In search of KOSO

Can I be honest with you folks? Really honest? Like really, really honest? I don't want to do this post. I hate KOSO. You can't translate it. You have to sort of stumble around feelings and notions that exist to an English speaker, but don't necessarily have a precise way to term it. And that, folks, is why it's a pain in the ass to learn Japanese.

But, let's get into anyway, shall we?

You probably know KOSO from こちらこそ which sort of sucks because it's not the most exact of term. It's pretty unhelpful in learning the grammar point, in my not very humble opinion, but I'm going to go over it anyway.

So, my textbook says that KOSO means "to express emphasis". That means that こちらこそ is trying to emphasize the place over by you. People usually translate it as "I should be the one saying that" because it's used in response to things like どぞよろしく. It's meant to let you know that you specifically are the one who should be saying something. But, since I didn't think this would be that helpful, I painstakingly searched through my mangas for a better example (read: picked up one volume and got lucky).

But first, a little enka, because I don't put enough of it on this blog (read: any). It is still an incredibly popular art form, especially since the majority of Japan's population are seniors (the only people who watch it). You can even take enka lessons, and then impress your friends at karaoke. It's very hard not to find an enka program playing in the evenings in Japan, though in my experience it's usually blaring from the televisions of elderly women who can't hear very welll. So, I'm pleased to present Mizuhara Hiroshi, one of the earlier enka singers. I'd love to blab a bit more about enka, but really, wikipedia knows more than I do.

[If you want to hear me sing enka, let me know... I'll think about maybe posting one... possibly...]

The name of the song is Kimi Koso Wagainochi. Putting what I said into practice, it means that there is emphasis in this song! Emphasis on the "you" as a matter of fact! But... it doesn't translate.... here is what I have:

• You in our life.

It's not there, is it? Also, I italicized the wrong word. Well, that's because English speakers think differently, and I have a strong suspicion that for us, "our" is the more important word to that sentence.  But I'll explain it better in just a moment.

The way you use KOSO is:

• Noun +  こそ

• If you don't find this particularly helpful, just think of it as a particle that can only be used with a noun. So wherever the noun you want to emphasize in a sentence is, you put the KOSO.

Whereas we usually use adverbs to indicate emphasis on verbs, and adjectives for nouns, Japanese sort of has a catch all that only works when put with a noun. But let's go on a deeper search to figure this grammar point out.

Now, if you want to talk about pop culture, this is it. Neon Genesis Evangelion has been around since 1996, and it is the most influential animes of its generation, if not all time. It is constantly parodied. People constantly make homages to it. It spawns more merchandise than you can dream of, even fifteen years after its inception. In short, Eva is one of the great cultural cornerstones of Japanese society, and that is pretty close to being understatement. The anime deals with themes of adolescence, bearing the sins of previous generations, degeneration in social ties, neglect, modernity... the list goes on and on... 

It also has one of the most nuanced characters to ever exist in fiction. I also absolutely mean it when I say that Shinji Ikari is one of my most favorite characters ever conceived. He is a flawed character in every sense of the word, and yet he is the only character who even makes an attempt to better himself. Through it all, he is constantly berated by his peers, his superiors, and his own inner demons, and yet he continues to live and fight. His bravery is labeled cowardice, and accused of being incapable of love when it's denied by all the people he tries to give it too. I guess I just really love misunderstood characters.

But today is not about Shinji Ikari, nor is necessarily about Eva. No, it will be about the sentence you can't make out in the speech bubble up there. 

• レイの笑顔こそ本当に誰も見たことないわ
• Rei no egao koso hontou ni daremo mita koto nai wa.

This is taken from volume three of the manga, and I do apologize about the quality. The scanner is downstairs on a computer that takes forever to boot up, whereas I am currently upstairs and my camera is sitting next to my monitor. Can you blame me?

Before I go into explaining the sentence, it would probably be good for me to talk about the scene before it. Shinji and his legal gaurdian, Misato, meet Rei on the street. She is very cold to them and walks away, and Shinji wonders why she hates him. Misato responds with the grammar point. 

I think the first thing to do is just translate the sentence without the KOSO.

• No one has seen Rei's smiling face.

Okay. We know that KOSO means emphasis. I think in English, we would emphasize this sentence with a "never", or say "no one" heavily. But this isn't in search of English grammar, so we need to change our thinking up. Here, Misato is trying to make sure that you know that it is Rei's smiling face in particular that no one has seen. I guess this means people have seen other kinds of her face, so I suppose that needs emphasizing... I'm not really sure.

So just like above where Mizuhara-san really wants you to know that he wants you in his life, Misato really wants you to know that it's Rei's smiling face that's never been seen. That being said, you know how I would actually translate this sentence?

• No one has ever seen Rei smile.

Isn't translation a bitch? Aside from the italics, there is no indication whatsoever that KOSO is even there. Oh well, now you know how to particularly emphasize things when you're speaking Japanese in daily conversation.

I suppose I should wrap this interminably long post up, and I think I'll do it with one of my oldest and favoritest AMVs ever made. It also does a very good job of encompassing everything the series has to offer.

In search of KOTO HA NAI

This grammar point isn't really all that important, and frankly, it's usually more appropriate to say NAKUTE II when you're with friend, but since that isn't in my grammar notebook, we're going to with KOTO HA NAI!

You do need to be careful, though, since there is a grammar form that is exactly the same, only it uses the past tense TA form. What I mean is the grammar form to indicate you have had experience doing something.


Like...

• この歌を何回歌ったことがある。
• I've sung this song like a million times.

Oh, yeah, I forgot that it's done with a GA as well. Okay, so it might not trip too many people up, but I'm too lazy to delete what I've written so far, so let's keep going!


KOTO HA NAI is used when you want to tell someone or something that they don't have to/need to do something, but only if it is in this specific form:

• Dictionary form of verb + ことはない

So, what pop culture reference am I going to explore today? Sadly, none. I'm going to be a bit more serious and talk about Google Street View and the Touhoku Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011.

仮に震災後の状況が撮影されれば、ストリートビューはより新しい画像に差し代わることになるはずだが、過去の画像について徳生氏は、同サービスの原則として「画像データを消去することはない」と説明。

 Kari ni shinsaigo no jyoukyou ga satsuei sarereba, SUTORIITOPYUU ha yori atarashii gazou ni sashi kawaru koto ni naru hazu da ga, kako no gazou ni tsuite Tokuo ha, dou SAABISU no gensoku toshite "gazou DEETA wo shoukyo suru koto ha nai" to setsumei.

I've linked two other grammar points that we've already gone over to their correlated blog posts, and I'll talk about the TOSHITE a little bit later because it's a good phrase to use in normal life anyway. So, the article is largely about (NI TSUITE!) Google Crisis Response, and Google Street View.

The last paragraph pretty much sums up what they plan to do with the satellite images. I'll translate the whole sentence in a moment, but I'd like to go over the grammar point first. The sentence is:

• 画像データを消去することはない
• There is no need to get rid of the image data.

Easy enough, right?

Well, the whole sentence translates as this:

• For now, images will still be taken of the situation after the earthquake, and it's expected that the new images will change on Google Street View. But in regards to the older images, Mr. Tokuo explained that as a general rule for the service, "there is not need to get rid of the image data".

After this, they talk about how it's important historically and what not. I would have translated that a little bit prettier, but I wanted you to get an idea of what went where in a bit more stark terms.

But I would really translate it as this:

• For now, the satellite will continue to take pictures of the aftermath, and it is expected to be changed on Google Street View. But, in regards to the older images, Tokuo explained that as a general principle, "there is not need to get rid of the data."

And before I leave this post, I'd like point out this cool term:

• 原則として
• Gensoku means rule or principle.
• Toshite means "as".
• So it translates nicely as "as a general rule".

Catch ya on the flipside. Boom out.

In search of NI TSUITE

Today's grammar point let's me talk about Banana Yoshimoto, so I'm pretty excited. The book, which has the grammar point I'd like to discuss, is sadly not translated yet. There seems to be a good five to ten year gap between when Yoshimoto-sensei writes things, and when they are translated. This means, that I have not read the book, but I'm going to talk about it anyway because it is definitely going on my if-you-live-in-Japan-and-you-love-me-you'll-buy-me-this-book category.

So, the grammar point today is NI TSUITE, and I will be using the novel Kanojo ni Tsuite.

When I started researching this post, I thought for sure I'd get to sort of talk about About a Boy, the 2002 Hugh Grant movie. No, it's not Japanese pop culture, but I like it. And really, that's all that really matters on this blog sometimes. Turns out that the movie is just called アバウト・ア・ボーイin Japanese, and that sort of annoys me because I feel more than a little robbed.

 

But, really, in the end, I got to talk about it anyway. Alriiiiight.

By now, you've probably figured out what NI TSUITE means. If not, don't worry about it. I wasn't that that explicit. NI TSUITE means "about". Simple as that. 

Just:

• Noun + について + the thing that is about the noun

Easy enough, right? 

I'd like to be all pedantic here, and ask what you think the title of the novel means, but I think that would be sort of dickish since it's a pretty easy grammar point, so here it is:

彼女について

Kanojo ni tsuite

About Her

I don't know why, but I almost translated that as "About a Girl". I guess I really have Hugh on my mind, don't I? Break out the chocolate ice cream! It's time to watch Notting Hill, followed by Music and Lyrics, and if I haven't fallen into a depressed sleep by that time, I'll add in a little bit of Two Weeks Notice. I'm that hard core.

Okay, but this is not enough. It's just one clause, right? How do you make a whole sentence?

Well, it's easy enough:

• グラントさんとブームの愛について映画を見たいです。
• GURANTOsan to BUUMU no ai ni tsuite eiga wo mitai desu.
• I want to see a movie about Hugh Grant and Boom's love.

How's that for an awkward sentence! I literally talk that stupidly in Japanese. As you can see, it's what the subject is about followed by NI TSUITE followed by the described subject.

{EDIT}

A whole half of this post is gone... I quite literally have no idea where it went, and I don't think you can retrieve old drafts, so it looks like I'm going to have to summarize a few things:

• Banana Yoshimoto is a penname chosen because it sounds androgynous.
• Her most famous novel is Kitchen, but I prefer Goodbye Tsugumi.
• She primarily write novellas, which I like, because it seems to lend more gravity to each word. 
• Kanojo ni tsuite seems to be about a happy witch going on a journey of revenge, and amazon.co.jp has it rated at 4.5 stars.

I'm really bummed I lost everything. I may go back and re-edit, since I went to all the trouble of translating the book description, and talking about several of Yoshimoto's books. But really, I have studying to do!

But really... I'm seriously bummed about this suddenly going missing from my blog post.

In search of KUSE NI

Hello! Is it time for another grammar point? Why yes! It is! And I get to talk about my favorite band once again! MONGOL800! Hoooooray!

We are going to do KUSE NI because I used to hate it, and really, the only way to un-hate something is force yourself to like it? Right? I mean, it totally worked with this guy:

Okay, maybe not... but hopefully, today's in depth KUSE-NI-a-thon is going to change that.

First off! Let me introduce you to the first song, which embarrassingly has my favorite photos from when I lived in Asia. Just bear with them, will ya? I made the thing because I was sad I was leaving, and I wanted to share some of the photos with my friends. Sadly, it still brings tears to my eyes!

The lyric in question can be found at 4:27.

何でもアリだな　 僕が思うより
転んでもアリだな　 君が思うより
答えは出てるんでしょう　相談するくせに
どこでもいいなら君もつれて行くよ 

Nandemo ARI da na boku ga omou yori
Korondemo ARI dana Kimiga omou yori
Kotae wa deterundeshou soudan suru kuse ni
Dokodemo ii nara kimi mo tsureteyuku yo

I felt the need to put the whole verse in because I thought it would be hard to explain. I've bolded the KUSE NI in question. 


KUSE NI means "although" but it has a very negative connotations.  The example sentence I really like in the book is:

• よく知らないくせに、あの人は何でも説明したがる。
• Yoku shiranai kuse ni, ano hito ha nandemo setsumei shitagaru.
• Although s/he doesn't know anything, that person wants to explain everything.

So, it can be pretty catty when you use it, which of course I LOVE. But, that is not always the case. For example, let's look at the lyric above.

It's  more than  I think. 
It's slipping more than you think
Although we talk about it, the answer is escaping us
Anywhere we go is fine, as long as you follow me

Isn't that nice? It's a very sweet lyric even if he uses the very negative KUSE NI. The image that doesn't translate very well is this: because they only talk about leaving, they never get anywhere. But that is something we tend to imply in English, whereas Japanese has a nice word for it


But, I suppose I must concede there are other things that are more pertinent to Japanese pop culture than my very obvious love/obsession/hard-on for MONGOL800. Well, there is! 勇者のくせになまいきだ! In English, the game is called "What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord?" which is not an exact translation, but it really is a million times better than any sort of translation I could come up with if I was limited to trying to translate it literally. Anyway, in this game, you play the villian, and you attempt to keep the hero away from your hideout by building booby-trapped mazes.

• 勇者のくせになまいきだ
• Yuusha no kuse ni namaiki da.
• Literal Translation: Although you're a hero, you're pretty cheeky/impudent.
• Prettier translations: You're pretty cheeky for a hero.

As I understand it, the game is not popular outside of Japan at all, nor was it that popular in Japan anyway. It was popular enough, though, to warrant a sequel. If you want to check out the gameplay, I very graciously provided you with a trailer here:





Well, that's it for me today! I think next will be a little post about the awesome writer, Banana Yoshimoto.

In search of O CHUUSHIN NI

Another easy grammar point today, and I get to talk about Moriyama Mirai a little bit more. Seriously, he's an amazing actor.

So, today's bit of Japanese culture is going to be brought to you by the grammar point WO CHUUSHIN NI (を中心に), but in typical me fashion, in a very roundabout way.

How? Well, by using 世界の中心で、愛をさけぶ, the ever famous Japanese movie/novel/drama/manga. Yes, it is not the grammar point, but its use of the vocabulary is particulary helpful in remembering it at the very least. 

So, I'm not real sure, but I'm fairly certain that Sekai no Chuushin de, Ai wo sakebu is called Socrates in Love in the States, though I don't want to say that with conviction. It started off as a novel, was made into a movie starring Moriyama Mirai that did incredibly well. A manga was also made, and then the story was turned into a drama series, where the lead is played, interestingly enough, by Yamada Takayuki. That's right, the main lead in Waterboys, alongside the secondary lead of Moriyama Mirai. I'd say small world, but it is Japan and that would be an understatement. (And I'll direct you to my post about the Waterboys drama, because I love it so much.)


I do have to be honest. It is not my favorite movie, but I generally don't like constant melodrama. That's right; I'm not the Japanese target audience. Bummer. It follows the love story of Sakutaro and Aki through the Sakutaro's memories seventeen years after the death of Aki.　The trailer, and the movie, are pretty easy to understand, which makes me happy. Though, I'm told this is probably because the novel was written using very simple language.

As you can see, Moriyama Mirai is really different in this movie in comparison to Waterboys, or Keiji no Genba, huh? (Those are two pretty random dramas to pick out of a hat, yet there they are.)

The title of the movie means: Crying Out Love from the Center of the World.

Which has to do with our grammar point because of the word "center". How was that for detour?

O CHUUSHIN NI implies "centered around". It usually indicates that around something, everything else revolves. The easiest example to explain this would be, of course:

• 地球は太陽を中心にして回っている。
• Chikyuu ha taiyou wo chuushin ni shite mawattieru.
• The Earth rotates around the sun.

I could easily change that to: 地球は私を中心にして回っている。Because, seriously, it totally does.

The reason I included the title of the movie is because I expect everyone to have the same convulated way of thinking I do, which is through complex associations. If not, well then, you learned about a movie... and you learned that I love Moriyama Mirai. Totally worthwhile lessons, in my opinion. (P.S. My birthday is 05/26, and MM dramas are never a miss.)

But I do have a better way of discussing this grammar point, and we get to do it with May'n, the popular singer that appeared at AnimeEXPO. Strange that I've only heard of her because of my searching for this grammar point. Of course, I don't really watch anime anymore... and the Japanese music I prefer tends not to be JPOP, but those are just minor details.

Here is the sentence:

• アッパーな楽曲を中心に、力強い歌声を披露した.
• UPPA na gakkyaku wo chuushin ni, chikaratsuyoi utagoe wo hirou shita.
• Centered around high energy songs, May'n showed her powerful voice.

The website also has an image of May'n singing.

Okay, now I know you're going to ask about why the first sentence had a SHITE, when the second sentence did not. I don't have an answer. I asked my Japanese friend, and she just said you got to be Japanese to know when to use which one. Great! So, just feel it out, shall I? says I. Yup, says she.

Totally helpful.

The funny thing is that I really skipped around the elephant  in the room (if you obsessively read romance mangas, I mean, so I guess this elephant is pink and flowery) when trying to discuss this grammar point. I think we are all wondering why I just didn't talk about Kimi wo Chuushin ni Sekai wa Mawaru (The world revolves around you). Well, I mostly did this because, unless you're the sort of person to read collections of one-shot mangas (basically a collection of short stories done manga-style), it's not really all that famous. Granted, niether was Ganbare Chikyuuman, but that's what you get with me. You can read it about the manga Kimi wo Chuushin ni Sekai wa Mawaru here, at baka-updates, if you're interested.

In search of OKAGE DE

Apparently, my buffer wasn't enough to get through my cousin's visit, so sorry for small hiatus there. On to the post!

Hey! I've got great news! I get to talk about Tunnels no Minnasan Okade Desu (Deshita).

 You may know them from this:

 

For some reason, we call it Human Tetris. Supposedly, it looks like it, though I don't really think so. Human Tetris, to me, is flinging people into a pile in different shapes. In any case, this is actually called nookabe (脳カベ), or brain wall. The idea is use your wits to get through the increasingly impossible shapes.

Tunnels no Minnasan Okage Desu is actually a comedy program. Sadly, I did not watch it much because the jokes, though crass and slapstick, were still way over my head.

They have a lot of bits, and I can't really talk about them all. That being said, I'll talk aboutモジモジくん (Mojimoji-kun) because it is one of the few skits I understand.  In this bit, they try to make letters on a sort of pinboard while they make jokes about the letters. The title of the bit, itself, is a play on words. Moji means character  (like a letter or hiragana or whatever), and mojimoji is a onomatopoeia for squirming. After you watch the video, the joke should be made pretty clear:

Also, since I like getting off topic, have a video from the band featured in the Tunnels video above. Despite the fact they are constantly auto-tuned, Perfume is decent band with fun choreography: 

In any case, back to とんねれずのみんなさんのおかげでした. There are other things the show does, such as showcase other comedians, but I suppose at some point I have to address grammar rather than show you my favorite clips. After all, it is the main point of this blog, right?

OKAGE DE means "thanks to", For some reason I wrote "a grâce de"in my notes because I seemed to think that the french was a better translation. It's not, really. It is exactly the same as the English, but I guess the french just sounded more eloquent. Maybe. I don't know. I don't dare to guess at the inner workings of my mind.

Anyway, it can only be used with a noun and the no particle.

• Noun + no + okage de (desu) 

So, the fun thing about this is you can have a sentence that is sort of constructed like this.

• Thanks to the rain, the baseball game was canceled. 
• 雨のおかげで、野球の試合はキャンセルされた。
• I was able to go to Europe thanks to my job. 
• 仕事のおかげで、ヨローパへ行けた。

I'm told that it can be used as a negative, or a positive, though I think that I'd be more likely to say SEI DE for the first example. That, however, is really a blog for another time. Supposedly, this is one of the few times irony can be made use of in the Japanese language, as you can see by the first example.

OKAGE DE can also be used in a simple sentence like the following:

• It's thanks to my genius!
• 私の天才のおかげでしたね〜

For a sentence like that, you would just end with a simple DESU or a DESHITA. Obviously, it would really only be used as an answer to something. The above sentence is something I always use, because not only am I a genius, I also save the day with said genius. CONSTANTLY.

So, how do we translate Tunnels no Minnasan no Okage Deshita?

• とんねれずのみんなさんおかげでした.
• Tonerezu no minnasan no okage deshita.
• My translation: Thanks to everybody in Tunnels!
• Other translations I've seen: Thanks to the people of Tunnels!

There. Easy enough right? Did this post need to be this long? Probably not, but the PERFUME video is pretty cool though, right? Right? Right.

In search of OSORE GA ARU and NADO

The search for this grammar point led me down some interesting, and educational avenues today. So, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce ガンバレ！地球マン ! Or Try Your Best, Earthman!

So what is today's grammar point? Well, luckily, we have two again this week. We have OSORE GA ARU and NADO (NANKA and NANTE include).

So, let's start, okay?

OSORE GO ARU literally translates to "have a fear". Sadly, I do not use this particular form very often, and I wonder if I need to do some soul searching in order to find out why I don't really have any fears.

But that's really neither here nor there, is it?

Before we explain the grammar point, let's first put it into the context of the manga above. I'm not going to translate this word for word because that is just far too tedious! But the gist is that last Japan-born Red Crested Ibis died on October 10th. Then Earthman hears a noise and looks over to see that a Japanese Killifish and a Japanese Throughwort cursing that they are going to be next on the news.

It's a four panel comic... and the last frame is certainly not a punchline. Kind of sad, really...

So, in any case, beneath the comic there is a little text explaining the comic (which is just good writing, right? You should always have to explain what you mean when you're done...).

メダカやフジバカマ（秋の七草の一つ）など、日本固有の動植物のうち、およそ２７００種も絶めつのおそれがあるんですね。

The Japanese Killifish and Japanese Throughwort (one of the seven autumn blooms), as well as 2700 other species unique to Japan, are in danger of going extinct.

I translated this as "in danger of" because, really, that's just the best way to word it in English. But in general, "worried that", and "scared that" seem to be the way to go.

Easy, right? I know! But before I go on to other important things, I'll explain the how to compose it:

Noun or Dictionary Form of Verb + OSORE GA ARU

Example:

遅くなる恐れがある！

I'm worried we'll be late!

Okay, so no on to NADO.

NADO function like a particle, so it doesn't really have a meaning. You use it when you're trying to denote something as an example. I usually TOKA in these instances, though I don't think they are completely interchangeable. I really should look it up.

So, for the sentence above, the structure is: メダカやフジバカマなど

Notice the YA? That's pretty helpful, because as we know, that particular indicates that item is among other items. Combine that NADO, and you have a sentence that reads as "Things like Medaka and Fujigama"

Now that boring stuff is done with, let's talk about something a bit more pressing than Japanese grammar. I'm not going to claim it's less boring than grammar, but it is probably a bit more of a pressing issue.

The Red Crested Ibis is near extinction, and as the comic states, the last one in Japan did die in 2003. Fortunately, while the range of the ibis is significantly less than it had been, they still survive in China. In 2008, ten new birds were reintroduced into the wild in Japan. I haven't been able to find any information about how they are doing now, but I have high hopes.

The Japanese Killifish (or rice fish, named because they live in rice paddies) and the Japanese Throughwort is not yet in danger, nor do I think they will be, but that is the point of the comic I think. It supposed to say that things that once were populous could suddenly disappear too.

The source for the manga is at the following website:

http://www.eco-online.org/2011/02/28/がんばれ-地球マン-その49-トキ編/

Also, the complete archive of Ganbare Chikyuuman can be found here:

http://eco.goo.ne.jp/education/chikyuman/

In search of KAWARI NI

Ok... So, is it really pop culture if it's ten years old?

Let's just pretend that's a philosophical question with no answer, so I can go ahead and present to you this:

Ok, I put that one there because it has the lyrics written in Japanese very convenient like. However, I'd rather show you this one because it may get you interested in one of my favorite JDRAMAs of all time, WATERBOYS!

See? Much better video, right? Right.

In any case, because I was desperate to find a way to talk about WATERBOYS today, I was ecstatic to find that the end theme uses one of the JLPT grammar points.

What is it?

See if you can find it in this sentence:

サヨナラかわりに

君がくれたんだ　この勇気をくれたんだ

Sayonara kawari ni

Kimi ga kuretanda Kono yuuki wo kuretanda

So, I helped you cheat a little bit by bolding it, so what?

KAWARI NI, if you didn't read the blog post's title, or pay any attention to my not-so surreptitious bolding of the word, is going to be your grammar point for today. Surprise!

You will hear this grammar form a lot in Japan since it's pretty convenient. The verb it's derived from (kawaru) means to change, so that should give you a bit of an idea of what this particular form means.

PSYCHE! It should give you half an idea, because this particular form has three usages. Awesome.

3 Uses:

1. Don't do this (a), do this (b)!

2. In place of this(a), this(b) is the proxy.

3. In exchange for something(a), a befitting something else(b) is done or given.

Does the third one sound like NI KAWATE? Why yes, it does! So we're going to 一石二鳥 and get that grammar point of the way too, but first, let's examine which one of these is used on the lyrics above.

1. Don't do this, do this!

I think I'm going to do some sentences that are WATERBOYS appropriate. So... let's go!

• 母さんをがっかりさせるかわりに、ウソをついた方がいい。
• Kaasan wo gakkari saseru kawari ni, uso o tsuita ho ga ii.
• Pretty Translation: It's better to lie to your mother than disappoint her.
• Literal Translation: Instead of disappointing your mother, you should lie to her.

Does the above plan work in the show? Yes. For like, two episodes. In TV world, I'd say that's a resounding success. Of course, when the mom finds out, beatings for everyone! Hurrah!

In any case, I feel that I need to reiterate that translating is not an exact art when it comes to Japanese and English. If it were, no one would watch Japanese anything, because the two really just don't go together. What I am trying to do here is show the feeling behind it, so you can sense how the word is being used on your own.

2. In place of this...

男たちがプールを使うかわりに、温泉に練習しなければならなかった！

Otokotachi ga PUURU wo tsukau kawari ni, onsen ni renshuu shinakarebanaranakatta!

Translations: The boys had to practice in an onsen instead of using the pool!

Did this happen in the series? Yes, and it's hilarious... especially since onsens are much shallower than pools are.

In any case, I think you may be sensing a trend with the word I'm using to translate for both 1 and 2. If so, good call. Let's see if you're right in the next one!

3. In exchange for something....

• たかはらさんに泳ぎ教えてくれるかわりに、シンクロのチームを参加することになっている。
• Takahara-san ni oyogi oshiete kureru kawaru ni, SHINKURO no CHIIMU wo sanka suru koto ni natteiru.
• In exchange for teaching Tanaka how to swim, he decided to join the Synchro team.

If you were hoping that this one would also translate as "instead", bummer. I was hoping it too, but it's not the case. So, I guess the best way to really understand this word is know that it is one thing in place of another. That's it.

And yes, I totally snuck in KOTO NI NATTIERU from last week's grammar point. Why? Because I'm totally sneaky like that, especially when I point out where I'm being sneaky. Right? Right.

So, which one of these forms do you think the song lyric is?

サヨナラかわりに

君がくれたんだ　この勇気をくれたんだ

My money, of which I have very little, is on 3, though I do think 2 could easily work as well, because here are the two ways you can translate this:

1. You gave me this in exchange for saying goodbye. You gave me this courage.

2. Instead of saying goodbye, you gave me this, you gave me this courage.

Oh crap, they have opposite meanings! I'm going to try and solve this with the power of context! The lyric before it is "I have to go", and later on he talks about "meeting again" so.. my money is still on the first translation. Also, this dude translated it almost exactly the same way I did, so I'm going to think it's the first translation in this case. But, it's interesting how the other one goes, right?

Also, don't forget that KAWARI NI 3 and NI KAWATTE are the same! There! Two grammar points down! Phew! Plus, a little bit of spreading the WATERBOYS love around.

Plus, it has Moriyama Mirai, one of the most diversely capable actors Japan has seen in a long time. What more could you ask for! What more? Really? You need more? Well, it also has one of the other most capable actors Japan has to offer, Yamada Takayuki. That's right. The Densha Otoko. Boo-yeah!

In search of DARAKE and MARUDE

Today's blog makes me happy because it taught me that I completely misinterpreted the use of a grammar point two years ago. I'm a little embarrassed that I got it wrong, but I'm more than glad that I figured out how to use to properly. Nice. Now I get to tell you about it!

Yet again, we have a lucky day here at JLPT Blues, because we have a song with two grammar points! Yes! And it's by one of my favorite singers, Okuda Tamio. (I also maintain a Okuda Tamio Livejournal Community if you are interested.)

I'd love to tell you that Okuda Tamio is beyond cool, but the truth of the matter is that he used up his cool in the 80s when he was doing things like this with the band UNICORN:

Isn't he awesome? No? Well... whatever. I love it.

Of course, the people that listen to him nowadays seem to be mostly mothers who used to listen to him when they weren't mothers. Such is the downward spiral of fame, I guess.

So, let's get to today's grammar points, shall we? The song is 674 of his 29 album:

茜の空がまるで　お部屋を血に染めるのよ

枕はヨダレまみれ　背広はとてもキレイよ

あぁいっそ　地球も　大予言どうりに
たらだらだらけの　ばか野郎　だけどムナシさは知ってる

あぁいっそ　このまま　心臓も　動く
反則男だ　ばか野郎　とても　自らを知ってる

• Grammar Point #1 MARUDE

First, I feel like I should explain the kanji that MARUDE is derived from:　丸で. You may, or may not recognize this to be the same kanji that typically means "round". Now, I will come back to this in a moment to reveal why that's important (well, not really, but it's helpful in remembering the grammar point).

MARUDE is sort of like saying "as if" or "like" (but not like a Valley Girl... as if!). I have not yet discovered whether or not it's appreciably different from YOU NI or YOU NA so expect to hear about that at a later date.

In my favorite MONGOL800 song, Hunky-dory, he sings

• まるで Fairy tail.

And yes... Fairy tale is misspelled in the original song lyrics =_= I hope that it was on purpose, but who knows? In any case, this translates as:

• It's like a fairy tale.

Easy, right?

So let's look at the lyric above then, shall we?

• 茜の空がまるで　お部屋を血に染めるのよ
• Akane no sora ga marude Oheya wo chi ni someru no yo

Sadly, the word akane is a little hard to translate. Most people would probably know this as a name, like:

Yeah. Ranma 1/2. I'm old school. Reeeeealllly old school...

In any case, akane is this red color, which is supposedly called madder in English. I'm told it's a color used often in acrylics by my friends who are actually artists. I am not sure. But I'm rambling, so let's get back to the point at hand.

Translation: Like the madder sky, the room is the color of blood.

Interesting side note: If you want to say something is turned a different color than what it naturally is, like a room during the twilight hours goes pink, or man beneath a streetlight goes yellow, you use someru, which actually means "to dye".

Ok, so let's move on. The reason I say the kanji for MARU is important is because you can sort of think of it as "all around", like whatever you're describing is really like the other thing. I originally thought that MONGOL800 lyric above translated as "It's an all around Fairy-tale" which is sort of similar to "like". Well, if you're me, anyway. As I said, it's really not that important, but I hoped that it may help you remember the grammar point.

• Grammar Point #2: DARAKE

DARAKE means "to be full of". I don't think it's supposed to be negative sounding, but since the lyric has a bit of a negative context, as well as the example sentences in my Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar, I wonder if perhaps there is something there that a non-native speaker doesn't really pick up.

I'm going to share with you my favorite example sentence, because... well... it's probably about me, and I love it when people to talk about me.

• この作文が間違いだらけです。
• Kono sakubun ga machigai dareke des.
• This composition is full of mistakes.

Yup! That's me! There goes your faith, right? Well, fortunately I have a book to look at and make sure I got it right. Nice.

How to compose a sentence with DARAKE:

1. Noun A + DARAKE NO + Noun B

Ex: 間違いだれけの作文

2. Subject + HA or GA + Adjective+ DAREKE DESU

Ex: Above example sentence.

Ok, so the lyric, which is very useful for remembering this grammar point is:

だらだらだらけの　ばか野郎　だけどムナシさは知ってる

Daradara darake no Bakayarou Dakedo MUNISHIsa ha shitteiru.

I think because of the repetitive daradara plus the DARAKE, it makes it an easy grammar point  to remember. If only the word daradara was easy to translate! Oh well, I did my best with the translation:

I'm an idiot filled with sluggishness, but I do know what futility is.

It took me a while to figure out how to translate this, because I really would just say "I'm freaking lazy, but I know what futility is" but that really doesn't help us much does it? Translating Japanese into English is annoying, isn't it?

Well, there you go! This took forever to write, so I need to go recuperate a little... by studying more. Great.

In search of HODO and TOTTE

Today, we have an exciting day because we have TWO grammar points covered in one lyric! 一石二鳥ね〜 The best part is that it is a lyric to one of the most popular Japanese songs of all time, so you'll never forget either of them.

And I do mean it.

Now, that's what I call good luck here at JLPT Blues.

The lyric in question (which I have linked to the exact second is here):

ほら、あなたにとって大事な人ほどすぐそばにいるの

Hora, anata ni totte daiji na hito hodo sugu sobo ni iru no

If you're interested in Mongol800, please check out my blog dedicated to Mongol800.

• Grammar Point #1

Okay, so let's start with TOTTE.

TOTTE is used when trying to say "from the viewpoint of", and it's usually used when expressing someone's opinion that they personally hold.

Like:

私にとって数学ホントにめんどくさいよな〜。

To me, math is really annoying.

What's important is that only I have this opinion. Well, I suppose other people have it too, but I'm not assuming. You can do with other things, like...

Prolife NI TOTTE fetus are alive at conception.

So, if we look at the above lyric in question, we can know that since it says あなたにとって it means from the viewpoint of you.

Construction of NI TOTTE

• Noun + ni totte

Remember! only a noun!

• Grammar Point #2

It's time for HODO!

Well, HODO is usually taught in conjunction with YORI and NO HOU GA. This way, you can learn how to say something is more than something else, that something is just as something as something else, or will be more something.

Did that make sense... ? Really? I thought it was a rather eloquently constructed description.

Let's try this again.

• YORI-より More than.
• NO HOU GA -の方が Better than (or worse than) (sometimes used to suggest something)
• HODO -ほど Just as

I'm not really going to go into the other two, but I put them there for the sake of grouping them together which is always a great way to remember things.

So, HODO means "to the degree of" essentially, and it's probably one of the most useful words ever in Japanese. Well, behind え〜　and　そうですか . Okay, I'm still exaggerating a little bit, but it is very useful. Unlike in English, it is a much more versatile word.

So shall we go into how it works?

マーリン　ブランドほどかっこいね〜

He's as cool as Marlin Brando.

This is a very simple use of this. However, the way HODO is used in the song Chiisana Koi no Uta can't be translated so easily. So, let's go back up to the lyric above and see if we can't feel what it means.

大事な人ほど (daiji na hito hodo)

Unromantically, this means that the singer is trying to say that he is the exact degree of an important person. Oddly, and way more than a little confusingly for the Japanese language learner, the most grammatically correct way for an English person to understand this is:

The person who is important.

Wait a minute, what happened to HODO?! Yeah, that happens. It sucks, but nuances don't really translate well. So, if you want to use this in a more fluent way, you probably need to forget about thinking in English first, and just feel it out. In any case, I would argue that this would translate as "the most" because I honestly believe that is feeling behind the lyrics.

So, here it is, my translation of the entire sentence:

Look, the most important person to you is right beside you.

So, that's that. Now may you sing this song at many karaokes, and have it blissfully stuck in your head for many an hour to come.

Also, again, I will mention my MONGOL800 blog. It's a great place to find about some other Okinawan bands, Okinawan culture, and of course, the translations to awesome songs!

In search of KOTO NI NATTEIRU

Are you ready for some stream of conscious grammar searching? Alright!

So, just for fun, I put ことになっている into the google image search to see if anything interesting would come up. This, was that something interesting:

My favorite is the Potemkin-like catcher.

It's a poster for an event long gone (the post was in February of 2011!) which seems to be some sort of live event with the baseball team, The Hiroshima Carp. The blog post had this written at the top:

広島カープの選手たちの顔が、凄いことになっている件

Hiroshima KAAPU no senshu no kao ga, sugoi koto ni natteiru.

But bad news!

This is not the grammar point you were looking for.

Why is this? Well, some would say it lies in context, but the real truth is that lies in specific grammatical forms.

The KOTO NI NATTIERU is a common phrase, and it usually means "it is becoming [this] thing". This makes perfect sense in understanding the phrase JLPT is teaching us, but it does not go backwards to the less complex form.

You see, the grammar point in the JLPT is supposed to translate as "it has been decided upon", with maybe a dash of "expected to". So if you say:

行くことになっている

Iku koto ni nattieru.

It literally translates as "What will be is us going"... well, kind of, in any case. But what it actually translates as is "It's decided we'll go", or something along those lines... Unless this a porno... then it takes on a whole different meaning. Perhaps we'll make that lesson for another day.... maybe... on second thought, probably not.

How the above sentence translates is actually as this:

The Hiroshima Carps' players' faces have become scary/awesome things.

Yeah, that has nothing to do with our phrase, does it? Why? Because the specific form being taught by the JLPT can only use a verb (in dictionary or nai form). So, as you can see, it's not hard to see the difference once you realize there is one.

So my point is is this: BE CAREFUL! Don't get tripped up!

And my secondary point is that I think it is absolutely AMAZING that there is a baseball team named after carp. I mean, if carp is what they love, couldn't they choose something a bit more majestic like Goldfish, or something that can evolve into a Gyrados like a Magikarp?

I've decided that Hiroshima Carps should now be named the Hiroshima Magikarp!

The post that is being referred to above can be found here: http://tabetainjya.com/archives/carp/post_1164/

Hey, a quicker, but totally less fun, way to study!

It annoys me that after two years of sort of half-assedly studying for the JLPT I never learned of this website.

It has lots of examples, and english explanations. Obviously, it's not as in depth as my fledgling blog here, but it's still amazing.

In search of TOSHITE and finding TO SHITE

Okay, the very first grammar point in the JLPT II books is misleading... It's so easy that you think that studying for the JLPT is going to be a piece of a cake. Of course, then you continue reading. Oh. Nevermind. This is going to be hard.

Well, in any case, let's talk about this wonderfully easy grammar point, toshite.

I don't really have any clever lyrics, or places I found the grammar point in pop culture, though I wish I did. Instead, I have a band name which I found while looking it up on the interwebs called Rin toshite Shigure.

They are bizarre, to be sure, but I'm quite pleased with the find. I love listening to interesting music.

Okay, so back on track. Let's talk about what toshite means.

Toshite means "as". As in "I came to America as a foreign exchange student" or "I work at the school as a librarian".

Sadly. The to shite in Rin to shite Shigure, is not the form the grammar book is talking about. Why? Well, the easy answer is that it would translate as this:

The drizzle as cold.

Yeah.... that makes no sense... Why is this? Well here is the structure of toshite:

• Example sentence: I came to America as a foreign exchange student.
• (Foreign exchange student) (A) toshite (I came to America)(B).
• As A, B.
• (Rin)(A) toshite (Shigure) (B) = As a cold, drizzle.

The better answer to why the band doesn't use the toshite we want is a bit annoying and technical, but for the sake of fellow grammar freaks, here it is: Toshite can only be used with a noun in front of it. Rin is an adjective (a na adjective in fact), so what this really is a sentence that can loosely be translated "The frigid drizzle" or something suitably less lame.

Also, a proper toshite sentence needs some sort of clause at the end of it. Not just another noun. So, the long and short of it is that I searched for grammar, but I didn't find it.

Bummer.

But, I think you folks may have figured out why I wrote this post anyway. It's to show you this awesome band, so here's another song for your enjoyment!

In search of TOTOMONI

In the JLPT Level 2 book, the second grammar point is totomini, which pleased me to no end because it's used in a mecha famous song by The Boom. It's not a pneumonic device at all, but it's great for remembering what the grammar form means.

Also, good news! The song is famous enough to be translated, so I've included it here:

The grammar in question is here:

Lyrics:

島唄よ　風に乗り

鳥とともに　海を渡れ

Romanji Reading:

Shima'uta yo Kaze ni nori

Tori totomo ni Umi wo watare

My translation:

Island song, ride the wind with the birds and cross the sea.

So, the JLPT II book goes to great pains to explain that there are three versions of totomoni, but the real truth is that they can all really be translated as "with".

Totomoni is usually used as a more formal version of Isshoni (一緒に）which generally translated as with.

Since the song uses formal language the whole time, a stylistic choice which is supposed to add to the texture and meaning of it, it makes a lot of sense that totomoni is used here. That, and it fits the rhythm better than isshoni.

The JLPT gives three definitions for totomoni,

A: With, as in together with.

B: Concurrently with something else.

C: As one thing changes, another thing changes as well.

While these seem pretty disparate in meaning, you really can just translate it consistently as "with" without having to worry about much else. Look at the sentence from Shima Uta. You know only one of the above definitions work, and that is A. This is because B requires a verb structure of some sort (a noun or a na adjective even need a である) so you know it's not that one. And, C, well that would just make no sense!

So, A it is. Though it really doesn't matter, since you can use with for A, B, and C.

A. I want to spend New Year's with my family.

B. Koboyashi puts all in his energy into guiding his students, along with his research.

C. With growing older, you're body fails you.

Okay, now that I think about it, it only really translates into "with" in my head... So, stream of consciousness her we go!

A. With

B. As well as

C. While/as

There, that should do it, though I do think all of them have a certain feel to them. You decide.

Before I live though, enjoy this six minute version of the song! It's totally better, even with the cheesy slideshow.

I also sometimes talk about The Boom on my blog dedicated to MONGOL800 here.