In search of GACHI and SHIKA NAI

It's a two for one day to make up for the days I missed last week. I must apologize for that. With my mother having broken her collar bone, I've had to spend half of my day doing the farm work, and the other half doing house work. Needless to say, it has not been conducive to studying for the JLPT.

It has been conducive, however, to falling asleep to radio plays at night... namely Torchwood radio plays... and I'm having difficulty getting myself to think about anything other than how damn cool Ianto Jones is.

And that, my friends, is how I surreptitiously sneak my personal life into this blog. You totally didn't even notice, did you? Masterful.

But I have had a bit of a chance to do more research, so let's get on with it, shall we?

1. GACHI

GACHI means "tends to", though it can be actually translated as a million other things. I think the idea it's supposed to present is that there is a proclivity for something, but it doesn't necessarily make it so all the time. So basically... "tends to". The page I am taking this from is from this page of her beautiful website:

http://juicyfruit.exblog.jp/7871394/

It has a very simple caption:

• 夢見がち
• Yume Migachi

and if you look at the image and assimilate what I told you of what the word GACHI means, you can see the inherent beauty and loneliness to this scene. There are a lot of commonly romantic images in Japan, one of which is sharing a scarf. Another is sharing and umbrella. 

In the last scene, you can see that she is just tied to a tree, and not her lover.

The phrase, then, is a comment on her life.

• I tend to dream

Though I must admit, in this case, I thought I might just translate it as "daydream" despite the fact that there are four perfectly acceptable words to use instead simply because there is no subject indicated. But then again, when is there ever a subject indicated in Japanese? I decided against it in the end because it doesn't quite have the same feeling to it as "I tend to dream".

Also, did you know you can buy t-shirts that say that phrase? I sort of want one...

How to use GACHI:

• Pre-masu form+ GACHI
• because it's a tendency and it will continued to happen, do not worry about tense! No past tense, okay? :)

or

• Noun+ GACHI

2. SHIKA NAI


I wish I could tell you more about the wonderful artist. There isn't really much to say. She does a fantastic web comic about a girl named Mikako which you can find here.  From what I can tell, it's a part of Morning Manga, which is a branch of Kodansha publishing (I think!). It seems that you can buy the manga at stores these days, and I'm sorely tempted.

Our phrase comes from the PV for the manga, though it does appear in the manga itself. I'm being a bit lazy and not searching for it though, so I hope you'll forgive me. I'm also hoping I can sort of nudge you to check out the website yourself and take a look at her amazing work. The scene I will be talking about starts at 0:45.

The phrase I'm interested in is at 0:53:

• 「大丈夫」って答えるしかなかった。
• "Daijoubu" tte kotaeru shikanakatta.

I suppose, though, I should explain how to use SHIKA NAI first before translating the phrase and explaining the context.

SHIKA NAI basically means "no other way", or "have to". I tend to think of it in terms of something that had to be done because there was no other way, whereas other "have to" phrases such as NAKEREBANARANAI can indicate being forced to do it, as well as not having a choice in the matter. SHIKA NAI only speaks to the latter of that, and not the former.

The context which you can watch before is that her adopted mother asks her if she's okay. When she thinks about that, she realizes that adults are always asking that. Then her next phrase is:

• I had no other choice but to answer with "I'm okay".

• 「大丈夫」って答える (To answer with I'm okay) + しかなかった (I had not other choice)

You'll notice this particular phrase in the past tense. That is perfectly possible to do. Since she's narrating the story from some unknown future point, she will of course use SHINAKATTA.

How to make a SHIKANAI sentence:

• DICTIONARY FORM OF VERB + SHIKANAI
• Please remember that depending on the situation, you willl have to change SHIKANAI. For example, if you want to be polite, it's SHIKA ARIMASEN.

Both of this mangaka's works are pretty easy to understand due to the purposefully simple language she uses, and they are a great way to practice reading more artistic Japanese and absorbing cultural phenomenon. Please, please, please check them out!

In search UCHI NI

There is no doubt in my mind that you people have heard of Sailor Moon. If you are at all familiar with anything Japanese, I'm sure one of these three things pop into your mind: 1.) Hello Kitty 2.) Pokemon 3.) Sailor Moon. Maybe Dragonball Z, if you're a guy, or a woman who is madly in love with Vegeta like myself.

As a woman who likes to be respected by men, there is no reason I should love him the way I do >.<

Did I just admit to that? I suppose I could just use the old delete key, but... I don't care enough.

Anyway, Sailor Moon recently (and by recently, I mean about four or five years ago) had a reprinting that involved the original colors for most of the colored pages, unique stickers, and new cover illustrations. I totally thought I was over Sailor Moon until this special edition little beauties caught my eye. Needless to say, I left the store about four thousand yen poorer.

Isn't that a well prettier cover than the original. Of course, I could only find this super low quality version of it on the net, but here you are:

Coincidences of coincidences, I was at the bookstore last night, and I discovered they are rereleasing Sailor Moon as the special editions in English (with the full color pages, but no stickers)! What a blessing! The original translations were absolutely horrid!

In any case, we're going to go over the incredibly easy grammar form, UCHI NI. Hooray! It's nice because it's useful, and that's all I really care about when it comes to learning grammar points. Utility. There are so many I learn and forget simply because it doesn't come to mind fast enough.

UCHI NI means "while A ~ A/B is ~"... which is a little vague. Basically it just means "While". The way I like to remember it is that the word UCHI has two different kanji that have a very enclosed feeling to them. So, 内 means "within" and　家 means "house". So I imagine that housed in one action, is another. Or within an action there is also another. Perhaps that is just my weird way of thinking, but it's worked pretty well for me so far.

There are actually two separate grammar points in my book called UCHI NI, though I'm not entirely sure why. Once we get into, we'll see that they are pretty much the same, even if they are translated different.

But first, let's do it as "while" before I confused with a wily word that goes by the name of "before".

A typical UCHI NI sentence may go like this:

• 勉強するうちに平井堅を聞くのはいいね〜
• Benkyou suru uchi ni Hirai Ken wo kiku no ha ii ne~

Was that my facebook status a few days ago? Why yes it was, and I mean every word of it...

...

No matter what you think I'm not going to digress into how cool Hirai Ken is (though I desperately want to).

Strong, Boom. Strong. Okay, this is how you make a UCHI NI sentence.

• A(action) + UCHI NI + B(action)
• A(Studying) + UCHI NI + B (Listening to Hirai Ken)

• Listening to Hirai Ken (B) while studying (A) is nice.
• While studying, listening to Hirai Ken is nice.

The next is way to use UCHI NI is stay say "before an action is completed, this is done/should be done". While in English, these are two very separate phrases, they are quite similar in Japanese.

• 暗くないうちに、帰ったほうがいい。
• Kurakunai uchi ni, kaetta hou ga ii.

It goes like this:

Within the confines of it not being dark, it's best to go home.

Now let's think about the first one:

Within the confines of studying, it's nice to listen to Hirai Ken.

Do you see where I'm going with this? We would never speak like this in English, though, so the second UCHI NI is essentially:

It's best to go home before it gets dark.

That's right. UCHI NI means the same thing, and yet it is translated as "while" and "before". I'm sure some of you must think this is beyond irritating. I, being such a grammar lover, think it's awesome!

So, the example I'm going to give you from the manga doesn't translate very neatly into English like the ones I provided above, but I like it because it shows just how it can be used without strictly confining you into English contexts.

What? I've hooked up a scanner to my computer? No more crappy photos of manga pages?! Happy days!

• マーズ　ーそして　マーキュリーまで　目の前で一瞬のうちにつれさられた。　ーーーブラックムーン。
• MAAZU -- Soshite MAAKYURII made   Me no mae de isshun no uchini tsuresarareta --- BURAKKU MUUN.

Ok, for those who want to know where I am in the series, the first story line is over. Now we have the Black Moon story line, where we are introduced to Sailor Moon's future daughter with a daddy complex, Chibi Usa. If you don't want to have plot spoiled, I would suggest you ignore this post altogether.

You gone?

No. Okay. So, it's not a big spoiler, but Mars and Mercury have been taken away by the Black Moon, and Usagi is struggling to grasp any sort of victory against this mysterious enemy. See, not too bad, right? 

Let's go over the grammar, and translate it the way I say it usually is translated:

• "While a moment, they were kidnapped before my eyes."
• "Before a moment, they were kidnapped before my eyes."

So doesn't work, right? That's why my brief and annoying story about how I remember UCHI as something that is within the confines of another action comes into play.

Obviously, the way this should be translated is:

• "In a moment, they were taken right before my eyes."

Within a confines of a moment, a blink of an eye, Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury were taken. Suddenly it all makes sense, right?

In search of YORU TO, and YOREBA and KAGIRI

I realize that I have very few days between now and when I take my JLPT, so I'm going to start doing something EVERY day, and if I can, double up on grammar points. So today's inexorably long post is going to be dedicated to YORU TO/ YOREBA and KAGIRI (HA/DEHA). Both are found in volume two of Time Stranger Kyoko by Arina Tanemura.

I used to be a huge fan of Arina Tanemura, even if I could hardly tell her main characters apart. Then, her type of love story started to get a little old (the basic love story is "hate each other than fall in love" which has been her MO for everything except FOS). She is famous for Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, a story about a magical girl who is the reincarnation of Joan of Arc with inexplicably Japanese-styled clothing for her seifuku, and Full Moon o Sagashite, a story about a girl with a beautiful voice who finds out she only has a year left to live and tries to fulfill her dream of becoming a pop idol.

It was once said that Time Stranger Kyoko was Tanemura's favorite work, something I think is true... for the beginning at the very least. What starts out as a fun magical girl manga about a princess who's trying to collect the 12 Strangers so she can awaken her twin sister Ui soon becomes a rushed affair with very poorly constructed twists. I think this is because Tanemura-sensei got the idea for Full Moon o Sagashite and felt the need to wrap up Time Stranger Kyoko as fast as possible. That is just supposition, mind you, brought on by the fact that I wanted TSK to be longer.

1. YORU TO/ YOREBA

First off, I need to make sure you don't ever get this mixed up with NI YOTTE! They have the same root, which is "depends/according" but they are used very differently!

But let's start with the easier of the two, YORU TO/ YOREBA. This grammar point is used when you want to say "according to so and so, this is the truth". For example:

• ブームによるとJLPTのため勉強していることが楽しいだけど。。。
• Acording to Boom, studying for the JLPT is fun...

So basically, it's NOUN + YORUTO + Whatever the Noun says.

Shall we to the manga?

The phrase I want to use is in the right hand corner, and is cut off... Sorry!

I'm going to put things in context really quickly here in order to move things along. Kyoko has discovered that the 12 Strangers she needs to find are leaders of various clans. For example, she's of the Royal Clan, so she's a Stranger. Her best friend is of the Flower Clan, and her romantic interest is the leader of the Dragon Clan. Both of them are Strangers. She then goes on a journey to go find more Strangers so she can use their power to wake her dormant twin sister. Of course, she's only doing this so she doesn't have to be a princess anymore, so it's not like she's really all that much of a philanthropist despite the good deeds she manages to do in every chapter.

So, the sentence in question is this: 

• でもウワサによると仲の良かった２つの村が最近になってケンカばっかしてるみたいなのよね。。。
• Demo, UWASA ni yoruto naka no yokatta futatsu no mura ga saikin natte KENKA bakkashiteru mitainanoyo ne.
• But according to rumour, it looks that these two clans who have always had good relations are bickering. 

Yes. I was a little liberal with the translation. But I kept what was important. Moving on.

So using YORU TO and YOREBA is really easy. Forgive me for repeating myself, but it is just:

• Noun(A) + NI YORU TO/ YOREBA (B) + rest of sentence(C)

This makes:

Rumour (A) NI YORUTO TO (B) + (They are bickering) (C)
According to rumour, they are bickering. 

I'd love to go into the distinction between YORU TO and YOREBA, but I have a lot trouble already trying to distinguish between "if" as in TO and "if" as in BA, so I don't think I'll be any help. Sorry. If someone could enlighten me, though, I'd be forever grateful!

2. KAGIRI 

KAGIRI has three uses. Fantastic. Are you ready?

The kanji for KAGIRI is 限り, which means "limits" or "bounds". What this should give you an image of is that whatever it's describing, it is no more than that. It is used in these three senses:

• 1. As long as
• This should make you think of SAE BA a little bit, but the image is a little different. Here, it's like until that limit of something is reached, something will stay the same:
• 日本にいるかぎり、チンさんはわたしに連絡してくれるはずだ。
• 2. Within the limits of
• This is a description of where knowledge comes from. It's often used with 私が知っている限り, as in "as far as I know". The text book has a great example that takes this further and it uses 電話で話したかぎり, which sort of means "as far as he said on the telephone."
• So, really, the translation is probably almost uniformly "as far as"
• 3. Up until
• This actually translates as "as far as" most of the time. Like, 能力のかぎり頑張ります. "Up until the end of my talents, I'll try." Ouch. That reallly sucks in english, huh?

As for context, it's a whole lot of spoilers, so I'm not going to give you it. I don't know if it's that important. It also has nothing to do with the mysterious guy smooching her. The king, on the previous page, is talking about events and his last thought ends as she's waking up to be orally violated.

I will say the king talks a lot about how she has powers like Chronos, and that awakening her sister doesn't mean she'll escape her fate. This isn't a spoiler, I swear, because he doesn't say what fate and it's strongly insinuated that it's her fate as a princess that can't be escaped.

• 「みんなを守りたい」と思うかぎりー。。。
• "Minna wo mamoritai" to omou kagiri-...

What sucks is that this sentence doesn't end, which makes it an absolute crap example sentence. Why did I use it then? Well, I'm getting desperate. The test is coming up soon and I need something! Plus, this really challenges my way of thinking about KAGIRI so it's good that I have to think this through.

But first, I want to show this absolutely hilarious translation.

And this is why we DO NOT use online translators. Either that, or we only use translators whose language that it is going to be translated into is their native language. First off, that first sentence is about how Kyoko's hair will change back from red to brown. There is another sentence in there that uses DARAKE (魔族だらけの未来) where he says a "a future full of demons".... but according to this, the Mazoku went to the future where Ui's moment of awakening vanished! 

But I'm digressing. 

Let's look at the three translations for KAGIRI. There is "As long as", "As far as" and "Up until". Which is best here?

Well, I for one, agree with the translation above. It is "'Everybody defended' and to think as much as possible". Oh, wait, no I don't! That's ridiculous! I mean, it suggests that there is a limit, so that's good, but other than that, WHAT THE HECK?!

I'm going to let you in on a little secret, it's not definition 3. That leaves us with 1 and 2:

Previous sentence: "After all, you can't escape your fate of awakening Princess Ui."　（結局おまえは憂を目覚めさせる運命から逃れらないのさ） 

• 1. As long as you think that you want to protect everyone...
• 2. As far as you think you want to protect everyone...

So which one of those sounds right? That's right! One! It's inverted sentence! Oh Japanese, how you love to toy with me.

"After all, you can't escape your fate of awakening Princess Ui... as long as you think you want to protect everyone."

In a normal, formally written sentence using KAGIRI, this would be flipped like this:

結局、「みんなを守りたい」と思うかぎり、おまえは憂を目覚めさせる運命から逃れらないのさ。

I'm a little hesitant to end this post because it makes me feel so nostalgic. I remember ten years ago when the first chapters of this came out. I bought the manga for a exorbitant price online, and muddled through with .txt translations because I had no idea how to speak Japanese at the time. Sometimes, I wonder if child self would be impressed with me. Other time, I wonder if child self isn't a little disappointed that I'm not further along.

WAKE WEEK! In search of WAKE GA IKANAI

That's right! It's day four of WAKE WEEK!

Okay, I'm going to talk about this using a video I snagged off of Nico Nico Douga, which is sort of the Japanese youtube. It's an easy enough site to join, and if you're registering in America, it conveniently does the process in English for you. Coherent English, mind you! It's sort of baffling...

In any case, the site has this annoying thing where it displays the comments on the actual video, which is why you see so many "w"s. For those who don't know "wwwwwww" is the equivalent to "lolololol". One "w" is just "lol". The reason is because the kanji they use for lol is 笑, which means "laugh". 笑 starts with the letter w, hence the millions of ws.




 So the video is called:

• 死にたいけど、まだ死ぬ訳にはいかない理由
• Shinitai kedo, mada shinu wake niha ikanai riyuu.

WAKE, as a said every post before means reason, more specifically a reason that draws conclusions. The definitions I have for WAKE NIHA IKANAI are as follows:

• Cannot
• Cannot but~
• Can't help ~ing
• Have no (other choice) but to~

My notes say that it's like KOTO GA DEKIRU and NAKAREBANARANAI and NAKAREBANARENAI, which is weird because neither of those really have anything to do with each other. The first is "to be able to" and the second is "have to/must".

So, I think that I meant that it's sort of a mix between the two. I don't know. Sometimes I wish I could ask past me questions....

My example sentences are like this:

• これから運転しなければなりませんから、お酒を飲むわけにはいきません。
• Kore kara unten shinakerebanarimasen kara, osake wo nomu wake ni ha ikimasen.
• Because I have to drive from now on, there is no reason for me to drink.

• この論文が重要だから、読まないわけにはいかない。
• Kono ronbun ga jyuuyou dakara, yomanai wake niha ikanai.
• Since this is a principle thesis, I have no other choice but to read it.

*Please note on the first one, I put it into the more formal form. 

Therefore, the WAKE NIHA IKANAI functions as way of reasoning that there is no other choice than what will be done.

Even though I want to die, these are the reasons I have no other choice but not to die. 

It's a bit convoluted in English, I agree. But whatever. The SHINU doesn't seem to have a negative added on to it, but as you watch the video it's pretty obvious that it's reasons why people won't kill themselves yet, such as "I haven't had sex yet" or "I want to play hentai games every day". Also, MADA usually indicates a negative statement regardless if the verb is negative or not, so I'm relatively sure I got it right.

At first I thought the video was about suicide in Japan, because it is a serious issue there. Trust me, I lived near a place that was famous for suicides, and it had lots of signs hanging around that said "you parents love you" and "it's just a test" or "there is still a future". They are more than a little disturbing, especially when they are strewn about a place that has been abandoned due to a bad earthquake. I am talking about Seikinohana in the Ishikawa prefecture. 

It's weird to me that such a serious issue can be made into a joke. Don't get me wrong, some of them were pretty funny. But the thing is, it's done in the style of the classic Japanese BBS, specifically using 2ch as its platform. I was going to blab on about it a bit more, but it turns out that wikipedia totally talked about everything I wanted to, right down to Densha Otoko! That movie is famous for the love story that comes into being because of BBS (the main character gets encouragement from the people on the BBS).

In any case, the reason why it's sensitive, in my opinion, is that it is common for people who wish to kill themselves to come to these boards either as a cry for help because they can get no one in their life to listen to them, or because they want to find other people who also wish to commit suicide. I'll quote an article from Wired:

Mass suicide: Last December, an anonymous post began a thread with this simple message: "28 years has been enough. I live in Hiroshima. I plan to die within the month. Will somebody come with me? I don't have the courage to go alone."
More than 700 messages follow. "Take a nap," one says. "What's wrong?" another asks.

"My college girlfriend was gang-raped, and she killed herself. Plus I have over 4 million yen in debt," the guy responds before disappearing completely from the forum. What happened to him isn't known, but the conversation continues among other suicidal hopefuls, self-hater-haters and gentle negotiators. The last post, published just a few hours ago, is a goodbye note by a woman who betrayed her lover. The conversation is one of many mass-suicide discussion threads.

So, I'm a bit torn about this video... mostly because I know that I shouldn't find it funny knowing what I know. But I also think that humor is based in the absurd, and this isn't making fun of the seriousness of the issue, but the absurdity.

WAKE WEEK! In search of WAKE GA NAI

Why yes folks! It's day 3 of WAKE WEEK!

And we arrive at WAKE GA NAI, which is very very similar to WAKE DEHA NAI. We're going to have to try and discover how this one is different together, or in a more likely way, I'm going to stumble about for a full five hundred words.

Today, I'm going to go on the fall back of anime, and talk about 俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない, or Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai. It's usually abbreviated at Oreimo, which I always think sounds like "I'm emo"。。。

何で誰でも俺の友達なれん？？

。。。but that is probably just me. The English dub will be named Oreimo as well, and this post seems to be quite fortuitous because it's going to be released in five days! Check out the aniplex website here.

WAKE GA NAI translates as the following:

• There is no reason why~
• It is impossble for ~ to~
• Cannot ~

As you can see, it's not the easiest thing to translate. The way this anime series is usually translated as, then, is:

There is now way my little sister is that cute! 

Really, that is the best way to go about it. It's not like it's fluid English to say "It's impossible that my little sister is cute" "Or there is not reason my little sister is cute", though both of these are a bit more true to the original feeling behind the grammar point. I suspect that no matter how you translate the title though, it will always sound a little silly in English, and that's why the Aniplex chose Oreimo. I'm sure that's what happened with Saikano. My Girlfriend, the Ultimate Weapon really isn't going to get the demographic that anime is actually meant for, which is people who likes stories about love during the destruction of the world. With the actual translation, you just get a lot perverts who like making love to the barrel of a gun.

Anyway, you'd think that with a title like "There is no way my little sister is that cute!", the anime/manga/novels would be about a guy who is uber protective of his sweet sister who attracts all sorts of guys, or about a guy who can't figure out why all his friends fall in love with his sister. These are reasonable guesses. They are, however, wrong.

Let's join me for another episode of Weird things from Japan!

Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai is about a brother and sister who haven't gotten along for years. That is, until the brother discovers that his sister is into hentai games, or eroge, specifically ones about little sisters. Somehow, the brother becomes convinced that he has to help his little sister hide her weird hobby so she can be herself. I'll be honest, I'm not real fond of the series. It really plays on the sister-love theme too much, and the sister's actions (despite her swearing that she doesn't want to have sex with her brother) are just too... erotic and inappropriate. It's also filled with scenes of her in her underwear, or her with her butt in the air... or her with her skirt blowning up... or... you know, I'm just going to stop.

I'm not sure how it is in the books (which the anime and manga are based off of), but I really just don't get it,  nor  do I think it is something that you're even supposed to get. The one redeeming quality of the series is that the little sister is emphatic that 2D and 3D worlds are separate, meaning reality is reality, and fantasy is fantasy. It's stupid to mix them up, she says. I almost wonder if isn't a comment on readers like me, who still think the story is pretty needlessly perverted. I'm just not realizing that none of it is sexual because of the reality of the situation which is... she doesn't like her brother that way. Or something like that.  But you know what? I'd like it to be explained to me why it's necessary to keep placing her in the role that she enjoys watching, but has no desire to play. What I mean is that she plays a little sister sex object though she claims she isn't. For example (and I will not put the image up) she falls down at one point which somehow perfectly pushes her skirt and blouse up to show her bra and panties, and her brother is straddling her because he fell down too. Seriously. Explain that.

It's not that I think the story is horrible (it has interesting point about what are acceptable hobbies and why ordinary seeming people have fetishes) but the scenes are just needlessly perverted beyond all belief. And this is coming from someone who

I feel, though, that I have not successfully described WAKE GA NAI to you, so I'm going to add just a smidge more. In my two year old notebook, I have these two sentences:

•  こんな優しい仕事が君に出来ないわけがない。
• Konna yasashii shigoto ga kimi ni dekinai wake ga nai.
• There's no reason why you can't do such an easy job.

• 日本語がそんなに速くマスター出来るわけがない。
• Nihongo ga sonnani hayaku MASTAA dekiru wake ga nai.
• It's impossible to learn Japanese that fast.

These sentences have an important distinction. Do you see how the first is negative with a negative? Well, Japanese is a lot more carefree about their double negatives, though as a hobby linguist and grammarian, I see very little wrong with double negatives so long as they aren't completely muddled. But the truth is, us English speakers try to avoid them. Japanese people, however, love them. I think it has to do with misdirection in a language that is filled with implication and ambiguity. The second sentence has an affirmative and a negative, making a nicer English sentence. I just want you to know it's possible, and indeed even encouraged, to use a double negative.

So, in the end, I think that the general way to use WAKE GA NAI is to suggest that whatever the sentence is in front of it is, that sentence is impossible, or at the very least, very stupid.

How to make a WAKE GA NAI sentence:

• Plain form form of whatever, unless it's a noun then add DEARU/DATTA + WAKE GA NAI
• what you're talking about + it's impossible to do what you're talking about

I assume to make this more polite, you would probably say WAKE GA ARIMASEN.

In search of TATOTAN (NI)

Just so you folks know... this will not be the last time I talk about Takarazuka. There is so much to get into with that group, and I have a lot of material dealing with this cultural phenomena, so it's likely we'll be returning to it a few times.

But first, what is Takarazuka? Well, technically it's a town on the south side of Hyogo, and is about thirty minutes from Osaka by train on the Hankyu Line. It's a very pleasant, and quiet town that sort of acts as a suburban commuter city that has really beautiful walking trails. I think that if I could, I'd probably choose to live in that area in the future. It's a bit like fairyland. I love it, but that could be because it's largely empty during the day.

Really, when you mention Takarazuka, people automatically think of the theatre groupe, Takarazuka Revue, which is an all female musical theatre troupe. I'd like to go into more detail, but since this is the first of many posts, I'll save that for a bit later.

This is one of their most famous shows, The Rose of Versailles.

Today though, I want to talk about the fans, who are known for being particularly rabid and protective. There are fanclubs for the actresses, and they have very strict rules of how one is to address the objects of affection, if at all. Nothing Takarazuka related should be posted on the web unless it's a poster, and all images should be a small size so no one can redistribute. If you buy a GRAPH (a Takarazuka photobook), you better not share them with the internet or you will quickly find herself being trolled twenty-four seven. This includes posting things from the special Takarazuka cable channel on to the web.

The reason I bring up the fans is because the grammar point I wish to address is on a fan's blog.

• GRAPHを、てゆーか出版物をひろげたとたん大声を上げてしまったのは、生まれて初めてかもしれません.
• GRAPH wo, te yuuka shuppanbutsu wo hirogeta totan oki oogoe wo agede shimatta no ha, umarete hajimeta kamoshiremasen.

So, the TOTAN in TATOTAN  means "just at this moment", and it uses this kanji: 途端. The definition the dictionary gives me is "after doing something this immediately happens". Thus, I can surmise that something just barely finishes happening before something else happens. That, of course is exactly what happens.

The TA in TATOTAN is merely to indicate to you that the phrase can ONLY be used with a TA form (informal past tense) of a verb. You'll also notice that I placed NI in parenthesis. This is because, should you need to use it in an adjectival way, you need to add NI.

So then, what is this about? Here are some possible translations:

• The second I opened the GRAPH book, I let out such a loud yell that it must have seemed like I had just been born.
• I had just scarcely opened the GRAPH book before I let out such a loud yell that it must have seemed like I had just been born.

Easy, right?

I should mention that GRAPH is the name of the photobooks for each actress (please keep in mind that say actress because the term in Japanese is gender neutral, and gives me no indication of how I should refer to the male parts in English). In fact, I own one for Sei Motabu, which is weird because I've actually seen Yamato Yuuga the most, and Sena Jun is my favorite. Of course, now that Hiromu Kirya and Otozuki Kei are top stars now, they are winning my heart!

This is mine. I have translated some interviews in the book, if anyone is interested.

I'm didn't really read very far into this post except I did see that she wondered if "she had died" when she saw it, such was her elation. I think it's because the cover of this particular has two very big otokoyaku (boy parts). I'm not sure though who they are. I'm pretty bad at my names and faces when it comes to Takurazuka.

In search of SEI DE/ SEI DA

Today, I'm going to use Fullmetal Alchemist to help us. And so you know, yes, it is one of my favorite mangas of all time, and I'm more than a little in love with Edward. I also really want this shirt:

The basic premise of the show sort of follows an I, Robot way of a storyline. What I mean is that the entire story is set up around a law that can't be broken (for those are Asimov-challenged, I mean the 3 Laws of Robotics). This immutable truth of the law becomes just as much an antagonist as any of the villains do, which is partially why I'm so attracted to the manga. The concept is summarized at the beginning of each episode of the anime, and it becomes absolutely heartbreaking when you start realizing its implications.

Of course, once you realize which character is delivering this monologue at the beginning of each episode it becomes even more haunting.

But today, we are not going to talk about the anime. No we are not. Why? Because I only own the manga, and it's pretty different from the anime. Why is this? Well, the mangaka, Hiromu Arakawa (who I automatically like because she's from Hokkaidou), sold the rights to do an anime early on in the series, but she would not tell the animators what the plot was after the volumes that were already produced. It makes sense though. Why would read the manga if you already know how it's going to end. She was protecting her creativity and product in a very smart way. I actually wonder the same thing about animes. Since I always read manga, there seems very little point in me watching the show when it's almost the same thing (I'm looking at you, Naruto). In any case, there is the manga, which is the original story, there is the first anime, which is true to the manga for about eight episodes, and there is the second anime called Brotherhood, which follows the manga. There's also a movie that acts as a sequel to the first anime series...oh, and a series of audio dramas...but I digress.

Shall we to the grammar point?

Yet again, I'm all sorts of classy and I used my digital camera instead of walking ALL THE WAY downstairs and booting up a crappy old computer to scan this. Why don't I just put the scanner on my computer? you ask. It's just that old, I reply. Plus, there aren't any drivers for a mac.

This is the pivotal scene that puts much of the plot in motion, at least for the main characters Edward and Alphonse. They try to use alchemy to bring their mother back to life, but while they have everything that is important to making a body (salt, potassium, etc.) they don't have anything to give in exchange for a soul. Edward has lost his leg, and Al has lost his entire body in creating a monster that only sort of looks like their mother. Edward, in a last act of desperation realizes in order to save his brother's soul he has to attach it to a suit of armor.

Our grammar point in question is here:

Do you see it?

• アル。。。　オレのせいだ

SEI DA (DESU) means "fault". Anytime you want to say anything is the fault of something, you use that word. Knowing this, then, means that it is pretty easy to guess what this particular grammar point means.

• Al... It's my fault.

Though, I would probably translate this as:

• Al... It's all my fault.

From what I can tell, there isn't really way to include that "all" in a SEI DA sentence, but I find that to be more fluid than just saying "It's my fault". Oh the liberties translation can take.

Ed loses an arm attaching Al's body to the armor, and suddenly it makes a lot of sense why the series is called what it is. Those are two very metal alchemists. Almost full metal, I'd say.

But this is the most simple way to use SEI. So, it's time move on to other things that more fun to use like SEI DE.

Just knowing that SEI DE uses the TE form probably leads you to know that you can write a lot longer sentence. And... while I'm sure FMA uses it at some point in the manga, I'm not going to go searching for it. It'll just make me sad that I don't have the last five tankoubans (volumes). So, instead, I'm going to talk about something really different.

With this phrase:

•  私のせいで負けました

using this video that used it as its title.

Honestly, I wouldn't watch the video for more than ten seconds. I only used it because I want to talk about the game a little bit. I know it's a POD (Panoramic Optical Display) game, and it is just so Japanese.

So I took the following image from this link that sort of talks about the game.

That, my friends, is a video game. It also made me hella dizzy and motion sick the one and only time I played it. I'm not real certain if the above video is GUNDAM, but I'm relatively sure it is because I'm a nerd, and I recognize the alert sound from Gundam Wing.

In case your wondering, playing games in Japan is really just that awesome.

But I'm going to stop myself from talking about things like Pop'n Music, and actually get on with this incredibly long post.

•  私のせいで負けました
• Watashi no sei de makemashita.
• It's my fault we lost.

So basically it goes like this:

Who or what's fault? + What happened = SEI DE sentence.

I should probably also mention that anything can go with SEI. But here are the rules for each one:

• Verb -  appropriate tense
• I Adjective - add i
• Na adjective - add na
• Noun - add no 

Nice, right?

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 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 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!