Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
A book I've been reading recently* says that uncertainty avoidance is different from risk avoidance. It goes on to say, "Anxiety ..... has no object. Uncertainty has no probability attached to it."
* Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind by Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede and Michael Minkov
Today, I would like to talk about loneliness from this uncertainty-anxiety perspective because I want to reduce my loneliness.
First, I want to attach a probability to uncertainty about my loneliness as it's easier. The chance that I will end up living by myself is statistically 100% because my husband is five year older than I am and males' life expectancy is shorter than females' one in Japan. It's almost for sure that I'll live not necessarily lonely, but alone for the last ten years of my life.
The next step is to identify what I'm so anxious about. Eating alone? Having no walking buddy? Having no one to talk to? Having no one to kiss? Having no one I drink with? Or dying alone?
Now I realize that I'm scared of having no one understanding or caring for me. Of course, after my husband dies, I'll still have friends who care about me, but they wouldn't understand or care about me as my husband does. At this point, I again realize that it's understandable that they wouldn't understand me as deeply as my husband does because I'm not open to them and don't spend much time with them.
The thing is that I have no energy left for others physically or mentally after using it for myself and husband. But I also know that I will end up lonely if I don't change and that it's too late to start building or deepening friendship after my husband dies. Real friendship takes time. So, what should I do to spend more time and energy for my friends before it's too late?
The answer is simple. I need to be physically and mentally stronger to be more active and open, and listen to and accept others and for that, I have to eat, walk and laugh more. I'm going to get off the train one stop before the destination from today!
今読んでいる本に「不確実を回避することとリスクを回避することは違う」とありました。そして「不安とは何が不安か分からないこと、不確実とはそれが起きる可能性が分からないことをいう」とありました。ナルジマ風に言いますと、不安の根源を数値化、具体化できたら、もうそれは不安ではなく不確実なことになって対処しやすくなる、と言ったような感じでしょうか。
* Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind by Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede and Michael Minkov
ということで今日のお題は「どうしたら孤独を減らせるか」です。
まず最初に「不確実の数値化」から。うちの旦那は5歳上です。平均寿命からすると、私の晩年10年ほどはほぼ確実に一人暮らしということになります。
次は「私は何を恐れているのか」という問題です。一人の食事？ 一緒に歩く人がいないこと？ 話し相手がいないこと？一緒に飲む人がいないこと？一人で死ぬこと？
ここまで書いて分かりました。自分を分かってくれる人、構ってくれる人がいなくなるのが怖いんです。旦那が死んだって友達はいる。だけど、旦那ぐらい自分を構ってくれるような人はいないし、旦那が死んでから友達を作ろうとしたって遅すぎでしょ。そもそも私、他人にオープンではありません｡｡｡
でも、私がもっとオープンになって、時間とエネルギーを他人に向けたら解決するってことも分かりました。今すぐはちょっと無理かも。自分と旦那で精いっぱい。でもここでまた開眼。もっと強くならなければいけないんですね、私。心も体も！ というわけで、もっと食べて、歩いて、笑います。早速、今日から一駅歩きます！
Whose Work Do We Read, Author or Translator? - A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro and Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino カズオ＝イシグロと東野圭吾
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Fans of mystery books always look for good mystery books. If you are interested in not necessarily murder mystery books, but mystery books with a literary bent, I recommend A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro because it contains a mystery.
I wrote a post about the mystery about a year ago, asking the reader if my understanding is correct. Basically (spoiler alert: don't read this post if you haven't read the book and plan to read it), the story was about two pairs of mother and daughter and one mother (i.e., the protagonist) looks back on her life and starts to talk about a sad story of her own. The mystery is whether these two mothers are the same person because at one point while reading this book in English, you would find the two pairs almost completely overlapping.
And the problem or reason I wrote about this book one year ago is that you wouldn't be able to see that mystery if you read this book in Japanese due to a linguistic difference between English and Japanese. Japanese speakers usually omit the subject if they think that it's self-evident and this often causes a problem in translation as follows:
'"In any case," I went on, "if you don't like it over there, we can always come back.... (underlined by the writer of this blog)"' - A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro
The problem is that the underlined part is translated into Japanese that "行ってみて嫌だったら、帰ってくればいいでしょ," which can be re-translated into English that:
".... if (no subject) don't like it over there, (no subject) can always come back."
The Japanese sentence has no subjects, so those reading this novel in Japanese generally assume that both subjects are the same, i.e., you or we, and in any case, they would be deprived of a chance to find this subtle change in the subject from "you" to "we" and to suspect (or realize) that the two mothers are the same single person. (For more details, please read this post.)
I have recently received a comment and found that the commenter, who is Japanese and read this book both in English and Japanese, felt the same way. She also gave me a very interesting link to another blog on which people discuss the generally the same issue, i.e., whether the two pairs of mother and daughter are the same.
Personally I believe that Etsuko is Sachiko and I wouldn't have enjoyed this novel if I had read it in Japanese because I love mysteries. But I also know that without the knowledge the novel is still enjoyable, so the most important issue here is not which interpretation is correct (i.e., whether Etsuko and Sachiko are the same person or not), but that Japanese readers are deprived of the opportunity to enjoy this mystery.
As a translator, I understand the difficulty of translation and have no intention of criticizing the Japanese translation. So, I want to talk about another interesting thing related to translation.
I've read several novels by Keigo Higashino, a Japanese very famous and popular mystery writer, but I read them all in English. It's only because the author’s work isn’t available in digital format. I bought Journey Under the Midnight Sun, Malice, Salvation of a Saint and enjoyed all of them in English. But this contradicts my belief, "Direct communication is better than indirect one." So, one day I decided to read his another book in Japanese in paper form and went to a book store.
But I bought none because I felt embarrassed when reading the beginning of his another novel in the store. I didn't or still don't know why. Then, I realized that maybe part of the joy of reading the three books came from the translation? I went home and found they were all translated by the same translator, Mr. Alexander O. Smith. Thank you Mr. Smith for your translations and for making me realize that translation is very important. I'm gonna keep working hard to be a translator like you....
イシグロカズオ氏の「遠い山並みの光」について以前書いた記事に、verde arbolさんという方からコメントをいただきました。私が思っていたこと（悦子と佐知子は同一人物）をverde arbolさんもお感じになられていたようで、問題意識を共有できてとてもうれしく感じました。ブログってこういうところに書く喜びがあるんですね。
他の記事にも書いておりますが、私は翻訳を生業としております。ただ、文芸ではなく、もっとお固い、解釈の余地が少ない分野でお仕事しています。とはいえ、日本語と英語の行き来には日々考えさせられることが多く、やりがい、そして広がりを感じます。そうです。英語が少しでもできるようになると世界が広がります。私がこのブログを英語と日本語の両方で書いているのも世界を広げたいからです。いつか、このブログが日本語と英語の両方が行きかう場になればいいなと願っています。
そこで今日は翻訳ネタをもう一つ。実は私はミステリーが好きで、そういう意味でもイシグロ氏の「遠い山並みの光」はとても楽しめたのですが、ある書評で東野圭吾氏の「白夜行」がやはり殺人トリックよりも人の心に焦点を当てた良質のミステリーであることを知り、読もうとしたのですが、なんと、氏の本は日本語電子版がない。そこで自宅ペーパーレス化を推進する私としては仕方なく翻訳電子版を買いました。いや、面白かった。最後の方なんか、一気読みでした。その後も2冊続けて東野氏の英語電子版を楽しみました。
ところが、私の信条に「コミュニケーションは間接ではなく直接の方がいい」というのもあり、「やはり、日本語で読もう！」とある日、本屋に立ち寄り、東野氏の別の本を一冊手に取り、開いて、でも戻してしまいました。冒頭の日本語が恥ずかしく感じられて、読めなくなってしまったのです。（決して東野氏を批判しているものではありません！）その時思ったんです。もしかして私は東野氏とその翻訳者の共同作品を楽しんでいたのでは、と。家に帰って確認したら、読んだ3冊は3冊ともAlexander O. Smith氏の訳でした。Smithさん、ありがとう。翻訳の大切さを改めて認識しました。私ももっと頑張ってあなたのような翻訳者になります！
Fans of mystery books always look for good mystery books. If you are interested in not necessarily murder mystery books, but mystery books with a literary bent, I recommend A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro because it contains a mystery.
I wrote a post about the mystery about a year ago, asking the reader if my understanding is correct. Basically (spoiler alert: don't read this post if you haven't read the book and plan to read it), the story was about two pairs of mother and daughter and one mother (i.e., the protagonist) looks back on her life and starts to talk about a sad story of her own. The mystery is whether these two mothers are the same person because at one point while reading this book in English, you would find the two pairs almost completely overlapping.
And the problem or reason I wrote about this book one year ago is that you wouldn't be able to see that mystery if you read this book in Japanese due to a linguistic difference between English and Japanese. Japanese speakers usually omit the subject if they think that it's self-evident and this often causes a problem in translation as follows:
'"In any case," I went on, "if you don't like it over there, we can always come back.... (underlined by the writer of this blog)"' - A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro
The problem is that the underlined part is translated into Japanese that "行ってみて嫌だったら、帰ってくればいいでしょ," which can be re-translated into English that:
".... if (no subject) don't like it over there, (no subject) can always come back."
The Japanese sentence has no subjects, so those reading this novel in Japanese generally assume that both subjects are the same, i.e., you or we, and in any case, they would be deprived of a chance to find this subtle change in the subject from "you" to "we" and to suspect (or realize) that the two mothers are the same single person. (For more details, please read this post.)
I have recently received a comment and found that the commenter, who is Japanese and read this book both in English and Japanese, felt the same way. She also gave me a very interesting link to another blog on which people discuss the generally the same issue, i.e., whether the two pairs of mother and daughter are the same.
Personally I believe that Etsuko is Sachiko and I wouldn't have enjoyed this novel if I had read it in Japanese because I love mysteries. But I also know that without the knowledge the novel is still enjoyable, so the most important issue here is not which interpretation is correct (i.e., whether Etsuko and Sachiko are the same person or not), but that Japanese readers are deprived of the opportunity to enjoy this mystery.
As a translator, I understand the difficulty of translation and have no intention of criticizing the Japanese translation. So, I want to talk about another interesting thing related to translation.
I've read several novels by Keigo Higashino, a Japanese very famous and popular mystery writer, but I read them all in English. It's only because the author’s work isn’t available in digital format. I bought Journey Under the Midnight Sun, Malice, Salvation of a Saint and enjoyed all of them in English. But this contradicts my belief, "Direct communication is better than indirect one." So, one day I decided to read his another book in Japanese in paper form and went to a book store.
But I bought none because I felt embarrassed when reading the beginning of his another novel in the store. I didn't or still don't know why. Then, I realized that maybe part of the joy of reading the three books came from the translation? I went home and found they were all translated by the same translator, Mr. Alexander O. Smith. Thank you Mr. Smith for your translations and for making me realize that translation is very important. I'm gonna keep working hard to be a translator like you....
他の記事にも書いておりますが、私は翻訳を生業としております。ただ、文芸ではなく、もっとお固い、解釈の余地が少ない分野でお仕事しています。とはいえ、日本語と英語の行き来には日々考えさせられることが多く、やりがい、そして広がりを感じます。そうです。英語が少しでもできるようになると世界が広がります。私がこのブログを英語と日本語の両方で書いているのも世界を広げたいからです。いつか、このブログが日本語と英語の両方が行きかう場になればいいなと願っています。
そこで今日は翻訳ネタをもう一つ。実は私はミステリーが好きで、そういう意味でもイシグロ氏の「遠い山並みの光」はとても楽しめたのですが、ある書評で東野圭吾氏の「白夜行」がやはり殺人トリックよりも人の心に焦点を当てた良質のミステリーであることを知り、読もうとしたのですが、なんと、氏の本は日本語電子版がない。そこで自宅ペーパーレス化を推進する私としては仕方なく翻訳電子版を買いました。いや、面白かった。最後の方なんか、一気読みでした。その後も2冊続けて東野氏の英語電子版を楽しみました。
ところが、私の信条に「コミュニケーションは間接ではなく直接の方がいい」というのもあり、「やはり、日本語で読もう！」とある日、本屋に立ち寄り、東野氏の別の本を一冊手に取り、開いて、でも戻してしまいました。冒頭の日本語が恥ずかしく感じられて、読めなくなってしまったのです。（決して東野氏を批判しているものではありません！）その時思ったんです。もしかして私は東野氏とその翻訳者の共同作品を楽しんでいたのでは、と。家に帰って確認したら、読んだ3冊は3冊ともAlexander O. Smith氏の訳でした。Smithさん、ありがとう。翻訳の大切さを改めて認識しました。私ももっと頑張ってあなたのような翻訳者になります！
Having Career Decreases Woman's Marriage Chances in Japan? 働く日本女性は結婚できない？
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
The book I've been reading recently answered my long-term question, "Does having careers reduce women's marriage chances"? The answer is "Yes" here in Japan.
The book I've been reading recently answered my long-term question, "Does having careers reduce women's marriage chances"? The answer is "Yes" here in Japan.
Bedridden Elderly Worth More Than Those With Dementia in Japan 認知症と寝たきり、どっちがいい？
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
A TV program I watched a few weeks ago showed a couple, a husband and a wife in their 90s, both suffering from dementia, expelled from one facility to another every one to three months. The reason is that their level of nursing care requirements, designated by the authorities, is relatively low, i.e., Level 2 on a scale from 1 to 5, because they are physically okay. In Japan, elderly who are physically fine, but mentally not (such as the couple) are considered to need less care requirements, tend to be categorized as a lower care requirements level and as a result get less care benefits even though they actually need more help, i.e., often going missing and caregivers having to find them even if it's midnight. Care homes, mostly privately run, don't want to accept such elderly people because of less profitability. It's easy to understand why physically fine elderly with dementia, such as the couple, aren't so popular.
A TV program I watched a few weeks ago showed a couple, a husband and a wife in their 90s, both suffering from dementia, expelled from one facility to another every one to three months. The reason is that their level of nursing care requirements, designated by the authorities, is relatively low, i.e., Level 2 on a scale from 1 to 5, because they are physically okay. In Japan, elderly who are physically fine, but mentally not (such as the couple) are considered to need less care requirements, tend to be categorized as a lower care requirements level and as a result get less care benefits even though they actually need more help, i.e., often going missing and caregivers having to find them even if it's midnight. Care homes, mostly privately run, don't want to accept such elderly people because of less profitability. It's easy to understand why physically fine elderly with dementia, such as the couple, aren't so popular.
A Person isn't a Dividual, But an Individual 個人、分人どっちでもいいと思いますが
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Have you ever heard of the term of "dividual (bunjin)"? This is a term coined and used by Keiichiro Hirano in his book, What am I? - From individual to dividual (Watashi towa nanika - kojin kara bunjin e), to propose a new concept that a person isn't an "in-dividual," but consists of multiple "dividuals," interacting with other people through each of these dividuals. Hirano is an awardee of the Akutagawa Prize, i.e., Japan's most prestigious literary prize.
I'm not against this idea, finding it useful, as he said, to use this dividual mechanism, i.e., interacting with others through not the entirety, but any single dividual of us, to overcome social, racial, economic or other divisions.
But I wondered at the same time what was so important about the idea because it's inward. By reading this book, we can understand how our mind works or how we make one dividual come to terms with another when they confront each other, but can't find any tips on how to come to terms with, or make ourselves understood by, other people. Should't we Japanese learn not inter-divisional, but interpersonal communication skills, i.e., how to assert ourselves or confront others, should we?
We are very good at inter-divisional communication. As Mr. Hirano said, we have multiple dividuals, communicating and arguing with each other, but such communication never goes beyond outside of self. Think about a very unique attitude among Japanese people, sontaku (i.e., performing pre-emptive acts to ingratiate themselves to their superiors), done by MOF officials to ingratiate Prime Minister Abe. Sontaku occurs when you aren't sure about what you are expected to do because the other is unclear about it. The best and easiest solution is to just ask. However, instead, if you don't ask because you are afraid of making them uncomfortable, sontaku starts, i.e., your "dividuals" begin inter-divisional discussion to decide what to do, but being unable to do so because of insufficient information, keep debating between themselves without asking the other party for the necessary information and this goes on and on. The problem is once sontaku starts, there is no end. Your dividuals keep endlessly arguing about what is right or wrong to no end...
Hirano's dividual theory may help us understand why sontaku occurs, but not how to prevent it because after all, there is only one "indivisible you." Whether you have multiple dividuals or how to integrate them doesn't matter. What matters is to learn interpersonal, i.e., outward, skills, such as how to assert yourself, accept the responsibility for what your (or your dividuals') words and actions and, if necessary, make adjustments to you (or them) to build real you. You don't "find," but "build" real you as you change through such interpersonal interactions. So, to me, Mr. Hirano's concept of dividuals, a solution to overcome divisions without interpersonal interactions, sounds bogus, like trying to be a sex guru by masturbating without having real sex.
Being inward isn't bad, but for Japanese people, who tend to be introverted, looking at things from only an inward perspective doesn't work in particular when it comes to people. It only shows clean, beautiful and easy answers, but they aren't real or don't work and sometimes dangerous because people believing such dream-like solutions to be workable would be disillusioned to see "real" world, inefficient and disorganized, and may turn around and reject those who make them realize such an ugly "reality."
平野啓一郎氏の「私とは何か 個人から分人へ」を読み終えた。人は分けられないもの（individual）ではなく、分けられるもの（dividual）の集合体であり、現代の分断を克服するために役立つ概念だと説いている。その考察に何ら反対するわけではないのだけど、あまり意味がないというか、何かが欠けているというか、個人が分けられる、分けられない、なんてどうでもよく、問題はどうやって他人とぶつかり合いながら、自分のことを分かってもらうようにすることではないだろうか、と思ってしまった。
日本人は心の中で葛藤するのがとっても得意。平野氏風に言うと、「分人同士」が交流しているとでもいうのだろうか。例えば「忖度」。あなたの中の分人たちが相手の考えていることをいろいろ推測するからこんなことになってしまう。さくっと聞けばいいのにね。
平野氏の分人説だと、分人同士が対立して個人の中で葛藤が始まるところまでは分かるのだが、最後は結局分人ではなく、分人の集合体である「あなた」なのだから、分人が何人いようがそれを統合できようができまいが、どうでもいいように思えるのだ。それより、相手にどう主張し、ぶつかり、しかし言葉と行動に責任を持ち、調整しながら「自分を作っていく」ことの方がもっと大切なのではないか。「自分」は「見つける」ものではなく、人との交流の中で「作る」ものなのだから、人との交流や衝突なしに悩みや分断を克服するなんてできないのではなかろうか。
日本人はよく内向きだと言われる。でも内向きで得られるのはきれいごとで受け入れやすい空想の現実だけ。こんなに人がいっぱいいるのに相手とのやり取りなしの現実なんてありえない。それにきれいごとしか見てないひとってやばいかも。だって現実の醜さに幻滅した人って、一転して他人を拒否して、敵意むき出しになるでしょ。すみません、平野さん。面白かったのですが、同じエネルギーを「分人間」ではなく「個人間」の問題解決に使ってほしかったです。
Have you ever heard of the term of "dividual (bunjin)"? This is a term coined and used by Keiichiro Hirano in his book, What am I? - From individual to dividual (Watashi towa nanika - kojin kara bunjin e), to propose a new concept that a person isn't an "in-dividual," but consists of multiple "dividuals," interacting with other people through each of these dividuals. Hirano is an awardee of the Akutagawa Prize, i.e., Japan's most prestigious literary prize.
I'm not against this idea, finding it useful, as he said, to use this dividual mechanism, i.e., interacting with others through not the entirety, but any single dividual of us, to overcome social, racial, economic or other divisions.
But I wondered at the same time what was so important about the idea because it's inward. By reading this book, we can understand how our mind works or how we make one dividual come to terms with another when they confront each other, but can't find any tips on how to come to terms with, or make ourselves understood by, other people. Should't we Japanese learn not inter-divisional, but interpersonal communication skills, i.e., how to assert ourselves or confront others, should we?
We are very good at inter-divisional communication. As Mr. Hirano said, we have multiple dividuals, communicating and arguing with each other, but such communication never goes beyond outside of self. Think about a very unique attitude among Japanese people, sontaku (i.e., performing pre-emptive acts to ingratiate themselves to their superiors), done by MOF officials to ingratiate Prime Minister Abe. Sontaku occurs when you aren't sure about what you are expected to do because the other is unclear about it. The best and easiest solution is to just ask. However, instead, if you don't ask because you are afraid of making them uncomfortable, sontaku starts, i.e., your "dividuals" begin inter-divisional discussion to decide what to do, but being unable to do so because of insufficient information, keep debating between themselves without asking the other party for the necessary information and this goes on and on. The problem is once sontaku starts, there is no end. Your dividuals keep endlessly arguing about what is right or wrong to no end...
Hirano's dividual theory may help us understand why sontaku occurs, but not how to prevent it because after all, there is only one "indivisible you." Whether you have multiple dividuals or how to integrate them doesn't matter. What matters is to learn interpersonal, i.e., outward, skills, such as how to assert yourself, accept the responsibility for what your (or your dividuals') words and actions and, if necessary, make adjustments to you (or them) to build real you. You don't "find," but "build" real you as you change through such interpersonal interactions. So, to me, Mr. Hirano's concept of dividuals, a solution to overcome divisions without interpersonal interactions, sounds bogus, like trying to be a sex guru by masturbating without having real sex.
Being inward isn't bad, but for Japanese people, who tend to be introverted, looking at things from only an inward perspective doesn't work in particular when it comes to people. It only shows clean, beautiful and easy answers, but they aren't real or don't work and sometimes dangerous because people believing such dream-like solutions to be workable would be disillusioned to see "real" world, inefficient and disorganized, and may turn around and reject those who make them realize such an ugly "reality."
平野啓一郎氏の「私とは何か 個人から分人へ」を読み終えた。人は分けられないもの（individual）ではなく、分けられるもの（dividual）の集合体であり、現代の分断を克服するために役立つ概念だと説いている。その考察に何ら反対するわけではないのだけど、あまり意味がないというか、何かが欠けているというか、個人が分けられる、分けられない、なんてどうでもよく、問題はどうやって他人とぶつかり合いながら、自分のことを分かってもらうようにすることではないだろうか、と思ってしまった。
日本人は心の中で葛藤するのがとっても得意。平野氏風に言うと、「分人同士」が交流しているとでもいうのだろうか。例えば「忖度」。あなたの中の分人たちが相手の考えていることをいろいろ推測するからこんなことになってしまう。さくっと聞けばいいのにね。
平野氏の分人説だと、分人同士が対立して個人の中で葛藤が始まるところまでは分かるのだが、最後は結局分人ではなく、分人の集合体である「あなた」なのだから、分人が何人いようがそれを統合できようができまいが、どうでもいいように思えるのだ。それより、相手にどう主張し、ぶつかり、しかし言葉と行動に責任を持ち、調整しながら「自分を作っていく」ことの方がもっと大切なのではないか。「自分」は「見つける」ものではなく、人との交流の中で「作る」ものなのだから、人との交流や衝突なしに悩みや分断を克服するなんてできないのではなかろうか。
日本人はよく内向きだと言われる。でも内向きで得られるのはきれいごとで受け入れやすい空想の現実だけ。こんなに人がいっぱいいるのに相手とのやり取りなしの現実なんてありえない。それにきれいごとしか見てないひとってやばいかも。だって現実の醜さに幻滅した人って、一転して他人を拒否して、敵意むき出しになるでしょ。すみません、平野さん。面白かったのですが、同じエネルギーを「分人間」ではなく「個人間」の問題解決に使ってほしかったです。
Spencer or Reid? スペンサーとリード、どう違うの？
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
What is different between when I am called Kei and when being called Narujima at work? I've been working with two Americans for the last three months and one of them first called me "Kei," then starting to call me "Narujima-san" and now again "Kei."
I like watching Criminal Minds, but always wonder the same thing. Why do BAU members usually call Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid "Morgan" and "Reid" while sometimes "Derek" and "Spencer"? Is there any difference between these two ways of calling coworkers?
Can anyone explain the difference or why my coworker has been changing how he calls me?
クリミナルマインドが好きでよく見ているのですが、一つ分からないことがあって｡｡｡ どうして「モーガン」も「リード」も普通は「モーガン」、「リード」なのに、たま～に「デレク」、「スペンサー」と呼ばれるのでしょう。実は私、今2人のアメリカ人と仕事しているのですが、その内一人が、最初、「けい」って呼んでいたのに、しばらくしたら「なるじまさん」って呼び始め、今また「けい」に戻りました。一体どういうことなんでしょう。誰か教えてください！
What is different between when I am called Kei and when being called Narujima at work? I've been working with two Americans for the last three months and one of them first called me "Kei," then starting to call me "Narujima-san" and now again "Kei."
I like watching Criminal Minds, but always wonder the same thing. Why do BAU members usually call Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid "Morgan" and "Reid" while sometimes "Derek" and "Spencer"? Is there any difference between these two ways of calling coworkers?
Can anyone explain the difference or why my coworker has been changing how he calls me?
クリミナルマインドが好きでよく見ているのですが、一つ分からないことがあって｡｡｡ どうして「モーガン」も「リード」も普通は「モーガン」、「リード」なのに、たま～に「デレク」、「スペンサー」と呼ばれるのでしょう。実は私、今2人のアメリカ人と仕事しているのですが、その内一人が、最初、「けい」って呼んでいたのに、しばらくしたら「なるじまさん」って呼び始め、今また「けい」に戻りました。一体どういうことなんでしょう。誰か教えてください！
An Easy Question - BTS, Stop It やめてください、BTS
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
My mom and grandma are A-bomb victims. Grandma was in her early 20s and my mom two when the bomb was dropped in Hiroshima. Grandma lost her sister. I have accepted it as a fact without deeply thinking about it. It has had no serious effect on my life or so I believe.
My mom and grandma are A-bomb victims. Grandma was in her early 20s and my mom two when the bomb was dropped in Hiroshima. Grandma lost her sister. I have accepted it as a fact without deeply thinking about it. It has had no serious effect on my life or so I believe.
Language Changes - Cooking At Home or Book Scanning? 「自炊」の意味を知りました
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Do you know what "jisui (自炊)" means? If you answer that it means cooking at home, you are correct, but in half because this term now has another meaning, "scanning books." The second meaning originates from "jibun de (de-ta wo) suiageru (absorb data oneself)." I learned this usage while reading a book written by a Japanese author in her 30s.
Languages change and the usage of terms changes over time. I knew it, but the discovery of this new usage amazed me since the main character of this story, a woman in her 20s, uses this second meaning as if it were common. I also felt a little sad because something was happening without my knowledge, making me realize that I get older, which I also knew.
I don't know why only this term is so intriguing. Is this because it's not a new word, but a new usage of an existing word? I don't know. Do you have any such words in your language?
島本理生さんの「夏の裁断」を読んでいて、「自炊」が本のスキャンを意味することを初めて知りました。「自分でデータを吸い上げる」から「自炊」に転じたんですね。言葉が変わることは知っていたのですが、これには驚きました。もともと知っている言葉の新しい用法だったからでしょうか。新鮮でした。
Do you know what "jisui (自炊)" means? If you answer that it means cooking at home, you are correct, but in half because this term now has another meaning, "scanning books." The second meaning originates from "jibun de (de-ta wo) suiageru (absorb data oneself)." I learned this usage while reading a book written by a Japanese author in her 30s.
Languages change and the usage of terms changes over time. I knew it, but the discovery of this new usage amazed me since the main character of this story, a woman in her 20s, uses this second meaning as if it were common. I also felt a little sad because something was happening without my knowledge, making me realize that I get older, which I also knew.
I don't know why only this term is so intriguing. Is this because it's not a new word, but a new usage of an existing word? I don't know. Do you have any such words in your language?
島本理生さんの「夏の裁断」を読んでいて、「自炊」が本のスキャンを意味することを初めて知りました。「自分でデータを吸い上げる」から「自炊」に転じたんですね。言葉が変わることは知っていたのですが、これには驚きました。もともと知っている言葉の新しい用法だったからでしょうか。新鮮でした。
If You're Interested in Horror Drama, Watch Shitamachi Rocket 下町ロケットの秘密
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Have you ever watched or heard about Shitamachi Rocket (Old Town Rocket)? This is a TV program aired by Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. (so-called TBS or channel 6 in Tokyo) on Sunday evening. The protagonist is Kohei Tsukuda, the president of a small precision machinery manufacturer in Ota-ward, Tokyo. He used to work as an engineer at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, but left there to succeed his father's business and now provides valves, a part of rockets, to a large rocket manufacturer.
This drama is about people working at this small factory. But it's also about manufacturing and engineering, M&As and patent infringements as well as family and friends. It's very popular and moving. However, watching this drama make me feel strange. It's like watching Leni Riefenstahl's films. They are beautiful and moving, but unreal.
Have you ever watched or heard about Shitamachi Rocket (Old Town Rocket)? This is a TV program aired by Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. (so-called TBS or channel 6 in Tokyo) on Sunday evening. The protagonist is Kohei Tsukuda, the president of a small precision machinery manufacturer in Ota-ward, Tokyo. He used to work as an engineer at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, but left there to succeed his father's business and now provides valves, a part of rockets, to a large rocket manufacturer.
This drama is about people working at this small factory. But it's also about manufacturing and engineering, M&As and patent infringements as well as family and friends. It's very popular and moving. However, watching this drama make me feel strange. It's like watching Leni Riefenstahl's films. They are beautiful and moving, but unreal.
Jessica in Japanese "Suits" 鈴木保奈美さんでは Suits は無理かと｡｡｡
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Do you know that Suits has been adapted and is on air in Japan? This "Japanese Suits" has drawn attention because of not only the original US version being very popular in Japan, but also a completely unrelated reason. Two of the main characters, Harvey and Jessica, are portrayed by a Japanese actor and actress who played the main characters in a hit TV drama 30 years ago.
I enjoyed watching US Suits and so, as a great fan of the legal drama, want to say out loud that the adaptation of Suits for Japanese audience is impossible!
Harvey, portrayed by Yuji Oda, who played one of the two main characters in the old Japanese love story, is bearable, but Jessica played by Honami Suzuki, who played his girlfriend, is terrible. The issue is not the actress but the fact that Japanese women like Jessica, those who are beautiful, ambitious, strong-willed, but viciously manipulate people if necessary, may work at BDSM clubs, but otherwise can never climb the career ladder in Japan. Assertive girls, like Jessica, are molded by their parents or teachers into "good mother figure" shapes or crushed later on by their male or even female supervisors because here in Japan, women achieving higher positions mostly get them by being "kawaii," i.e., working hard and loyally for powerful male supervisors. You can see now why so many Japanese women in their 40s and older talk with a high-pitched voice, like teenage girls.
I can't help but find Japanese Jessica, the managing partner of a top law firm in Tokyo speaking in a cute voice, absolutely bogus. Of course, some women with power don't speak like teenagers, but sadly they are mostly daughters of powerful fathers, such as Makiko Tanaka, who is a politician but better known as the daughter of Kakuei Tanaka, one of the most powerful post-war prime ministers; Sawako Agawa, a TV celebrity who is a daughter of a famous author and currently a hanger-on of Takeshi Kitano; or Kumiko Otsuka, the president of Otsuka Furniture company, a daughter of the founder of the company.
Where are self-made women in Japan, like Jessica?
フジテレビが日本版「Suits」をえらく番宣している。日本のドラマにはほとんど興味がないのだが、Suitsを楽しく視聴していた一ファンとして、少し心配だ。だって、織田裕二のハービー役はまだ許せたとてしても、鈴木保奈美のジェシカ役はないんじゃない？あんなかわいらしい声で、人をばっさばっさと切り倒していく法律事務所のトップ役なんて無理でしょ。というよりその前に、ジェシカみたいな女の人、日本にはいないでしょ。だって日本の女性管理職ってほとんど直属の男上司の腰巾着だから。
というわけで私は、古くは田中真紀子さん、そして作家の阿川弘之氏の娘で今はたけしの腰巾着と化している阿川佐和子さん、そして大塚久美子さんも尊敬できないのです。みんなお父さんが偉い人だけだもんね。というより、日本では女性は、お父さんが偉くないと出世できないのでしょうか。自力で頑張る女性、尊敬しています。
Do you know that Suits has been adapted and is on air in Japan? This "Japanese Suits" has drawn attention because of not only the original US version being very popular in Japan, but also a completely unrelated reason. Two of the main characters, Harvey and Jessica, are portrayed by a Japanese actor and actress who played the main characters in a hit TV drama 30 years ago.
I enjoyed watching US Suits and so, as a great fan of the legal drama, want to say out loud that the adaptation of Suits for Japanese audience is impossible!
Harvey, portrayed by Yuji Oda, who played one of the two main characters in the old Japanese love story, is bearable, but Jessica played by Honami Suzuki, who played his girlfriend, is terrible. The issue is not the actress but the fact that Japanese women like Jessica, those who are beautiful, ambitious, strong-willed, but viciously manipulate people if necessary, may work at BDSM clubs, but otherwise can never climb the career ladder in Japan. Assertive girls, like Jessica, are molded by their parents or teachers into "good mother figure" shapes or crushed later on by their male or even female supervisors because here in Japan, women achieving higher positions mostly get them by being "kawaii," i.e., working hard and loyally for powerful male supervisors. You can see now why so many Japanese women in their 40s and older talk with a high-pitched voice, like teenage girls.
I can't help but find Japanese Jessica, the managing partner of a top law firm in Tokyo speaking in a cute voice, absolutely bogus. Of course, some women with power don't speak like teenagers, but sadly they are mostly daughters of powerful fathers, such as Makiko Tanaka, who is a politician but better known as the daughter of Kakuei Tanaka, one of the most powerful post-war prime ministers; Sawako Agawa, a TV celebrity who is a daughter of a famous author and currently a hanger-on of Takeshi Kitano; or Kumiko Otsuka, the president of Otsuka Furniture company, a daughter of the founder of the company.
Where are self-made women in Japan, like Jessica?
フジテレビが日本版「Suits」をえらく番宣している。日本のドラマにはほとんど興味がないのだが、Suitsを楽しく視聴していた一ファンとして、少し心配だ。だって、織田裕二のハービー役はまだ許せたとてしても、鈴木保奈美のジェシカ役はないんじゃない？あんなかわいらしい声で、人をばっさばっさと切り倒していく法律事務所のトップ役なんて無理でしょ。というよりその前に、ジェシカみたいな女の人、日本にはいないでしょ。だって日本の女性管理職ってほとんど直属の男上司の腰巾着だから。
というわけで私は、古くは田中真紀子さん、そして作家の阿川弘之氏の娘で今はたけしの腰巾着と化している阿川佐和子さん、そして大塚久美子さんも尊敬できないのです。みんなお父さんが偉い人だけだもんね。というより、日本では女性は、お父さんが偉くないと出世できないのでしょうか。自力で頑張る女性、尊敬しています。
Jumpei Was Rescued. Aren't We Happy? 素直に喜べませんかね？
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
I'm glad about the return of Mr. Jumpei Yasuda, a freelance journalist in captivity in the Middle East for 40 months. But I've been feeling something wrong with people's comments on his return.
They say, "He was responsible." Yes, he is, but for what and so what? He made a decision to go there and was held as a hostage for more than three years. There is no doubt that he's responsible for all that happened to him. But what I don't understand is that nobody says nothing further. Should he apologize, be punished or repay the ransom?
As far as I know, only Takeshi Kitano insinuated that he should pay back the ransom to the payer (by the way we don't who paid it), saying that Jumpei was like a person missing on a mountain and being helped by a rescue team and that therefore he has to pay the rescue cost.
I'm saying this because discussing whether or not Jumpei shouldn't have gone there in the first place is meaningless. We have no right to stop Jumpei or any others going anywhere no matter why, i.e., even if they go to war zones not to report what is happening there, but to become famous for money. What we need to do right now is rule making. The Japanese government, fortunately or unfortunately, has been saying that they would never negotiate with or pay ransoms to terrorist groups. So, if journalists go to prohibited countries or regions, they may get scoops or nothing or may be killed and that's it. Period. Kenji Goto, another freelance journalist, was killed, which was the risk he must have been aware of. This time, luckily, Jumpei was rescued. So, why can't we be just be happy for him?
We need to determine rules. Whether Jumpei will go again to Syria despite the Japanese government's repeated warnings is none of our business. Also, whether he may be killed is his business and his reason for going, i.e., for money or to find the truth as a journalist, doesn’t matter either. A vulgar surgeon helping a lot of patients is much better than gracious surgeons who botch operations.
I find it worthwhile for journalists to cover war zones to report what is really happening. And as long as we benefit from their coverage, we should stop criticizing those risking their lives and focus on making rules for their future work.
安田純平さんの生還が報道されているが、その論調に少々違和感を感じてます。やたら「自己責任」て言うでしょ。うん、そうだけど何か？と聞きたいのです。自己責任だから国民に謝れってこと、罰を受けるべきだってこと、それとも身代金を返済しろとかってこと？今まではっきり言ったのは北野武さんぐらいでしょうか。安田氏を山の遭難者に例え、山で遭難して救助された人は費用を負担すると言って、暗に安田氏に身代金を負担するように言ってました。
でもね、行くなという権利は我々にはないし、行ってもやめないだろうし、議論すべきはそういうことではない気がするのです。ルールを作るだけじゃないんですかね。幸か不幸か、日本政府は、「テロ組織とは交渉しないし、身代金も払わない」と言ってるのだから、それでいいんじゃないですかね。警告を無視していって後藤健二さんのように殺されてしまうこともあるわけです。それも自己責任。今回は運よく帰れたのだから、素直に喜んであげればいいのでは、というのが私の意見です。それと、真実を報道したいという気持ちで行こうが、有名になりたいという気持ちで行こうが、そんなこともどうでもいいわけです。我々は、自発的に命を懸ける彼らの報道によって、自分では知ることのできない世界の実情を知ることができているわけですから、そこには感謝しつつ、でもこれ以上のことはできませんよ、でいいんじゃないんですかね。そういう人もいるってことでいいんじゃないですかね。トレラント（tolerant）の気持ち、違いは違いでいいじゃないか、ということでいいと思いますが、いかがでしょう？
I'm glad about the return of Mr. Jumpei Yasuda, a freelance journalist in captivity in the Middle East for 40 months. But I've been feeling something wrong with people's comments on his return.
They say, "He was responsible." Yes, he is, but for what and so what? He made a decision to go there and was held as a hostage for more than three years. There is no doubt that he's responsible for all that happened to him. But what I don't understand is that nobody says nothing further. Should he apologize, be punished or repay the ransom?
As far as I know, only Takeshi Kitano insinuated that he should pay back the ransom to the payer (by the way we don't who paid it), saying that Jumpei was like a person missing on a mountain and being helped by a rescue team and that therefore he has to pay the rescue cost.
I'm saying this because discussing whether or not Jumpei shouldn't have gone there in the first place is meaningless. We have no right to stop Jumpei or any others going anywhere no matter why, i.e., even if they go to war zones not to report what is happening there, but to become famous for money. What we need to do right now is rule making. The Japanese government, fortunately or unfortunately, has been saying that they would never negotiate with or pay ransoms to terrorist groups. So, if journalists go to prohibited countries or regions, they may get scoops or nothing or may be killed and that's it. Period. Kenji Goto, another freelance journalist, was killed, which was the risk he must have been aware of. This time, luckily, Jumpei was rescued. So, why can't we be just be happy for him?
We need to determine rules. Whether Jumpei will go again to Syria despite the Japanese government's repeated warnings is none of our business. Also, whether he may be killed is his business and his reason for going, i.e., for money or to find the truth as a journalist, doesn’t matter either. A vulgar surgeon helping a lot of patients is much better than gracious surgeons who botch operations.
I find it worthwhile for journalists to cover war zones to report what is really happening. And as long as we benefit from their coverage, we should stop criticizing those risking their lives and focus on making rules for their future work.
安田純平さんの生還が報道されているが、その論調に少々違和感を感じてます。やたら「自己責任」て言うでしょ。うん、そうだけど何か？と聞きたいのです。自己責任だから国民に謝れってこと、罰を受けるべきだってこと、それとも身代金を返済しろとかってこと？今まではっきり言ったのは北野武さんぐらいでしょうか。安田氏を山の遭難者に例え、山で遭難して救助された人は費用を負担すると言って、暗に安田氏に身代金を負担するように言ってました。
でもね、行くなという権利は我々にはないし、行ってもやめないだろうし、議論すべきはそういうことではない気がするのです。ルールを作るだけじゃないんですかね。幸か不幸か、日本政府は、「テロ組織とは交渉しないし、身代金も払わない」と言ってるのだから、それでいいんじゃないですかね。警告を無視していって後藤健二さんのように殺されてしまうこともあるわけです。それも自己責任。今回は運よく帰れたのだから、素直に喜んであげればいいのでは、というのが私の意見です。それと、真実を報道したいという気持ちで行こうが、有名になりたいという気持ちで行こうが、そんなこともどうでもいいわけです。我々は、自発的に命を懸ける彼らの報道によって、自分では知ることのできない世界の実情を知ることができているわけですから、そこには感謝しつつ、でもこれ以上のことはできませんよ、でいいんじゃないんですかね。そういう人もいるってことでいいんじゃないですかね。トレラント（tolerant）の気持ち、違いは違いでいいじゃないか、ということでいいと思いますが、いかがでしょう？
Can Japanese Teach English? 幸子さんが英語を教える？
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
I saw Sachiko, an old friend of mine, a couple of days ago. For readers who are reading this blog for the first time, Sachiko had worked as an in-house translator for nearly 20 years until being transferred to another department one year ago because of the company's reorganization. Currently, she still translates some documents but also teaches coworkers English. She held an English class a few weeks ago and is going to hold another two classes next month.
I was interested in how she was doing because she had no confidence to make a good English teacher when we last met. She told me that she couldn't teach English because (1) she's not a native English speaker and (2) those who really want to improve their English skills must have already started learning themselves and don't have to be taught by others.
But she has changed. She said that she couldn't do anything with her not being a native English speaker, but still could talk with students in English as a non-native speaker. Also, regarding (2), it's not an English problem, but a common problem of studying. If they can't keep studying because they don't know what to do, it's her role to tell them about what to do so that they can start to learn on their own, Sachiko said.
She has already started to teach students how to improve English reading and listening skills through so-called sight translation and shadowing. She's also been telling them to use materials for Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) if they want to improve TOEIC scores as she's aware that her students have ambivalent feelings toward the test. They know that the higher score they get, the higher valued they are in the job market. TOEIC is the most common test for Japanese companies to evaluate employees' English skills. On the other hand, they also know that even if they get a perfect score in the test, they won't be able to better communicate with native speakers.
But she believes that once they have good experiences in learning English, even in improving TOEIC scores, they would start to learn English voluntarily and enjoy it. They are interested in English, but don't learn it because they have no good memories about it. Finding their lack of "effort and reward" experiences about English learning reasonable, she realized that she had to help them feel good about English. Teaching non-native speakers on TOEIC is unpopular among some native speakers because it doesn't improve their actual communication skills, i.e., even those with perfect scores don't speak English satisfactorily, but you know what? Speaking in English with native English speakers in Japan costs too much, 30$ to even 50$ per hour. Who can afford it?
Once they have good experiences of English learning, they would keep learning by themselves and be able to get opportunities to be involved in jobs which need communication in English. Of course they would face another problem at that stage and have to expand their exposure to English to improve their speaking and writing skills. But when they reach that stage, they would no longer need her support and would be able to keep learning by using English in the workplace. Her job is to raise their English skill level to the level where they can walk on their own, i.e., identify weaknesses and solutions by themselves.
Wow! She's a good teacher, isn't she? As her friend and also her first English student, I'm very happy and proud of her and respect her.
久しぶりに幸子さんに会った。前回、英語の先生をやれと言われて困っているとぼやいていたのでどうなったかなと心配していたが、案外元気そうで安心した。それに少し変わっていた。
前は確か、「自分はネイティブでもないし、それに英語を本当に勉強したいという人はとっくに自分で始めているはずだから、教えることなんてない」って言ってた。でも、ネイティブではないという件はともかく、教えることの意義については「これは英語の問題じゃなくて、何を勉強していいか分からないっていう問題だったのね」と言い始めたのだ。
何でも、TOEICの点数についてやたら職場で聞かれる一方、満点取っても大してしゃべれるようになるわけでもなく、意味なんてないと思っていたらしいが、TOEICの点数を上げれば英語の仕事が増えるのだから、それを目標にすればいいのでは、と頭を切り替えたとのこと。それに日本人って点数好きだからやる気が出るらしい。生徒さんは英語についてはとにかく苦い思い出しかない人が多いので、「先ずはTOEICの点数を上げ」、「英語の仕事を増やし」、「そこで壁にぶつかったら、使える英語について教える」という二段構成にしたらしい。つまり、当面の幸子さんのお仕事は、「やればできるんだと感じられるレベル（使える英語かそうでないかは置いておいて「点数が上がる」）」まで引き上げることだとのこと。
おー！先生している、幸子さん。友人として、そして英語の生徒として、とっても嬉しいです。尊敬してます。頑張ってね！
I saw Sachiko, an old friend of mine, a couple of days ago. For readers who are reading this blog for the first time, Sachiko had worked as an in-house translator for nearly 20 years until being transferred to another department one year ago because of the company's reorganization. Currently, she still translates some documents but also teaches coworkers English. She held an English class a few weeks ago and is going to hold another two classes next month.
I was interested in how she was doing because she had no confidence to make a good English teacher when we last met. She told me that she couldn't teach English because (1) she's not a native English speaker and (2) those who really want to improve their English skills must have already started learning themselves and don't have to be taught by others.
But she has changed. She said that she couldn't do anything with her not being a native English speaker, but still could talk with students in English as a non-native speaker. Also, regarding (2), it's not an English problem, but a common problem of studying. If they can't keep studying because they don't know what to do, it's her role to tell them about what to do so that they can start to learn on their own, Sachiko said.
She has already started to teach students how to improve English reading and listening skills through so-called sight translation and shadowing. She's also been telling them to use materials for Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) if they want to improve TOEIC scores as she's aware that her students have ambivalent feelings toward the test. They know that the higher score they get, the higher valued they are in the job market. TOEIC is the most common test for Japanese companies to evaluate employees' English skills. On the other hand, they also know that even if they get a perfect score in the test, they won't be able to better communicate with native speakers.
But she believes that once they have good experiences in learning English, even in improving TOEIC scores, they would start to learn English voluntarily and enjoy it. They are interested in English, but don't learn it because they have no good memories about it. Finding their lack of "effort and reward" experiences about English learning reasonable, she realized that she had to help them feel good about English. Teaching non-native speakers on TOEIC is unpopular among some native speakers because it doesn't improve their actual communication skills, i.e., even those with perfect scores don't speak English satisfactorily, but you know what? Speaking in English with native English speakers in Japan costs too much, 30$ to even 50$ per hour. Who can afford it?
Once they have good experiences of English learning, they would keep learning by themselves and be able to get opportunities to be involved in jobs which need communication in English. Of course they would face another problem at that stage and have to expand their exposure to English to improve their speaking and writing skills. But when they reach that stage, they would no longer need her support and would be able to keep learning by using English in the workplace. Her job is to raise their English skill level to the level where they can walk on their own, i.e., identify weaknesses and solutions by themselves.
Wow! She's a good teacher, isn't she? As her friend and also her first English student, I'm very happy and proud of her and respect her.
久しぶりに幸子さんに会った。前回、英語の先生をやれと言われて困っているとぼやいていたのでどうなったかなと心配していたが、案外元気そうで安心した。それに少し変わっていた。
前は確か、「自分はネイティブでもないし、それに英語を本当に勉強したいという人はとっくに自分で始めているはずだから、教えることなんてない」って言ってた。でも、ネイティブではないという件はともかく、教えることの意義については「これは英語の問題じゃなくて、何を勉強していいか分からないっていう問題だったのね」と言い始めたのだ。
何でも、TOEICの点数についてやたら職場で聞かれる一方、満点取っても大してしゃべれるようになるわけでもなく、意味なんてないと思っていたらしいが、TOEICの点数を上げれば英語の仕事が増えるのだから、それを目標にすればいいのでは、と頭を切り替えたとのこと。それに日本人って点数好きだからやる気が出るらしい。生徒さんは英語についてはとにかく苦い思い出しかない人が多いので、「先ずはTOEICの点数を上げ」、「英語の仕事を増やし」、「そこで壁にぶつかったら、使える英語について教える」という二段構成にしたらしい。つまり、当面の幸子さんのお仕事は、「やればできるんだと感じられるレベル（使える英語かそうでないかは置いておいて「点数が上がる」）」まで引き上げることだとのこと。
おー！先生している、幸子さん。友人として、そして英語の生徒として、とっても嬉しいです。尊敬してます。頑張ってね！
Loneliness - Learning Assertiveness and Compartmentalization 主張しつつ流す
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
I want to tell something to English teachers in Japan. Please teach students not only assertiveness, but also compartmentalization because without it, assertion makes them isolated and excluded.
Japanese culture is based on conformity, i.e., we can and should be the same. The Seventeen Article Constitution issued by Prince Shotoku Taishi in 604 provided that conformity was most important. Tsuyoshi Inukai, a pre-war prime minister, also said, "You would agree with me if we talk" before being killed by military officers in 1932. Conformity is so significant in Japan that we have no word for diversity ("daiba-sity" in Japanese). Tolerance has a translation, kanyo, but it means being lenient, accepting people and not blaming/criticizing others for their faults or failures, different from "tolerance," meaning accepting the existence of opinions you dislike or disagree with.
Because of such an assumption that everyone can or should be the same, if you are different even in one aspect, you don’t belong there and are excluded. You must pretend to be completely the same or are isolated. You can't partly be different. And I believe that this kind of mentality makes it significantly difficult for Japanese people to learn English because there is a conflict of interest, i.e., the more assertive you are, the more isolated and lonely you are.
This is why I believe that English learners in Japan should learn two things at the same time, i.e., how to be assertive and how to compartmentalize their thinking.
Learning how to be assertive gives us opportunities to realize what we are and the importance of discussing differences with others and is meaningful for us, who usually are only taught to parrot what parents, teachers or superiors say. But on the other hand, the more we think and are assertive, the more often we confront others and the more isolated we are. So, consciously or unconsciously, we choose not to assert ourselves to avoid confronting others (i.e., isolation) or lying to ourselves (i.e., self-hatred) to force us to agree with others. But this increases our loneliness and stops our thinking.
Compartmentalization has helped me a lot letting go different views and values without making any judgments. It gives me time to think and a chance to talk about them in a manner more casual and acceptable to those who've never questioned if their views and values are right. It's not ignoring or giving up, but letting them go and asserting myself when the right time comes. It needs a little patience and tolerance, but works for me and I believe it does for others, too. A zen priest said in a TV program that one way of meditation is to picture in our mind that we put our anxiety on a stone and and throw it into a river to let it go. Compartmentalization may be similar to this zen thinking.
For me, learning English is about not only a language and culture, but also growing, i.e., expansion of my boundaries into diverse values and people, and reducing loneliness because although I don't know why, I don't feel lonely while writing posts for this blog.
英語の先生で「アサーティブネス（assertiveness；自分を主張すること）」の重要性を教える先生は多いですね。でも一つ言いたいことがあります！ 一緒に「コンパートメンタライゼーション（compartmentalization）」も教えてください。だって「和を貴ぶ」国で主張ばっかしてしたら、仲間外れになって孤立するでしょう。
コンパートメンタライゼーションは、賛成できないことについて「心の箱の中に区分けする」ということ。反対も賛成もせず流すという感じかしら。でもこれって簡単なようで結構難しいのです。自分と違う意見（異物）を一旦取り込まなくちゃいけないので、そのための「忍耐」と「寛容（tolerance）」が必要だからです。無視するのとも、あきらめるのとも違います。とりあえず箱のに中にしまい、言うべき時が来たら主張する。禅の精神と似ている気もします。主張しつつも流す術。日本で孤立することなく主張するには役立つと思うのですがいかがでしょう？
「日本に英語なんていらない、英語なんて話していると浮くだろう」という方。アサーティブネスとコンパートメンタライゼーションを一緒に学べば、英語文化を習得しつつ、孤立や孤独感も軽減できると思います。是非お試しください。
I want to tell something to English teachers in Japan. Please teach students not only assertiveness, but also compartmentalization because without it, assertion makes them isolated and excluded.
Japanese culture is based on conformity, i.e., we can and should be the same. The Seventeen Article Constitution issued by Prince Shotoku Taishi in 604 provided that conformity was most important. Tsuyoshi Inukai, a pre-war prime minister, also said, "You would agree with me if we talk" before being killed by military officers in 1932. Conformity is so significant in Japan that we have no word for diversity ("daiba-sity" in Japanese). Tolerance has a translation, kanyo, but it means being lenient, accepting people and not blaming/criticizing others for their faults or failures, different from "tolerance," meaning accepting the existence of opinions you dislike or disagree with.
Because of such an assumption that everyone can or should be the same, if you are different even in one aspect, you don’t belong there and are excluded. You must pretend to be completely the same or are isolated. You can't partly be different. And I believe that this kind of mentality makes it significantly difficult for Japanese people to learn English because there is a conflict of interest, i.e., the more assertive you are, the more isolated and lonely you are.
This is why I believe that English learners in Japan should learn two things at the same time, i.e., how to be assertive and how to compartmentalize their thinking.
Learning how to be assertive gives us opportunities to realize what we are and the importance of discussing differences with others and is meaningful for us, who usually are only taught to parrot what parents, teachers or superiors say. But on the other hand, the more we think and are assertive, the more often we confront others and the more isolated we are. So, consciously or unconsciously, we choose not to assert ourselves to avoid confronting others (i.e., isolation) or lying to ourselves (i.e., self-hatred) to force us to agree with others. But this increases our loneliness and stops our thinking.
Compartmentalization has helped me a lot letting go different views and values without making any judgments. It gives me time to think and a chance to talk about them in a manner more casual and acceptable to those who've never questioned if their views and values are right. It's not ignoring or giving up, but letting them go and asserting myself when the right time comes. It needs a little patience and tolerance, but works for me and I believe it does for others, too. A zen priest said in a TV program that one way of meditation is to picture in our mind that we put our anxiety on a stone and and throw it into a river to let it go. Compartmentalization may be similar to this zen thinking.
For me, learning English is about not only a language and culture, but also growing, i.e., expansion of my boundaries into diverse values and people, and reducing loneliness because although I don't know why, I don't feel lonely while writing posts for this blog.
英語の先生で「アサーティブネス（assertiveness；自分を主張すること）」の重要性を教える先生は多いですね。でも一つ言いたいことがあります！ 一緒に「コンパートメンタライゼーション（compartmentalization）」も教えてください。だって「和を貴ぶ」国で主張ばっかしてしたら、仲間外れになって孤立するでしょう。
コンパートメンタライゼーションは、賛成できないことについて「心の箱の中に区分けする」ということ。反対も賛成もせず流すという感じかしら。でもこれって簡単なようで結構難しいのです。自分と違う意見（異物）を一旦取り込まなくちゃいけないので、そのための「忍耐」と「寛容（tolerance）」が必要だからです。無視するのとも、あきらめるのとも違います。とりあえず箱のに中にしまい、言うべき時が来たら主張する。禅の精神と似ている気もします。主張しつつも流す術。日本で孤立することなく主張するには役立つと思うのですがいかがでしょう？
「日本に英語なんていらない、英語なんて話していると浮くだろう」という方。アサーティブネスとコンパートメンタライゼーションを一緒に学べば、英語文化を習得しつつ、孤立や孤独感も軽減できると思います。是非お試しください。
A Pursuit of Sumo "Do" Spirit Through Tolerance and Commitment 貴乃花の「寛容性（tolerance）」と「コミットメント」
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Takanohana, one of the greatest yokozuna sumo wrestlers and a stable master, has retired. He's still 46 years old. His stable was dissolved and all his disciples were all transferred to another stable.
Confrontation between Takanohana and the Japan Sumo Association has been an issue since at least at the end of 2017 when one of his disciples, Takanoiwa, was assaulted by another yokozuna Harumafuji, and the stable master filed a report with police. Takanoiwa and Harumafuji both are Mongolians. A group of Mongolian sumo wrestlers were drinking at a bar and another Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho was also there. Some say that the Association couldn't punish Mongolian wrestlers because they are stronger and more popular than Japanese wrestlers who have lost a "hungry" spirit. Might this be a conflict between Japanese and non-Japanese cultures or a recently more prevalent ideological conflict between "winning is everything" culture and "winning is NOT everything" culture? I don't know.
Since then, the battle between Takanohana and the Association had intensified until Takanohana accepted his demotion by two levels to the lowest level in the directorship of the Association in March 2018. We don't know what happened after that and what triggered his resignation either, but it's easy to imagine that the distance between the two parties grew to the point where Takanohana had to decide to retire.
As I said, we don't know what happened. Their statements contradict each other, so we can't say which is right and which is wrong. But I can't help but think that this is the end of Takanohana's pursuit "do" spirit, which he must have most treasured.
"Do" literally means a way or path, but is used in the terms of many Japanese cultural activities or sports, e.g., judo (柔道), sado (茶道), sumo do (相撲道), aikido (合気道), kendo (剣道), kyudo (弓道), karate do (空手道), shinto ("to" means "do" for shinto, i.e., 神道), etc. This "do" specifically means a way or path to be a master through every day and lifelong practice. Takanohana often said that yokozuna wrestlers are required to be a man of not only strength, but also integrity, dignity and discipline. This is his description of sumo do.
I can't agree more. Every one of us, not only men but also women, has to be such a person and I respect such people. The thing is not everyone can do what they believe should be done. We should learn English. We have to work. We should eat three meals a day. We should have children. We should marry. We should exercise, etc. But not all of us can or want to do that and that is why we are different and unique and we need to be tolerant.
However, the concept of tolerance is not understood in Japan because here, the idea of "showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not agree with" can rarely exist. We only agree or disagree with different opinions or behavior, but not with their existence. For example, my parents are discriminatory against Chinese or Korean people. I know they are and there are many other such people. I allow the existence of such an opinion although I disagree with it, but as long as I see them, they think that I agree with the opinion and the only way to let them know I disagree with it is to stop seeing them. In other words, if I choose not to be excluded from my family, their and my values should agree with in every way. A black or white or all or nothing thinking, isn't it?
Speaking of all or nothing, Takanohana's retirement is based on such thinking. If he can't get what he wants 100%, he just gives up on everything. He had no intention of committing himself to making continuous efforts to change the sumo society slowly but steadily through quiet, but every day and lifelong battles by committing himself to always being there.
I wanted Takanohana to stay in the sumo circle if he really had wanted to change the sumo culture. He had supporters. Now he’s retired and may be able to change the culture from outside, but that's not by what he has been advocating, "do," i.e., quiet, but every day and lifelong practice to master or achieve something by committing ourselves to making continuous effort.
There is a rumor that he may become a politician. Is he going to change the sumo world from outside? I don't know, but to me, it seems that he gave up a pursuit of sumo do.
貴乃花が相撲部屋を解散した。まだ46歳である。2017年終わりの日馬富士事件以来、相撲協会との関係が悪化していたことは知っていたが、どうしてこのような決断に至ったかは部外者には全く分からず、どちらが悪いかも分からない。
ただ、この引退で、貴乃花は、自ら言うところの「相撲道」、日々の努力を一生積み重ねることにより道を究めることをあきらめてしまったのではなかろうか。貴乃花曰く、横綱はただ強いだけでなく、品格と厳格さも必要と言っていた。大賛成である。ただ、みんながみんなそのようにできないのも現実だ。勉強したほうがいい、働くなくてはいけない、1日3食食べるべき、子供を作るべき、結婚するべき、運動するべきと人は言うが、みんなができるわけもなく、そうしたいわけでもない。だから人はそれぞれ違い、だからこそ「寛容性」が求められる。
ただ「寛容性」、日本では正しく理解されていないように思う。英語の「tolerance」は、「賛成ではない意見や行為の存在を認める姿勢を示すこと」とある。「賛成ではない意見や行為を認めること」とは違うのである。存在は認めるが賛成はしていない。例えば、私の両親は中国人や韓国人を差別する。私自身はそういう人がたくさんいるのは知っているし、そういう意見が存在することも認めているが、意見自体を認めているわけではない。ただ、両親はそのことが分からない。分からせるためには絶交するしかない。なぜなら彼らと会い続ける限り、私の価値観と彼らの価値観は寸分違わず一致しなくてはならないからだ。少しでも価値観が違う人は排除するという考えである。黒白つけたがるというか、オール・オア・ナッシングの世界である。
そして、このオール・オア・ナッシングは貴乃花にも当てはまると思う。自分のやりたいことが100％実現できなければ、全部あきらめるという発想。日々静かに、しかし一生かけて戦って相撲界を変えていくという継続的な努力をし続けるという意志（つまりコミットメント）はなかったようだ。
本当に相撲界を改革したかったのなら引退しないで残ってほしかった。応援している人もいた。今後、外から改革することはできるかもしれないが、それは彼が言い続けていた「相撲道の精神」とは違う気がする。政界に出て、外から変えるのではという噂もあるが、私には、貴乃花自身が相撲道を究めることをあきらめてしまったように思えてならない。
Takanohana, one of the greatest yokozuna sumo wrestlers and a stable master, has retired. He's still 46 years old. His stable was dissolved and all his disciples were all transferred to another stable.
Confrontation between Takanohana and the Japan Sumo Association has been an issue since at least at the end of 2017 when one of his disciples, Takanoiwa, was assaulted by another yokozuna Harumafuji, and the stable master filed a report with police. Takanoiwa and Harumafuji both are Mongolians. A group of Mongolian sumo wrestlers were drinking at a bar and another Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho was also there. Some say that the Association couldn't punish Mongolian wrestlers because they are stronger and more popular than Japanese wrestlers who have lost a "hungry" spirit. Might this be a conflict between Japanese and non-Japanese cultures or a recently more prevalent ideological conflict between "winning is everything" culture and "winning is NOT everything" culture? I don't know.
Since then, the battle between Takanohana and the Association had intensified until Takanohana accepted his demotion by two levels to the lowest level in the directorship of the Association in March 2018. We don't know what happened after that and what triggered his resignation either, but it's easy to imagine that the distance between the two parties grew to the point where Takanohana had to decide to retire.
As I said, we don't know what happened. Their statements contradict each other, so we can't say which is right and which is wrong. But I can't help but think that this is the end of Takanohana's pursuit "do" spirit, which he must have most treasured.
"Do" literally means a way or path, but is used in the terms of many Japanese cultural activities or sports, e.g., judo (柔道), sado (茶道), sumo do (相撲道), aikido (合気道), kendo (剣道), kyudo (弓道), karate do (空手道), shinto ("to" means "do" for shinto, i.e., 神道), etc. This "do" specifically means a way or path to be a master through every day and lifelong practice. Takanohana often said that yokozuna wrestlers are required to be a man of not only strength, but also integrity, dignity and discipline. This is his description of sumo do.
I can't agree more. Every one of us, not only men but also women, has to be such a person and I respect such people. The thing is not everyone can do what they believe should be done. We should learn English. We have to work. We should eat three meals a day. We should have children. We should marry. We should exercise, etc. But not all of us can or want to do that and that is why we are different and unique and we need to be tolerant.
However, the concept of tolerance is not understood in Japan because here, the idea of "showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not agree with" can rarely exist. We only agree or disagree with different opinions or behavior, but not with their existence. For example, my parents are discriminatory against Chinese or Korean people. I know they are and there are many other such people. I allow the existence of such an opinion although I disagree with it, but as long as I see them, they think that I agree with the opinion and the only way to let them know I disagree with it is to stop seeing them. In other words, if I choose not to be excluded from my family, their and my values should agree with in every way. A black or white or all or nothing thinking, isn't it?
Speaking of all or nothing, Takanohana's retirement is based on such thinking. If he can't get what he wants 100%, he just gives up on everything. He had no intention of committing himself to making continuous efforts to change the sumo society slowly but steadily through quiet, but every day and lifelong battles by committing himself to always being there.
I wanted Takanohana to stay in the sumo circle if he really had wanted to change the sumo culture. He had supporters. Now he’s retired and may be able to change the culture from outside, but that's not by what he has been advocating, "do," i.e., quiet, but every day and lifelong practice to master or achieve something by committing ourselves to making continuous effort.
There is a rumor that he may become a politician. Is he going to change the sumo world from outside? I don't know, but to me, it seems that he gave up a pursuit of sumo do.
貴乃花が相撲部屋を解散した。まだ46歳である。2017年終わりの日馬富士事件以来、相撲協会との関係が悪化していたことは知っていたが、どうしてこのような決断に至ったかは部外者には全く分からず、どちらが悪いかも分からない。
ただ、この引退で、貴乃花は、自ら言うところの「相撲道」、日々の努力を一生積み重ねることにより道を究めることをあきらめてしまったのではなかろうか。貴乃花曰く、横綱はただ強いだけでなく、品格と厳格さも必要と言っていた。大賛成である。ただ、みんながみんなそのようにできないのも現実だ。勉強したほうがいい、働くなくてはいけない、1日3食食べるべき、子供を作るべき、結婚するべき、運動するべきと人は言うが、みんなができるわけもなく、そうしたいわけでもない。だから人はそれぞれ違い、だからこそ「寛容性」が求められる。
ただ「寛容性」、日本では正しく理解されていないように思う。英語の「tolerance」は、「賛成ではない意見や行為の存在を認める姿勢を示すこと」とある。「賛成ではない意見や行為を認めること」とは違うのである。存在は認めるが賛成はしていない。例えば、私の両親は中国人や韓国人を差別する。私自身はそういう人がたくさんいるのは知っているし、そういう意見が存在することも認めているが、意見自体を認めているわけではない。ただ、両親はそのことが分からない。分からせるためには絶交するしかない。なぜなら彼らと会い続ける限り、私の価値観と彼らの価値観は寸分違わず一致しなくてはならないからだ。少しでも価値観が違う人は排除するという考えである。黒白つけたがるというか、オール・オア・ナッシングの世界である。
そして、このオール・オア・ナッシングは貴乃花にも当てはまると思う。自分のやりたいことが100％実現できなければ、全部あきらめるという発想。日々静かに、しかし一生かけて戦って相撲界を変えていくという継続的な努力をし続けるという意志（つまりコミットメント）はなかったようだ。
本当に相撲界を改革したかったのなら引退しないで残ってほしかった。応援している人もいた。今後、外から改革することはできるかもしれないが、それは彼が言い続けていた「相撲道の精神」とは違う気がする。政界に出て、外から変えるのではという噂もあるが、私には、貴乃花自身が相撲道を究めることをあきらめてしまったように思えてならない。
Golden Dewdrop デュランタ
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
In a post about red spider lilies, I wrote that it was easy to imagine how the flower was like when hearing its name in English, but not in Japanese.
I found this beautiful purple flower also in my neighborhood. I like it, particularly its color, but didn't know the name, so looked for it on the Internet and found that it's duranta in Japanese and golden dewdrop or pigeon berry in English. Again, how easy it is to remember its English name but not the Japanese!
The Japanese name of duranta comes from its botanical name of "duranta erecta," which is boring isn't it? I'm sure I will forget the Japanese name, but not the English names.
彼岸花に続いて近所で見つけた綺麗なお花。名前が分からなくてネットで調べたら、デュランタ、英語では golden dewdrop （黄金の露の雫）、pigeon berry （鳩のベリー）ということが分かりました。彼岸花（red spider lily）に続き、英語だと覚えやすいお花です。ちなみにデュランタは学名（duranta erecta）に由来するそう。もっと気の利いた名前だと憶えやすいのにね｡｡｡
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| Golden dewdrop |
I found this beautiful purple flower also in my neighborhood. I like it, particularly its color, but didn't know the name, so looked for it on the Internet and found that it's duranta in Japanese and golden dewdrop or pigeon berry in English. Again, how easy it is to remember its English name but not the Japanese!
The Japanese name of duranta comes from its botanical name of "duranta erecta," which is boring isn't it? I'm sure I will forget the Japanese name, but not the English names.
彼岸花に続いて近所で見つけた綺麗なお花。名前が分からなくてネットで調べたら、デュランタ、英語では golden dewdrop （黄金の露の雫）、pigeon berry （鳩のベリー）ということが分かりました。彼岸花（red spider lily）に続き、英語だと覚えやすいお花です。ちなみにデュランタは学名（duranta erecta）に由来するそう。もっと気の利いた名前だと憶えやすいのにね｡｡｡
Path Toward Happiness - How Many Tatami Mats Do You Need? 足るを知る
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
In Japan, an inheritance battle over a famous popular music singer and composer Masaaki Hirao's $50 million estate is going on. His youngest son has filed a lawsuit against his stepmother, who worked for the composer for about 20 years, to prevent her from receiving all copyright fees of annually about $1 million for Mr. Hirao's work for the next 50 years.
Wow! If there is no will, his wife will get $500,000 and his three sons $170,000 each year. These are enough amounts to have a pretty good life, aren't they? But some inherit more money, like $300 million or more, and this got me to think about if it's right to inherit such a huge amount of money.
When asking a friend of mine this, he said, "We should consider money as food." He said that it's okay to "store" money, but storing too much and letting it "go bad" isn't good. A reasonable amount of money may vary between people, but isn't $3 million to $5 million enough? Having more money to use it for some good cause is okay, but just hoarding money is bad, said he.
I've never thought about money like this, but can't agree more. I believe that the more you work, the more you should be rewarded. I want to be fairly rewarded for what I do. Capitalisｍ. But how about having too much to spend, especially when the money isn't originally yours? Besides, a research's result (only in Japanese) says that annual income and the degree of happiness grow proportionately to the extent of income of $95,000, but after that, people feel less happy.
If so, why don't we limit the amount of money we can inherit to, say, $3 million? With this amount, a person can live without working for 30 years or more. Isn't it enough? If giving too much money make the recipient less happy, we shouldn't give it. In addition, this may make happier those who really need money, like children who want to have higher education, but can't afford it.
There is a saying in Japan that "we only need a half tatami mat to stand and one mat to sleep." It tells us the importance of knowing contentment, i.e., a way to be happy. Is it too much to ask people to learn it?
平尾昌晃氏の遺産争いがニュースになっています。年間1億円の著作権料ということなので、普通に考えたら奥さんに5千万円、息子さんたちにはそれぞれ1,700万円ほどがこれから50年間働かくなくても入ってくるわけです。でも世の中にはもっとたくさん、例えば3億円とか相続している方がいらっしゃるそう。そこで思いました。そんなにたくさんのお金を相続していいの？
友人にこの疑問をぶつけてみたら、「金は食い物と一緒。腐るほどため込んではダメでしょ」とのこと。彼曰く、せいぜい3億円から5億円あればもう十分。何かの目的のために使うならいいけど貯め込むのはダメ、と言われてしまいました。
お金を食べ物と同じと考えたことはなかったけど、大賛成。もちろん働けばその分だけ見返りがあるべきだとは思います。資本主義ですから。でも使いきれないほどお金がある、そしてそれがもともと自分のお金ではないというのはいかがなものか。それにある調査によると、人間、年収1,000万円ぐらいまでは収入の額と幸福度が比例するけど、それ以上は逆に不幸になるんですって。
だったら相続に限度額を設けたらどうでしょう。例えば3億円くらい。それだけあれば何もせずに30年は生きられるから十分でしょ。そして余ったお金は本当に必要としている人、例えば教育の無償化に使えばいいのでは。
起きて半畳寝て一畳。お金持ちすぎの方に是非学んでいただきたいことです。
In Japan, an inheritance battle over a famous popular music singer and composer Masaaki Hirao's $50 million estate is going on. His youngest son has filed a lawsuit against his stepmother, who worked for the composer for about 20 years, to prevent her from receiving all copyright fees of annually about $1 million for Mr. Hirao's work for the next 50 years.
Wow! If there is no will, his wife will get $500,000 and his three sons $170,000 each year. These are enough amounts to have a pretty good life, aren't they? But some inherit more money, like $300 million or more, and this got me to think about if it's right to inherit such a huge amount of money.
When asking a friend of mine this, he said, "We should consider money as food." He said that it's okay to "store" money, but storing too much and letting it "go bad" isn't good. A reasonable amount of money may vary between people, but isn't $3 million to $5 million enough? Having more money to use it for some good cause is okay, but just hoarding money is bad, said he.
I've never thought about money like this, but can't agree more. I believe that the more you work, the more you should be rewarded. I want to be fairly rewarded for what I do. Capitalisｍ. But how about having too much to spend, especially when the money isn't originally yours? Besides, a research's result (only in Japanese) says that annual income and the degree of happiness grow proportionately to the extent of income of $95,000, but after that, people feel less happy.
If so, why don't we limit the amount of money we can inherit to, say, $3 million? With this amount, a person can live without working for 30 years or more. Isn't it enough? If giving too much money make the recipient less happy, we shouldn't give it. In addition, this may make happier those who really need money, like children who want to have higher education, but can't afford it.
There is a saying in Japan that "we only need a half tatami mat to stand and one mat to sleep." It tells us the importance of knowing contentment, i.e., a way to be happy. Is it too much to ask people to learn it?
平尾昌晃氏の遺産争いがニュースになっています。年間1億円の著作権料ということなので、普通に考えたら奥さんに5千万円、息子さんたちにはそれぞれ1,700万円ほどがこれから50年間働かくなくても入ってくるわけです。でも世の中にはもっとたくさん、例えば3億円とか相続している方がいらっしゃるそう。そこで思いました。そんなにたくさんのお金を相続していいの？
友人にこの疑問をぶつけてみたら、「金は食い物と一緒。腐るほどため込んではダメでしょ」とのこと。彼曰く、せいぜい3億円から5億円あればもう十分。何かの目的のために使うならいいけど貯め込むのはダメ、と言われてしまいました。
お金を食べ物と同じと考えたことはなかったけど、大賛成。もちろん働けばその分だけ見返りがあるべきだとは思います。資本主義ですから。でも使いきれないほどお金がある、そしてそれがもともと自分のお金ではないというのはいかがなものか。それにある調査によると、人間、年収1,000万円ぐらいまでは収入の額と幸福度が比例するけど、それ以上は逆に不幸になるんですって。
だったら相続に限度額を設けたらどうでしょう。例えば3億円くらい。それだけあれば何もせずに30年は生きられるから十分でしょ。そして余ったお金は本当に必要としている人、例えば教育の無償化に使えばいいのでは。
起きて半畳寝て一畳。お金持ちすぎの方に是非学んでいただきたいことです。
Red Spider Lily お彼岸だったのね
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Their Japanese name is manjushage (曼殊沙華) or higan bana (彼岸花), both of which are related to Buddhism. Manjushage means flowers of the heavens. I learned for the first time that in Buddhism, there are several heavens. Higan bana means flowers (bana or hana) blooming during the higan period, i.e., the spring or autumnal equinox and the three days before and after the equinoxes (i.e., the seven days each), and during that period we are supposed to visit the graveyard of our ancestors. I didn't go to my ancestors' or my husband's ancestors' graveyard, but the flower gave me power and a chance to think about and pray for us and our ancestors.
秋の訪れとともに近所のお花も秋の花へ｡｡。ということで彼岸花の写真を撮りました。英語だと red spider lily。名は体を表していますね。ただそれに加えて、お彼岸が春分・秋分の日とその前後3日間の計7日間だということ、曼殊沙華が天の花、英語では flowers of heavens ともいい、仏教では天が複数あることを初めて知りました。お恥ずかしい｡｡。お墓参りには行けませんでしたが、家でご先祖様に想いを馳せ、感謝しました。
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| Red spider lily |
Autumn has come and flowers in my neighborhood have been changing. I found these red spider lilies a few days ago and was surprised by their English name. Unlike the Japanese name, "red spider lily" represents the shape and color.
Their Japanese name is manjushage (曼殊沙華) or higan bana (彼岸花), both of which are related to Buddhism. Manjushage means flowers of the heavens. I learned for the first time that in Buddhism, there are several heavens. Higan bana means flowers (bana or hana) blooming during the higan period, i.e., the spring or autumnal equinox and the three days before and after the equinoxes (i.e., the seven days each), and during that period we are supposed to visit the graveyard of our ancestors. I didn't go to my ancestors' or my husband's ancestors' graveyard, but the flower gave me power and a chance to think about and pray for us and our ancestors.
秋の訪れとともに近所のお花も秋の花へ｡｡。ということで彼岸花の写真を撮りました。英語だと red spider lily。名は体を表していますね。ただそれに加えて、お彼岸が春分・秋分の日とその前後3日間の計7日間だということ、曼殊沙華が天の花、英語では flowers of heavens ともいい、仏教では天が複数あることを初めて知りました。お恥ずかしい｡｡。お墓参りには行けませんでしたが、家でご先祖様に想いを馳せ、感謝しました。
Nara Cuisine - Narazuke Pickled Gourds 瓢箪の奈良漬
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
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| Narazuke pickles of gourds 瓢箪の奈良漬け |
Interpreters Don't Do Shorthand 通訳と速記
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Sachiko used to work as an interpreter. The most troubling thing at that time for her was that her clients thought that she could reproduce what the speaker said based on notes she took during the interpretation. Interpreters take notes, but these aren't shorthand notes, but are for their short memories for thirty seconds or so and include only key points, such as what increases or decreases by how much/many for how long period.
When I asked her to show me what notes she would write, Sachiko jotted down something in a piece of paper on the table and showed it to me. The scribble means, "The number of employees of the manufacturing division in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan has been increasing from 1,000 to 2,500 for the last ten years."
She was often asked by her clients to teach about how to take notes, but couldn't teach it. She’s never read or learned it from others. She still didn't know why and how she ended up writing such notes.
幸子さんが通訳をしていたころ一番困ったこと。それは通訳後に、メモを基に議事録を書いてくれと言われたことだ。速記と違って通訳のメモは要点しか書かないので、30秒間ぐらい記憶する助けにしかならない。どんなメモを取るのか見せてと頼んだら、写真のようなメモを書いてくれた。「神奈川県にある製造部門の従業員数はここ10年で1,000人から2,500人に増えた」という意味だそうだ。
メモの取り方を教えてくれと言われたことまであったらしいが、習ったわけでも本で読んだわけでもなく、気付いたらこんな風に書いていたので教えられないんですって。
Sachiko used to work as an interpreter. The most troubling thing at that time for her was that her clients thought that she could reproduce what the speaker said based on notes she took during the interpretation. Interpreters take notes, but these aren't shorthand notes, but are for their short memories for thirty seconds or so and include only key points, such as what increases or decreases by how much/many for how long period.
When I asked her to show me what notes she would write, Sachiko jotted down something in a piece of paper on the table and showed it to me. The scribble means, "The number of employees of the manufacturing division in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan has been increasing from 1,000 to 2,500 for the last ten years."
幸子さんが通訳をしていたころ一番困ったこと。それは通訳後に、メモを基に議事録を書いてくれと言われたことだ。速記と違って通訳のメモは要点しか書かないので、30秒間ぐらい記憶する助けにしかならない。どんなメモを取るのか見せてと頼んだら、写真のようなメモを書いてくれた。「神奈川県にある製造部門の従業員数はここ10年で1,000人から2,500人に増えた」という意味だそうだ。
メモの取り方を教えてくれと言われたことまであったらしいが、習ったわけでも本で読んだわけでもなく、気付いたらこんな風に書いていたので教えられないんですって。
Unconscious Bias Against Short Pants 私、差別してました
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| "Salaryman" with short pants |
First I found it funny and wrote a post about it. But a friend of mine, to whom I showed this picture before publishing it, told me, "That is your prejudice against men who like short suit pants."
I have taken "inclusive" seminars in which I learned that everyone had an unconscious bias. But I was literally unconscious that I myself had one. It's easy to notice and criticize others' prejudices and biases, whether conscious or not, but this incident made me realize again how difficult it is to look at myself objectively.
同僚曰く「短いズボンをはく奴は絶対変人」とのこと。大笑いし、このブログのために記事まで書いた。ところかアップする前に友人に話したら「それって短いズボンを好きな人に対する偏見じゃない？」と言われてしまった。その通りです｡｡｡
会社でインクルーシブ研修を受け、無意識の偏見については知っていたはずなのにこのざま。人のことを批判するのは簡単だけど、自分を客観的に見ることの難しさを改めて痛感しました｡｡｡
Loneliness - Look Inside Myself Through Coloring 内面を見つめる
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
I drew them and don't know why, but remember feeling relaxed and peaceful while drawing them. A friend of mine said that that was because I was looking inside myself. I don't know if it is true.
I have drawn more than ten pictures of this kind. Some were finished, i.e., every small square or oblong was colored, and others not.
Color is most important. When cheerful or extrovert, I choose warm colors while, when sad or introvert, cool colors. The second picture shows changes in my mood from the top left (i.e., pink) to the center and bottom (i.e., green and blue).
The second one isn't finished yet and may not be finished forever. I stopped describing my feelings in the form of drawing or color because I now write.
こんな絵を描いているとなんか落ち着きました。内面を見ているからだと言われたこともあります。なぜ描いていたかは自分でもわかりません。とにかく気持ちが安らぎました。
元気なときは暖色、落ち込んでいるときは寒色。下の絵を見ると最初左上の方を描いているときは元気なのに、段々沈んでいっているのが分かります。
最近は絵ではなく、文章で気持ちを表現するようになりました。
Like Father/Mother, Like Daughter? 無責任な両親、そして私
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
I've been reading "Seven Mysteries about Monsters of the Showa Era" by Masayasu Hosaka. It's about seven mysteries related to six politicians and military officers who played crucial roles during and/or after the war, e.g., Hideki Tojo and Shigeru Yoshida. While reading the characteristics of military officers mentioned by the author, I was stunned by one of them. That "they (i.e., military officers) never tell what they really think, but always talk about others' opinions" is my parents' most distinctive characteristic.
Heisei Era will End 通訳の年号変換
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
As you may know, the Heisei Era will end on April 30 next year. For those who aren't familiar with the Japanese era system, we, the Japanese, have a specific name for a period during which an emperor reigns and so, when a new emperor accedes to the throne, the name of the period also changes. As the current 125th Emperor Akihito will abdicate on April 30 next year, the Heisei Era, reigned by him, will also end on that day. The names of the recent eras and their periods are as follows:
Heisei era: January 8, 1989 to April 30, 2019, reigned by Akihito
Showa era: December 25, 1926 to January 7, 1989, reigned by Hirohito
Taisho era: July 30, 1912 to December 24, 1926, reigned by Yoshihito
Meiji era: January 25, 1868 to July 29, 1912, reigned by Mutsuhito
Emperors don't have last names and we don't know why for sure. But it's said that as last names used to be given by the emperor of the period, they have had nobody giving one to them or that as male succession has continued in an unbroken line for 125 generations from the first reign, they haven't needed to have last names to differentiate themselves from others.
I'm not interested in the reason for their not having last names, but in an issue for interpreters, i.e., they have to translate the Japanese year to the Gregorian calendar year in a second while interpreting! This happens because most Japanese use the Japanese calendar year, so when a speaker says "Heisei 30 (i.e., 2018)," the interpreter has to immediately translates the year to the Gregorian year by subtracting 12 (i.e., 30-12=18, meaning 2018). In other words, interpreters have to memorize how many years they need to add or subtract for each era, i.e., for Heisei add 88 or subtract 12, Showa add 25, Taisho add 11 and Meiji add 67 or subtract 33, and do such additions/subtractions while interpreting.
Whatever the name of the new era will be, interpreters/translators will have to remember one more formula, i.e., adding 18 to the Japanese year to convert it to the Gregorian year!
来年元号が変わる。新元号のシステム対応が大変なことは知られているが、密かに大変なのは通訳の頭の中である。言語変換のみならず、元号を瞬時に西暦に変換するための足し引きをやっているのをご存じだろうか。つまり、平成は12引く、昭和は25足す｡｡｡といった具合。言葉だけでも大変なのに、算数もやるから大変なんです。メートルとフィート、セルシウスとファーレンハイトも同じで、6フィートと言われても大きいかどうかぴんとこないし、華氏100度と言われても暑いかどうかぴんとこないが、こちらは変換せずにそのまま言ってもまあ大丈夫。でも、元号だけはそうはいかないのです。新元号の場合は「18足したら西暦」。お疲れ様です！
As you may know, the Heisei Era will end on April 30 next year. For those who aren't familiar with the Japanese era system, we, the Japanese, have a specific name for a period during which an emperor reigns and so, when a new emperor accedes to the throne, the name of the period also changes. As the current 125th Emperor Akihito will abdicate on April 30 next year, the Heisei Era, reigned by him, will also end on that day. The names of the recent eras and their periods are as follows:
Heisei era: January 8, 1989 to April 30, 2019, reigned by Akihito
Showa era: December 25, 1926 to January 7, 1989, reigned by Hirohito
Taisho era: July 30, 1912 to December 24, 1926, reigned by Yoshihito
Meiji era: January 25, 1868 to July 29, 1912, reigned by Mutsuhito
Emperors don't have last names and we don't know why for sure. But it's said that as last names used to be given by the emperor of the period, they have had nobody giving one to them or that as male succession has continued in an unbroken line for 125 generations from the first reign, they haven't needed to have last names to differentiate themselves from others.
I'm not interested in the reason for their not having last names, but in an issue for interpreters, i.e., they have to translate the Japanese year to the Gregorian calendar year in a second while interpreting! This happens because most Japanese use the Japanese calendar year, so when a speaker says "Heisei 30 (i.e., 2018)," the interpreter has to immediately translates the year to the Gregorian year by subtracting 12 (i.e., 30-12=18, meaning 2018). In other words, interpreters have to memorize how many years they need to add or subtract for each era, i.e., for Heisei add 88 or subtract 12, Showa add 25, Taisho add 11 and Meiji add 67 or subtract 33, and do such additions/subtractions while interpreting.
Whatever the name of the new era will be, interpreters/translators will have to remember one more formula, i.e., adding 18 to the Japanese year to convert it to the Gregorian year!
来年元号が変わる。新元号のシステム対応が大変なことは知られているが、密かに大変なのは通訳の頭の中である。言語変換のみならず、元号を瞬時に西暦に変換するための足し引きをやっているのをご存じだろうか。つまり、平成は12引く、昭和は25足す｡｡｡といった具合。言葉だけでも大変なのに、算数もやるから大変なんです。メートルとフィート、セルシウスとファーレンハイトも同じで、6フィートと言われても大きいかどうかぴんとこないし、華氏100度と言われても暑いかどうかぴんとこないが、こちらは変換せずにそのまま言ってもまあ大丈夫。でも、元号だけはそうはいかないのです。新元号の場合は「18足したら西暦」。お疲れ様です！
Loneliness - Ohitorisama at a Nearby Cafe カフェのおひとり様
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
It was a holiday, so I went to a famous cafe restaurant in my neighborhood, Toyosu Tokyo. I often go to Piatto, an also nearby good Italian restaurant, when I take a day off, but that day I wanted to try a new place.
It was a holiday, so I went to a famous cafe restaurant in my neighborhood, Toyosu Tokyo. I often go to Piatto, an also nearby good Italian restaurant, when I take a day off, but that day I wanted to try a new place.
Why You Make It So Complicated なんでそうなるの？
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
People think when they have nothing else to do but sit and I'm not an exception. I found this sign in a ladies' room at Yaesu of the Tokyo Station. (Click here for a post about another sign on how to "flash" a toilet.)
Why did they put so much information in it? The three things the building manager wants to say are:
1. Sit on the toilet. Don't squat over the bowl.
2. Flush toilet paper down the toilet. Don't put it in the bin.
3. Hold your hand over the sensor to activate the flush.
The shorter and the simpler, the better. This particularly holds true if it's read by non-native speakers, like me. And one more thing. What the hell happened to these three pictures, especially, the middle one? Without reading the instruction, I had no idea about what the middle drawing was trying to say...
東京駅八重地下の女子トイレで見つけました。英語、長すぎませんか。英語圏以外の人に伝えるのが目的なら、短く簡潔に書くべきではないでしょうか。（過去の記事「トイレを光らせろ」についてはこちら。）
それとこの絵｡｡。特に真ん中！「トイレットペーパーは流せ」ってことだけ描けばよかったのでは。絵で余計わかりにくくなっている気がしました。
Why did they put so much information in it? The three things the building manager wants to say are:
1. Sit on the toilet. Don't squat over the bowl.
2. Flush toilet paper down the toilet. Don't put it in the bin.
3. Hold your hand over the sensor to activate the flush.
The shorter and the simpler, the better. This particularly holds true if it's read by non-native speakers, like me. And one more thing. What the hell happened to these three pictures, especially, the middle one? Without reading the instruction, I had no idea about what the middle drawing was trying to say...
東京駅八重地下の女子トイレで見つけました。英語、長すぎませんか。英語圏以外の人に伝えるのが目的なら、短く簡潔に書くべきではないでしょうか。（過去の記事「トイレを光らせろ」についてはこちら。）
それとこの絵｡｡。特に真ん中！「トイレットペーパーは流せ」ってことだけ描けばよかったのでは。絵で余計わかりにくくなっている気がしました。
Hide and Seek in Tokyo 東京のひょっこりはん
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Can you find it? I saw this baby lizard in Tokyo. I wrote about baby lizards I had seen in Nara prefecture last month, but didn't expect to see one again in Tokyo.
I wanted to take a better picture of it, but it must have been looking for a place to hide from still strong sunshine. A few seconds after taking this photo, it was gone into the bush....
I've been intrigued by lizards, reptiles, amphibians and dinosaurs since my childhood, though I can't or haven't touched them...
どこにいるか分かりますか。東京で会いました。奈良でも見かけてブログに書きましたが、まさか東京でも会えるとは思っていなかった赤ちゃんトカゲです！もう少しいい写真を撮りたかったのですが、すぐに藪の中に消えてしまいました。残暑厳しいものね。触ったことはありませんが、子供の頃からなぜか、トカゲ、カエル、恐竜が好きです。
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| Baby lizard in Tokyo |
I wanted to take a better picture of it, but it must have been looking for a place to hide from still strong sunshine. A few seconds after taking this photo, it was gone into the bush....
I've been intrigued by lizards, reptiles, amphibians and dinosaurs since my childhood, though I can't or haven't touched them...
どこにいるか分かりますか。東京で会いました。奈良でも見かけてブログに書きましたが、まさか東京でも会えるとは思っていなかった赤ちゃんトカゲです！もう少しいい写真を撮りたかったのですが、すぐに藪の中に消えてしまいました。残暑厳しいものね。触ったことはありませんが、子供の頃からなぜか、トカゲ、カエル、恐竜が好きです。
Loneliness - Ohitorisama Enjoy Solitude in Japan 生まれてくるのが早すぎたお一人様
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
We, Japanese, didn't differentiate between loneliness and solitude and, whether the person was lonely or enjoying solitude, had no positive perception for being alone. You can see this in the fact that the translation of loneliness and solitude is the same in Japanese, kodoku. This loneliness-solitude issue was also covered by the Japanese media last month as well. But it's been changing these days. Or so I think.
We, Japanese, didn't differentiate between loneliness and solitude and, whether the person was lonely or enjoying solitude, had no positive perception for being alone. You can see this in the fact that the translation of loneliness and solitude is the same in Japanese, kodoku. This loneliness-solitude issue was also covered by the Japanese media last month as well. But it's been changing these days. Or so I think.
Pretz, Pocky and Mikado 百力滋と帝
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
A coworker of mine who went to China on business gave me Pretz he had bought at a Chinese airport. This may not look strange to you, but is strange to me, who is Japanese, because of no Japanese on the package. These Chinese characters (which sounds strange, too because they are also used in Japan) aren't Japanese, but Chinese. The product name (Pretz or 百力滋) and the company's name (Glico or 格力高) in Japanese are "プリッツ" and "グリコ" respectively. I have never imagined that daily Japanese snacks are called differently in other countries. I also found on the Internet that the company's another product, Pocky (ポッキー), was sold under the name of "Mikado" in Europe.
By the way, does anyone remember that Louis Litt on Suits fought a coworker over the ownership of a cat, named Mikado. Mikado, meaning Emperor, seems a favorite Japanese word in the U.S. and Europe.
同僚から中国みやげでもらったプリッツの箱を見てびっくり。プリッツって百力滋、グリコって格力高っていうのね。しかもポッキーはヨーロッパでは Mikado っていう名前で売られているんですって。日本のお菓子が海外では違う名前で売られているなんて考えもしなかった。 ちなみに、米国ドラマの Suits で、ルイスがミカドという名前の猫の所有権をめぐって同僚と大喧嘩していたエピソードを思いだした。欧米人ってミカド好きなのね。
By the way, does anyone remember that Louis Litt on Suits fought a coworker over the ownership of a cat, named Mikado. Mikado, meaning Emperor, seems a favorite Japanese word in the U.S. and Europe.
同僚から中国みやげでもらったプリッツの箱を見てびっくり。プリッツって百力滋、グリコって格力高っていうのね。しかもポッキーはヨーロッパでは Mikado っていう名前で売られているんですって。日本のお菓子が海外では違う名前で売られているなんて考えもしなかった。 ちなみに、米国ドラマの Suits で、ルイスがミカドという名前の猫の所有権をめぐって同僚と大喧嘩していたエピソードを思いだした。欧米人ってミカド好きなのね。
Friendship with Convenience Store Staff コンビニの店員さんに癒された話
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
I like kanten milk puddings and often buy them on my way back home. When I was paying for two types of such puddings (i.e., the middle one in a round plastic cup and the bottom one in a oblong package) at a nearby convenience store the other day, a young female cashier with blond dyed hair smiled at me saying that she also liked them, so sometimes made them at home. I was so tired from working that the chat refreshed me and warmed my heart. And it also reminded me of what had occurred long time ago to Sachiko, a friend of mine.
One afternoon, Sachiko, then living with her parents, heard her mom screaming. When rushing into the kitchen, she found her pointing out to an egg and saying that it was boiled. Her mom said that she had bought a carton of eggs the previous day at a nearby convenience store and had found one of them boiled. I bet she must have misplaced a boiled egg in the carton and Sachiko, looking back now, also finds it so stupid of her believing her mom's "conspiracy theory" that some kind of mix up must have happened during the egg packing process. But at that time she was young and naive.... Her mom insisted that she should file a complaint and report to the store because the manager was her "friend." For her, someone she talks with more than once a week is a friend. Surprisingly, the manager believed or pretended to believe her mom's story, apologized and thanked to her for letting him know about it and gave her another carton of eggs for free! He was too sweet to hurt the lovely elderly woman's feelings. This happened a long time ago, but it still sticks in my and Sachiko's memories!
牛乳寒天が好きでよく買うのだが、先日コンビニで茶髪の店員さんに「私も好きで家でも作ります」と言われ、とても癒されました。そしてなぜか幸子さんの昔話を思い出したので紹介します。
幸子さんがまだご両親と一緒に住んでいた頃、台所で叫び声が聞こえてきたのでいってみたら、お母様が卵を指さして「ゆで卵」と叫んでいたとのこと。前日に近所のコンビニで買ったパックにゆで卵が入っているというのだ。「卵のパック作業に問題があったはずだからクレームを付ける」と言い始め、幸子さんもそれを信じたというから驚き。若かったのね。でもお母様、「店長さんは友達だから報告しなくちゃ」とも言い始めたらしい。幸子さんのお母様って週に一回以上話したらもう友達だから要注意。でも実際にお店に行って事情を説明したら、何と店長さん、話を信じてくれて（信じたふりをしてくれて）謝り、新しい卵パックを無料でくれたんですって。きっと心優しい年配の女性の気持ちを傷つけまいとしたんでしょうね。もう二十年以上思前の話ですが、幸子さん、今でも忘れられないそうです。
One afternoon, Sachiko, then living with her parents, heard her mom screaming. When rushing into the kitchen, she found her pointing out to an egg and saying that it was boiled. Her mom said that she had bought a carton of eggs the previous day at a nearby convenience store and had found one of them boiled. I bet she must have misplaced a boiled egg in the carton and Sachiko, looking back now, also finds it so stupid of her believing her mom's "conspiracy theory" that some kind of mix up must have happened during the egg packing process. But at that time she was young and naive.... Her mom insisted that she should file a complaint and report to the store because the manager was her "friend." For her, someone she talks with more than once a week is a friend. Surprisingly, the manager believed or pretended to believe her mom's story, apologized and thanked to her for letting him know about it and gave her another carton of eggs for free! He was too sweet to hurt the lovely elderly woman's feelings. This happened a long time ago, but it still sticks in my and Sachiko's memories!
牛乳寒天が好きでよく買うのだが、先日コンビニで茶髪の店員さんに「私も好きで家でも作ります」と言われ、とても癒されました。そしてなぜか幸子さんの昔話を思い出したので紹介します。
幸子さんがまだご両親と一緒に住んでいた頃、台所で叫び声が聞こえてきたのでいってみたら、お母様が卵を指さして「ゆで卵」と叫んでいたとのこと。前日に近所のコンビニで買ったパックにゆで卵が入っているというのだ。「卵のパック作業に問題があったはずだからクレームを付ける」と言い始め、幸子さんもそれを信じたというから驚き。若かったのね。でもお母様、「店長さんは友達だから報告しなくちゃ」とも言い始めたらしい。幸子さんのお母様って週に一回以上話したらもう友達だから要注意。でも実際にお店に行って事情を説明したら、何と店長さん、話を信じてくれて（信じたふりをしてくれて）謝り、新しい卵パックを無料でくれたんですって。きっと心優しい年配の女性の気持ちを傷つけまいとしたんでしょうね。もう二十年以上思前の話ですが、幸子さん、今でも忘れられないそうです。
We Need to Be Articulate 2018年芥川作曲賞
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
I went to the Suntory Hall last month to see the 28th Competition of Akutagawa Award for Music Composition. This competition is for composers of contemporary classical music and was established in April 1990 to commemorate the achievements of Yasushi Akutagawa, a Japanese composer. (By the way, he's also known as a son of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the author of "Rashomon" and "In a Grove," the original two short stories of Akira Kurosawa's film, "Rashomon.")
I love usual classical music, such as Debussy and Elgar, but have no idea about what contemporary composers are trying to achieve. I've been to contemporary classical music concerts several times, but pieces performed there only sounded to me a series of dissonant chords and noises. (I know this is because I have no ear for this kind of music.) But my inability to understand what is good about something doesn't mean it's bad. So, I was looking forward very much to hearing from the three members of a jury for the competition, also contemporary composers, their interpretation of pieces to be played in the hall.
Three candidates' works had been chosen in the preliminary selection and were played by the New Japan Philharmonic in the hall. All the three pieces sounded as expected, i.e., dissonant, and the only difference I could tell was that the last played one was like more usual classical music than the other two and that I didn't fall asleep!
After that, a panel discussion was held on the stage, in which three jurors, former winners and professional composers, were supposed to discuss each piece to decide this year's winner. But I didn't hear any discussion. I only found them expressing their views on each piece but without responding to or arguing about the other jurors' opinions and based on this "one-way" discussion and a majority vote, the prize winner was decided. Two jurors voted for the winner while the other for the composer of the least sleepy piece to me.
On my way home, I couldn't help but feel disappointed that it didn't give me any clues that enable me to enjoy contemporary classical music. Neither were explanations made by each juror on their selection criteria nor was a real discussion done on the stage. It's like they were just reading scripts and I don't understand how come it was an "open selection process."
I also wondered what the responsibilities of professionals were. I had expected to hear from the three professionals who, as jurors, owed the audience explanations for their decisions. They talked, but weren't articulate enough for lay persons, like me, to understand their decision making process. But writing this post made me realize that I'm not articulate either and that is why I started this blog...
第28回芥川作曲賞選考演奏会を聞きに行った。作曲家の芥川也寸志氏（芥川龍之介の息子）の功績をたたえるために設立された現代音楽作曲家のための賞だ。といっても私にとって現代音楽は不協和音の連続でしかなく、聞いていても寝てしまうだけ。でも「自分に理解できないものは悪いもの」ではないというつもりはない。私に見えない（聞こえない）ものが作曲家たちには見えている（聞こえている）に違いない。というわけで当日は、審査員の方々の解説を楽しみにしていた。
数十曲の中から最終候補として選ばれた3曲が、新日本フィルハーモニー交響楽団により演奏された。正直どれも難解（笑）だったが、最後の曲がそれでもまだ分かりやすかったかな。（つまり普通のクラシック音楽に近かった。）ただ、その後行われた3人の審査員による公開選考会では、2対1の多数決で別の曲が大賞に選ばれた。
帰り道、何かがっかりした。現代音楽を好きになれるような解説を期待していたのに。選考会で審査員が喧々諤々議論するのを期待していたのに｡｡。こちらが知識不足なのは分かっている。でもやはりあれでは「公開」審査とは言えないのでは｡｡。プロなら私のような素人にも分かるように説明してくれ～！と書いて気が付いた。そうです。そうなんです！私こそ相手に伝わるように説明するのが下手なんです。だからこのブログを始めたんでした。
I went to the Suntory Hall last month to see the 28th Competition of Akutagawa Award for Music Composition. This competition is for composers of contemporary classical music and was established in April 1990 to commemorate the achievements of Yasushi Akutagawa, a Japanese composer. (By the way, he's also known as a son of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the author of "Rashomon" and "In a Grove," the original two short stories of Akira Kurosawa's film, "Rashomon.")
I love usual classical music, such as Debussy and Elgar, but have no idea about what contemporary composers are trying to achieve. I've been to contemporary classical music concerts several times, but pieces performed there only sounded to me a series of dissonant chords and noises. (I know this is because I have no ear for this kind of music.) But my inability to understand what is good about something doesn't mean it's bad. So, I was looking forward very much to hearing from the three members of a jury for the competition, also contemporary composers, their interpretation of pieces to be played in the hall.
Three candidates' works had been chosen in the preliminary selection and were played by the New Japan Philharmonic in the hall. All the three pieces sounded as expected, i.e., dissonant, and the only difference I could tell was that the last played one was like more usual classical music than the other two and that I didn't fall asleep!
After that, a panel discussion was held on the stage, in which three jurors, former winners and professional composers, were supposed to discuss each piece to decide this year's winner. But I didn't hear any discussion. I only found them expressing their views on each piece but without responding to or arguing about the other jurors' opinions and based on this "one-way" discussion and a majority vote, the prize winner was decided. Two jurors voted for the winner while the other for the composer of the least sleepy piece to me.
On my way home, I couldn't help but feel disappointed that it didn't give me any clues that enable me to enjoy contemporary classical music. Neither were explanations made by each juror on their selection criteria nor was a real discussion done on the stage. It's like they were just reading scripts and I don't understand how come it was an "open selection process."
I also wondered what the responsibilities of professionals were. I had expected to hear from the three professionals who, as jurors, owed the audience explanations for their decisions. They talked, but weren't articulate enough for lay persons, like me, to understand their decision making process. But writing this post made me realize that I'm not articulate either and that is why I started this blog...
第28回芥川作曲賞選考演奏会を聞きに行った。作曲家の芥川也寸志氏（芥川龍之介の息子）の功績をたたえるために設立された現代音楽作曲家のための賞だ。といっても私にとって現代音楽は不協和音の連続でしかなく、聞いていても寝てしまうだけ。でも「自分に理解できないものは悪いもの」ではないというつもりはない。私に見えない（聞こえない）ものが作曲家たちには見えている（聞こえている）に違いない。というわけで当日は、審査員の方々の解説を楽しみにしていた。
数十曲の中から最終候補として選ばれた3曲が、新日本フィルハーモニー交響楽団により演奏された。正直どれも難解（笑）だったが、最後の曲がそれでもまだ分かりやすかったかな。（つまり普通のクラシック音楽に近かった。）ただ、その後行われた3人の審査員による公開選考会では、2対1の多数決で別の曲が大賞に選ばれた。
帰り道、何かがっかりした。現代音楽を好きになれるような解説を期待していたのに。選考会で審査員が喧々諤々議論するのを期待していたのに｡｡。こちらが知識不足なのは分かっている。でもやはりあれでは「公開」審査とは言えないのでは｡｡。プロなら私のような素人にも分かるように説明してくれ～！と書いて気が付いた。そうです。そうなんです！私こそ相手に伝わるように説明するのが下手なんです。だからこのブログを始めたんでした。
Anti-Buddhism Movement in Kofukuji Temple, Nara 興福寺のお坊さんってそんなに弱かったの？
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
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| Kofukuji Temple's five-story pagoda |
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| From a low angle |
This is the five storied pagoda of Kofukuji Temple in Nara. I've been there twice a year for the last ten years, so didn't expect to take a picture of it this summer again. But during the vacation, I was reading a book about ancient Japanese history, which naturally includes historical events in Nara, one of the former Japanese capitals, older than Kyoto, and this book made me look at this temple from literally a new perspective.
Kofukuji is one of the oldest and most famous temples in Japan, but, according to the book, is well-known for being obedient to the authority.
At the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912), anti-Buddhism and temple destruction movement (haibutsu kishaku) occurred. This was led by the then government, mainly by people from the Satsuma Domain (the current Kagoshima prefecture), to make Shinto the state religion under the Emperor. As a result, the monks of this temple were told that they were fired and to become priests of Kasuga Taisha Shrine, a nearby Shinto organization. The temple's other assets were sold as firewood with this five-story pagoda being once for sale at JPY250 (current JPY5 million). On the other hand, monks of temples in Osaka, a prefecture next to Nara, ignored that order. Osaka people are well-known for being open, talkative and rebellious.
I learned about this event in such detail on the website (Japanese only) and don't know if the author's characterization of Nara and Osaka people is true. But this historical event made me feel closer to Kofukuji Temple because I realized that a temple is not just a religious organization, but also full of human dramas. If you are interested in another drama, a labor dispute at Horyuji Temple, another temple in Nara, read this!
ここ10年、毎年奈良に行っている。行ったら必ず興福寺には行くので、今さら五重の塔の写真を撮るなんて思ってもいなかったが、この夏は井沢元彦氏の「逆説の日本史」を読んで面白いことを知ったので、ついつい撮ってしまいました。
興福寺って廃仏毀釈の時に、「みんな春日大社の神官になれ、五重の塔も売ってしまえ」と言われ、従ってしまったんですって。あるサイトによると、大阪の寺にも同じような命令が来たけど無視。だけど奈良県民は権力に弱いので興福寺は従ってしまい、一時期、五重の塔が250円（今の500万円くらい）で売られていたとのこと。県民性の話はさておき、寺にもいろいろドラマがあるのかと、興福寺に親しみを感じてしまいました。ちなみに法隆寺の労働争議について知りたい方はこちらをどうぞ。
Kofukuji is one of the oldest and most famous temples in Japan, but, according to the book, is well-known for being obedient to the authority.
At the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912), anti-Buddhism and temple destruction movement (haibutsu kishaku) occurred. This was led by the then government, mainly by people from the Satsuma Domain (the current Kagoshima prefecture), to make Shinto the state religion under the Emperor. As a result, the monks of this temple were told that they were fired and to become priests of Kasuga Taisha Shrine, a nearby Shinto organization. The temple's other assets were sold as firewood with this five-story pagoda being once for sale at JPY250 (current JPY5 million). On the other hand, monks of temples in Osaka, a prefecture next to Nara, ignored that order. Osaka people are well-known for being open, talkative and rebellious.
I learned about this event in such detail on the website (Japanese only) and don't know if the author's characterization of Nara and Osaka people is true. But this historical event made me feel closer to Kofukuji Temple because I realized that a temple is not just a religious organization, but also full of human dramas. If you are interested in another drama, a labor dispute at Horyuji Temple, another temple in Nara, read this!
ここ10年、毎年奈良に行っている。行ったら必ず興福寺には行くので、今さら五重の塔の写真を撮るなんて思ってもいなかったが、この夏は井沢元彦氏の「逆説の日本史」を読んで面白いことを知ったので、ついつい撮ってしまいました。
興福寺って廃仏毀釈の時に、「みんな春日大社の神官になれ、五重の塔も売ってしまえ」と言われ、従ってしまったんですって。あるサイトによると、大阪の寺にも同じような命令が来たけど無視。だけど奈良県民は権力に弱いので興福寺は従ってしまい、一時期、五重の塔が250円（今の500万円くらい）で売られていたとのこと。県民性の話はさておき、寺にもいろいろドラマがあるのかと、興福寺に親しみを感じてしまいました。ちなみに法隆寺の労働争議について知りたい方はこちらをどうぞ。
360-Degree View from Nara Prefectural Office Roofptop 奈良県庁の屋上
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
These photos were all taken from the rooftop of the six-story Nara prefectural office building.
The rooftop is open through the year from 8:30 to 17:30 or 19:00 on weekdays and from 10:00 or 13:00 to 17:00 on weekends and among other things, no admission fee! (For details, go to this website [Japanese only].) I have been to Nara for the last ten years and seen tourists increased dramatically as I wrote in another post, but have seen almost nobody on the rooftop, which makes me google for information about the rooftop and found this. The picture on the website for non-Japanese tourists is terrible! That is why I took pictures myself to recommend this rooftop.
The pagoda in the first photo is Kofukuji Temple's. You can't miss this beautiful 360-degree view if you go to Nara!
奈良に行ったら必ず寄るのが奈良県庁の屋上。市内をぐるりと見渡せる絶好の場所です。なのになぜかいつも人がいない。理由が分かりました。英語の紹介サイトの写真がひどい。これじゃ行く気になりませんよね。というわけで自分で取って見ました。写真の腕は大したことないけど絶景です。是非行ってみてください！
These photos were all taken from the rooftop of the six-story Nara prefectural office building.
The rooftop is open through the year from 8:30 to 17:30 or 19:00 on weekdays and from 10:00 or 13:00 to 17:00 on weekends and among other things, no admission fee! (For details, go to this website [Japanese only].) I have been to Nara for the last ten years and seen tourists increased dramatically as I wrote in another post, but have seen almost nobody on the rooftop, which makes me google for information about the rooftop and found this. The picture on the website for non-Japanese tourists is terrible! That is why I took pictures myself to recommend this rooftop.
The pagoda in the first photo is Kofukuji Temple's. You can't miss this beautiful 360-degree view if you go to Nara!
奈良に行ったら必ず寄るのが奈良県庁の屋上。市内をぐるりと見渡せる絶好の場所です。なのになぜかいつも人がいない。理由が分かりました。英語の紹介サイトの写真がひどい。これじゃ行く気になりませんよね。というわけで自分で取って見ました。写真の腕は大したことないけど絶景です。是非行ってみてください！
Literary Translation VS Technical Translation 翻訳の種類
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
A friend of mine, Sachiko, works for a foreign financial firm as a translator. She once told me, also a translator, that she liked reading novels, but had never considered translating novels. She has translated only technical documents for more than 20 years.
Some think that literary translation and technical translation are after all both translation and the same, but this isn't true. They are more different than people think from the following perspectives:
1. Fee
I only know about Japan, but at least in the country, it's very difficult to be financially independent by translating only novels and movies (i.e., adding subtitles) because translators of this kind first have to work for senior translators for a small fee, i.e., work as apprentices.
2. How to get jobs
Technical translators can relatively easily get jobs through agents or by working as in-house translators for companies as long as they have knowledge in the area.
3. Subject matter expert
Literary translation is a kind of art. It requires a deep understanding of the world of the author and special skills to describe it in the translator's language and for that, the translated product is no longer only the author's but also the translator's product. The subject matter of literary translation is the author's view of the world while that of technical translation is IT, law, accounting or other technical matter.
Sachiko and I both like reading novels, but aren't interested in translating them or reading translated ones because we don't want someone other than the author to stand between him/her and us. The problem, however, is we don't know what to do with novels written in languages other than English or Japanese....
幸子さんは金融系の会社で長年翻訳をしている。ある日、同じく翻訳を生業とする私にこう言った。「小説読むのは好きだけど、翻訳しようなんて思ったことは一度もない」
皆さんの中には文芸翻訳もビジネス翻訳も同じでしょ、という人もいらっしゃると思いますがそうではない、というのが今日の話です。
1. お金
日本のことしか知らないが、小説や映画の翻訳だけして食っていくのは難しい。先ずは偉い人について見習いするからね。
2. 仕事の取り方
ビジネス系だと、専門知識があれば、エージェントを通したり、社内翻訳で働けば比較的仕事は入りやすい。
3. 専門分野
文芸翻訳はある種芸術。訳者は著者の世界観を理解して訳さなければならない。だから訳本は、著者だけではなく訳者の作品ともいえる。つまり、文芸翻訳の専門分野は著者の世界観。ビジネス翻訳の専門分野はITとか法律会計。
幸子さんも私も小説読むのは大好きだが、小説を翻訳することには興味ないし、翻訳本を読むのも嫌。だって著者と自分の間に誰かが入るの嫌でしょ。でもそんなこと言ってると日本語と英語の本以外読めないのである。困った｡｡｡
A friend of mine, Sachiko, works for a foreign financial firm as a translator. She once told me, also a translator, that she liked reading novels, but had never considered translating novels. She has translated only technical documents for more than 20 years.
Some think that literary translation and technical translation are after all both translation and the same, but this isn't true. They are more different than people think from the following perspectives:
1. Fee
I only know about Japan, but at least in the country, it's very difficult to be financially independent by translating only novels and movies (i.e., adding subtitles) because translators of this kind first have to work for senior translators for a small fee, i.e., work as apprentices.
2. How to get jobs
Technical translators can relatively easily get jobs through agents or by working as in-house translators for companies as long as they have knowledge in the area.
3. Subject matter expert
Literary translation is a kind of art. It requires a deep understanding of the world of the author and special skills to describe it in the translator's language and for that, the translated product is no longer only the author's but also the translator's product. The subject matter of literary translation is the author's view of the world while that of technical translation is IT, law, accounting or other technical matter.
Sachiko and I both like reading novels, but aren't interested in translating them or reading translated ones because we don't want someone other than the author to stand between him/her and us. The problem, however, is we don't know what to do with novels written in languages other than English or Japanese....
幸子さんは金融系の会社で長年翻訳をしている。ある日、同じく翻訳を生業とする私にこう言った。「小説読むのは好きだけど、翻訳しようなんて思ったことは一度もない」
皆さんの中には文芸翻訳もビジネス翻訳も同じでしょ、という人もいらっしゃると思いますがそうではない、というのが今日の話です。
1. お金
日本のことしか知らないが、小説や映画の翻訳だけして食っていくのは難しい。先ずは偉い人について見習いするからね。
2. 仕事の取り方
ビジネス系だと、専門知識があれば、エージェントを通したり、社内翻訳で働けば比較的仕事は入りやすい。
3. 専門分野
文芸翻訳はある種芸術。訳者は著者の世界観を理解して訳さなければならない。だから訳本は、著者だけではなく訳者の作品ともいえる。つまり、文芸翻訳の専門分野は著者の世界観。ビジネス翻訳の専門分野はITとか法律会計。
幸子さんも私も小説読むのは大好きだが、小説を翻訳することには興味ないし、翻訳本を読むのも嫌。だって著者と自分の間に誰かが入るの嫌でしょ。でもそんなこと言ってると日本語と英語の本以外読めないのである。困った｡｡｡
Hide and Seek in Nara 奈良のひょっこりはん
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
All these pictures were taken in Nara. I live in Tokyo, so have no opportunities to see deer, insects or lizards, but dogs, cats and cockroaches! They remind me of my good old childhood when I played with these bugs and lizards (but not deer!).... Can you find them?
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| Deer in Nara Park |
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| Baby lizard at Enjoji Temple (円成寺) |
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| Grasshopper at Enjoji Temple (円成寺) |
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| Baby lizard in Ikaruga (斑鳩) |
All these pictures were taken in Nara. I live in Tokyo, so have no opportunities to see deer, insects or lizards, but dogs, cats and cockroaches! They remind me of my good old childhood when I played with these bugs and lizards (but not deer!).... Can you find them?
四枚とも奈良で撮った。最初は奈良公園、次の二枚は円成寺、最後の一枚は斑鳩。東京に住んでるので、普段は犬猫とゴキブリぐらいしか見ません。子供の頃は虫たちと一緒に遊んでいたのに！鹿とバッタと赤ちゃんトカゲ、分かりますか？
Kyoto Souvenirs 京都みやげ たまにはお菓子以外でどうでしょう
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
I have been collecting these dolls since last year. They are sold at Kogatanaya Chubee (Japanese only) in Kyoto and there are 13 types in total. This summer, I bought the central one, a boy holding a chimaki, usually meaning a Japanese desert, but an amulet for this (for details read this). The store was first founded in 1656 as a hotel, but now sells these dolls and other variety of Japanese dolls.
In addition to this cute boy doll, I bought this Japanese tea mug at Horaido Chaho, too which I found when taking a walk around Sanjo. It was so beautiful that I couldn't keep my eyes off it for a while. I got it to drink hot shochu (not Japanese tea), but have been using it for wine, too. The color of red wine matches that of the kannyu cracks of the mug.
Both shops sell traditional Japanese dolls and teaware and all of them are kawaii and beautiful. It's worthwhile to take a look at them. The shops are both in Sanjo, Kyoto, five to ten minutes apart.
普段はお菓子ばかり買う私だが、この夏は、人形と湯呑を買った。人形は小刀屋忠兵衛、湯呑は蓬莱堂茶舗。湯呑は焼酎のお湯割りに使うつもりだったがワインにも合う！赤ワインの色と貫入の色がぴったりだ。どちらのお店も三条にあり、歩いて5分か10分くらい。歴史のある古い店だが、商品はかわいくてともてきれい。お勧めです。
Both shops sell traditional Japanese dolls and teaware and all of them are kawaii and beautiful. It's worthwhile to take a look at them. The shops are both in Sanjo, Kyoto, five to ten minutes apart.
普段はお菓子ばかり買う私だが、この夏は、人形と湯呑を買った。人形は小刀屋忠兵衛、湯呑は蓬莱堂茶舗。湯呑は焼酎のお湯割りに使うつもりだったがワインにも合う！赤ワインの色と貫入の色がぴったりだ。どちらのお店も三条にあり、歩いて5分か10分くらい。歴史のある古い店だが、商品はかわいくてともてきれい。お勧めです。
What Does "Limited" Mean? 近畿日本鉄道 特急料金の謎
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
I went to Kyoto/Nara this summer. The two prefectures are next to each other, so I took the Kintetsu Kyoto line when travelling between the two places. On the first day, when waiting in a line to buy tickets for a limited express at the Nara station, I overheard a Chinese tourist asking a guy in the ticket office in English, "What does 'limited' mean?" He wanted to know why he had to pay an additional fare of JPY510 to a regular fare. The ticket seller could say that that was for a limited express, but couldn't explain what "limited" means.
Limited express trains only stop at a limited number of stations. The JPY510 is for that reduced number of stops, but I don't understand why the fare amount is the same for any number of stops, i.e., the additional fare when a train doesn't stop at all between Kyoto and Nara and that when it stops at one or more (but not all) stations are the same, JPY510. It's like the fare for Nozomi Shinkansen is the same as that for Hikari Shinkansen.
I've been to Nara for the last ten years. Ten years ago, I saw a few non-Japanese tourists, but for the last several years, the number of tourists to this prefecture has dramatically increased. It may be good for it financially, e.g., more tourists meaning more revenue, but also has caused some issues as well, e.g., becoming more busy with handing questions about what would never have been asked by local residents, like the meaning of a "limited express." Nara has been changing. I hope this is a good change for them. By the way, if you are looking for a good place to eat in Nara, please read another post about Nara obanzai cuisine!
夏休みに京都と奈良に行った。京都と奈良の行き来には近鉄を使うのだが、奈良駅で特急券を買おうと並んでいたら、前にいた中国人が英語で「limited express の limited とはどういう意味だ？」と聞いていた。乗車券に加えてどうして510円を払うのか理由を知りたかったようだ。駅員さん、英語で510円が「limited express」のためだということまでは言えたが、limited が何を意味するのかまでは答えられなかった。
limited は限られた、という意味で、限られた駅にしか止まらないという意味だが、実は私も一つ、以前から不思議に思っていたことがあった。ノンストップでも2～3駅止まっても特急料金は一律510円なのだ。のぞみとひかりの特急券が同一料金ということ？。
奈良にはここ10年、毎年行っている。10年前は少なかった外国人観光客はここ数年でぐっと増え、まるで京都のようだ。観光客が増えるということは街も潤うということだが、地元の人なら聞かないような質問（limited の意味とか（笑））にも対応しなければならない。奈良がどんどん変わっている。地元の人にとっていい方向であることを祈っている。ちなみに奈良で食事する場所をお探しの方はこちらをご覧ください！
I went to Kyoto/Nara this summer. The two prefectures are next to each other, so I took the Kintetsu Kyoto line when travelling between the two places. On the first day, when waiting in a line to buy tickets for a limited express at the Nara station, I overheard a Chinese tourist asking a guy in the ticket office in English, "What does 'limited' mean?" He wanted to know why he had to pay an additional fare of JPY510 to a regular fare. The ticket seller could say that that was for a limited express, but couldn't explain what "limited" means.
Limited express trains only stop at a limited number of stations. The JPY510 is for that reduced number of stops, but I don't understand why the fare amount is the same for any number of stops, i.e., the additional fare when a train doesn't stop at all between Kyoto and Nara and that when it stops at one or more (but not all) stations are the same, JPY510. It's like the fare for Nozomi Shinkansen is the same as that for Hikari Shinkansen.
I've been to Nara for the last ten years. Ten years ago, I saw a few non-Japanese tourists, but for the last several years, the number of tourists to this prefecture has dramatically increased. It may be good for it financially, e.g., more tourists meaning more revenue, but also has caused some issues as well, e.g., becoming more busy with handing questions about what would never have been asked by local residents, like the meaning of a "limited express." Nara has been changing. I hope this is a good change for them. By the way, if you are looking for a good place to eat in Nara, please read another post about Nara obanzai cuisine!
夏休みに京都と奈良に行った。京都と奈良の行き来には近鉄を使うのだが、奈良駅で特急券を買おうと並んでいたら、前にいた中国人が英語で「limited express の limited とはどういう意味だ？」と聞いていた。乗車券に加えてどうして510円を払うのか理由を知りたかったようだ。駅員さん、英語で510円が「limited express」のためだということまでは言えたが、limited が何を意味するのかまでは答えられなかった。
limited は限られた、という意味で、限られた駅にしか止まらないという意味だが、実は私も一つ、以前から不思議に思っていたことがあった。ノンストップでも2～3駅止まっても特急料金は一律510円なのだ。のぞみとひかりの特急券が同一料金ということ？。
奈良にはここ10年、毎年行っている。10年前は少なかった外国人観光客はここ数年でぐっと増え、まるで京都のようだ。観光客が増えるということは街も潤うということだが、地元の人なら聞かないような質問（limited の意味とか（笑））にも対応しなければならない。奈良がどんどん変わっている。地元の人にとっていい方向であることを祈っている。ちなみに奈良で食事する場所をお探しの方はこちらをご覧ください！
Location and Direction 帰国子女と留学生
Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。
We, the Japanese, often ask English-speaking Japanese if they are "returnees" or have studied abroad. "Returnees" are those who lived overseas when they were kids because of their parent's business (like working at foreign branches), went to local schools and that is why fluently speak English (or other language). On the other hand, those who have studied abroad (ex-foreign students) were born and grew in Japan and decided to study in another country (the US in most cases) themselves when they were high school or college students. Can you see something in common and a difference between these two?
The answers are "location" and "direction." Both are here in Japan, but they are heading in different directions, i.e., returnees heading inward while ex-foreign students outward. Many friends of mine are returnees or ex-foreign students (all females), but most returnees are married to Japanese men while ex-foreign students non-Japanese. In other words, returnees have found their places inside Japan while ex-foreign students outside. Let me explain more specifically using an example....
A friend of mine fell in love with a Japanese guy before graduating from a college. She had studied in the US when she was a high school student. A few years later she broke up with him, went to the US again to get an MBA, met her future husband, who is French, there, and got married. She has been living in the US/France since then. On the other hand, her ex-boyfriend got married to another Japanese woman, who had lived abroad during her childhood because of her father's business. They have lived in Japan since marriage.
She must have felt something wrong with him that he liked "international" women, but not her, i.e., an ex-foreign student, who wants to find a place outside of Japan, but a returnee, who wants to settle in Japan. I believe that for marriage, direction matters more than location because even if you are with someone, it doesn't mean that you are sharing the future with him...
英語のできる人に会うとついつい「帰国子女ですか、それとも留学してたんですか」と聞いてしまいますが、帰国子女と留学生の共通点と相違点について考えたことはありますか。
共通点は「現在の場所」です。両方とも今、日本にいます。では相違点は？答えは「方向性」。帰国子女は内向き、留学生は外向きです。私の友人には帰国子女と留学生が多いのですが（全員女性）、帰国子女のほとんどは日本人男性と、留学生のほとんどは外国人と結婚してます。つまり、帰国子女は日本に、留学生は海外に居場所を求めるわけ。例を挙げますと｡｡｡
ある友人が学生時代に恋に落ちました。彼女は高校時代にアメリカに留学したことがあります。数年後二人は別れ、彼女はMBAを取りに再度アメリカに行きます。そこで将来の夫（フランス人）と出会い、今はフランスかアメリカで暮らしています。一方、元カレは別の人と結婚したのですが、その相手は帰国子女。こちらの二人は日本に暮らしています。
彼女、何か違うと感じたんだと思います。だって元カレ、「国際的な」女子が好きだったんでしょうが、彼女の目が日本の外に向いていたこと、一方、その後結婚した女性は日本に居場所を求めていたことに気付いていたんだと思います。一緒にいても必ずしも同じ方向を向いているとは限らない。結婚相手を決める時のポイントだと思います｡｡｡
We, the Japanese, often ask English-speaking Japanese if they are "returnees" or have studied abroad. "Returnees" are those who lived overseas when they were kids because of their parent's business (like working at foreign branches), went to local schools and that is why fluently speak English (or other language). On the other hand, those who have studied abroad (ex-foreign students) were born and grew in Japan and decided to study in another country (the US in most cases) themselves when they were high school or college students. Can you see something in common and a difference between these two?
The answers are "location" and "direction." Both are here in Japan, but they are heading in different directions, i.e., returnees heading inward while ex-foreign students outward. Many friends of mine are returnees or ex-foreign students (all females), but most returnees are married to Japanese men while ex-foreign students non-Japanese. In other words, returnees have found their places inside Japan while ex-foreign students outside. Let me explain more specifically using an example....
A friend of mine fell in love with a Japanese guy before graduating from a college. She had studied in the US when she was a high school student. A few years later she broke up with him, went to the US again to get an MBA, met her future husband, who is French, there, and got married. She has been living in the US/France since then. On the other hand, her ex-boyfriend got married to another Japanese woman, who had lived abroad during her childhood because of her father's business. They have lived in Japan since marriage.
She must have felt something wrong with him that he liked "international" women, but not her, i.e., an ex-foreign student, who wants to find a place outside of Japan, but a returnee, who wants to settle in Japan. I believe that for marriage, direction matters more than location because even if you are with someone, it doesn't mean that you are sharing the future with him...
英語のできる人に会うとついつい「帰国子女ですか、それとも留学してたんですか」と聞いてしまいますが、帰国子女と留学生の共通点と相違点について考えたことはありますか。
共通点は「現在の場所」です。両方とも今、日本にいます。では相違点は？答えは「方向性」。帰国子女は内向き、留学生は外向きです。私の友人には帰国子女と留学生が多いのですが（全員女性）、帰国子女のほとんどは日本人男性と、留学生のほとんどは外国人と結婚してます。つまり、帰国子女は日本に、留学生は海外に居場所を求めるわけ。例を挙げますと｡｡｡
ある友人が学生時代に恋に落ちました。彼女は高校時代にアメリカに留学したことがあります。数年後二人は別れ、彼女はMBAを取りに再度アメリカに行きます。そこで将来の夫（フランス人）と出会い、今はフランスかアメリカで暮らしています。一方、元カレは別の人と結婚したのですが、その相手は帰国子女。こちらの二人は日本に暮らしています。
彼女、何か違うと感じたんだと思います。だって元カレ、「国際的な」女子が好きだったんでしょうが、彼女の目が日本の外に向いていたこと、一方、その後結婚した女性は日本に居場所を求めていたことに気付いていたんだと思います。一緒にいても必ずしも同じ方向を向いているとは限らない。結婚相手を決める時のポイントだと思います｡｡｡
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