One Thing I Want to Go Away With Heisei Era 過ぎたるは猶及ばざるが如し

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

"He's an overachiever." One colleague of mine, who's American, said so while talking about a Japanese who is too detail-oriented to submit a report by the deadline. He's right. The Japanese guy is an overachiever and most Japanese are. And that's why many Japanese die from working too much (karoshi).

If you're interested in what Japanese overachievers are like, you should watch Shitamachi Rocket, a TV program aired last year. (DVDs are available.) The main characters and heroes of the story, employees of Tsukuda Manufacturing Co., are very diligent, working from early morning to midnight almost everyday together, and accuse someone leaving the office at 6pm like a criminal.

They are a family, i.e., a virtual family where the supervisor is their parent, staff their kids and coworkers their brothers and sisters. In Japan, being alone means being lonely, potentially ruining the whole relationships, personal and work. They have to do overtime and drink together to be included in the family. Japan comprises families of employees of companies.

So, if you want to be independent and want to have privacy, you need to be prepared to be isolated or marginalized. Japanese only accept someone who are "inside." They may even ask you to do tsure shon, i.e., take a leak together (half joking, but half serious). You have to choose to be "in" or "out."

The Heisei era will end on April 30 and I hope that this "peer/family pressure," which may cause another kamikaze attack or sontaku incident, will go away with it.

こだわりすぎで期限に遅れてレポートを提出した日本人を、アメリカ人の同僚が「overachiever」と言っていました。「頑張りすぎ」という感じでしょうか。

頑張りすぎてる人って周りにも強制しませんか。残業も断れない｡｡。でもね、特攻隊も過労死も、この「100％敵か味方か」の関係しか認めない、大人の距離感を認めない体質のせいだと思うのですがいかがでしょう。

まあ、日本企業で働いていると家族が二つ持てるというメリットもあるのでしょうか。「本当の家族」と「疑似会社家族」と。ただ個人的には、4月30日の平成終了と同時に「疑似会社家族」も終わってほしいです｡｡｡

Kyoto - Fushimi Inari Taisha Food Stalls Go Away 伏見稲荷の屋台がなくなるんだって

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

It's been reported that food stalls in Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine will all go away at the end of March 2019.

Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine Vermilion torii gates
伏見稲荷大社の鳥居

This shrine, which is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii arches and as the patron of business, is very popular among not only Japanese people but also tourists from overseas. I went there two years ago, climbing the mountain behind it, and wrote a fictional story based on the experience.

The reason for this drastic decision is overtourism. The number of visitors of the shrine has doubled for the last five years, resulting in too many food stalls along one of the major streets in this area, reducing its width to almost two thirds and causing a trash problem. The police, receiving complaints from local residents, have stopped issuing business licenses to these food stall owners since April 2018.

Fushimi Inari is also famous for sparrow yakitori, i.e., grilled sparrow. As I didn't have it last time, I decided to give it a try next time, but maybe I shouldn't go there for now and so it seems that this small wish may not be fulfilled for a while. 

(If you wish to post your comment but don't have a Google account, select "anonymous" from the drop down menu titled "comment as"!)

伏見稲荷大社の屋台、3月で全部立ち退くそうです。2年前に行ったときにあまりの混雑ぶりに驚きましたが、屋台をなくさなければならないほど悪化しているとは知りませんでした。 雀の焼鳥、今度行ったら食べてみようと思っていたのですが、当分行かない方がいいようですね。残念です｡｡。

(Google アカウントを持ってない方は、コメント記入後に「Google アカウント」をクリックし、「匿名」か「名前/URL」を選択してからご記入ください！)

My Favorite Kyoto Restaurants 京都おばんざいのお店

English follows Japanese.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

京阪神エルマガジン社の雑誌、大好きです！足を使って探した情報が満載！関西に旅行される方は是非読んでみてください。

If you are planning to go to Kyoto and looking for nice temples and shrines, museums, restaurants or coffee shops, you should try magazines published by Kei Hanshin L Magazine Co., Ltd. (If you don't speak/read Japanese, find someone who does!) Their magazines are full of information about places (e.g., temples, shrines and museums) and events (e.g., Gion Festival, events held by temples/shrines and flea markets), and nice, but non-fancy restaurants and coffee shops in Kyoto and surrounding areas that can be only found by actually walking around there.

The following restaurants are my favorites. They aren't cheap, but not fancy and among other things excellent in terms of both food and hospitality. I found them seven years ago and since then have been a loyal customer, going there every time I go to Kyoto:

Deai Jaya Osen (出逢い茶屋　おせん): Not only is the food excellent, but also the chef (Mr. Hashi) and staff are so funny!

Shutei Banakara (酒亭ばんから): Food is excellent and the chef and his wife are super friendly, welcoming solo customers!

Don't forget to book!

Globalization Isn't Americanization - Learn a Wider Perspective グローバルって何？

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I'm not alone! I felt so while reading the following passages of Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind by Geert Hofstede, Gert Jana Hofstede and Michael Minkov:

'The ongoing process of globalization... (is) perceived by the Asians as "Westernization" and by the Nordic Europeans as "Americanization."'

The book goes on to say, "In our interpretation, the main value-based objections of these Asians and Northern Europeans were directed against the short-term focus of this kind of globalization...... Their (i.e., Asian and Northern European) respondents saw good government as future-directed, while the ongoing U.S.- and IMF-led globalization stressed quick fixes..."

I'm writing this because I've been feeling lonely and lost at work these days. I find it increasingly difficult to deal with my Japanese boss criticizing my American coworkers for only talking, but doing nothing and these Americans saying that the Japanese boss is too difficult and bossy. (He's their boss!) But to me, they're the same, just being unaware of seeing things only from their perspective.

I once thought about choosing a side, i.e., one of these my selves, to belong to somewhere and to relieve me of, as a native Japanese speaker, a sense of obligation to explain why Japanese don't speak up and, as someone who wants to be a real global citizen, a sense of obligation to keep learning English to better and more globally communicate with anybody on the earth, but I couldn't make such a choice. I don't want to give up part of myself.

So instead, I've been growing another personality which just calmly observes my first self politely bowing and speaking to Japanese colleagues while my second self speaking with non-Japanese too positively and assertively from the Japanese perspective. This third self accommodates the other two, giving me a wider perspective.

That’s why I like reading. Reading gives us not only knowledge but also friends (kind of imaginary friends, though!), making us feel less lonely!

最近、アメリカ人と仕事することが増え、違和感上昇中です。でもそれは私が日本人だからというわけだけではないらしい！Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mindによると、北欧の人は「グローバライゼーション＝アメリカナイゼーション」と思っていて、長期的思考を好む彼らは、短期的思考のアメリカナイゼーション（アメリカ式考え方）を必ずしも快くは思っていないようです。

で思ったのが「どっちか選べたら楽なのにね」ということ。「日本一番、後は無視（日本語ができれば英語なんていらん！）」か「ついて行きますアメリカに（どこかの国の首相？）」のどっちかを選べればいいのに｡｡｡

でも、オランダ人の著者も、グローバライゼーション（アメリカナイゼーション）に違和感を覚えつつ、どちらを切り捨てることもせずに複数の視点を持ち続けようとしている。私も頑張ろう、と思いました。

読書していると友達（こちらが勝手に思っているだけですけど）が見つかる時があります（笑）。

"Aru" Is Useful, But Sometimes Used Too Carelessly 「ある」は便利ですが｡｡｡

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Aru means "there is/are." It's very useful, so used on various occasions as follows:

そこにコンビニがある。Soko ni konbini ga aru.
There you can find a convenience store.

運動会がある。Undoukai ga aru.

A school sport event will be held.

中小企業には税額控除がある。Chuushou kigyou niwa zeigaku koujo ga aru.
Tax credit is available to SMEs.

I found the signboard in the photo at a parking lot in Tokyo. If you understand the Japanese in red without reading it twice, your Japanese skills are much better than mine.

最大料金あります。Saidai ryoukin arimasu. ("Arimasu" is a polite way of saying "aru.")
Our parking charge/fee is limited.

It’s fun finding strange English translation, but it’s also fun finding funny Japanese, too!!

東京都で見かけた駐車場の看板です。私、最初、意味が分かりませんでした。皆さん、分かりますか。分からないのは私だけですか｡｡｡

「ある」の含まれる文を英語にするときは気を付けろ、というのは翻訳者の常識ですが、「ある」という言葉自体はとっても便利。でもそのせいで何にでも使われてかえって意味不明になっていることが多い気がします。この日本語、変だと思いません？それとも私が気にしすぎ？

Learning Japanese - One Letter "か (Ka)" Matters 「しませんか？」は「しません」とは違います

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

One day, a non-native Japanese speaker asked the following question:
Is "しません (shimasen) "different from "しませんか (shimasen ka)"?

The answer is yes. Sentences ending with "shimasen" are negative while sentences ending with "shimasen ka" are questions intended to ask someone to do something.

私は勉強しません。Watashi wa benkyou shimasen. I don't study.
勉強しませんか？ Benkyo shimasen ka? Would you like/do you want to study (with me)?

私はその研究について話しません。Watashi wa sono kenkyuu ni tsuite hanashimasen.
I don't talk about the research.
その研究について話しませんか？ Sono kenkyuu ni tsuite hanashimasen ka?
Would you like/do you want to talk about the research?

Just one Japanese letter "か (ka)" changes the whole meaning of a sentence!


「しませんか」には「しません」が入っているのに否定文ではないのですか。海外の方から聞かれました。

ほんと、分かりにくいですね。聞かれて初めて気づきました。ということで今日は「しませんか」と「しません」の違いについて書いてみました。

皆さんは周囲の外国人の方から日本語について質問されたりしませんか。面白い体験をされた方は是非教えてください！