WAKE WEEK! In search of WAKE DEWA NAI

Hey! We're continuing WAKE Week here with Day 2! WAKE DE HA NAI.

The wacky thing here is that I'm not going to talk about pop culture in any way. Well, probably. Let's just see as we go, shall we?

As I have said, WAKE means "reason", so that can help you figure out what this grammar point means. I'm not really going to lead you through a long confusing mess today, so I'll just say the following translations (though it is not certainly limited to these) are frequently used:

• It doesn't mean that~
• I don't meant that~
• It's not that~
• It's not the case that~
• It's not like~

What I have in my notebook for example sentences are:

• 君の考えに反対するわけではないが,そのやり方でうまくいくだろうか。
• Kimi no kangae ni hantai suru wake de ha nai ga, sono yarikata de umaku iku darou ka.
• I don't mean to oppose your idea, but I wonder if things will go well with that approach.

• 失敗というわけではない。
• Shippai to iu wake de ha nai.
• It doesn't mean it was a failure.

Those should give you the general gist of how WAKE DE HA NAI is used. I should mention that the second form which uses TO IU is a very common way to use WAKE DE HA NAI. It just sort of reinforces the "doesn't mean" with a "really", like "it really doesn't mean that". Imagine that in a sympathetic voice, and we're set!

 The website I'm going to use seems to be a sort place dedicated to things that make people go ふ〜ん (fuuun, pronouned fooooon), which is a hard noise to describe, but I'm pretty sure that disappointment is a large part of it. The post I want to talk about has our grammar form three times, so we're going to go over it! But first, take a look at a screencap!

In case your wondering... yes, I inserted myself in my own very special way of internet tourism with the ubiquitous Japanese peace sign. Love it! I may or may not keep doing that.

Anyway! The three ways the website above use WAKE DE HA NAI are:

1. 飯田橋の「いいだべぇ」はなまっているわけではないらしい.
2. ＪＲ飯田橋駅のガード脇橋脚に「いいだべぇ」の文字が。調べたところ「飯田橋」と「あかんべぇ」を合わせたとのことで、なまっているわけではないそうです.
3. フォントは、壁に描かれているクジラの絵と合わせて、クジラをモチーフにしているそうです。でも、なぜ「あかんべぇ」なのか、海が近いわけではないのに、なぜクジラなのか。

So, here's the deal with this post. By Iidabashi Station (a station I'm sure you've at least transferred at if you have ever been to Tokyo) there is sort of mural of whales with the phrase "Iida Bay". What makes this person say ふ〜ん is the fact Iidabashi is nowhere near the ocean. There is a bit more to it than that, but it would spoil the fun of going through the sentences.

Though they use it three times, I must confess I really don't know how to use this word nameru.  I know that word means to go soft, to get duller, or to decrease in something. I hate admitting it, but I literally don't know how to translate those first two sentences despite that I get the gist of them. I'm not really sure, though, that Iida Bay is supposed to be a mix of akanbee, which is the act of sticking out your tongue and pulling down one eyelid, and Iidabashi like the second sentence suggests. I think it's likely an odd usage of hiragana to say that it's a bay, and that's why the whales are there. That being said, it may have do something to do with this song, Akkanbe Bashi:

I fear I may be out of my depth for once, and I find this too weird of question to ask my Japanese friends! Though... they probably should be used to it.

In any case, the third sentence translates as this:

3.  The font, along with the picture of the whale, seems to have a whale motif. But, why "akanbee"? It's not like the ocean is close, however, why a whale?

So there you go! 

In search of SAE BA

We're going to address this grammar form using my favorite singer, Miyavi (how many times have I said this in this blog?). Until I moved from Japan, I did have his complete discography, but the bastard had to keep making music after I left. What is up with that?

Anyway, Miyavi is a former visual kei singer. It's hard to say what he is now, because... he definitely has the visual element, but it's nothing like what you would see with L'arc~en~Ciel, or Gackt [except for his genderbending in Itoshii Hito]. Did I just name two old school VK bands? Yes, I did. I'm twenty-six! What do you want from me? I guess I could mention Kaya, and get some cool points. I can get even more by saying I've seen him in concert. I've also seen Gackt in concert too. Boo-yeah!

Wait.. what was I talking about? Oh yeah, Miyavi.

He was formally of Due le Quartz where he was the lead guitarist. After that, he went solo, got drugged out a lot, married, and now he has two girls. That is pretty much his life in nutshell. Okay, there is a little more, but I need to get to grammar so I'll make it quick. He is of Korean origin (which as you know tends to make you an instant pariah in Japan) and was raised by a single mother (more pariah-making circumstances). This is probably why, a.) he's better than most Japanese guitarists and b.) he has such an unusual look fashion-wise.Then, he had an injury playing soccer, and he was so bored in bed that he learned how to play the guitar and started to write music. There it is. Consider the nutshell closed.

In any case, the grammar point is going to be from one of my favorite songs from one of the most brilliantly musically satirical albums of all time, POPS.

Would you believe I can actually karaoke this song without having memorized the lyrics first? It was my proudest moment, and it was then that I knew that this reading thing, I can do it. Also, if you're wondering: yes, I do find Miyavi beyond attractive.

He is also an incredibly talented guitarist:

Okay, so where is this SAE  BA in that mess of words in Kimi ni Negai wo?

でも神様なんていない
君が星になった時そう誓ったんだ
僕には神様なんて要らない。そこに君が、君さえ居てくれれば。
Demo kamisama nantenaiKimi ga hoshi ni natta toko sou chikattanda.Boku niha kamisama nannte iranai. Soko ni kimi ga, kimi sae itekurereba.

[NANTE functions like NADO in this sentence. You can find an explanation in this blog post about NADO]

I don't really get why Miyavi uses kanji in his lyrics that aren't usually used in those contexts(居 and 要) , but there you go.

You use SAE BA to say "as long as" or "only if"

For example:

• あなたは私のこと愛さえすれば、私もあなたを愛してる。
• Anata ha watashi no koto ai sae sureba, watashi mo anata wo aishitieru.
• As long you love me, I'll love you.

• 暇さえあれば寝るよ！
• Hima sae areba neru yo!
• I'll sleep as long as I have free time.

Now making these sentences is actually kind of hard. If you want to use just a noun with something like a DESU, then you need to use AREBA for the BA form. If you need to use a verb before the BA, you use a pre-MASU form of the verb, and then use SURU for the BA so it looks like SUREBA.  Like this:

• 道が込みさえしなければ、駅までタクシーで１０分ぐらいだ。
• Michi ga komi sae shinakereba, eki made TAKUSHII de jyupun gurai da.
• As long as you don't go down that road, the station is about 10 minutes away by taxi.

Oh, I was tricksy in that, wasn't I? I put it as a negative. Well, it can be done! Now you know! Okay, so let's get back to Miyavi, mostly because he's far too pretty to be ignored.

Translation:

But things like god don't exist,
I swore that on you when you became a star.
But to me, I don't need things like god. As long as you would be here with me (for me).

I'm going to try and explain this in a little bit different way.

• WHAT + SAE + VERB + BA + WHAT HAPPENS
• YOU + SAE + BE WITH ME ....

I'm not sure if Miyavi made the last line and inverted sentence, meaning that he doesn't need a god as long his lover is with him, or if he left it as implied, unfinished sentence, though I'm relatively certain it's the former rather than the latter. But, it shows that you only really need to say half the sentence if you were, say, answering a question.

Boom: Hey, Miyavi. How long you plan on not needing a god?
Miyavi: As long as you're here with me.

I would like to point out before I go that there is something more interesting in the last lyric. He changes midform, did you see that? He was starting off as "if you are here", but he changed it to "as long as you're here" in the middle. It's a lost more powerful of a change in Japanese, because SAE is very emphatic word. I almost think it would translate as "if only you were here with me", but I'm not sure.

In search of WO KOMETE

So, this is going to be a needlessly long post because I want to talk about Sawada Kenji, one of the Japanese loves of my life (the others being Moriyama Mirai, and Fujii Fumiya), so hang in there with me, okay?

But first, let's talk about WO KOMETE. My textbooks has the very unhelpful definition of "feelings put in the middle". Well, that's the literal translation, in any case. I spent about one half of a lesson with my Japanese teacher when I lived in Japan trying to figure out what this means, and I'm still not feeling terribly confident, but I'm pretty sure I have the main gist of it. It basically means thats something is charged with a certain emotion or feeling.

The structure is as follows:

Noun + をこめて (+ rest of sentence)

The most typical way you'll ever see this is with 愛をこめてor こころをこめて. The former is usually translated as "with love" and the latter as "wholeheartedly", though I would probably translate that as "with all my heart".

Fortunately, for ai wo komete, I have a great example. I don't know if you are an old school anime freak, or not, but if you are you will probably recognize this:

Uh-oh. Do you hear that? It's the sound of me about to digress. Hold on to your hats!

1.  Space Battleship Yamato is a space opera that I don't think I want to delve into too deeply, largely because I've forgotten most of what I've seen from it, and the episodes I've seen were seen out of order. Now, if you want me to talk about Galaxy 999, then we don't have a problem. Of course, we're not.
Yamato is huge. I found it in my best theme songs of anime sheet music book, old men at karaoke bars are forever singing its theme song, and it has spawned movie after movie, and series after series. It is, to me, the Star Trek of the Japanese cult nerds.
What I can say about the series for certain is that it follows the lives of the people aboard the spaceship Yamato, which is on a mission to save their planet. Before the start of the series, Earth has been irradiated by an alien race. Why? Well, that's a spoiler, so  I won't say. The planet is uninhabitable, and the humans who survived by living underground will die within a year due to radiation poisoning themselves. They are outclassed by the aliens in every way, until they find blueprints for a ship and a message telling them that they can find a device that will save their planet by cleaning the radiation. They secretly build it in the remains of an old Japanese battleship (the eponymous Yamato), and set out to save the human race. That's it. 

2. The sweet voice you hear in that video above are the dulcet tones of Sawada Kenji, probably one of the most famous Japanese singers of all time. He was formerly the lead singer of The Tigers, which was sort of like The Japanese Beatles, then he went on to have a brilliant solo career full of sparkles and shiny things, become a highly regarded comedian, and act in some truly spectacular films. All in all, not bad for one life. He's also one of the few Japanese celebrities that you can watch grow old on television. Very rarely do pop stars retain their popularity for as long as he has.
The Japanese, however, tend to know him by his nickname, Julie. In the 60s, it was popular to give pop idols female European names. I have yet to figure out why this is. In any case, he was named Julie because he loves Julie Andrews. 

He also has a tendency to do this to women:

Okay, now that that's over, let's get on to the grammar!

The song is called ヤマトより愛をこめて. This should be easy enough, since I just told you what ai wo komete means in English. The translation is:

To Yamato (the spaceship), with love.

Easy? Right? You will find ai wo kometei in all sorts of songs, like in this FUJIFABRIC song that I can't embed! That's okay, I'm going to link you to the exact second he says it.

ならば愛をこめて
手紙をしたためよう 

Naraba ai wo komete   

tegami wo shitatatemeyou 

If that's so, let's write a letter
with love

Of course you can use WO KOMETE with other words. For example, take this video about the Touhoku earthquake:





This translates 祈りをこめて (inori wo komete) as "pray for Japan" and I think that's about as close as you're going to get. The idea is that the video is filled with prayers for those affected by the 2011 Touhoku Earthquake.

Lastly, I'm going steal a sentence from my textbook because I think it will also help explain the sentence:

• 母はわたしのために心をこめて、セーターを編んでくれた。
• Haha ha watashi no tame ni kokoro wo komete, SEETAA wo andekureta.
• My mother wholeheartedly knitted a sweater for me.

Aw, how sweet! The weird Japanese explanation I gave you above about putting a feeling into something really makes sense in this sentence. Here, the WO KOMETE is describing she put her heart into making the sweater for her son/daughter.

I suppose I could go on, but I think we all agree it's time to wrap this up. It's been a long post, for sure, but it was fun with Julie here, right?

I also, once upon a time, made a very stupid vlog when I still vlogged dedicated to Kenji Sawada. You can see it here.

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 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 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 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.