Dr. Kissinger when they met over breakfast at a certain hotel in Tokyo. This tory appeared in the papers, so it's no ecret, but on this occasion Mr. Tanaka said, "Japan is purchasing many fore ign goods. For instance, my own pe n is an import, and my car is a Dodge." Dr. Kissinger was lis te ning appreciatively.
;
t)
Humor in Leadership: Reflections of a Simultaneous Interpreter
yaku
m~~*~~~~-~~~t~ . •~~ ~ ~
.::. h 'b
An excerpt from
t
"(){
T~"t"of h
NRT t .
~ ·:~ ~ ~ ~ ~- ~ ~ (j: J!l
to see your Dodge." ( b
~· b ~· ;5 t)
~•
iJ' ? t.:iJ' I? "T:i')
"No, I just wanted A.
\
1:)!?: t.: ~ (;j: if.>~ t.:. ~ I
~·
·:; ~ nt.R. t.:.
.:11:
t i§v' i Lt.:.o 1il'if.!I~Jt~c {l c tt ii" o
U\•L•
Being a dedicated professional, I promptly called Mr. Tanaka's secretary and relayed to him the derails of
"'Jf:.
:t- L -r t.:oo?l;t.: ~ "' ·HHQ;1Jr.::.·~-v, i lt.:.l: i;fiLt Lt.: l:.:. 1:> .
The meeting ended, and Mr. Tanaka was to go to the MIT! offices. Mr. Ki singer offered, "Let me see you off." Mr. Tanaka expressed his appreciation as they walked out of the banquet room and to a waiting car. The doorman jumped to open the car door. Lo and behold, the car was not a Dodge. Mr. Tanaka said, "Thank you for your trouble," so I interpreted, to which Dr. Kiss inger replied. " No. I ju. t wanted to see your Dodge... This could be taken as a scathingly ironic comment.
t-=>
the incident. I was informed that Mr. Tanaka did own Mangajin 15
T aly ak u
•) f , J
1
:H.t.-ftJ-c·*-?·n,~CT)r;t ~··:~ ~t!ltttt''b, +.:n,t?:O:Iri"~t. '
l:r;t, -fCT) ''l~l;tf~I~•H't'"~ <"C!i1.>tt~ ?1J•t.:+-? 't'"i" ~
~
' •
,
'
ha---Fl..n'~lioJ.:
, , ,,
,,.,~'
'
l..: ~.
~
11:,Jtflj) L -c
.~,;IS
•
+
t L -c L n'¢ r<. ~ 1Q '11'(\ 1: Jti9Jt
,
, ,.
(ij.fi
f~:h?
L i L t.:tJ<,
t.:
rLi
-? t.: J t
..;
t L t.: J: ? lj: 1JJi t L -c v' i L t.: -/J{, il? ~l I;t
J- l.
,. .. ..
1-v t! t,' X..ri'!Slilllf~ -rt-n<, .: -? ':
; ·..
At ..fit" t
":I
(< r: li~~~J ,.::f ?
...
n'o il?iLt rn rp ~ 1-v 'b r ~ t ¥\!i
.~.:hiLf.:CT)-IJ• t'? t:l ~- 1 1
C1)
asked to explain this to the other side. so I called the United States embas. y and communicated the explanation to the appropriate officia l: however. I don't know if the message
For an instant, Mr. Tanaka looked startled- perhaps he real-
<~' •Jj
:. •
use a domestic car when going to government offices. I was
was ever relayed [to Dr. Kissinger].
TJ' t·;; -/J•:h-IJ• I) i-tt fv n
Ill o:p ~ 1-v I ;t ~ lflj .:¥ 3
a Dodge for private use. but was required in those days to
l~
1
•J') 't-' <
M•
(1'~ ·: <
",? .m:ir'!ill;liilli~ t N!? -c ~~00
-c li" '~t i-tt fv o
~-
-
of'
t
!5.tii!li itt tv'? C1) li
ized he had dropped the ball. I could make a bad pun and say
Tanaka-san mo doji o jimda' (lit., "Mr. Tanaka stepped into a blunder"}, but you should absolutely never make this kind of pun whe n speaking to a foreign person through an interpreter. Puns are impossible to tran late- though Japanese puns are interesting among Japanese people, just as English puns are
d
1
~
.
A. ~
J
~!:ii'li irtli*~lt t !(1[~!1!
,
'>!:
,j, \•f•
L -c,' ~ J\CT) UIJ't'"li i:l 'b L 7:1 "•CT)'t'"TfJto
interesting among people studying Eng lish.
*(The pun is between dojji, the katakana rendering of"Dodge," and doji, an informal/slang word for " blunder/gaffe.")
CALL FOR LESS JAPAN $0.33/ M IN. 24 HOURS A DAY 7 DAYS A WEEK
FOR MORE INFO CALL
TEL: 800-818-6600 310-979-3162 N
16 Mangajin
etwork E
nhanced T
echnologies. Inc.
hup://www .net internet. nell- nadia
o ~\\et
2eto
by IUiJ lli~-*fl~ 1Okazaki Jiro
The Devil's Seeds, Part 2 Subtract the dark, Cold War Era edge from the Twilight Zone, add a '90s Japanese backdrop-plus too much KooiAid before bedtime-and you have a typical short manga "episode" of Okazaki Jiro's After Zero. Like any bizarre dream, the plotlines are often less than watertight, but distinctive artwork and fantastic stories make After Zero a timeless c lassic. Debuting in 1990 in the weekly magazine Big Comic, the After Zero stories are now published as independent volumes of collected shorts by Shogakukan. "The Dcvil's Seeds" is the fourth After Zero episode to appear in Mangajin (issues 22, 30-32, 41-43).
Umezawa is a greedy man with big ideas. His key to fame and fortune lies in an ancient seed recently unearthed in an archeological expedition. Legend has it that the eed produces a robust grain that can grow in any soil. Unfortunately, Umezawa lacks the brains to unlock the seed's potential.
At first, he tries to exploit the genius of an idealistic young biochemist, Konoue. Already wary of the seeds' purported curse, Konoue is turned off by Umezawa's self-serving scheme.
Almost 20 years later, Umezawa is the president of a large chemical company. He has finaHy found the genius who can make his dream a reality: the young and lovely Dr. Kamimura.
The broody Kuze, high-level executive and moral conscience of the chemical company, steps aside to allow Dr. Kamimura to head the company's most important project: cultivating the miracle seeds they call MR-99.
© Oknwki JirO. All rights reserved. First published in Japan in 1990 by Shognkukan. Tokyo. English translation rights arranged through Shogakukan. Mangajin 17
7' 7 $1
18 Mangajin
0 • After Zero
Kuze:
t±~. ~ l- ~il:,l: t.t 1.> .: t -IJf .. . ShacM, sukoshi ki ni naru koto ga .. .
co. pres.
a little
• ki ni naru is an expression for "(something] bothers me/is a sticking point/weighs on [my] mind," and here the expression modifies koto ("thing") -- ki ni naru koto = "something that bothers me."
bothers me !bing (subj.)
''Sir, there's something that stUI bothers me a little." (PL3 implied) f~~ (J) :6 7J' Mata densetsu no lranaslri ka
Umezawa: i t.:.
again
legend
of
talk
b,
7-.. t!!:tl?
ne,
Kuze-kun ?
(?) (colloq.) (name-fam.)
" Is this again talk about that legend, Mr. Kuze?"
"Are ou talkin about that legend again, Mr. Kuze?" (PL2) • hanashi is a noun for "talk/talking,'' so densersu no lranashi ="talk of/about the legend." • -kun is a more familiar equivalent of -san ("'MrJMs."). used mainly with male peers or subordinates (in a corporate setting superiors use it with subordinates of both sexes). • asking a question with kane is mostly reserved for superiors speaking to subordinates.
Kuze:
li~
.. .
Hii .. . yes
''Well. yes •••" (PL3)
-nr,
~-) Nando mo iu ga, repeatedly
Hif- t
ko11o shushi these
c
~'? Lv ' f~~ t f'f.·:d.:. (J) li, osoroshii densetsu o rsukulla no wa, say but to begin with devil things like (quote) say/speak scary legend (obj.) made (nom.) as for
Umezawa: fPJIJft .:.(!)
• lrii is a very tentative/uncertain hai (''yes").
-t-t-t-t !l!!:l~ t.tt• somo-somoakuma nado
.W'$ r: Lt.:.-IJ' -:>1.:.
o himitsu 11i
shirakaua
v'oJ
to
iu
7J't;, t!.o kara da.
seeds (obj.) secret into wanted to make because is
"I've said this before, but the reason the created the scar legend of the Devil's Seeds in the fi rst lace was because the wanted to kee these seeds a secret." (PL2) Umezawa: MR-99 l;t, tt, N!!:lrv! c'.:i? '/J', AJI 1: 1/ll{ft bf.:.C:>"t tifif- f.tfvt!. -t'o Emu-iiru kyiijiikyll wa, kimi, akwna dokoroka, jinrui (seed variety)
as for you
devil
far from
ni Jukuin
o morarasu shuslri 110 n da
humanity to good news (obj.)
bring
zo.
seed (is-explan.) (emph.)
"Far from havin an thin to do with the devil MR-99 is a seed that will brin humani ." (PL2)
ood news to all
• nando ="how many times"; nando mo ="over and over/repeatedly/time after time." Nando mo iu literally means " I say this over and over" " I' ve said this before." • akuma nado to iu (lit., "[it] speaks of things like the devil") and osoroshii (''fearsome/scary") both modify densets11 ("legend"): "the scary legend that speaks of things like the devil"--+ ''the scary legend about them being the devil's seeds." • tsukuua is the plain/abrupt past form of rsukuru ("make/fabricate"). • no is a nominalizer that rums the complete thought/sentence akuma nado to iu osoroshii densersu o rsukuua into a noun, and wa marks that noun as the topic: "as for the making up of the scary legend about .. .'' • shitakaua is the plain/abrupt past form of shirai, the ·•want to" form of suru ("do/make"); - ni suru is an expression for "make [something] into I something]," so shushi o ltimirsu ni shira/wua ="wanted to make the seeds into a secret"--+ " wanted to keep the eeds a secret.'' • the X dokoro kaY pattern is equivalent to expressions like "far from X. Y." " far from X. not even Y" or "not even Y, much less X." Akuma dokoro ka is literally "far from the devil," implying "far from having anything to do with the devi l." • fukuin is also the word used to refer to "the (Christian) gospel," but here it's being used more generically to mean "good news/glad tidings." • jinrui ni Jukuin o morarasu is a complete thought/sentence ("it brings good news to humanity") modifying slwslri ("seed").
Umezawa:
t-?ct,
-f(J)
.mil
t
~~1.>
Mottomo,
sono fukuin
o
araeru
of course
(J) I±.:.(!) .fl. f.tfvt!. no wa k01w watashi fill n da
that good news (obj.) give/bestow one as for this
Vme
fJ<
bo
ga
ne.
(is-explan.) but (colloq.)
''OC course, the one who will give them the good news is me." (PL2) • no after ataeru is like the pronoun "one,'' and sono fukuin o ataeru modifies it: "the one who will give them that good news."
Kuze:
~l;t, K:k (J) ~tl~ .fiJf7'E~ (J) Jitsu wa, Ke-dai 110 Kiikogaku Kell/..')·17-shirsu 110 actually
K Univ. 's archeology
dept.
$!;~ sensei
~'i'fli] -?t.:. fv"l'To ni ha11ashi o ukagaua 11 desu.
of/in teacher/professor (target)
"Actual) I s oke with a rofessor in the Archeolo
,
r:
spoke wilb
(explan.)
De a rtment at K Universit ." (PL3)
• kenkyt7 refers to scientific or academic research, and -shirsu designates a " room/office," so kenkyii-shitsu literally means "research room/office." As a generic term. it can refer simply to a college professor's personal office, or in the sciences. his lab; but when preceded by the name of a discipline or specialization. it can refer to various-sized sub-units within a depanment. • ha11ashi = "story/account/talk/remarks," and ukagaua is the plain/abrupt past form of ukagau ("ask" or ''hear/be told.'' depending on the context); lumashi o ukagau is an expression that implies asking someone for an account/remarks/explanation and then listening to what he has to say, so it's often equivalent to "speak with [someone]."
Mangajin 19
7' 7 :$1 -
20 Mangajin
0 • After Zero
Akuma devil
110
's
Shushi wa
Indo no Ashoka-o no
seeds as for India
moto
ni kuru
made,
of King Asoka 's court/realm to come until/Defore
v><-:>ipq_) 00
a-
~4tl""tv>t-:
l?lv' q_)'t"To
ikutsuka no kuni
o
tenten to shire ita
rashii
several
no desu.
countries (obj.) had moved from place to place apparently (explan.)
''In the time before they came to King Asoka's realm in India, tbe Devil's Seeds apparently bad travelled through a number of otber countries." (PL3) Kuze: i-hi?Q> 004 1::1: ~M. ~~~ Q) tt.:Y. I:J:-::>-r tJt.=t?~nt.: ~~li ~!It Q)J3~'1f't" Sore-ra no kuniguni wa saisho, Akuma
110
those
countries as for at first
's
~*
~
han'ei
o kiwamemasu ga, kekkyol.:tt,
~~iT
prosperity (obj.) maximize
devil
~)6j,
1J'-,
Shushi ni yotte seeds
morarasareta hofu na kokumotsu no okage de
by
was brought
bountiful
grain
thanks to
lf-4~:LL
iJA!v1:t-)it"o soso ni shire horonde imasu.
but ultimately quickly/without delay
fall to ruin
"Thanks to the bountiful harvests brought about by the Devil's Seeds, those countries at first attained unprecedented prosperity, but then they quickly fell to ruin." (PL3) • -i5 denotes a king, and Ashoka-o = "King Asoka," one of the greatest rulers of ancient India, who reigned from around 273-232 BCE and unified most of the country for the ftrst time. • - no moto after a person's name refers to a place (physical or abstract) near/beside/under the influence of that person: Ashoka-o no moto ni kuru= "come to King Asoka's court/realm." • made after a verb means "until" that action takes place; when the foUowing clause describes another action, it implies the second action takes place/took place in the time leading up to the frrst action. • tenten describes movement from one locale/residence/job to another, often with a feeling of haphazardness. The word is used to modify various words that imply movement, but its most common appearance is probably in the more generic tenten to suru seen here (shire ira is the past form of shire iru, from suru, "do"), which implies "move about here and there." • rashii implies an element of inference or indirect knowledge ("apparently/it seems/I guess")--used here because he is reporting what the professor told him. • motarasareta is the plain/abrupt past form of morarasareru, passive form of motarasu ("bring/bring about"). Akuma no shushi ni yorte motarasareta is a complete thought/sentence ("[they] were brought about by the Devil's Seeds") modifying hOfu na kokumotsu ("bountiful grain"-+ "bountiful harvests"). • - no okage de means "owing to/thanks to/as a result of -." It can be used either for giving credit or assigning blame. kiwamemasu is the polite form of kiwameru ("take to an extreme/maximize"). • soso ni shire= sosi5 ni ="quickly/promptly/without delay." .• horonde imasu is the polite form of horonde iru, from horobiru ("[nation/ruler/race] falls to ruin/is ovenhrown"). Kimi. wazawaza you
sonna
koro
o
shirabera
no ka?
specially that kind of thing (obj.) investigated/inquired into (explan.-?)
"You went to the trouble of find ing out all that?" (PL2) • wazawaza implies the action required special/deliberate effort: "go/went to the trouble of [doing the action]." • shirabeta is the plain/abrupt past form of shiraberu ("investigate/study/look into/inquire about").
Kuze:
+?
+ VC. ~i![Q) ~JE \! 71-iJ' -::> t-: Q)'t"T iJf, desu. Soshite, saikin no kenkyii de walwtra no desu ga, that way is and recent research in became known (explan.) but 't"-t o
So
i-hl?q_)
004
those
t
~00
1::1:,
sore-ra no kuniguni wa,
ringoku
to
l:~~~ih-riltlv't"lt'-::>t-:t?lv'
Q)
!it!Gv'
no
tatakai
ni makiko111Qrete lwronde ilfa
countries as for neighboring countries with that were battles/wars into were drawn-and
fell to ruin
rashii
to to.
ar pareotly(quote)
''Yes. And this is something discovered only in recent research, but those countries were al destroyed by becoming entangled in wars with their neighbors." (PL3) • kenkyii refers to scientific or academic research, and wakatta is the plain/abrupt past form of wakaru (''come to know"): saikin no kenkyii de wakarta ="became known in/through recent research." • makikomarete is the -te form of makikomareru, the passive form of makikomu ("entangle/draw in"); the -te form is being used to indicate the manner of the next mentioned action. • horonde itta is the -te form of horobiru plus the plain/abrupt past form of iku ("go"). lku after the -te form of verbs that represent changes or transformations implies that the change/transformation takes place or took place progressively, over a period of time.
Kuze:
t'?~G
Doyara
+n
1::1:
¥.~ Q)
fir
a-
sore wa Akwna no Shushi o
apparently that as for devil
's
.()<"J.>
1n?.!! ~
!it!G~t'
t! -::> t-:
meguru shiretsu na ratakai daua
seeds (obj.) center on
+? so
~C1.>'t"T o
na no desu.
hot/bitter battle/war was apparently (ex plan.)
"They were apparently extremely bitter wars involving the Devil's Seeds." (PL3) • doyara works together with words like rashii, soda, yo da- i.e., forms indicating observation. hearsay, or indirect knowledge-to give the meaning "apparently (is)/appearsllooks like." • megunt means "go around/circle," and Akuma no Shushi o meguru is a complete thought/sentence ("[it] circles around/ centers on the Devil's Seeds") modifying shirersu na tarakai ("bitter battle/war") - "bitter wars centering on/involving the Devil's Seeds." • darra is the plain/abrupt past form of da ("is/are"), and so da/desu or so na no da/desu after daldatta implies hearsay.
Mangajin 21
7' 7 ::il -
~ 1.lU.i!l ~; ~ tJ; I!
t
mrn L.
?
tfj
.:
' (J)
: tL ~.Q .Q ~ ~
~
22 Mangajin
0 • After Zero
Umezawa:
?\i!l:~,
-::>1
Kuze-kun.
tsumari,
~,
c'O)OO>b
-t-ht!ft !1!!:11l.
~-T
~l1J•-?t.:
J: o
dono kuni mo sore dake Akuma 110 Shushi ga hoshikatta no da
yo.
(name-farn.) in other words every country that much
devil
0)
's
-/Jf
seeds (subj.)
wanted
(explan.) (emph.)
''In other words, Mr. Kuze, that's how much every country wanted the Devil's Seeds." (PL2) t!"IJ> C:> .: -t{~IDi ~ f'F-? t.: jf!fl li, f.t.lv t vc b Dakara
koso densetsu o
tsukuua renchii wa,
non to shite mo
because is so (emph.) legend (obj.) made up people as for no matter what it takes
fi-T
~
l""( H ~ f.:tJ'-? f.:
te·'&' 1:::
shrlShi o himitsu ni
(J)f!o da.
shite okitakatta
110
seeds (obj.) secret into wanted to make-and-leave (explan.)
''Precisely for that reason, those who made up the legend wanted to keep the seeds a secret no matter what it took." (PL2) • since doke means "only/alone," sore dake looks like "only that/that alone," but its idiomatic meaning is often "that much/ so much." • hoshikatta is the plain/abrupt past form of hoshii ("want"). • renchii is an informal word for referring to a group/bunch of people. • okitakatta is the past form of okitai, which is the "want to" form of oku ("set/leave/put in place"); a-te form+ oku means to do the action and let the result stand, so himitsu ni shite oku is literally "make it a secret and leave it so"-- "keep it a secret."
Umezawa:
U'.!-?C L..-c tl"
.~IJ\i:LfiPl~' !'
li 8::<$: -IJ~ Hyotto shire kimi wa Nihon ga
Bakabakashii!! is ridiculous
~ ~ ;16
*
h 1.>
makikomareru will be drawn
perchance
to
sonna
you as for Japan (subj.) that kind of
-r- 'b
t
-t"lvf.t.
-~· -?
dono
-c v' 1.>
omotte iru
0)
"/)> tl?
no
kane?
!i\l
t:::
tatakai ni war
into
(quote) something like are thinking (explan.- ?) (colloq.)
"It's ridiculous. Are ou somehow ima inin that a an will become entan led in such a war?" (PL2) -t"lvt.t. ... tt:IL .. Kuze:
"' .z ...
• hyotto shire (or hyorto suru to) is used to introduce guesses/conjec-
shaclriJ . ..
le,
tures with the feeling of: "it just might possibly be that . .."; in a question it becomes "could it possibly be that .. .?"
co. pres.
no/well
sir .. ." (PL3)
''Well
f1-
Kuze: f.:t..:,
li
u- c' < 11\1.: t.t. J., (/) -r--t o (PL3)
• hidoku is the adverb form of hidoi ("terrible/horrible").
0
Kamimura: fi!J At Nanpito mo
.: 0)
Mf
~
OO~j.
t::: l±ll -c U: t.t. C:> ib.o
kono
rane
o
kokugai
ni dashite wa naranu.
everyone/no one thisllhese seeds (obj.) outside of the country to must nottakellet out
'"No one must take these seeds outside the country."' "'These seeds must not be permitted to leave our borders."' (PL2) 00 0) I\': 0)~1: fle-J -"'l.. o Kuni
no
tami
Ito
country of people/populace
tame ni t.wkau for
use
beshi. should/must
"'The must be used onI for the eo le of this countr . "' (PL2) >£> L ::.. 0) ~ ~ 1i11Ut.t;C ft-'->"" ~ xm: n~ it!Jn'-> Moshi kono
if
kin
o
yabureba, osoru-beki saiyaku ga otozureru
this prohibition (obj.) if tear/break
fearsome
-r- ~ .1:> -? o de aro.
calamity (subj.) will visit probably/surely
'"If an one violates this rohibition a fearsome calamit shall befall the land."' (PL2) • nanpito is a literary/archaic equivalent for dare ("who"); nanpito mo in an affirmati ve sentence means "everyone," and in a negati ve sentence, ·'not anyone/no one."
• kokugai literally means "outside of the country," and ni marks it as a destination. • naram1 is a literary negative form equivalent to naranai, so dashite wa naranu is equivalent to dashite wa naranai, a '·must not'' form of dasu ("take/let/put out"). • no tame ni is literally "for the purpose/sake/benefit of' ...... "for." • beshi after the plain, non-past form of a verb can various ly mean "can/should/must." Beshi is a holdover from classical Japanese, and although its modifying form beki is still very common, the dictionary form beshi is now relatively limited and sounds archaic; it's usually replaced by beki da/desu at the end of sentences today. One place beshi continues to be
,
seen is on public signs giving instructio ns of one kind or another.
• moshi typically works together with a conditional form later in the sentence to give the meaning of "if '; yabureba is a conditional ("if/when") form of yaburu (''tear," or in the case of a rule/law/prohibition, "break/violate"). • osorubeki combines an archaic form of the verb osoreru ("fear") with beki ("should/must"), making a modifier that literally means "should be feared/is to be feared'' ...... "fearsome/frightful." Osorubeki saiyaku ="fearsome calamity." • orozureruliterally means "visit" ...... saiyaku ga otozureru ="calamity will visit/befall [us/the country]." • de ariJ is the conjectural form of de aru, wh ich is a more literary/formal equivalent of da/desu, so it's essentially equivalent to dariJ/deshiJ ("is probably/surely''). (cominued on next page)
Mangajin 23
7' 7
,
24 Mangajin
~
-
0 • After Zero
IIJ Kamimura:
~~·iin: HijiJ ni
Jl!¢~ ... , ~ "i.'T bo kyiJmi-bukai hanashi desu ne.
extremely interesting/curious
is (colloq.)
"It's a most interestin Umezawa:
isn't it?" (PL3)
-t$t-t ~r ... Kamimura-kun . .. (name-fnm.)
"Ms. Kamimura ·~" (PL2-3) [!) Kamimura: ~dll:ts-A.
li
-1-t.:
c'A.f.t.
Ku::.e-san. \Vawshi ll'a
iuai
donna
.fl.
(name-hon.)
a~
Umc
V~hi .wiyaku
for (emph.)" hat ktnd of calamlt)
-*7.>
IJ~ ga
kuru
(~ubj.) will
Q)IJ', :::.Q) B ""f~"Ch.f.::l.-''t'T no ka. kono me de mile miwi desu
come(e,plan.- ?) the-.e
C)C\
:bo 11'0.
"ith would like to sec( fern. colloq.)
" Mr. Kuze I' d like to see with my_own two eyes ·ust what kind of calamit will come." (PL3) • iuai i~ an cmpha.~iler for question word~. so it can be like "[What] in the world?/[ How] on earth?/[Wherc[the bla£es'' or ''just rwhat kind of - ]?" • mile is the -1e form of mint ("sec/look at"). and millli is the "want to'' form of the same verb. A fonn of mim after the -le form of a verb implies "do the action and sec what happens.'' • iuai donna saiyaku ga kuru no ka is a complete queMion ('just what kind o f calamity will come?"), and a form of mim after a complete embedded question ending in ka make~ an indirect question - ''I want to see just what kind of calamity will come.''
Narration:
~ll Q) fj-=f, MR-99 Q) Akuma no Shushi, Emu-iiru kyiijiikyii flO devil
's
seeds
(seed variety)
-fl.."( [ltW-
~I!J
Soshile sekai
kakkoku
and
1:
tf.~
IJf tlfii-:Jf.::o
seisan
ga
lwjimaua.
of production (subj.) fQtJ.l~il..f.::
began
Q)f.!.-:Jf.:.o
ni yushwsu sarew no daNa.
world various countries to
was exported
(explan.)
Production of the Devil's Seeds, MR-99 be an and the
orted to countries arouncUhe world.
(PL2) • hajimaua is the plain/abrupt past form of hajimam ("[something.! begins"). • kakkoku can mean either "each/every country·• or ·•various countries": sekai kakkoku =''every country in the world" or •·various countries around the world ."
Narration:
~1M
(j:
!::ttl!
Saisho u·a
1ochi
110
land/~oil
(subj.)
at fir;t a'> for
• 10chi no ma:ushii is a complete thought/ ~entence ("[their[ land/soil is poor") modifying kunigu11i ("cou ntries").
ma::.ushii kuniguni ni. poor
countne'
to
At first to countries with poor soil. (PL2) Narration: -ftti?Q)
f•J~
't'
(!)
Sore-ra 110 kuniguni de
no
~lli'1C:>
I... ... , lilt*
subarashii seika
~ ~
o
"(,
countries in that were spectacular re~ul~ (obj.) seeing
those
ft!!Q)
mite, hoka no kuni
mo arasolte k01w shushi o konyii shila.
other countries also vying
these seeds (obj.) purchased.
Seeing the s~acular results obtained in those countries other countries vied with one another to pur· chase the seeds. (PL2) • de 110 after a place name is literally like ''that is in/at [that placel" or ''that was in/at [that place].'' Context determines the tense. Sore-ra no kunigu11i de 110 subarashii seika ="the wonderful results that were [obtained] in those countries.'' • mite is the -te fom1 of miru ("see"); the -1e form is here being used to indicate the cause or reason for what follows. • arasolle is the -le fonn of arasou ("compete/contend/vie'').
Narration: ;:' {r: L Q) Go-::.onji no kaw mo iru
10
onrou ga. shushi sangyo 110 kyokyfi stmt
(hon.)-l.now people also exist (quote) thinl. but
~ced
indu~try hubj.)
<;upphe<;
Lt, F1 ( ~tH~ - ft l ti'T- I.' , wa. efit-\1'011 (:a.ISIItl dai-ichidai) s/wshi de.
-l
~<
shushi
110
{iku
seed\
of majority/bulk as for
F1
fiN filial gcncr:1tion
seeds are-and
-t"~t
IJ'l?
sore
kara hal.l'ltiku shiw sakummsu kara. onaji .1'/uuhi ga
thallth(l~e
from
1&tl'L-t.:. grew
it#.! crops
IJ'I?, H t from
~amc
L;,\;:~:11."C~'7.>o yo kufii sa rete iru. (subj.) can't be wkcnlharvcMed ~o that are contrived/fa~hioned
HU- IJ{ ~eeds
l&~tf.t. ... ,
.!::-?
10renai
As some of our readers are no doubt aware1 most seeds supplied by the seed industr a re F 1 (.first filial generation seeds and are contrived so that you cannot harvest the same seeds from the crops the produce. (PL2) • go-:onji (da/de.m) is a PL4 honorific equivalent of ~hiue iru ("know"), and kala i~ a more polite word for "person/people" than hiw. '>0 go-:onji 110 kma ="people who kilO\\ ... Go-:onji no kma mo iru w 0/IWII b literally "[I] think people who know also exiM." here implying "[exist) among my/our readers"- "some/man) of our readers no doubt know/are aware:· • shushi sa11gyiJ no kyokyfi suru is a complete thought/sentence (''the seed indu~try produces/supplies [them[") modifying shushi ("<,ccds"): no in tum makes slwshi a modifier for iJku (''the majority/bulk"). • sore ("that") here refers back to F1 slwshi • "those seeds/them": halmiku .1hiw is the past form of halsuiku suru (''grow"). ttnd sore kara lw!SIIiku shiw is a complete thoughtlsen1ence ("!they[ grew from those seeds") modifying .mkumolsu ("crops'') - " the crops that grew from those seeds" ''the crops those seeds produce." • torenai i~ the negati ve form o f /Orem ("can take/harvest"). which is the potential form o f 1oru ("take/harvest"). (contin11ed 011 nexl pas~) Mangajin 25
7' 7 ? - 0 • After Zero
26 Mangajin
(continued from previous page)
.Q*
Narration: -? ;i: ~ , lj: 4I.f.$ 1£~f (J) ~U~i" J.> liti+ t l1 b ~· J.> Tsumari, noka wa mairoshi kigyo no J.:yoJ.:yii suru s/mshi in other words farmers as for each year industry (subj.) supplies seeds (obj.) In other words each ear farmers are forced to bu seeds su
'H!l--r, and •••
• kigyo no kyokyii suru is a complete thought/sentence (''the industry supplies [them!") modifying shushi -- ''seeds the industry supplies." • kawa;zaru is a negative form of kau ("buy''); the -zaru o ew (or enm) form of a verb means <;can't help but/have no choice but to/must [do the action]." The sentence continues to the next fr<~me.
0
Narration:
-ttL 'IJf H! {- i!'fi'!l (J) ~Qr~ tj:(J)-c"~:O o sore ga shushi sangyo no seimei-sen na no de am. that (subj.) seed industry 's lifeline (i,-explan.) that is the seed indus tr 's lifeline. ( PL2)
• de anr is a more formal/l iterary equivalent of desu, so na no de aru is essentially the same as na no da/desu. used when making explanations.
Narration: 1995if: Sen-kyiihyaku-kyiijiigo-nen
1995 Umezawa: J!t.: i ;t !! t.: -::d.: 3$ -c", MR-99 l:l: UtW- /]'~ rti.tJ} -c" Mitanwe!! Tatta sannen de, Emu-iiru kyiijiikyii wa sekai komugi shijo de seellook:-(command) a mere 3 years in (seed variety) as for world wheat market in/of 30% {/) :/.X. 7 t 6 ¥) J.> ~: ~-::> f.:o sanjuppiisento no shea o shimeru ni itatta. 30% of share (obj.) hold to reached " Look! In a mere 3 years, MR-99 has reached the point of ho lding a 30% s hare in the world wheat market." " What did I tell you! MR-99 has g ained a 30% s ha r e o f the world wheat market in just 3 years!" (PL2) • the suffix -tamae attaches to the stem fonn of a verb (mi- is the stem fonn of miru, "see/lookat") to make a strong, authoritarian command. Here it carries the tone of "Look/see, it's just as I said!/What did I tell you!" • no makes 30% into a modifier for shea ("share''); 30% no shea= "a share of 30%." • - ni itatta is the past form of ni itaru, which means "reaches as far as - ." 0
o
Executive A: ~ t -$ -c" 50% ~ ~~ ;1Ui -c"To Ato ichinen de gojupplisenro o koeru keisan desu. more I year in 50% (obj.) surpa~s calculation is " Our calculations indicate it will s ur ass 50 % in · another year ." ( PL3)
(II Executive 8 :
ato ichinen de gojuppiisento o koeru is a complete thought/sentence (''[it] will surpass 50% in another year") modifying keisan ("calculatio n").
m..t
7 .J. ') iJ 1r~ (J) • .All t C.' A-~ A't'lt' 1 i" t:.: o Amerika kara no k0nyt7-sii 1110 don don fuete inwsu na. US from that are purchase/order quantities also mpidly are increasing (colloq.) ''The orders from America are also increasin ra idl ." (PL3)
konyii ="purchases/purchasing,'' and -sii is a suffix meaning " number/quantity," so konyti-sii =''purchase quantities." Since kara means "from," Amerika kara no konyfi-SLI can mean "quantity of purchases from America," but the context shows he's talking about purchase orders coming from America rather than purchases Japan is making from America. • fuete imasu is the polite form offuete im ("are increasing''}, fromfueru ("increase"). &:l~'lt:.: tlvt~o U m ezawa: 777, Fu fu f u, hinikuna mon da. (smug laugh) ironic thing is " Heh h eh , it's iro nic, is n ' t
c
~(J) ft:f'l-jcliJ 1.: "t-'(> -f(J) Ht-T t ~/ct)?lt't'J.> lj: t:.: o Ano shokuryo taikoku ni imaya SOI/O simshi o uritsukete-ru to 1\'0 na. that major food country to no" of/for that seed\ (obj.) are selling (quote) as for (colloq.) it -how we are now s elling seeds to t hat agric ultural s u e r ower." ( PL2)
E xec utiveS: l-n'l- tH/<: 1;!: iii!<~ ~;ti -r--t n'~, v'-r~t ;j\:i&Jff 'IJf Shikashi komugi wa senryakt1 busshi desu kara. i:ure Bei-seifu ga but wheat as for strategic commodity is becau~e eventually US gov. (subj.)
Mn'
-=F ~ n -::> -c
<;o t
.~. ~.-
' 1 i" tJfo
nanika teo 111/e kuru to omoimasu ga. something will take action (quote) think/expect but " But w heat is a s trategic commodit so I ex ect the action agains t us." (PL3)
,
US government will eventua ll take som e kind of
• shokuryo = "food/food~tuffslprovisions.'' and taikoku is literally "great/major country"; - taikoku is a label for designating countries that are major producers of the specified item or that are superpowers in the specified field: shokuryo taikoku ="major food producing country" ·•agricultural superpower" (cf. keizai taikoku =''economic superpower"). • imaya is an emphatic form of ima ("now''). • sono shushi =·'seeds of/for that"- here implying the seeds responsible for sustaining the US as an agricultural superpower. • uritsukete-ru is a contraction of uritsukete iru. from uritsukeru. a combination of uru ("sell") and tsukeru; -tsukeru after the stems of cenain verbs implies the action is directed forcefully at something or someone. so uritsukeru is used when speaking of a sale from the seller's point of view-especially when a strong seller is in a position to dictate terms. • the sentence is invened; normal order would beano shokuryiJ taikoku ni imaya sono shushi o uritsuketem to wa hiniku na mon dana. • teo une kum is from the expression reo utsu ("take action/take the necessary measures Ito resolve a problem]"). Kuru ("come") implies that the action will be directed toward the speaker~ "[the US govemment 1 will take action against us." Mangajin 27
(continued f rom previous page)
.Q*
Narration: -? ~ IJ, Tsumari,
1£ ~
([)
wa mairoshi kigyo
110
li
noluJ
4!fiF
m**-t '->
tiFf t fl b
~·'-> H~i\
J.:-y okyii suru s/mshi
in other words farmers as for each year industry (subj.)
supplies
seeds (obj.)
In other words. each year fanners are forced to bu seeds su
and . ..
• kigyo no kyokyii sttru is a complete thought/sentence ("the industry supplies [them]") modifying sltushi - + "seeds the industry supplies." • kawazaru is a negative form of kau (''buy''); the -zom o ezu (or enat) form of a verb means "can't help but/have no choice but to/must [do the action]." The sentence continues to the next fr.tme.
[}]
-/)t fi+ Pt.~ ([) tf.Ql~ /j:([)'t'j;l.> 0 ga shuslti sangyiJ no seimei-sen na no de artt.
Narration: -ftt. sore that
indu~rry
(subj.) seed
's
lifeline
• de aru is a more formal/literary equivalent of desu. so na no de aru is essentially the same as na no dalde.w. used when making explanations.
(is-explan.)
that is the seed industry's lifeline. (PL2) Narration: 1995iF Sen-kyiihyaku-kyiijiigO-IJe/1
1995 Umezawa: Qt..: ~ ;t!!
\.", MR-99 t± jll:!fit 1]' Jc: m~ Tatta sannen de, Emu-liru kyiijiikyii wa sekai kamugi shijo
t..: ·:d.:. 3iF
Mitamae!!
seellook-(command) a mere 3 years
30%
in
(seed variety)
6 ¥.> 1.> 1:
t
30% ([) :,; .:r. 7 sanjuppiisento no shea
as for world
wheat
't' de
marker in/of
~ ·:d.:.o
o shimeru ni itatta.
of share (obj.)
hold
to reached
" Look ! In a mere 3 years, MR-99 has reached the point of holding a 30% share in the world wheat market." ''What did I teU you! MR-99 has gained a 30% share of the world wheat market in 'ust 3 ears!" (PL2) • the suffix -ranwe attaches to the stem form of a verb (mi- is the stem form o f miru, ··seeiJookat") to make a strong, authoritarian command. Here it carries the tone of "Look/see, il's jus t as I said!/What did I te ll you!'' • no makes 30% into a modifier for sltea ("share"); 30% 110 sltea = ·•a share of 30%." • - ni itatta is the past form of ni itaru, which means ·'reaches as far as - : ·
0
c-
-r
t
A!& X. 1.>
Ato icltinen de gojuppiise1110 o
koeru
more I year
surpa~~
Executive A: .1':>
iF
50%
in
50%
(obj.)
dtti:
't'T o
keisan desu. calculation
ato icltinen de gojupplisemo o koeru is a complete
i~
" Our calculations indicate it will sur a ss SO% in another year." (PL3)
[Ij Executive 8 :
7 .:/. 'J 7J n' t;, Amerika knra US
([)
b C' !v C' !v ~ .:t -r v' ~ -t
JQJ..A f.{ kOnytl-sii
no
thought/sentence ("[it] will surpas~ 50% in anothe r year'') modifying keisan ("calculation'').
mo don don
from that are purchase/order quantities also rapidly
fuete imasu
lj: o
na.
are increa~ing (colloq.)
' 'The orders from America are also increasin rapidJy." (PL3) • konyii ="purchases/purchasing,'' and -sii is a suffix meaning ··number/quantity," so konyt7-sii =''purchase quantities." Since kara means ''from," Amerika kara 110 konyii-sii can mean "quantity of purchases from America," but the context shows he's talking about purchase orders coming from America rather than purchases Japan is making from America. • f uete imasu is the polite form offuete iru (''are increasing"). from fueru ("increase").
Umezawa: 7 7 7, Fu f u f u,
$.~1j:
b lv
ltiniku na
111011
(smug laugh) ironic
th ing
,1;([) :ft.tf.:klil 1: A,-? -f([) da. A no slwkuryo taikoku ni imaya sono
t-2o is
that major food country to
.f.Rt- ~ :/c IJ -? lt"C 1.> t sltuslti o uritsukete-ru to
now of/for that ;eeds (obj.)
me
~elling
(quote)
I± wa tiS
lj: o
na.
for (colloq.)
" Heh heh, it's ironi~ isn't it-ho w we are now sellin seed s to that agricultural superpowe r." (PL2) Executive 8 :
l...n' L..
1]'~
li
~II&
!ff!J'ti
Sltikaslri komugi wa senryaku busshi bur
fiiin' nanika
wheat
a~
for strategic commodity
'Fttr -? -r <1.> t teo wte kuru
to
-r-t n' t;;, desu kara. is
v' f tt i::.ure
*Jf'.
O{.f '/J{ Bei-seifu ga
because eventually US gov. (subj.)
.~.~~' ~ -t n{o
omoimasu ga.
something will rake action (quote) rhink/cxpecr bur
"But wheat is a strategic commodit so I ex action a ainst us." (PL3)
,
• shokuryii = ·'food/foodstuffs/prov ision~ ... and taikoku is literally "great/major country": - taikoku is a label for designating countries that are major producers of the specified item or that are superpowers in the specified field: sltokuryo taikoku = " major food producing country" • ··agricultural superpower'' (cf. kei;:.ai taikoku = "economic superpower"). • imaya is an emphatic form of ima ("now"). • sono shushi ="seeds o f/ for that" -here implying the seeds responsible for sustaining the US as an agricultural superpower. • uritsukete-ru is a contraction of uritsukete iru, from uritsukeru. a combination of um ("sell") and tsukeru: -tsukeru after the ste ms of certain verbs implies the action is directed forcefully at something or someone. so uritsukeru i used when speaking of a sale from the seller's point of view-especially when a strong seller is in a position to dictate terms. • the sentence is inverted: norma l order would be a flo sltokuryo taikoku ni imaya sono slmshi o uritsuketeru to wa hiniku llCI 1110 11 da flO. • teo utte kuru is from the expressio n teo utsu ("take actio n/take the necessary measures Ito resolve a problem]"). Kuru ("come") implies that the action will be directed toward the speaker • "Ithe US government 1will take action against us." Mangajin 27
7' 7 :$1 -
'btli (7).
gJJ j. G-:t:J-t-11.
=t:J •
(;::: 1<1: I'J:~
~~~~t
::t- l
~
~lftL (7)(7) '
(.;
~91;::: ~ ~~ ' ~
~* Tt&: j:
= :. 1i -) .
Si
iJi
tc•
0
~f&
:;m; (;:::
'
~.fl .Q(J)~
t:: ~ l... 'Jill< ?it '
IJ1
-
t
;t ~
.ii91JO
Gfi
-)
28 Mangajin
0 • After Zero
df.
:::,.;
(})
(7)
1<1:
~1: ' J as~ I)*
*c 9 (;::: 0
iJ'
fF M #J R iJi I
'(;:::. *' 99
~ ~ (;:::
Ill-~
-r •s
9a9 0
Umezawa: 7 / !! -f Q) Fun!! (snort)
~ I± Sono toki wa
:W ~
1: ni
sOdan
.CC: t: "'(-? o
~o
ojite yaru
sa.
that time as for consultations to will respond-(for them) (colloq.)
" Humph! When the time comes, we'll let them negotiate with us." (PL2) • soda11 can refer to any kind offormal or informal "consultation(s)"-among friends, with a formal counselor, between business clients/trade partners, etc. • iJjite is the ·te form of ojint ("respond"); ni marks what one is responding to. Yaru after the -te form of a verb often implies doing the action as a favor for someone.
Q)J:>fJ•If""C", t!t~
[!] Interviewer : MR-99 Emu-iiru kyiijiikyii
110
(seed variety)
~~iS: seisan-ryi5
:ftfl-
Q)
okage de sekai no sltokuryo
thanks to
world of
food
1Jf
b
3%
ga sanpiisento
production amount (subj.)
3%
mo
~ ;t t.: -f-? ""C"To fueca so desu.
as much as increased (hearsay)
''We're told that ross worldwide food roduction bas risen 3 % thanks to MR-99." (PL3) • fueta is the plain/abrupt past form offueru (''i ncrease''), and so do/desu implies the speaker has beard about the action or condition from someone else.
0
Interviewer: t'.N.ti:
• motto is the past form of motsu ("hold/possess"): korrryt7 soikin o motto is a comple te thoug ht/sentence ("[they] possess root nodule bacteria") modifying nosakubutsu ("agricultural products"). • baiteku is shortened from baio-tekunorojii, the full Japanese rendering of "biotechnology."
• - kankei means ··- -related," and the suffix -sha means "person(s)," so baiteku kankei-sha ="persons related to/connected with biotechnology." • iwarete is the -te form of iwarem ("is aid/called"), from iu ("say/call"), and kimashita is the polite past form of kuru ("come"): kuru after the -te form of a verb often implies movement toward the speaker. here a movement in time from the past up to the present.
~ f'J: t) 1±1 LJ.: 1tfitt Jf± I±, J -/'(Jv'it J.jJ:. Q) J}Jtl( -r-1..- .1:-? o Sore o tsukuri-dosltita Kamimura Hakase wa. Noberu-slto IJO no kOseki desha. that (obj.) created (name) Dr. as for Nobel Prize more than of achievement is probably/surely "As for D r. Kamimura who created that, hers is s ure ly an achievement g reater than the Nobel Prize."
Expert: -ftt
" Yes, and that is exactly what Dr. Kamimura bas achieved. It's an achievement that surpasses the Nobel Prize." (PL3) • tsukuri-dashita is the past form of tsukuri-dasu ("create/invent").
Ex crt: 1..-tr 1..-
MR- 99
Shikashi, Emu·liru kyi'ijt7/.:yii ni but
(seed variety)
:1.1 ~
itf4
shokuryo juyo food
~
Ji: ;t 1.>
kagira:u.
isslwrui
no sakumotsu ga
to without limiting it s ingle variety of (J)
o sasaeru no
';t wa
crop
~l''ii\'1:
foc i~
"t"To
hijo ni
kiken
desu.
demand (obj.) suppon (nom.) as for extremely dangerous
(subj .)
is
"But without limiting [the discuss ion] to MR-99, a s for having a single variety of a crop to support our food needs, it is extremely dangerous."
" But speaking not onl of MR-99 it's extremely dangerous for us to rei fill our food needs." (PL3) Expert: MR-99 Emu-lim kyt7jiikyt7 wa, imo (seed variety)
masa-ni
so nari-tslltsu arimasu.
as for now truly/indeed that way
is becoming
"MR-99 is indeed even now becoming that way."
"That's precisely what we are on our way to doin with MR-99." (PL3) • kagirazu is equivalent to kagiranaide, negative ·te form of kagiru ("limit/restrict"). • no is a nominalizer that makes the complete thought/sentence isshurui no sakumotm ga shokuryi5 juyi5 o sasaeru ("a single variety of crop supports food demands") act as a single noun. and wa marks that noun as the topic: "as for having a single variety of crop support food demands, ..." • arimasu is the polite form of aru, and -tswsu aru after a verb implies "[the action] is even now occurring/being done." Nari- is the stem form of naru ("become"), so nari-tsmsu aru = ''is even now becoming...
Expert: -:JL-tO
~ Q)
Sen-kyt7hyaku-nanajii -nen no 1970
•-fi
year of
:1--'\'- ~ 71 ;..- · :; ~ ;..-
Q)
~
Mekisltikon Jun
no
rei
"Mexican June"
monoculture (subj.) occupies
~fr
:lil1.~ 1:
granary territory in
ff-T .t -? 1:
of example also indicates as/like
{> ~..tan'itsu-slw ga sen.'yi'i suru kokuso chitai ni moshi
tJf 6;:trTJ.>
b
mo shimesu yo ni
if
m:rr;~:.
tJf
~~L-t.:~?,
byogaichii
ga
hassei shitara
disease-carrying insects (subj.) if appear/break out (continued on next page)
Mangajin 29
7' 7 9 - 0 • After Zero
30 Mangajin
• kokuso =<;granary/grain elevator.'' and kokuso chirai refers to a geographical area that is considered a "granary/breadbasket'' because of its fertile. grain-producing farmland. Tan 'itsu-shu go sen 'yii suru is a complete thought/sentence ("a mo noculture occupies it'') modifying kokuso chitai-- " a breadbaske t that is occupied by a monoculture."' • moshi typically works together with a conditional form later in the sente nce to give the meaning of " if." • hassei shitara is a conditional ("if/ when'") form of hassei suru (''[insects/disease/a natural calamity/etc.] appears/occurs/ breaks out"').
Kuze: i
~
L..
<
Masashiku
sono kiken-sei mo aru
cenainl}/without a doubt that
danger
alw
exist~
daro
ga,
probably but
" No doubt such a danger rea II does e~ but_,_,__, (PL2) • sono ="of that.'" and sono kiken-sei =''the danger of that"'-where "'that'' refers back to the possibility of disease spreading in a mo nocultural breadbasket. TI1e sentence continues to the next frame.
nr
Kuze: f.!..
.C.·~"t'~
17 ~ '-'' (/) Lt. . . {iiJiJ'...
Watashi ga shinpai de naranai no wa . . . nanika . . . I
(subj.) am deeply worried thing as for
t-.:> c morro
}]ljfl) t (!) t.=o bets11 110 mooo da.
wmething more/quite differe nt thing
is
"as for the thing that deeply worries me ... it is something ... a thing much different." " what worries me so much is ..• something ..• quite different." (PL2) • shinpai is a noun for ''worry/concern/anxiety; shinpai da = "am/is/are worried," and shinpt1i de naranai is essentially a very emphatic expression for "am/is/are worried.''
Kuze:
MO'J.. !/f:t;f
(!)
Na:e. Akuma
ml
why
devil
.f.fi(-
~
l!J$'~
Shushi o
's
1:. IHL..-cli~l?~'-'' fl)iJ'? ni dashite 11'0 naranai no ka?
kokugai Olll~ide
'eeds (obj.)
of the country to
must not take/let out (explan.- ?)
" Wh is it that the Devil's Seeds must not be ermitted to leave the countr ?" (PL2) • dashire
1\'0
naranai i~ a '·must not" form of daSII ("put/let out'').
004
Kuze: l'l&.rYt.:. ruined
~00
c
(!)
ringolw
to
110
1;1 ~'(,
Horobita k1miguni wa subere. countries as for
all
¥l'-''
1:. fiUt.'t'li>.Qo
tatakai ni yaburete iru.
ne ighboring countries with that are wars
in
were defeated
"All of the countries that went to their ruin were defeated in wars with their nei bors." (PL2) {> L... ~~ (/) t.J1. r- nr !;100 1:: iii'.) t.:. .: tJf ~ 1: til.",
tJf
Moshi. Akuma no Slrushi ga
ga
c
if
devil
's
ringoku
~17.
fi.Jt:iffil)
hajimalla
nara,
densersu-dori
began
watatta
koto
w.
ga gen 'in de
tatakai
seeds (subj.) neighboring countries to crossed over thing/situation (subj.) cause being fighting/war (subj.)
Mii·:d.:. (/) no
ni
C '-'''? to
.:c
I:.~.Qo
iu koto ni naru.
(explan.) if it is exactly according to legend (quote) say thing becomes
" If it is theca e that the wars began because of lhe situation that the Devil's Seeds crossed over to a neighboring country, then it means thai it is exaclly according to the legend." " If those wars started because the Devil's Seeds crossed over to the nei bears out the Ie end." (PL2) • horobita is the plain/abrupt past form of horobiru ("fall to ruin"): horobita kuniguni ="the ruined countries/the countries that went to their ruin." • yaburete iru is from yabureru ("be defeated''). • waraua is the plain/abrupt past form of wataru ("cross over''); ni marks the place to which someone or something crosses over. Akunza no shushi ga ringolm ni K'atana is a co mplete thought/sentence ("the Devil's Seeds crossed over to a neighboring country") modifying koto ("thing.'' but here referring more abstmctly to a '·situation"). • - go gen 'in de= ''with ~ being the reason/cause" or "because of - :• • hajinuara is the plain/abrupt past form o f hajimaru (''[something] begins"). • ~ 110 nora = " if it is the case that ~ .'' • ~ to iu koto ni naru (lit., "becomes a thing described as ~") is often equivalent to "means that ~ ."
Kuze:
n{
;-n
ShachiJ go
iu
HI~
co. pres. (subj.) say;
J:-'.>1:. . yo ni, like
1~-~.Q
fiT-
~
ramwru shushi o
¥><-.Q !fi-~· meguru arasoi
r::-t ~·~"'
(!)
t-:7:>?1.1'?
ni suginai
no
darou ka?
mere/,implc seeds (obj.) center on conllict i> nothing more than (explan.) I wonder?
" I wonder if, as our company president says, they were simply nothing more than conflicts centering on a seed?" "Could the resident be ri ht in saying that the countries were sim I fi hting over a seed and there was nothing more to it than that?" (PL2) • - ni suginai is an expression for "'i~ only/is nothing but/is nothing more than - ... • shushi o meguru {"'it centers on a seed") modifies arasoi {"fighllconnicllwar"): '·fighting/conflicts centering on a seed" • "'fighting over a seed:· (cominued 0 1111ext page)
Mangajin 3 1
7' 7 11 - 0 • A fter Zero
iJf.:ftlR* ~
tt ~· --r L.
fiiJ
*
i:' ~
c
ti ~ ~' 1: !;{ "?*
L. t:: ¢ "('
~-
t.t
l (''
n l;t '
t::
t!
* tfj
-t
t::
t-t
~
R
< 'i:'
~
"P: ·
1t 4-
.
~· ~ ~--
¢ ('
~1.>-! "?
£
"('
J: !!
C:
t1 A
t:: t.t
(!)It~ It (i) !;::
t:. .:
c
~
iJ>
(continued from previous page)
Kuze: -ftL t {>, 1!1-""f
El ~
1.:
Soretomo, shushi
Jltal
ni nanika no himitsu ga
or
.fi·~lil'
Mi.PO)
1Jf ifJ .0 am
0)
t! 0? -IJ''?
no
daro ka?
seeds themselves in some kind of secret (subj.) exists (explan.) I \\Onder
' 'Or do the seeds themselves hold some kind of secret?" (PL2)
Kuze:
r:,JJ t... I Kamimura Hakau. . . I
~f.j
nazo
'/J(
~T ~· .Oo
ga
iJ-.mgiru.
:...:.:.o=~""'-"'-st=el'l'_!lbout her as well." (PL2) ~
wake
demo noku,
*.0
HiT
.f.I(:1Jtft
t.:
wagasha
ni kuru mae
l;t wa
situation even is not something like our company to come before as for
l.. 't'lt''ilt'o nanimo
shite inai.
• o-sugim is from the adjective iii ("are numerous/many"'), and the suffix -sugiru means ''too much/excessively." so o-sugiru =·'are excessively many." Nazo ga o-sugiru is literally "the mysteries are too many." • taisllita ="considerable/of considerable merit"; when combined with a negative it often becomes ''of no particular merit.'' • - wake demo naku is a continuing form of- wake demo noi, a slightly more emphatic equivalent of - wake de wa IUii (or - wake ja nai: literally. "it's not the case/situation that -")---+ "it's not the case that she graduated from a considerable university."
• kore to itta is the past form of kore to iu, which means "of particular note/import/significance''-though it's usually followed by a negative to give the meaning ''of no panicular note/not any - of panicular note." etc. Similarly, nanimo works together with a negative later in the sentence to mean ''not anything/nothing.'' Shite inai is the negative form of shire iru (''has done''). from suru (''do"). Kore to itta kenkyii o nanimo shite inai ="has not done any research of panicular note.'' Sonna
konojo ga
are dake
no
koto
o
ware noketa.
that kind of she/her (\ubj.) thmmuch 1ha1 is thing (obj.) 1nanaged 10 do.
" Yet she ma naged to accomplish that remarkable feat." (PL2) If~
HN:
/maya shacho now
j'l,>~ I) f.:_ o
li
11,tk0)
II'Cl
kanojo no
iinari
da.
her
yeo-man
is
co. pre5.. as for
1
"And now she has the president wra~round her little linger." (PL2) • sonna (lit.. ''that kind of') as a modifier for kanojo ("she/her") is like "she who is/was that kind of person." • are dake looks like "only that." but its idiomatic meaning is "that much/many"--often. a!> here. implying that the number/ item/action/accompli hment in question is a very large/remarkable one. • yatte noketa is the past form of yatte nokem. a slang phrase for "mannge to do [somethingl/pull [something! orr:· • iinari refers to a person who moves at someone else·~ beck and call: - no iinari da mean~ the subject is "completely under - 's thumb/wrapped around - 's lillie finger/putty in - ·s hands."
Kuze: i "(
J: !! Mate yo!!
wait (emph.)
" Wait a minute!!" (PL2) • mate is the abrupt command form of mliiSll (''wait"). 0)
~~
1Jf ifJO) .f
0) ~
Moshi saiyaktt no
kiin
ga
110
Kuze: (I L.. if
~}[£
catastrophe of original cau~e
(~ubj.)
ano sl111shi ni am those ..eed'>
l?,
nara.
in exist if it i~ the ca'>e thm
" If it's true that the source of the calamities is in the seed itself, MR- 99 ~ fl}g;_ ~1tt..: fl111'-t 1•.1/. l .: -t" f-it ~ i11.0 Emu-lim kyiijfikyii o (seed variety)
saisei saseta Kamimura Hakase koso .wre
(obj.) regenerated
(name)
Dr.
o
A~J
':11!!.~
I? ~'-' o
shim jinbut.w ni hokanarcmai.
(emph.) that (obj.) know personage i> none other than
" then Dr. Kamimura the one who regenerated MR-99 is precisely the one who should know." (PL2) • moshi - no nara gives the embedded complete thought/sentence .wiyakuno kiin ga ano shushi ni aru ("the source of the calamity is in that seed") a conditional meaning: "if it i, the case that - :·
,
• saisei sasew is the past form of .wisei saseru ("cause to regenerate"), from saisei sum ("resuscitate/regenerate/reproduce"): Emu-lint kyiljiikyii o saisei saseta is a complete thought/sente nce ("I she) caused MR-99 to regenerate'') modifying Kamimura Hakase (" Dr. Kamimura") • "Dr. Kamimura who caused MR-99 to regenerate.'' • koso emphasizes Kamimura Hakase with the feeling of "none other than her": in thi~ cal.e. it overlaps with the meaning of the expression - ni lwkanaranai ("is none other than - "). • sore o shim is a complete thought/sentence ("[she] ~nows that") modifyingjinbwsu ("personage").
Mangajin 33
7" 7
34 Mangajin
9 - 0 • After Zero
Umezawa: 7 7 7 Fufufu (self-satisfied laugh)
"Reb heh heh." Umezawa: f.l.O) Watashi no ywne ga konna-ni mo hayaku my
jitsugen suru
to
wa
na.
dream (subj.) this much even qu ickly be actualized/fulfilled (quote) as for (colloq.)
" I never ima ined that m dream would be fulfilled so soon!" (PL2) ~J: (J) J?,?-?¢J, f.!.~-) /j: o Konoue no (name)
yatsu me, kuyashi-gatte iru
who is guy-(derog.)
daro
is chagrined
na.
probably/surely (colloq.)
" That Konoue must really be kicking himself." (PL 1-2) it; " \ '? L:t § 7t 7'.1{ tlt ~ 1J> I? fiJl X. ~ lj:
c
Aitsu
to
wa
j ibun.
ga sekai kara
ue
o
nakusu
n da
i§ -::>
-r J?..' iJL:lf.:
0
itte-yagatta.
that guy as for himself (subj.) world from hunger (obj.) e lim inate (explan.)(quote) was saying-(derog.)
" He was-sa in that he wanted to eliminate hun er from this earth himself!" (PL I ) • konna-ni mo 1 more emphatic form of konna-ni ("this much"); hayaku is the adverb form of the adjective hayai ("quick/fast"), so onna-ni mo hayaku = " this quickly/so quickly." • to wa makes the entir~receding sente nce into the topic of an unspoken exclamation, which is to say, it makes that topic itself into an exclamation. lt can be any kind of exclamation-pleasure, c hagrin, dismay-and here it is obvio usly an exclamation of glee. • yatsu is an informal/slang word for "guy/fellow/person"; no yaTSlt after a name or title usually has at least a mildly belittling/ derogatory feeling, and it's commonly used when finding fault with or deriding the person. • -me after a word referring to a person shows contempt/derision/anger directed at that person, so here it goes hand in hand with the derogatory feeling of yatsu. • kuyashi-gatte iru is from kuyashi-garu ("show signs of being chagrined"), a verb formed from the adjective kuyashii ("be vexed/mortified/chagrined"). The suffix -gam is attached to various adjectives of feeling (either psychological or physical) to create verbs that mean "show signs of being - ." The -garu form is used to speak of how another person is feeling- since that person's feelings are usually known only indirectly, from the way he/she allows his feelings to show. • aitsu is a contraction of ano yatsu (informal/slang for "that guy"). • itte-yagatta is a contraction of itte iyagana, a derogatory/insulting equivalent of itte ita ("was saying"). file is the -te form of iu ("say"), i- is the stem of iru, and yagatta is the past form of yagaru, a derogatory/insulting suffix that connects to the stem form of verbs.
Umezawa: P.l..t Konoue to ketsubetsu shire (name)
with
paned ways
tt L.. i b
tlt ~ ~ sekai-jii
1rm,
yatsu hodo no
tensai
o
ever since/after that guy extent that is genius (obj.) -::> t.:
sagashi-mawatta
"/)f'
.y ;1.
ga,
dame
t.!.-::> t.:. J: 0 datta
throughout the world went around searching but no good/fruitless was
yo. (emph.)
"After artin wa s with Konoue I traveUed aU over the world lookin it was no use." (PL2) • ketsubetsu shite is the -te form of ketsubetsu suru ("part ways/have a falling out/break with"), and irai means "ever since (until now)": ketsubetsu shite irai = " ever since parting ways with." • X hodo 110 Y means "a Y that is to the extent of X," so yatsu lzodo no tensai ="a genius that is to the extent of him" ..... "a genius of his caliber/a genius like him.'' • sagashi-mawatta is the past form of sagaslzi-mawaru ("travel around searching/looking for").
Umezawa:
I I
t.!. Masa-ni kami no michibiki da
J: o yo.
• soko is literally "that place/there," but here it refers more to a place/point in time-i.e., the po int at which Umezawa had searched and searched and pretty much given up hope. • arawarera is the past form of arawareru ("appear/show up"). • kami no michibiki is literally "the guidance of God"-+ " divine guidance/the hand of God."
[II
Kamimura: !!11t
(J)
iJ ~
iJ> ~ L.. tL i 1.?: lv J: 0
A kuma no miclzibiki kamo shiremasen yo. devil
's guidance
may possibly be (emph.)
" It could be the hand ofthe devil, you know." (PL3) • kamo shiremasen is the polite fonn of kamo shirelllli ("might be/may possibly be"). • yo often emphasizes something the speaker thinks the listener particularly needs to know or be reminded of: "-, remember/ - , you know.''
Mangajin 35
1' 7 9 - 0 • After Zero
t:t (:
!?
16 Mangajin
Executive: t:.,
*~
Ta-
taihen
U~!!
"t"T,
tksu, shachO!!
(stammer) trouble/disaster is
co. preslsir
''Sir, it's a disaster!" (PL3) Umezawa: Lf:.?
c·?
DIJ shita? wballbow did
"What's wronc?'' (PL2) • taihen refers to a "serious/troublesome/alarming situation," and taihen tkJ/desu! is used as an exclamation in response to any cause for alann. • do is "how/what" and shita is the plain/abrupt past fonn of suru ("do"), so do shita is literally " What did you do?'' But the expression is often used idiomatically to ask for an explanation of something that appears out of the ordinary: "What's wrong/What's the matter/What's the trouble?"
Executive:
3~ MR-99 Sannen -mae, hajimete saibai o shiro Tai no Emu-iiru kyiijt7kyt7 -batake de 3 years ago first cultivation (obj.) did Thailand in MR-99 fields in N~
1Jt
~.:-:.:>"t"~t'1T!!
ihen
ga
okotte imasu!
mishap/unusual event (subj.)
is occurring
"In the MR-99 fields first cultivated 3 years ago in T hailand, a mishap is occurring!" "There's been a misha in the MR-99 fields first cultivated 3 ears a o in Thailand!" (PL3) • saibai o shita is the past form of saibai o suru, literally "do cultivation" - "cultivate." Hajimete saibai o shita is a complete thought/sentence ("[we] first cultivated [them]") modifying Tai no Emu-iiru kyiljilkyii-batake ("the MR-99 fields in Thailand"). • okotte imasu is the polite form of okotte iru ("is occurring"), from okom ("occurs/happens").
Umezawa:
~ 1: ?! Nani?!
''What?!" (PL2)
8J On-site staff:
f* (explan.)
roduce hea ds of
ain!" (PL3)
• kabu when speaking of plants refers to a single plant or cluster. • mi might be described as the "bearing part" of plants -i.e., "seeds/grains/nutslberries/fruits''- and when speakjng of mi, tsukeru means "form/bear/produce (seeds/grains/etc.]." • mae= "before," and mi o tsukeru mae= "before producing grai n"; ni marks this as the time frame when the next mentioned action takes place. • koshi shire iru ("are withering") is from koshi suru ("wither and die").
Umezawa:
~ 1~t>?
Do iu
.: c lcoto
t!.?!
tM~il
da?!
BylJgenkin
;¢•?! lco?!
whal kind of thing/situation is disease causing bacteria (7)
"What's ROing on? Is it some ldnd or disease?'' (PL2) On-site stall': lf.~
:;r-IJ:I
"t"To
Gen 'in furnei desu. cause unclear/unknown is
"The cause is unclear."
''We've been unable to identify a cause." (PL3) • asking a question with da is masculine and can sound very rough.
To be continued . ..
Mangajin 37
© Nonaka Eiji. All rights reserved. First published in Japan in 1996 by Kodansha. Tokyo. English translation rights arranged through Kodansha.
38 Mangajin
.=-t-;\~
A
Dai SanjL7hassho Ter.w -)in no.
38-chapter
iron person
Cha ter 38: Iron Man • dai is like "no." and -shiJ is the counter suffix for chapters in a book. • we considered translating tersujin as "Griddle Man,'' but since this manga is a parody of the strong, silent, action-hero genre, " Iron Man" seemed more appropriate.
[!]
Narration: ~!{:
~
J\1$ Yakami
Kacho
-taku
section chief (name) residence
Section ChiefYakami's Residence Yakami: 1*8 Kyiijitsu no hiru-sagari . .. day off
of early afternoon
Earl afternoon of a da off ... :::.. lv f;t fl# 1: li :::.. t.!. b 'r) (}))...-:d.:. ·J!f; 'J I \ Korma
roki ni
wa kodawari no hairra yakisoba
this kind of time at as for
discriminating
c'
"/;t -:::> < -::> "U'f.J., (}) nado rsukurte miru no
yakisoba a thing like try making
~
v' v' o
mo
ii.
(nom.) too/also is good/appealing
Times like these are great for making the consummate yakisoba. (PL2) • hint= "noon," and hiru-sagari = "a little after noon/early afternoon." • kodawari is the noun form of kodawaru ("be particular/scrupulous [about]"), and haitta is the past form of hairu ("enter"; the past form often implies "containing"), so kodawari no hail/a means "containing scrupulousness"- "discriminating." This modifies yakisoba ("stir-fried noodles''). • rsukwte is the -te form of tsukuru ("make"); miru after the -re form of a verb means " try Idoing the action!," so rsukulle mint= "try making." • no makes the preceding complete sentence kodawari 110 hail/a yakisoba nado rsukuu e mint ("[I will] try making some discriminating yakisoba") act like a single noun. • - no mo ii makes an expression like "Ithe described action], too, is good/appealing/satisfying."
I±
Yakami: ::t 1 Jv Oim oil
wa
~-;
g-r,
iJ-sugizu,
~-t:t-r ~·-r,
as for not too mucb
not too jjuJe
i /vr<.lvt:t
fp-::> katsu
sukuna-sugizu,
manben-naku.
moreover thoroughly/evenly
Not too much oil, not too little, and it must be spread evenly. (PL2) iJ-sugizu and sukuna-sugizu are negative fom1s of iJ-sugiru and sukuna-sugiru, the stern forms of the adjectives iJi ("abundant/plentiful") and sukunai ("few/little") plus the suffix -sugiru, which means "too much/excessively - ." • katsu is a word for "and/and moreover" seen/heard mostly in written language or formal speeches.
Yakami:
~ P;l(.f4
...
li
ChiJmiryiJ . .. toku ni
siJsu
ni
wa
kodawaritai.
especially sauce about as for want to be particular
seasoning
You want to be articular about the seasonin -es eciall the sauce. (PL2) • kodawaritai is the " want to'' form of the verb kodawaru ("be particular/scrupulous [about]"). The particle ni is used to mark what one is being particular about.
m
Yakami:
t
l±li'.Z,
~');\
!i
yakisoba wa
To wa ie,
f.ff.N:
(/)
shomin
110
though that may be yakisoba as for common people 's ;!./
!i
m-~
(/)
~(/)
Men
wa
shihan
no
1110110
-cde
l!:f:o aji. taste
OKo iJke.
noodles as for sold generally of things/ones with is OK/fine
Yet, yakisoba is a food of the common ~ople. Store-bought noodles will do. (PL2) Bag: -\' .:f- 'J 1 { Yakisoba • to wa ie at the beginning of a sentence refers back to what has just been said, implying "though I may say that/that said/ though that may be." • shihan is a noun for "selling in the (open) market," so shihan no mono refers to things/products that can be found in most any store- "(any) store-bought noodles." • "OK," pronounced eitber okke or oke, can be considered a fully naturalized word in Japanese, and is most often written this way in Roman letters rather than in katakana. The expression ~ de iJke implies"- is adequate/fine/fully acceptable."
Mangajin 39
~ ~ t\ tJ ------------------------------~
40 Mangajin
tt • K acho
Baka lchi-dai
--------------------------------
[!]
Yakami:
v' ~'!! [za!! (interj.)
Time to begin!! (PL2) • iza is an interjection giving the feeling that the moment of truth/moment for action has come. It is a somewhat archaic/ formal expression mostly used in written form.
1§1;/) !.:o n;t: !.: i*h iJ{ ,'!1 ~ 0 Kyabetsu wa o-me ni. Aji ni .fukami ga dent. cabbage as for on the plentiful side (manner) flavor in depth (subj.) comes out Use plenty of cabbage. It gives d epth to the flavor . (PL2)
Yaka mi: .:f '\'-"(·;; (;l:
• -me is a suffix added mostly to adjectives to mean "a bit on the ~ side/somewhat ~ ," so 6-me, from oi ("abundant/ plentiful''). means "on the plentiful side" The particle ni essentially turns this into an adverb for the understood verb, irer11 ("put/mix in"). so ii-me ni literally implies '·mix in on the plentiful side." • fukami is a noun form of the adjective.fitkai ("deep'').
< 'J - .A ~ fJ' l?lb ... Tegiwa yoku sosu o knrame . .. skillfully sauce (obj.) coat with-and
Yakarni: -=f.~.f. J:
Deftly coat tbe noodles with sauce, and . . . • karame is the stem of the verb karameru ("coat/entwine with''); the stem is here being used as a continuing form: "coat with [sauce], and ..."
Yakami: jt-"'~
t::o .:.tl."('
1T~' J\;(j;{~~' o
Kanpeki da. Kore de mazui lwzu ga nai. perfect is with this bad can't possibly be
. .. perfecto! With this, there's no way it can be bad tasting." . . . e rfecto! There's no way this can be a nything but delicious. (PL2) •
~ ha: u ga nai follows adjectives or verbs to mean "there ' s no way it can/will be [as described]" or "there's no way [the action I can/will occur."
Yakami: 'k Hi tsukeru no wasurete-ta. ftrelflame turn on (nom.) forgot
I forgot turning on the flame. I forgot to turn on the griddle. (PL2) • the object markers have been omitted in this sentence: with them included, the sentence would be Hi o tsukertl llO o wasurete-ta. • no is a nominalizer thattums the complete sentence hi (o) tsukeru (''[I] tum on the tire/flame") into a noun-"[the act of] turning on the flame"-which is the the direct object of wasurete-w. • wasurete-ta is a contraction of wasurete ita (''had forgotten"), from wasurem ("forget").
Title: ~
+
:::::: J\ 'l,"i' Dai- Sanjl7ha.uhii no. 38-chapter
Chapter 38
Jt Kcm
end
The End
Mangajin 41
®9@00@00 Our Tono-sama
"f.tt"l,
by • •
Meguro Yasushi
Title:
*~'!?
Koi!?
Come!?
QJ Tono-sama: Koi. *"'o come
" Come with me." (PL2) Empto ee: tr t.l' f:d.. o /kane. won't go
"No." (PL2) • koi is the abrupt command fonn of kuru (''come"). • ikane is a rough, slang variation of ikanai ("not go"), the negative fonn of ilw ("go"). The vowel combination ai often changes to e or ei in certain dialects and masculine slang.
[I] Tono-sama:
*iJ:v'C
.:~t t!. i'- o
Konai to
kore da
if don' t come
thi~
:;ii. is (cmph.)
" lf you don' t come it' ll be this." (PL2) FX: 71 71 Kui kui (effect of hooking finger) Employee: ..S../-v ??
t~ \,.I
(PLI ) • flm is of "snort" of defiance, but the question marks show he's not quite sure what to make ofTono-sama's threat.
FX: 71 Kui (effect of hooking finger aro und something)
[}] Tono-sama: .: '-'o Koi. come
"Come with me." (PL2) Em to ee: ~' <, ~'
iku.
will go will go
" I' m coming, I' m coming." (PL2) • it's not unusual for English usage to make '·come/coming" more natural when Japanese usage calls for iku (lit., "go").
42 Mangajin
®9@@j@Q ~
Title:
11.-fJ'f"(;
Ar:fl
Ningen ny human being
sky
The Flying Human
Our Tono-sama by
JRJ.:
~
Sora Tobu
• o is understood after sora: sora o tobu =·'fly through the sky..: this complete thought/sentence modifies ningen ( ..human being/person")- "the human who flies through the sky"' "the flying human."
Meguro Yasushi
OJ Tono-sama:
~~!
~I}
f!.!
A! Tori da! (interj.) bird is
" He I It's a bird!" (PL2) :; :r. ·J
HI t!.!
Jetto-ki
da! is
jet plane
"It's a ·et lane!" (PL2) • a.' is an interjection used when suddenly noticing something: "oh!/hey!" • the generic word for "airplane" is 1Rffl!l hikoki, where hikii literally means " fl y and go/go by flying" and ki means "machine"- "flying machine." Based on this, -ki is used as a suffix meaning "plane," and jetto is the Japanese rendering of the English "jet," sojetto-ki = ·~et plane."
0
Tono-sama: UFO t!.! Yr7fiJ da! UFO
i~
" It's a UFO!" (PL2) Tono-sama: o 'r ·J ~ t!.! Rokeuo rocket
da.' i~
" It's a rocket!" (PL2) • "UFO.. is invariably written with the English letters, and most commonly read as a single word . .:z.- 7 --t- yi(!o-though one also hears it spelled out in katakana .:z.- · :r. 7 · yii efu o. • rokeuo is the Japanese rendering of the English word "rocket."
*-
0
Tono-sama: 7
~· 1 ~ Jv-
;...- t!.!
Adobariin
da! is
ad balloon
"It's an advertising balloon!" (PL2) Tono-sama:
~I:::::!-~
t!.!
Kami-ltikoki da! paper airplane is
" It's a a r air lane!" (PL2) flyer: t .-, < 1:: J3 ~ -c .0 ! Tokku ni
oriteru!
lo ng since have landed
" I landed a long time ago!" (PL2) • adobariin is from the English "ad" (from "advertising") and "balloon." • tokku-ni implies the action took place a long time ago. • oriteru is a contraction of orire iru ("have landed"), from oriru ("gel/ come down" or when flying, " land").
Mangajin 43
Ap u-ln
Title: 7" 11' .:c ;.; !-' Daiyamondo
Diamond
App-lnstall by t.; J: A--~~ •J j onburi
Jt ~ ~ <"(
Woman: 7" -f 1' 1Jt Daiya
ga
kaenakute
diamond (subj.)couldn't buy-(cause) ~
11' 1: t., t.:
? "(
1!?
~
lie
iu
ki
"t' t., J; 0 desho.
taiya
ni shita
tire
made it (quote) say intent is, isn't illright?
''You're going to tell me you couldn't buy a dJamond so you decided to aet a tire lnstead, aren' t you?" (PL2) • daiya is the abbreviated form of daiyanwndo, the full Japanese rendering of the English word "diamond." Taiya is the Japanese rendering of the English word "tire." The similarity of daiya and taiya allows them to be associated here, but obviously the same association does not work for English. • kaenakute is a negative -te form of kaeru ("can buy"), which is the potential ("can/be able to") form of kau ("buy"); the -te form is used to indicate a reason or cause. • - ni shita is the past fonn of - ni suru, which means "make it - " in the sense of making a choice/decision. lie is a colloquial equivalent of quotative to; it marks the complete thought/sentence daiya go kaenakute taiya ni shita ("[you] couldn't buy a diamond so [you] made it a tire/decided on a tire'') as the specific content of what she thinks he wants/intends to say.
Man: J: t.,, Yoshi,
'"
.r;
~?
i? 1-Tit o
atchi
ike.
all right over there go
_g
" .f .<: .., "e -= ..,
Sound FX:
" All ri ht et outta here." (PL2) ::J c ::J c Koro koro
(effect of rolling)
&,
• archi is an informal equivalent of achira ("that direction/over there"), and ike is the abrupt command form of iku ("go"): archi ike is used like the English expressions "go away/get out of here/get lost."
c
g
"' .c.., ·c c
~ ~ g .<: -~
00 c
"'0
...."' ~
,;
Man: ..L 0
101
. t: , .. i>\ /...,
-51
" .f" "' ~
~
"'g: .E
" !"
.,E
~
:<;
iS.
c i.i: 13 ~
;!
. !:!
~
.<:
c
~
"
~
0
44 Mangajin
~ 11 7" -f 1- .:t :;; r Jitsu wa daiyamondo
truth as for
diamond
r,u,? t.:
1v -c: .. .
taka/calla
nde .. .
was high/e xpensive because/so
"Actually, a diamond was too expensive, so .••" (PL2)
Sound FX: ;t 'J ;t 'J Goso goso
Rustle rustle jitsu = "truth/fact," andjirsu wa = "the truth is/in fact/actually";jitsu wa is often used as a kind of "preface" to soften awkward explanations. • taka/calla is the past fonn of the adjective takai ("high/expensive"). • nde is a contraction of the particle node ("because/so").
Woman: 7" 11' .:C / Daiyamondo diamond
r·
1Jt go
,r:Jj < -r takakute
(subj.) was expensive-(cause)
7-.:t;,- 1-· 1: t.,t.; ? "C limondo ni shita fte almonds
M? iu
q)? no?
made it (quote) say (explan.-?)
"Are ou oin to sa that a diamond was too ~ensive so you decided to get some almonds?" (PL2) Man: 7' ·:; ! Ge!
"Urk!" • takakute is the -re fonn of takai; again. the -re form is used to indicate a reason/cause. • the common -amondo ending allows the association between daiyamondo and iimondo; in this case some of the similarity can be seen in English as well.
Title: J:; ~~ t)
Apu-ln
0-hakamairi (hon.)-grave visit Visitin~A ncestral G rave
App-lnstall by t..; J:
A--~~ •J
Jonburi
Ghost: 1
t
=t-Pf:
Q)
Uchi
no shison
t
#
li
~~
*lvo
wa kotoshi mo dare nw kon.
my house/family of descendants as for !his year also no one 001 come
''Once a ain this ear none of m descendants have come." (PL2) Woman: :t:> t.: v'.f;'R, i t.J.: J: o Ojiisama,
*
kimaslrira yo.
grandfather
came
(emph.)
" Grandfather, I' ve come." (PL3)
*
Gravestones: 00
Mtm1-maru -ke
blank-blank family
So-and-so Famil • uchi is literally "inside,'' but it'~ used frequently to refer to one's own house or family; uchi no= "my house's/my family's" or in this case just "my,'' and uchi no shison = ·•my descendants." • daremo followed by a negative verb means " no one [does the action]"; kon is a contraction of konni, negalive of kuru ("'come"), so daremo kon ="no one comes." • kimashita is the polite past form of kuru ("come"). 0 (maru. Iii., "circle'') is a common way to indicate a blank or variable in Japanese writing. They most commonly come in twos: 00 = nraru-nmru. ~--:>,
::..1-v lj: iJ '7 11
.&>
£!.
konna
..c
"What? A_girl this cute is m descendant?" (PL2)
G host:
" s" li! ... -5
huhlwha1? this much/so
~
..g
1! c:
.."
Ghost:
~
..c
;;
~
-~
c:
~ q-.
LLl
0
;.., .¥
~
.2" " tf,., ..c
.&>
~ .5
girl
(subj.)descendanl
-40\
2.o
Q:. .J,..L
J:!ll
+ ~ ~· 1":! t>
j a. is
20~litr *t.: ~Q) 1;:.U>=t- t.: ~ 0 Nijiinen-nme kita ano onna no ko ja. 20 yrs. ago
came
that
girl
is
"I know it' s that irl. It's that 'rl who visited 20 years ago." (PL2) • a! indicates the speaker has suddenly noticed/recognized/realized something, like "Oh!lthat's right!/l know!" • ja is used by many older male speakers as a substitute for da ("is/are"). • -mae (or -nme ni) after a lime span means "[that much time] ago." • kita is the past form of kuru ("come''), and nijiinen-mne kita ="[she] came 20 years ago": lhis is a complete thought/sentence modifying ano onna no ko ("that girl'') "that girl who came 20 years ago."
c:
G w omanB: 1 t,
(J)
..!;
Uchi
no
a
cu1e
i:i:Ji
""t'-9 J: o ro.
o-haka desu
5
my house/family 's (hon.)-grave is (emph.)
~
''This is m y family's grave." (PL3)
:c
&.
c u:
f-~?
shison?
.:r t.: ~ o
ano ko
(interj.) that child
.§
...
~ --:> , ~ U>
A!
·c
£
-/){
• konna modifying an adjec1ivc is shon for komra-ni ("'this much"), so konna kawaii =..,his much cUie'' ··so cute/this cute."' • musume can mean "daughler" or jusI "girl."
-5
..c
~
kall'aii musume ga
• yo i often used to emphasize information thai the speaker thinks the listener panicularly needs 10 know.
1i t
-,;
!! rJ
~
·c
:;;:
·.: .&> " ]
0
Mangajin 45
ra
L- f± ~
Comics for the Career Woman
* t:. t:: '-"'
t:.
(J)
''
.,.c
i! ~
~
l 't li
i' "..
/
If;L ~
!;
••
As j apanese women establish a more prominentpresence in the workforce, a new genre ofmanga has emergedchronicling the life ofthe "Career noman. TI T. " by T.R.Reid
o.,
of
Thr "0-shigoro Desu!" rrew with all the trappings ofa modm1 ojjiu.
Nojima Kotori (from the mango uriai"O-shigoro Desu!") OIIIIOimus that sh~ W011t>11othi11g to do with marriagr a11dthildren: "/ o11ly •want to work.'"
there in the vast manga sea. The American report s focusing only on porno manga are about as accurate as a Japanese new~ story I saw recently describing Larry Flint's Hustler as a ··representative American news magazine.·· To focus on the manga that treat women as mere sex objects, moreover, is to miss one of the most important social phenomena to hit Japanese society in the '90s: the rapid growth of a new class of career-track business women. Millions of Japanese women are graduating from colleges and setting out to take long-term jobs in big or small companies. Although they are, in essence. a fema le version of the sa laryman. they are ne ver called ··salarywomen:· Rather. the approved term for this new breed of female is ~<)·aria 17111all ( .:\'- -t ') 7 7 - 7 /)--that is. "career woman... aturally. the popular forms of entertainment are reflecting this trend. In the TV "trendy-dramas"-weekly serials that appeal to young professionals-such popular stars as Yamaguchi Tomoko, Koizumi Kyoko. and Ishida Hikari are now routinely cast as corporate section chiefs, restaurant managers. copywriters, lawyers, etc. Trendy manga have taken up the cause as well.
• cranks out = f>lH~r~~ 1:1t 1) HI T kiki1i-teki 11i tsukuridasu I ~f\t(l~ 1: tA "'~ T 1.> kikai·teki 11i ~"ilippitiu suru • filthy= l-\'.1r~ t.: ililmi 11a / l r\7, t.: ge/rinna 1
Mangajin 63
On a t.•isitto a dimt, super-hanker 1/arashima Hiromi introduus htr companion: "I've brought the mastermind behind the coup d'itat. •
Japan's famous uniformed Office Ladies, or OL , have long been featured in business manga-as in the comic strip OL Shinkaron, familiar to Mangajin readers. There are also manga dealing with female secretaries. The best of the lot. to me, is '"Jfiyaku Hish o Rilla .. (iR fl. ,I} 1) T ), or " Rin a-the Director's Private Secretary," written by lmano Izumi. In this series, Narita Rina, secretary to a senior director at the Marunouchi Bank, takes it on herself to solve various busine. s crises confronting her boss. Rina's strategies are invariably ingenious and successful. but she always sees to it that her boss gets the credit.
et
-e-;:~~KC
~~u
OMI, i a
~
t
long
,
Thr bark cover ofa book rol/ertion of "Kono Hito ni Kakero" stories spells out flarashima's
tall lady
IIJIJSJ011-t11
English.
f'M..Sl"'1l0 ttY A"r()Vo. S'I'\.I A
IV\ll.Ki').,M-1<•
64 Mangajin
/n the career-women manga. in contrast. the woman is often the boss. A good example is the popular "0-shigoto Desu!" (H {I: ')i "('" T !). by the famous manga artist Saimon Fumi. This series. which bears the Engli h ubtitle "Wo men's Company:· cover the travail. and triumphs of three women who have left their jobs to start a business of their own. Their company. called Little Bird, co ns ists of a retail kitchen-goods outlet and a related restau rantsupply firm. Over time. the women run into various business crises and opportunities; they also meet their share of sex ism. In one recent episode, a man who is making a disturbance in the store is approached by the heroine. Nojima Kotori. who asks him to leave. "Oh yeah? And who might you be?" the man replies. ''I'm the slwchiJ (president of the company) here," Nojima says calmly. "ShachiJT the man spits o ut. "Aren't you a little girlish to be a shachiJ?" Other career-woman heroines work for bigger companies. M a11gaji11 readers are familiar with Harashima Hiromi, the quietly aggressive and ambitious bank executive who is the cent ral .,. character of the series "Kono Hito 11i Kakero'' ( .: (J) .tt."I:RI'itt 7)), or "Bet on This Woman.'' by Shu Ryoka and Yumeno Kazuko. (An excerpt from this story ran in Mangajin issues No. 47-55.) Hiromi. too, faced sex discrimination early in her career at Yotsuba Bank, but recently the tales in " Kono Hito" have focused more on her often daring exploits on behalf of the bank and its customers. In the early days of the series. we were worried that Hiromi might lose her job because of animosity from some male officials at the bank. Nowauays, Hiromi is secure in her work-but she is already worrying about a potential ''glass ceiling" that could impede her progress to the top ranks of the bank.
For my money, tho ug h, the master of the careerwoman manga is O ze Akira, the c reator of two popular women-in-business series that manage to be informative, provocative, and heart-warming. In the 1980s, Oze gave us "Natsuko no Sake" (!i i- <7) i~, "Natsuko's Sake"). This lo ng-running narrative concerned the bright daughter of a sake-brewing family in rural Niigata prefecture. Determined to escape from the s ticks when she finished school, Natsuko landed a dream job-as a copywriter in a big Tokyo ad agency (a place that looks a lot like Dentsu, Japan 's top advertising firm). In one of her first assignments. Natsuko is asked to write an ad pushing the products of a giant sake factory in Kobe. T he job gives her severe gui lt pangs -because she knows sake well, she is aware that her client's product is actually rotgut. In short order, Natsuko quits the ad biz, heads home to Niigata, takes over the family business, and makes it more successful than it has ever been. I used to love the tale of Natsuko when it was running in Comic Morning magazine. For some reason, though, I had trouble getting my friends interested in it; they seemed to think there was too much inside lore about how to brew great sake. This problem ended, though, in 1993, when the TBS network (that's Tokyo Broadcasting, not Turner) made a serialized drama of the story, with the gorgeous Wakui Emi in the title role. Since almost everybody in Japan loves Emi-chan, the whole country turned into fans of "Natsuko no Sake." But by then it was too late. Oze had fini shed the comic version of "Na1suko." He had another series up his sleeve-one that most people agree is even better: "Minori Densetsu" ( J.;. <7) I) "The Legend of Minori").
rr.m,
S
uginae Minori is a 28-year-old journalist who suddenly becomes, through a blend of desire and necessity, a freelance writer (this term is shortened in Japalle{;e to 7 1) - 7 1 -7 - ,furii raitli). She has countIes~ adventures, meeting sometimes with triumph and sometimes with setbacks, both journalistic and financial. Meanwhile, she has various boyfriends-none terribly serious-and is constantly fendjng off the approaches of her mother and grandmother, who think Minori had darned well better get married before she turns 30. The following excerpt comes from the very first chapter of her long-running "legend." Readers may be pleased to know that, in later episodes, Minori
• the sticks= !',- EB t.: kma·inaka • rotgut
1:-:> v' 1" v' ~ ashi ga chi ni tsuire inr
rebounds from her somewhat shaky start here and builds a solid career contributing to major magazines. Her specialty seems to be stories along the lines of 'Tokyo's Top 20 ..." -e.g., the best curry restaurants, the best bottled waters, etc. Oze has fun with these tales, because the "Top 20" type of story in fact appears all the time in the real-life trendy magazines of Tokyo and Osaka. Socially, things are going great for Minori these days. She recently turned down a marriage proposal from a decent but unexciting guy. The latest episodes of the " legend," as of the end of 1996, have Minori being courted by a famous rock star who has fallen hard for her decency and down-to-earth manner.
The title character of "Minori Densersu," a .freelance writer, finishes an assignment in her home office.
"Minori De11setsu" can stand on its own as an entertaining glimpse into one woman's life. But at the same time, it is a representative sample of the most important new manga genre of the '90s so far: the careerwoman manga. ( "0-shigoto Desu!" currently appears in the manga magazine Big Comic Spirits; "Ko11o Hito ni Kakero" in Shilka11 Morning; and "Minori Densetsu" in Big Comic Original.) T. R. Reid is a correspondent for the Washington Post. He is currently 011 leave from the papet; writing a book about Confucian values and making a series of documentQ/)'jilms 011 Japan for the (American) TBS network.
= F ~ ijl!j k(l!oslw l 'tt 1TJ :/!!; •' it'i silirsu no wami sake • fend off= n' n i" kawasu • down·to-eai-th = Ji nti!!J.
Mangajin 65
8: ~
<5 ~
5'
e Oze Akira. All riglu s reserved. First published in Japan in 1995 by Shogakukan, Tokyo. English translation rights amlnged through Shogakukan.
,-\\(1"~-4
~tlr~tlr
~
s ..::
iii ~ ~
:;· 0 ~
0
CD
:::>
\~~ . i4:8; ~ ~
rr~~ ti~~ ~,Jt~ 04 ~ ~ ~ ,.
..
Ti~~ l tl
..,
~
"'CD "'c:
ITJ
JlfQ)~ItJ.> J:-Jii
wH:
Narration: =:JJ
Mitsuki -mae ni koshi no nukeru yo na 3 months
~
Q)
ago
.!,II'
\." gljttt.:
omoi
de wakareta
become paralyzed type thoughts/feelings with
~
otoko no hanashi wa, man about story
parted
li, i:>v':t3"' -t J.>.!:: L. -r, 01-01
as for by and by
suru to shite, will do/tell
As for the tale of the man I broke up with three months ago feeling utterly debilitated, I will get to it by and by, but. . . The story of the man with whom I went through a devastating break-up three months ago, I will relate
in due course. but • . • (PL2) Sound FX: 11 ·J 11 -;; 11 -:; Ka! ka/ ka/ Click click click (clicking of heels on floor) • mitsuki = sankagetsu = "3 months"; mae ni after a time span means "[that much time] ago." • koshi refers to the rear midsection of a person's body, roughly from a little above the waist down through the hips; in many expressions it represents the main support and locus of strength of the body (and, metaphorically, of other objects), similar to "backbone/spine" in English. Nukeru literally means "comes out/slips out," so koshi ga nukeru (here, no replaces ga because it's in a modifying clause) essentially refers to a loss of the body's main support and strength, like being suddenly without a backbone. It can describe becoming physically unable to stand or going into a state of emotional paralysis/ debilitation due to shock, extreme stress, grief, terror, etc. • yo na ("type/kind of') makes koshi no nukeru ("[I) become paralyzed") into a modifier for omoi f'thoughts/feelings"): "paralyzing-type feelings." • wakareta is the plain/abrupt past form of wakareru ("part/separate/break up (with]"). • mitsuki-mae ni koshi no nukeru yo 110 omoi de wakareta is a complete thought/sentence ("3 months ago [I) broke up with [him) with paralyzing-type feelings") modifying otoko ("man"). • - otoko no hanashi ="the story of the man with whom [I did the action]." • to shite is the -te form of the expression to suru, which often implies "make it - /make it that _ .. in the sense of making a choice/selection/decision-the decision here being that she will defer giving an account of her former boyfriend until later. The sentence continues through the next 2 frames.
0
Narration:
t
1: ir <, ~ B ,
tonikaku,
kyo,
at any rate
today
~JJ =-l- B,
rokugatsu hatsuka, ... June 20th
[see next frame] Sound FX: 1J ·J 1J-:; Ka/ ka! C lick click (clicking of heels on floor)
Interview with Muramatsu Masumi (continued from page 14)
religious j okes and ethnic jokes are best avoided initially. But after the ice is broken, after some beer or sake and after you become friends, then do share some of your favorites-parochia l jokes, ethnic jokes, and occupational jokes. And ah, yes, lawyer jokes and doctor jokes. The Japanese unders tand these fairly readily. Jf you are an American lawyer, by all means offer one of your humorous lawyer jokes and the Japanese will be impressed. We' ll think you' re great because you can laugh at yourself.
S: One last question. Decades ago R.H. Blyth wrote a wonderful book titled Oriental Humor, which had a section on Japan. Today there's a critical need for a new book on Japan. Do you have any plans to write one?
M : I've been saving essays I' ve written in English, and I'm beginning to transcribe many of my lectures, so J hope to be able to condense them into a book on Japanese humor. Or is Japanese humor really an oxymoron? Ahh, how I love that big word, "oxymoron."
S: Do you think the word might be in the title? M : Well, why not? Perhaps I'll deliberately misspell it with an " I" instead of an " r."
Frederik L. Schodt 's most recent book, Dreamland Japan: Writings on M odern M anga, is described on this website: http://www.stonebridge.com/dreamland.html .
Mangajin 67
JJ.
68 Mangajin
(J) 1)
ii Ill. • Minor/ Densetsu
E:J
a-
Nijiihossoi to norw atoshi wo, kono hi
o
C.l:i:-?t.:.
Narration: 28tl
~f.:
28 yrs. of age to became
L-
fj, ::_(f)
Ume as for this
$/ft.:.t:J:
1/((\I.f?
(f)
8
orata no tobidachi no hi
day (obj.) new/fresh departure
C. i*¥.>1:'-'f.:. (J)f!.-?t.:. o kimete ita
no dalla.
of day (quote) had decided
(eJtplan.)
10
I who became age 28 had decided that this would be the day of a new departure. at an rate I had decided that toda June 20th the da I turned 28 would be the da of a new d~arture
Sound FX: "fJ
for me. (PL2)
"fJ '"I ka!
'"I
Ka!
Click click (clicking of heels on floor) • -sai is the counter sufftJt for years of age. • na11a is the plain/abrupl past form of naru ("become") and to marks the result, so nijllhassai to natta ="became 28," which modifies atashi (a varia1ion of watashi. " Vme."' used by female speakers) ''I who became 28." • kimete ita is the past form of kimete iru ("has/have decided"), from kimeru ("decide"); o marks kono hi (''this day") as the object of her decision-what she is deciding about-and 10 marks a rata na wbidachi no hi ("a day o f new departure") as the specific content/nature of the decision-what she has decided knno hi is. • no datia is the past form of the explanatory no da.
Editor: /v? N?
" Hunh?" (PL2)
0
Sound FX: J(/!! Ban!!
Bam (effect of slamming envelope down on desk) Envelope:
~t:}:(
Jillyo
Letter of Resignation Editor:
• decha11a is a contraction of dete shima11a. lhe -te form of deru ("'come/go oUI"") and 1he p:ll>t form of shimau, which afler the -te form of a verb implies lhe action is/was regrettable/ undesirable. Hanaji ga dent as a phrase means ""gel a bloody nose·· or ··one's nose bleeds." • tis.flw is from the English word ""tissue:·
""("'?
Tehe!
(self-pitying, embarrassed laugh) /111?~-?t.: o T-f "J~;z. ~'-'?
1\-}-lfn
Hanaji
dechatta.
Tisshu
nai?
ti~~ue
not have?
no.,ehleed came out-(regret)
"My nose is bleeding. Got a tissue?" (PL2) "IJ•, -f- fJ', C. 1 C.-? h.""?ltt.: fJ', h.(J)
Editor: ofSo
so
ka,
toto
that way (?) that way (?)
finally
ka,
<
t) lv b! mitsuketa ka, Minori-krm mo!
found
(?)
(name-fam.) also
" Is that right, is that right? You finaiiY.Iound one too!" (PL2) Editor: -f 7::> of -? .:¥ 1J .:¥ 1J (f) *lit t!. t lv ~ ,. o Sorosoro
gm-gm no sen da 111011 nli. by and by/soon barely within limit of line/position is bemu'ci'>O (colloq.)
:t:;tt. b
n4
-L·~
,;~:
L-et.:
Ore mo
hibi
shinpai
wa
shite-ta
I
~vt!.!! 11
da!!
also everyday worry/anJtiety as for was doing/having (cxplan.)
"You were soon coming to the position o f being at the limit, so I, too, worried about it every day."
Minori:
" You were coming right down to the wire· not a daj' went by.Jhat it didn' t wei h on m mind." (PL2) lj: , lj: 1v 1:T fJ'. .:¥ 1J .:¥ 1J -? 1:? Na-
nan desu ko.
(stammer) what
is
gmgm
ue?
(?) barely wilhin limit (quote)
" Wh- what do ou mean-'ri bt down to the wire?"' (PL3) • -f --IJ• is an alternate spelling for -f-"'> -IJ• ('"is that so?/is that right?''); many manga artists like to use kalakana long marks instead of adding hiragana for long vowels. • mitsuketa is the plain/abrupt past form of mitsukuu ("find/discover '). • -krm, a more familiar equivalem of -san ("'Mr./Ms.'"), is used mainly wi1h male peers or subordinates, but in a corporate setting superiors use it with subordinales of both sexes. • giri-giri implies being just barely within a limit; and sen (lit., ·'Jine"') can refer to a "position/leveVtrack": giri-giri no sen ="barely within the limit/right up against the limit.'' • mon is a contraclion of mono. which after db/desu means "because it's - "; - da monno ="'because it"s - . isn't it/ right?" and elongating the na gives it a bit of a comemplativelreOecting feeling. • shinpai is a noun for "worry/concern/anxiety." and shinpai sum is its verb form ··worry/fret''; shinpai shite-ta is a contraction of shinpai shire ita ("'was worried/anxious"), pasl fonn of shinpai shire im (''am worried/anxious"); inserting wa adds emphasis. • ue here is a colloquial equivalent of the quotative phrase to iu 110 wa ("as for what you refer to as - "').
Mangajin 69
h q) IJ i~
70 Ma~ajin
llt • M inori Densetsu
~t De, shiki
Editor: "t',
l;i "' "?? wa itsu?
so ceremony as for when
"So when's the ceremony?" (PL2) Minori: .f: 1v t.t 1v t: ~ ~ tJ i -It A-!! !x -nr Sonnan
ja arinwsen!!
Onna
~
M't:> .o
q)
li
.a~
ga kaislra o
yameru
no
wa
kekkon
~U
that kind of thing
is not
woman (subj.) co./job (obj.)
~.Zi?hf.t'-''
lv"t'TiJ',
7':A7
li?
kangaerarenai
11
desu ka,
desuku
wa?
quit
l:J.?'H.:
1ga1m purpose as for marriage other than
can't think/imagine (explan.-?) man. editor/you as for
"That's not it at aU! Is marria e !! th~e,_o ~n"'l'-L'r~easo=~n!.!...l~~~==-"-'-~'-""!~=='-='-'S!=~~~ • somwn =sonno 110 = ·'a thing like thatllhat kind of thing,'' and ja orimasen is the PL3 equivalent of ja nai ("is not"); sonnanja orimosen ="it's nothing like thatfit's not that at aJVthat's not it at all.'' • tw is a nominalizer that makes the complete thoughtfsentence onna ga kaislw o yomeru ("a woman quits her company/ job") act as a single noun. and wa marks that noun as the topic (i n this case a secondary topic, after desuku). • kangaerarenai is the negative form of kangaerareru (''can think"), potential form of kangaeru ("think"). • desuku is from the English " desk": de.w ku is used in Japanese newspaper and magazine publishing as a word for ''managing editor.'' Editor: it!!!.: Hoka ni tumiko
aru
~omething
other
110
ka?
exists (explan.-'!)
" Is there something else?" (PL2)
Editor:
~,
i
A.
mnsaka,
~ iJ',
(interj.) surely not
'(} J::
c L -r
c
~ q')
ltyollo shite
II}{! q) .:. ? ano ban no koto?
could it be
that night of thjng
?
"Oh surel' it's not ... this isn' t rchance about that one oi t is it?" (PL2) ~, ~ t) ~ ~? t..: " ' ~ J:> '-'' "t', .f: q) , f.:. i t.:. i T Jv itT t!.? f.:. iJ' i? ...
*
Aarya yolla ikioi de, sono. tomo-tomo hoteru-goi (stammer) as for that got drunk impetus/impulse by (interj.) by chance hotel district
''Th- that was ·ust a drunken im u -t7J'7
c-IJ'
Sekuhara
toka
t:.~t.t<-c
ou know because we ha
dallo was
kara . .. because
ned to be in a hotel district ..•" (PL2)
.. .
ja nakute . . .
sexual harassment or something was not-and
''It wasn' t sexual harassment or an thin . .." (PL2) • masaka emphasizes a statement of disbelief/incredulity. For this use. the sentence typically ends in a negative conjecture, nai daro/desho, so that is the ending implied here: - jo twi doro ="surely it's not -/surely it can't possibly be that-." • hyouo shite (or hyo11o suru to) is used to introduce guesses/conjectures with the feeling of. "it just might possibly be that "; in a question it becomes "could it possibly be that -?'' He switches in the middle of his sentence from believing it couldn't be to wondering if maybe it could. • arya is a contraction of are wa ("as for that"). • yotta is the past form of you ("become drunk''), modifying ikioi ("i mpetus/impulse") - "drunken impulse." • sekuharo is shortened from sekuslwom harasumento. the full katakana rendering of "sexual harassment."
Minori:
~-. _q)_.. "t'i' tlL .. A- ... -no . .. de.w ne . .. (interj.) i' (colloq.)
• ono ne (or ano desu ne in PL3 speech) are used as warm-up phrases for cautioning or correcting someone when they seem to have jumped to the wrong conclusion: " now look/ hold on a minute/slow down/1 hate to say this, but . .." • chigau literally means "differs/is different,'' but often implies "is wrong/mistaken" "that's not it."
" Look, let me explain something to you ..." (PL3) Editor: '!? 1Jf -J q)? Chigau
no?
different (explan.)
"That's not it either?" (PL2)
[I)
SoundFX:
;'\"f--;;
Pachi!
Snap! (sound of snapping fingers) ~:ft. iJ'?
~t.:.R~t
*ftfl *11-'-''
q')
14
iJ'?
Wakatta!
Are ka? Fwotsuki-bun no kyiiryiJ miharai
110
ken
ko?
understood
that
of matter/case (?)
Editor : biJ'?t.:.!
q')
(?) 2 months worth (=) salary
unpaid
" I know! Is it that? Is it the matter of two months' worth of unpaid salary?"
''That must be it! It's because we feU two months behind on your salary, isn' t it?'' (PL2) • wakalla, the plain/abrupt past form of woknru ('"come to know/understand"'), is used idiomatically as an exclamation for "I know!II've got it!/J've figured it out!" • futatsuki = nikogetsu = "2 months," and -bun after a quantity means "enough for/equivalent to that much" or "that much worth.'' (cominued onnexl page)
Mangajin 71
;.; I]) IJ iii &It • M inori Densetsu ----------------------------~-~-----------------------
rr
~)J.._
t:.· t.t
7
-t "' !!
l: (i
IJ
lt t) 1) t:. IJ~ "r t:. I l ",
72 Mangajin
i (. T !
(cominuedfrom previous page)
Editor: jfHr v' -:. -r Q 7:>
.t o C: -:. <~.:
yo.
i C: cl6 -r matomete
Tokku-ni
.JitP> .ib /.., t.! -:. -r .furikmula
U
1/e
a ,h
shachii
-r t.: -t!'o
Cinko
ille mira
ille-ta
bank
try going (em ph.) long since combined together transferred (quote) co. pres. was saying (emph.)
ze.
"Try going to the bank. T he boss was saying he'd long since transferred it all to our account." (PL2) • ine is lhe -te fonn of iku ("go"). and miro is the abrupt command fonn of miru ("see/look at''): a fonn of miru after lhe -te fonn of a verb implies "try [doing the action I and see I what happens/what the situation is ]:' • matomete is the -te fonn of maromeru ("put together/combine into one"). • furikonda is the past form offurikomu ("pay by bank transfer"): matometefurikonda ="combined and paid by bank transfer"-+ "paid the combined amount by bank transfer." • ue is a colloquial equivalent of the quotative to. • iue-ra is a contraction of iue ira ("was saying"). past of iue iru, from iu ("say").
Minori: -l:>il{v'iT!
~~~
L- li
Chigainwsu.' Atashi wa
7 1J-
1.:
furii
11i
~
IJ f.:'-' t.!lt 't'T!!
naritai
dake desu!!
Vme as for free/freelance to want to become only
is different
is
''No! That's not it either. I 'ust want to o freelance!" (PL3) Minorl: 71 7- C: L- -r *-lnl: L- t~"' t.! It -c't'!! Raita
to shire dokuritSII shitai dak.e desu!! as want to stand alone/become independent only is
writer
''I just want to strike out on m own as an inde • • • •
ndent writer!" (PL3)
f urii is shone ned fromfuriiransu, lhe katakana rendering of "freelance.'' naritai is the .. want to'' fonn of naru ("become"): naritai dake = '1ust/only want to become.'' raita here is the katakana rendering of the English word .. writer.'' dokuritsu shitai is the "want to" fonn of dokuritsu suru (.. become independent'').
Narration: ~ -t i.Jq.:, Sasuga ni.
f~'*
1::
to:~
sakka
11i
naru
C:
li , LX. to: n' -:. t.: o
to u·a ienakaua. as would expect author/novelist to will become (quote) as for could not say
Still, I couldn' t bring myself to sa I was ~oing to become an author. (PL2) • sasuga ni ty pically implies that the action fits what you would expect of the person under the circumstances; here she has .l!.llexpectedly turned decisive and boldly announced that she's striking out on her own, but it fits with her underlying timidity that she can' t bring herself to publicly claim the goal of sakka. • perhaps even more than the word "author" in English. sakka refers to a composer of literary work.
Editor:
~ AJ.!,
-t /..., t.t
.:: c
Nan da,
somw
koto ka.
what is
tJ'o
that kind of thing (?)
''Oh, is that all?" (PL2) Ed.Jtor: '-'"' /i
<
lv l:~~'v', #Q)IJ lvo 4-fl 'v'-:.1!1.-' n ja nai, Minori-kun. Kongetsu ippai
good/fine (explan.) is not
(name-farn.)
C
li '-'Vi\ IJJB
to
wa iwazu.
il'~ 'Z:b o
ashita kara demo.
this month through end (quote) as for not say tomorrow from
even
"It's fine, Minori, is it not? Instead of saying [you' ll stay] through the end of this month, even from tomorrow [you can be independent]." "That should be fine, Minori. Wh wait until the end of the month? You can start tomorrow." (PL2) • nan da (literally "what is it?'') at the beginning of a sentence often expresses a feeling of let down. Here it gives the
feeling of "Oh, that's all it is," overlapping wilh lhe meaning of somra koto ka (''is it (only) that kind of lhing?"). - 11 ja nai spoken wilh the intonation of a question is literally like " it's - , is it not?'' but idiomatically it is equivalent to " it's probably/surely -··or " it should be - ." • ippai after a time word referring to a day/week/monlhlyear makes an expression for ..through lhe end of [lhe specified day/week/monlh/year]." • iwazu is equivalent to iwanaide, a negative -re form of iu ("say") -- ''instead of/rather than saying." •
Minori: li? Ha?
"Huh?" (PL3) Editor: ~ 1.: -tt 7f-i~ t.! t !v Nanise fukyo da mon
ho
AU
ne.
Jin 'in
'fel11l 't' ~to:"' t !v il' -:. "'(,
.t <
sem
yoku
dekinai mo11 ka
ue,
U-R
.: If L- -r t.: L o
shacho koboshite·ta shi.
after all recession is because(colloq.) personnel adjustment can' t do thing (?) (quote) frequently co. pres. was grumbling(cause)
"After all it's a recession. The boss has been grumbling a lot late! that he wished he could reduce staff." (PL2) • nanise is a colloquial/dialect variation of ntmiJhiro. which can take on a variety of meanings depending on its context: "at any ratc/1 mean/you know/after all." • jin'in seiri ("personnel adjustment") essentially means "staff cuts/layoffs/downsiz ing." • dekinai is the negative fom1 of dekiru ("can do"). and 111011 is a contraction of mono ("thing"), so dekinai mon ka is literally ''is it a thing that can't be done?" - • ''I wonder if it can' t be done?" (implying ''I wish it could be done/1 wish I could do it''). • yoku is the adverb form of ii/yoi ("good/fine"). here meaning "ofte n/frequently" rather than ··well." • koboshite-ta is a contraction of kobo.~hire ira ("was complaining/grumbling"), from kobosu ("complain/grumble"). • shi marks the preceding as the cause/reason for something- here. the reason he thinks Minori can quit right away.
Mangajin 73
_ __
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
JJ._:_ _:_ q):.___:_ IJ iii
1lt • M inori Dense_ts_ u_ _ _ __
~tt7
.U.i..1-
t! t;;. "(• "? ~ \
t:. 0
~ ~ ~ ~~
1 .it: 1i
t:.~h--~iiJJ
CT)tt"(·*?~~
t! tL {, "(• t: "?
t:.
74 Mangajin
-c
~
· ..1 lv J:f.
-r
t.:.:l!Y-ti>
q)~lf..:t:. t! "'? t "'(• l
"? tJ· q) •., t:. b t10 0 'I:!'L---~
i
li
tL '
_ ....
tJfl..,li'-=> -c .t. o
Editor: i, Ma,
ganbatte
yo.
UR
ti\~
1:P
Q)
Shutcho
-chii
no
~.:
<
li · J:.
shacho ni wa
~-=>
yoku
c
ittoku.
(interj.) suive hard (emph.) business uip · midst who is co. pres. to as for well will telVspeak
"WeU, good luck. I wiJJ speak well to the boss who is on a business trip." "Well, good luck. I'll pass tbe word on to tbe boss when he gets back from his business tri " (PL2) Mlaori: L., ~~L LiT! Shi-
shitsurei shimasu!
(stammer) rudeness
will do
"G-IOOdbye!" (PL3) • ma (or mQ) is a verbal "wann-up'' word that often has no equivalent in English-though sometimes words like ··weiIII mean/you know" work as equivalents. • ganbatte is the -te fonn of ganbaru ("be dogged/persistent/unflagging" in the face of a challenge). The -te fonn is often used as a cheer in athletic competitions, imply ing "strive hard/give it your all," and in much the same manner, the editor is offering Minori encouragement/wishing her good luck in her new challenge. • the suffix -chii means "during/in the midst of," so shutcho-chii ="[in the midst of being] on a business trip." • ittolcu is a contraction of itte oku ("will go ahead and tell"), from iu ("say/tell"). • shitsurei is literaiJy "rudeness/bad manners," and shimasu is the polite fonn of suru (''do"), so the expression essentially means "I will do/commit a rudeness." This is a polite way to take one's leave, like saying "excuse me," and in many formaVpolite contexts it's the proper way to say "goodbye."
Editor: i> - It', 7 Oi,
1)
-7 1 ~- 0
.:.
furii raitii.
(interj.)
" He
r;f!t±J
tL
(J)
:if!
Q)
Kore "taisha" no tai no
freelance writer
wisha
this
*i
~ t;t '? "'( 6 ji machigatte-ru
in rai for kanji
is wrong
freelance writer ! The kan 'i for tai in taisha is wrong." (PL2)
-t"--? !! :of (cmph.)
• forii raitii is shortened fromfuriiransu raitii (from the English "freelance writer"). • taisha is written with kanji meaning "withdraw" and "company" ·'resign [from a company).'' • machigatte-ru is a contraction of machigatte iru ("is wrong/mistaken"), from machigaeru (''make a mistake/goof up"). • zo is a rough, masculine particle for emphasis.
[!) . Narration:
'T 7-
-r
Kechi
th
~ ;t ~ 1t' ~l± t!.-=> t:. o saenai
knisha
datto.
worthless is/was-and depressing company was It was a cbea~pressing company. (PL2)
~Hrlmft
.=:-T$
HalcJW-busii sanzenbu circulation
Q)
i$ift 1'£W-
~
no
yoshu gyokni
-shi
~ ;;1.1
/1: ~'-?? t.-c ~'itl.."'Cv>t..: o
o
mein ni 3,000 count that is/has liquor industry magazine (obj.) main as
knrojite
keiei shite ita.
barely
was conducting business
With a liquor industry magazine having a total circulation of 3 000 as its mainstay, it was just barel!
IIUlDalin& to stay afloat.
(PL2)
• when describing people. kechi is a noun referring to a lack of generosity, "stinginess/meanness,'' but in this case, it has more the meaning of "smaWworthless/cheap." • son~Di is the negative form of saeru (''be clear/sharplmasterfuVsuccessful") _, ''be dull/depressing/ineffectual/unsuccessful." • hakklJ ="publication," and busii ="number of copies," so hakkO-busii refers to "number of copies published"- " total circulation." -Bu is a counter suffix for copies of a newspaper or magazine. • yijshu, literally •·w estern/European liquor/wine," is a generic tenn for all kinds of alcoholic beverages introduced to Japan from the West, including wine and beer as well as distilled liquors like whiskey, brandy, vodka, g in. etc. • karojite ="barely/narrowly/with great difficulty." • keiei is a noun referring to the ownership and management/running of a business, and keiei shite ita is the the past fonn of keiei shite iru ("is running a business''), from the verb keiei suru ("run a business"); karojite keiei shite iru ="is barely running the business" - " is barely staying afloat."
Narration:
~t.:.
L li
-t.:.
'"t:'
f!9~'b
Q)
rJJ,
.:. ~-?tJ,:btLt.:.
Atashi wa soko de yonen mo no aida, lime
Q'>f!.-=>t.:.o
koki-tsukawareta
110
datta.
as for there at a fuU 4 years of period was worked hard/exploited (explan.)
I worked like a slave there for a full four years. (PL2) 'tCJHft -r 1£1!!1i ~' ~ Jv;f-, 1 /~ ~;~.- ITc"$ Yasu-gekkyii de kikaku kara
rupo,
low/cheap pay at planning from reponing
For next to nothin
Jntabyi"i
1nterv1ew
i"(',
f.l:!v"(''b
~l?~tL-c~t.:.
Q)f!. "? t.:. o
made,
nandemo
yarasarete kira
no datto.
anicles as far as everything
was made to do
(ex plan.)
kiji
I had done everything, from planning to reporting to interviews. (PL2)
• mo after a quantity implies that amount is a lot, so yonen nw ="all of 4 years/4 entire years": no makes this a modifier for aida ("timespan/period") - · " a period of 4 full years." • koki-tsukawareta is the past form of koki-tsukawareru, which is the passive form of koki-tsulwu ("drive/work !someone! hard''). • rupo is shortened from ruporutiiju, the full Japanese rendering of the French reportage ("reporting/reportage"). • yarasarete is the -te fonn of yarasareru ("be made to do"), the causative passive fonn of yaru ("do"). and kita is the plain/abrupt past form of kuru ("come"); kuru after the -te fonn of a verb often implies movement toward the speakerhere a movement in time from the past up to the present.
Mangajin 75
JJ.
.1>.1> '7B'd: I? ~ I it tt b l, 7" ""(• 'd:
tLGT:>o~l,
t.:' '.it 'i "'?
tg
~G7) 0
76 Mangajin
"'?
t:::.
G7)
(J)
IJ
i~
ilt • Mino ri Densetsu
Minori:
~ G9 -
, .: :11., o- /
kR!O iT?
An6, (interj.)
kore, ron kumemasu? this loan can assemble/lake out "Excuse me, can a loan be taken out for this?"
"Excuse me, can I buy this on credit?" (PL3) • ano is a hesitation word simiJar to " uhh/um.'' It's often used to get someone's attention, essentially like " Excuse me." • kumemasu is the polite form of kumeru, which is the potential ("can/be able to") form o f the verb kumu (''put together/ assemble.'' or when speaking of a loan, "take out/draw up"). In this case, kumemasu? = kumemasu ka?
Salesman: b 1?-? lv ! + lnl
It
1 1: OK !
Mochiron! Jukkai made of course ten times up to
- -Iff 'iC :11. -r 1.>
~Hi
J:!
ichiban urere-ru kis/111
yo!
• -kai is a counter for " times/occasions." and when speaki ng o f loans it re fers to the number of times pay ments will be made -+ " installments." • mega rakai (lit., "eye is high") is an expression for "have d iscerning j udgment/good taste." • urete-ru is a contraction of urete iru ("is selling"), from urem ("[something] sells"): ima ichiban urere-m is a complete thought/sentence ("[it] is selling most now") modifying kishu (''model'') ..... ·' it' s the best-selling model right now."
Minori:
=+ ... Nijii.. . 20
li'.i,
:=+@I
:tl,~i' 1.: 1l I') i-ttlv? ie, sanjukkai -barai n i narimasen? no 30-inslallment payments to won't it become
"Can't you make it 20 ••• no. 30 Installments?" (PL3) Salesman: li? Ha?
"Huh?" (PL3) • -barai is from harai (h changes to b for euphony). a noun form of harau ("pay"): a number plus -kai-barai is the term for stating how many installments a loan must be paid off in. • narimasen is the polite form of naranai (' 'not become''), negative of naru ("become"). Spoken as a question it LiteraJiy means "won't it become - ?" but here this is actually an indirect way of asking ·'can't you make it - ?" • l:i? spoken as a question is a polite/formal " huh?/what's that?/excuse me?"
liT!!
• onegai sllima.w is literally a polite " I request it [of you 1." often essentially eq uivalent to "please Ido the aforementioned action]." • iya is literally " no: · but can serve merely as a kind of hesitation word. like ""well/er/that is:·
Onegai shimasu!! (hon.)-request do
" Please!" (PL3) Salesman:
If' ,
~,,~,
Li.P L .. .
1iya, shikashi . . . (stammer) no/well but
" W- well, but . . ."
Minori:
.Bili~i'
L ;t T!
~ 1l t~
t.: It
1Jf
Ill 1J
l:i"!
Onegai shimasu! Anata dake ga tayori desu! (bon.)-request do you only/alone (subj.) reliance/hope is/are
"Please! You' re m onl bo !" (PL3) Mlnori: ~ 1l t~ G9 ~ ~ L "' V t -g -IJf, 11! !f. 1:
a-
;~ .0 j(iAH'F* ~~ ~ -tt 1.> ~' b Lt1.1l P G9 .t ! ! Anata no yasashii hitokoto ga, rekislli ni nokoru j oryii sakka o tanjli saseru kmno shirenai 110 yo!! you 's kind one word (subj.) histOrY in will remain woman author (obj.) give birth may possibly (explan.) (emph.)
''One kind word from you could give birth to a woman author whose name will go down in history!" (PL2) • tayori = "reliance''-i.e., the person or thing one is relying upon for some purpose - • " hope.'' • rekishi ni nokoru ("[she/her name] will remain in history'') modifies jor:ni sakka (' 'woman author"') -+ " a woman author who will remain/go down in history." • tanjo is a noun for "birth," and tanjii saseru is the causative ("cause to be") form of the verb tanjo suru ("be born''); kamo shirenai ="might/may possibly." so tanjo saseru ka1110 shirenai is Literally ·•may possibly cause to be born.'' .to~ I: :H·:d~ '7-7' o li, ~ t..:LG9 }t't-tf G9 ~C:>bh f!. ..:d.:. 0 Nakenashi no oka11e de kaua wiipuro wa, arashi 110 kak~go 110 armrare datU/, small quantity of money with bought word processor as for my commllment of manifestation/symbol wa~
Narration: 1lltf.l:lG9
The word processor I bought with what little money I had gave concrete shape to my commitment. (PL2) • nakenashi 110 is used when speaking of one's meager cash/possessions: ··what little - one has:· • kaua is the plain/abrupt past form of kau ("'buy""); nakenashi 110 okane de kaua i~ a complete thought/sentence ("[I) bought it with what li ttle mo ney I had'') modifying wiipuro ("word processor," shortened from wiido pumsessii. the full Japanese rendering of the Eng lish te rm). Wiipuro in Japanese usuall y refers to dedicated word-processing equipment with built-in software and a primer rather than to a software application for use on an a ll-purpose computer.
Mangajin 77
;.,. (!)
W'-' "? 1: -r A,
(J) 0
78 Mangajin
IJ
i~
llt • Minori Densetsu
Narration: b 1 ~c~l) li Mo ato-modori wa now
l~"'o
-~
shinai.
lssho kono hito
::..tl) A
c
i~"'clfo
to
soi-togeru
lvf!o 11 da.
backslide as for won't do em ire life this person with will live together until death (explan.)
There was no turning back. I would Uve out the r est of m life with this rson. (PL2) i .0-c' ~~ (J) J: 11: lt~lflj: I*~ -r ~t.: l li q~Jt >a: 1-l:}._nf.: (J)f! ..::d.:o Marruie niiz.uma
yo ni ke11age 11a ketsui
110
just like new bride of
like
brave
de atashi wa kare o te 111 ~reta Ume as for him/partner (obj.) acquired
no datto.
decision with
(explan.)
ust like a new brid I had bra vel taken the lun e a nd ac uired for m self a new a rtner. (PL2) FX: T I'J -t I'J Suri suri
Nuzzle nuzzle (effect of lovingly nuzzling her cheek against the word processor carton) • soi-togeru means '"live together as man and wife until parted by death"; to marks the person with whom one will live. • mnrude introduces a statement of like ness. such as mitai or yo da ("'is like''). giving the meaning ·'just/exactJy like - :· Here we have the adverb form, yo ni. indicating a like manner - ''[do the action] as if I were - /like - would." • kare is actually a pronoun for ''he/him." but it is also used colloquially as a common noun meaning "bQyfriend," and in this case she is extending it to mean " bridegroom/spouse.'' • te ni ireta is the past form of ze ni ireru (''obtain/acquire"; literally "put/take into [one's] hand"). 0 marks kare as the direct object of this verb. MiSIItenaide
IViipuro-cha11! 1
ne.
Futari de shimrase 11i naro!
don't abandon-(rcque\t) (colloq.) word processor-(dimin.)
together
let'~
become happy
" Please don ' t abandon me, my little Word Processor. Together we'll be happy." (PL2) • misutenaide is a negative -re form of misw eru ("abandon/desert/wa lk out on/leave in the lurch"); the -te form of a verb often makes a relatively abrupt request or gen tle command, and a negati ve -te form makes it a negative request/command: "(please) don't - ." • -chan is a diminutive equivalent of -san ("Mr./Ms.") most typically u~ed with the names of children or among close adult friends. Except among children. adding -chan to the names of inanimate things generally has a humorous effect. but here it is essentially an extension o f her bridegroom metaphor. • shiawase =''happiness,'' and naro is the volitional (''let's!! shall") form o f nan1 ("become''), so shiawase 11i naro= ''let's become happy.''
Landlady:
~ t;, , #(J) I'J ~ ~ lv, Ara. Minori-cha11,
.t311J t) o
• ara is a feminine interjection showing sudden awareness o r surprise, "oh !/oh my!/goodness!" (interj.) (name-
0
f!f -? -ct.: Malle-ta
Landt ad
okaeri.
** ...
f) ~ "? /v o .t3oV.>'t' t 1! Minori-clum. Omedetii! Hoho ...
(J)
J:, h- (J)
110
yo,
was waiting (explan.) (em ph.) (namc-dimin.)
congratulations (fern. laugh)
" I was waiting for you Mino ri. Congratula tions! Ha ha . .." (PL2) Minori:
~?
£? " Huh?" (PL2) • maue-ta is a contraction of mane ita. past form of moue iru ("am/is/are waiting"). from matsu ("wait"). • omedeto (go::.aima.w ) is a congratulatory phrase/greeting used for a wide variety of joyful/auspicious occasions.
M inori: J:
<
Yoku
::·;{f t, go-z.onji
b., 13lf ~ lv o
=- 'l /~f-
~' ':>
~ i t}
oV.>-c't~
It t 'o
ne,
Nippachi da kara
amari
medetaku mo nai
kedo.
Obasan.
(surprise) (hon.)-know (colloq.) aunt/auntie
Landlad
28
t!
am because very much not partkularly joyous
but
" How did you know, Obasan? S ince I'm 28, it's not r eally all tha t j oyous, but .. ." (PL3-4; PL2) ~ 1: §-? -c A(J)o Nani what
itten
110.
are saying (explan.-?)
" Ob, nonsense!" (PL2) • yolw at the beginning of a semence can express surprise/amazement at the action/behavior mentioned; go-zonji (tkz/ desu) is a PL4 honorific equivalent of shille iru (''know''), so yoku go-z.onji = ''I'm urprised you know''- "how did you know?" • nippachi (from ni. 2. and hachi, 8; h changes to -pp for euphony) can refer to the 2nd and 8th months (February and August). which have traditionally been thought of together because they are slow business months, but here she's \ISing it to refer to her age. 28. (continued on next page)
Mangajin 79
ih
\
80 Mangajin
(J) 1! 1~ ~
• M inori Densetsu
------~---------
liD (COirlillllfti)
OJ
• medewktuwi is the negative form of 111edetai ("joyous/auspicious"; omederiJ comes from this word); inserting mo give emphasis like ··not even joyous·· or ··not at all joyous." but this is te mpered by amari. wh ich before a negati ve means .. not very much" - "not reall y all that joyous." • iuen is a contraction of ille im (""is/are ~aying""): nani ille im no? is literally ..what are you saying?'" but idiomatically it often implies ··nonsense/don't be ridiculous...
Landlad
28 Nijlihachi
f!.-?1:
J\j-
(j ~f..:l?f.l\.•'
tJ
.t o
~.f.>~
dalle
bacili
wa
wa
yo.
Naosara
even if you are punishment us for
28
ataranai
I? lhl:f::.lt'
won' t hit (fern. colloq.) (ernph.) all the more
l:~~lt' (J)o
medetai
ja nai
no.
joyous
is not
(explan.)
"There's no (!!lnishment fol" being 28. In fact, it makes it all the more joyous." (PL2) • dtme is used as a colloquial equivalent of mo ("'even/too/also"') or de mo ("even if he/she/it is" or "even if welyoultlley are"'}--here the latter. • bachi is '"divine punishment'": bachi (ga) ataru (lit., '"punishment hits [you]") means "be punished" or "get what you deserve,'" and bachi (wa) ataranai is the expression's negative fonn. • ja nai no literally asks "isn't it the case tllat -?"'; but it's a purely rhetorical question that is actually a fairly strong assertion. • Minori meant it wasn't particularly joyous to be gaining her independence at the ripe age of28. The landlady thinks Minori's getting married. and that Minori is saying it's not particularly joyous to get married at that age, which is three years past the traditional "deadline" for young women to get married in Japan. So she contradicts Minori, essentially implying that it is especially joyous when an unmarried woman so far past the ideal age is still able to get married. Unmarried women past tlle age of 25 have long been compared to unsold Christmas cakes after the 25th of Decemberimplying they are of little value and hard to sell in the marriage marketplace. But the actual average age for a woman's flfSt marriage in Japan has apparently been rising in recent years and is now over 26. i::.'~·.1~o
Landlad.r: (jt,'! Hai!
Takknlbin.
here deli verc(l package
" Here! This was delivered today," (PL2) Sound FX:
~· :A
..;
Dosu!
Thump Minori: -) ~-:> Upu!
"Qor• • rakkyt7bin is a generic term for "package delivery service" and it can also be used to refer to the package that is delivered.
Landlady: # £Ji Suginae
Fusa
tte
Minori-chan no okiisan
(surname) (given name)(quote) (name-dirnjn.) "~e
!f./.i' C.
Landlad
Sosii 10
·s
desha?
mother is. isn' t she/right?
Fusa is our mother ri ht?" (PL2-3) *t~ b .t, ~:tL ~dJ.. ~-~!! kita
wa
yo,
konrei
kagu dai-ichigo!
?,uickly/without delay came (fern. coiiO
No. I
'It's alread a rrived-the first item of wedding furniture!" (PL2) • tte here is a colloquial equivalent of the quotative phrase 10 iuno wa ("as for the one called - "). • desho (or deshO) literally makes a conjecture ("'probably/surely is"'), or with a rising intonation, a conjectural question. Often it's a purely rhetorical questio n that expects the listener to confirm the conjecture: "isn't it so?/right?'" • si5sii to basically implies that the action takes place '"as soon as [something] begins/occurs"- "early/quickly/without delay''; kira is the plain/abrupt past form of kuru ("come"). so soso to kita here implies ·'[it I came as soon as the plans were made." • ~ dai before a number is like ''No. - :· The counter suffix -go is also most typically equivalent to "No."'
Minori:
~...
Kon-
"Wed "
Landlady:
c.·u-~~! !
Dohyli! (exclarn.)
" Goodness gracio~us! !" (PL2) • tlle bundle contained a complete set of f utoll bedding; the futon cover prominently featuring cranes, a symbol of longevity and good luck, makes it very obviously a wedding set. A typical futon set includes two heavy cotton shikibwon ("underfuton" •·mattress": in combinations./changes to b for euphony) and one lighter kokebwon ("'over-futon•· - •·quilt"') .
Mangajin 81
i-f. (J) I) i~
82 Mangajin
tilt • Minori Densetsu
-----------------------
Landlady: .:. I) ~' I) Korya,
"? li'~
~ lv
rippa na
mon
as for this
fine
t!. J: ! ~ "? li' I) da yo! Yappari
~ ":)-"'{ ~
~ q)
motsu-beki
~tl
11
t!.
tl .r. 0
morro wa haha-oya da
thing/merchandise is (emph.) after all should have/possess thing as for mother
ne.
is (colloq.)
"This is a to • ualit futon. Yes indeed one thin no one should be without is a mother." (PL2) • -beki after a verb can variously mean "can/should/must"; motsu-beki ="should have/possess," and motsu-beki mono is literally "a should-possess thing"--+ "something you should possess/something you shouldn' t be without."
Minori: -t",
-fl)~il;,,
So-
soryii,
mrn
!il~'
fJf
futon ga hoshii
-?"t" Q.t.!.-?t.:. tte
nedatta
.:.t
fJt il;, -? t.:.
~tt',
koto
ga
kedo,
yori ni yotte.
konna .. .
but
of all things
this kind of
atta
(stammer) as for that futon (obj.) want (quote) wheedled thing/situation (subj.) existed
J: IJI:J:-?"t",
.:/..,~ ..
.
''I· it's t rue tha t I once told her I wanted a new futon but of a ll things, [she sends a futon se!] like this?" (PL2) • sorya (or sory•ii) is a contraction of sore wa, "as for that'': it's sometimes used like this as a ·'warm up'' phra e with the idiomatic meaning of "of course/it's true that/it goes without saying that." • nedatta is the past form of nedaru ("ask/beg/wheedle''). Tte, a colloquial equivalent of the quotative to, marks the specific content o f the request, so fu ton ga hoshii tte nedatta is literally ''I asked/begged her, 'I want a futon."' ''I told her I wanted a futon." • koto ga arta is the past form of koto ga ant, which after the past form of a verb implies "[Usomeone) once Idid the action]" "I once told her I wanted a new futon." ~
Landlady: il? t.:. l
Q. .r.' # 11e,
Atashi mo I
q) I)
t, ~A, 1J<
Minori-chan ga
~' fJ'i'{~*
1: ~ J.,
A,
ika;.u-goke
ni naru
11
also (colloq.) (name-dimin.) (subj.) unmanied widow/old maid will become (explan.)
~~i,)f ~
•L·~l-U.:.
A-t.!.
J: 0
kage-nagara shinpai shite-ta n da
yo.
secretly
was worried
"I had secretl been wo f.!.-?'"(,
(explan.) (emph.) 'ng,_you know ~t~h~ a~ t ~~~=-~
il;,/d.:., 30 ~~f.:. ~
1t'ltf1~*
anta, sanjii koetara
ikezu-goke
Datte, after all/1 mean
you
30
t.: ~ ~ ~' i.l' t ja nai ka
to
is it not?
(quote)
as an old maid." (PL2)
J: >to
yo.
if surpass unmarriageable widow/old maid (emph.)
"After all, Minori dear, once you pass thirty you' re an old maid for good." (PL2) • ikazu is equivalent to ikanai, the negative form of iku ("go"), and goke ="widow"; ikazu-goke literally implies "a woman who became a widow without ever getting to be a bride." • shinpai shite-ta is a contraction of shinpai shite ita ("was worried/had been worrying''), from rhe verb shinpai suru ("worry"); - n ja nai ka to shinpai suru = ''worry whetber itll/you might not -" --+ "worry rhat itll/you might - .'' • koetara is a conditional ("if/when") form of koeru ("surpass"); sanjii koetara ="when/once you pass 30." • ikezu is equivalent to ikenai, tbe negative of the potential verb ikeru (''can go"), so ikezu-goke implies "a woman who becomes a widow because she can 't get married''-i.e.. a woman destined to remain unmarried forever.
La ndJady: 't' ~
~,
Demo sa, but
sc·C.·
U' t f!.o ·;; Jv n ;t., Obasan mo hiro-anshi11 da. Tsurukame,
.: h 't' .i:>lf~ A- ~ kore de
(colloq.) this with
auntiefl
also brief relief
'JJv n ;t.! tsurukame!
is crane&tortoise c ranc&tortoisc
" But ou know with this I can heave a si h of r elief. Knock on wood knock on wood!" (PL2)
FX: ti 1:> 1J Horori (tears of joy falling) • tsuru = "crane," and kame= " tortoise." both of which are considered symbols of longevity and good luck: tsurukame rsurukame is used as a formula/chant to ward off bad luck.
Minori: ~-
~1:
i.l{
Na-
nani
ga
':IJvn;t. tsurukame
J:,
.i:>li'~A-!
n/t,tJ<~t'
l~'-'''t'
J:!!
yo,
Obasan!
Karrchigai
shinaide
yo!
(stammer) what (subj.) cranc&tortoise (is-empb.) aunt/auntie misunderstanding don't do-(rcquest) (emph.)
' 'Knock on wood my foot! Don' t lump to conclusions, Obasan!" (PLI -2) • nani ga - yo (nani ga - da for males), where the blank is fi lled with something the other person said, strongly takes issue with the statement: "What kind of nonsense is - ?!What do you mean by - ?/- my foot!"
• name can be considered a colloquia l equivalent of nado ("a thing like"), or of an entire phrase like nado to iu kotolmono wa (literally. "something that is a thing like - "). It's often used to belittle the preceding as trivial/out of the question/ unthinkable." • yamera is the past form of yameru ("stop/qu it''), which when written with this kanji specifically means ''quit work/resign from office." Dokuritsu shiro is the past form of dokttritsu .wru ("become independent").
To be continued . . . Mangajin 83
Yarikuri Company by li L., t
t
~' b
s • Hashimoto lwao
0
)
'
© Hashimoto lwao. All rights reserved. First published in Japan in 1996 by Futabasha. Tokyo. English translation rights arranged through Futabasha.
Title: iJF1iJ Haiku
nHr RyokiJ
Haiku Journey • haiku ryoko conjures the image of a trip taken for the purpose of writing haiku (a three-line poem with lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables) at the various places along the way--especially places that are already famous.
OJ Sound FX: \
[I] Sound FX:
84 Mangajin
Kore this
**0)
l:: -:; 711~1i] ... lj: lv 1? ~-? ga honto no hitchi haiku. . . Nanchatte.
Yarikuri: .:: tt tJf
(subj.)
true
-r o
hitch haiku/hitchhike
just kidding
"Now this is true hitchhaikuing..• Just kidding." (PL2) Driver: ~It
.to
Aruke yo. walk (emph.}
;'{-
Pa
Ho-onk (sound of horn)
I
[II
7f-
Ga Roar (sound of truck engine)
"Walk." ''Get out and walk." (PL2) • honto is a noun for " truth," and since no makes nouns into modifiers, honto no= "true - ." • the Japanese rendering of "hitchhike/hitchhiking" is ~ -:; 1-1' 1 ~ hitchi haiku, and that allows the pun with haiku (the poem). • Mnchatre·comes from nante itte shirrume, in which nante (a colloquial 110do to) implies the preceding statement is ridiculous/silly/unbelievable, and itte shimatte is the -te form of itte shima11 (iu, "say" + shimau indicating an unintended/regrettable action). A speaker may tack this expression onto something he has said, as a way of saying he's not really serious/just kidding; or a listener may respond with this expression to imply disbelief. • aruke is the abrupt command form of aruku ("walk"); yo is often used to emphasize commands.
Yarikuri Company by t;t. L., t c 1.' h :B • Hashimoto lwao
~''~
,l.
)) ) ) ) ) l
t. .....:7
© Hashimoto lwao. All rights reserved. First published in Japan in 1996 by Futabasha. Tokyo. English translation rights arranged through Futabasha.
Title:
<~
q-; ~
Kuma no Su
Spider's Web • su refers to any kind of animal's home, "nest/den/lair/web."
FX:
~7
y arikuri: b-:> ! Waf
~7
{exclam.)
Hira hira
Flutter nutter (effect of butterfly flying) • hira hira represents the effect of something light, thin, and soft
;\ -5' ;\ -5' Bata bata
Flap flap (effect of butterfly flapping desperately) Yarikuri: if.> - a;, 7 ~ q-; 1: n' ~ 1 -:> t:> ~ -:> -co
*
A-a,
kuma no ito
{interj.)
spider 's threads in became entangled-{regret)
ni
karamatchatte.
"Oh no, it got caught in a spider's web." (PL2) ;\1J~ t":>J:~t":>J: o
chocho.
foolish
butterfly
FX:
~7 ~7
Gura gura
Wobble wobble (effect of moving in an unstable way)
fluttering/swaying/falling gently.
Baka na
''Yikes!"
"Dumb butterfly." (PLI ) • li-a is a sigh/interjection of disappointment or lament, like "oh well/oh no/too bad/what a shame." • ito= "thread," so kumo no ito is literally "spider's thread(s)." • karamatchatte is a contraction of karamatte shimatte, from karamaru ("become entangled") and shimau, which after the -re form of a verb implies the action is/was regreuable/undesirable. • chocho ("butterfly") is often shortened to chOcho in colloquial speech.
FX: :J-5' ;<. 7 :J7 1\7 }ita bata )ita bata
Wriggle flap wriggle flap Man: A q-; .:: C t;t iii :Z.Iv Hito
no koto
wa
ien
t~7:> o
daro.
person about thing as for can't saysurely/probably
"Surely you can't speak about other people." "You shouldn't be talking about others." (PL2) • jitabata represents flapping one's arms and legs about and/ or wriggling and writhing to try to escape from something/ someone-i.e., a desperate struggle to regain control or freedom. • ien is a contraction of ienai ("can' t say/speak"). negative of ieru, which is the potential ("can/be able lo") form of iu ("say"). • daro is a shortened daro, which makes a conjecture ("surely/probably"), but in this case it's a strongly assertive conjecture.
Mangajin 85
pop japanese
Let Them Eat Barley ere are more artifacts unearthed dunno what to say"). Others felt the same way , since the s illy during my archeological dig into popular Japanese slang from the expression tondemo happun ( lv 1: >b 1 ~ ·;; -;1 /, of which a very free Postwar Era. Corrections and comments are welcome. translation might be " I mean, how 1950 was one of the many years in off the wall can you get?") entered which comic Tony Tani was on a roll, the language that year and sti ll spouting catch phrases like 0 pops up at times when truth seems much stranger than fiction . misuteiku! ("Oh, mistake!"-a phrase first uttered in September by a crimi1951 brought Japan one year nal as he was arrested). With the new c loser to the end of the Occupadecade , Japan 's media, like tion, yet the influence of America was undiminished. By now it was America's, shifted its attention from the moralistic platitudes of discredclear that in social-policy matters, ited gray eminences to the consumthe Occupation was o n a gyakuerist whims of apple-cheeked tiin 'ejli kosu (i!l! :::1 - :A, "reverse course"), ( T 1 - / .J:. - :J -t - , "teenagers"). but that did not prevent large Economically, it was a good time to numbers of Japanese from feeling work in industries whose names were pai ned asto n is h ment when written with kanji characters containDouglas MacArthur, who a s ing kane-hen (~ 1M, the metal radical, Supr eme Comma nder of the i.e., steelmaking) or ito-hen (:kd/il, the Occupation forces had stood tall thread radical, meaning textiles). On before their emperor, was fired by by William Marsh the literary front, 1950's equivalent to President Harry Truman. The The Bridges of Madison County was general's famous eulogy to himOoka Shohei's Musashino Fujin, a novel in which the wife of self ("old soldiers never die, they just fade away"), delivered a jealous aristocrat falls in love with her servant. before Congress, entered Japanese as "Rohei wa shinazu, tada The lives of Koreans who'd lingered in Japan after their kiesaru nomi." (A one-liner equally prized by Japan-hands homeland ceased to be a Japanese colony in 1945 grew allegedly surfaced on a Tokyo placard in support of the great immensely more complicated on June 25, 1950. Forces from man's presidential aspirations: " We play for MacArthur's the Soviet- occupied sector of Korea (north of the erection.") sanjiihachido sen, 38&1Ji!, or 38th parallel) invaded the south1951 was also the year when Japanese adopted from ern sector where US troops were dug in. The economy revved English the expressions piiliru ( !:::" - 7 - Jv, "PR"-public up as Japan became the c hief US supply base for this civil relations) and nairon (-T 1 o /, "nylon"). war that split families and pitted the Communist bloc against The hit novel of 1951 was Santo-jiiyaku, or Third-Rate the capitalists. (The reddo pliji, or Red Purge, of Communist Executive, by Genji Keita. Japan's perennial oversupply of Party members from their jobs by General MacArthur had same assured that the tag santo-jiiyaku c=: ~ 11Hli) stuck and begun in May and would eventually result in the dismissal became all the rage. Nor was there a shortage of punsters or of over I, I00 teachers and government workers, not to trend-watchers. In 1951 they began to cannibalize the immemention over 10,000 workers in the private sector.) diate past for inspiration, recycling shayo-zoku (~Ht6~. the As for those Japanese on the other side of the issue, it would "setting-sun tribe," Dazai Osamu's famous 1947 label for the seem that the prospect of largesse begat arrogance. Asked by dying aristocratic class) as shayo-zoku (t±Jfl Jm, the "companya reporter to comment on the high price of rice, a conservative business tribe," referring to good old boys who, then as now, politician blurted: "BinbOnin wa mugi o kue!" (~/:f--A li shamelessly ran up huge tabs on their expense accounts). Another variation on a theme was to refer to buses manned ~ ~ jt ;t, "Let the poor eat barley!"). Perhaps this notorious fat cat had plumped himself out by tsumami-gui (-:::> i J.J. :ft only by the driver as wanmankli, a swipe at Prime Minister It', "eating with his fingers"), which is the sly way to refer to Yoshida Shigeru, who so dominated Japanese politics that from dipping into the public cookie jar and stuffing one's cheeks 1949 on his rivals and critics spoke disparagingly of wanman with the tastiest morsels. Caught in the act, the pol would have ( '7 / ? / , "one-man") rule. do ne well to ape the droll drawl of comic author Bunroku Shishi, whose 1950 observation on the state of things in William Marsh (marshbi/@gol.com) is a freelance writer general was: "Ware honma ni yo iwan wa" ("I most assuredly based in Tokyo.
H
92 Mangajin
c
