Further Yo-ji Resources

Most of the time we try to do one of two things when posting yo-ji, hyougen. kotowaza, and other cool stuff:

1. We post something that we learned in conversation with Japanese people. We usually have a story to go along with it, might be able to relate it directly to our lives, we don't have to look up how to use it, and we can rest assured in the fact that it will be useful to us and to our readers because native-speakers use it.

2. We try to post something that lends itself to interesting cultural or historical content: a lot of times we'll look for phrases that are seasonally relevant, or have fascinating origins in Japanese (Chinese) history that will help us and our readers impress people with the range of our knowledge.

But sometimes we run dry, and we have to go yo-ji fishing. When that happens, here's what we use, and now with a little cash and some Amazon.co.jp, you can use them too.

「四字熟語」これだけ辞典
The Yojijukugo "All you need" Encylopedia
published by Escargot Books



This is something I inherited from 大づの先生, the most senior 国語先生 at Kawasoe-Chuugakko. My copy still has his name written down the spine. Sometimes I think he gave it to me so I'd stop asking him what stuff meant all the time. As you can see, it's very, very dense, but all-encompassing, with over 1700 四字熟語 and their definitions contained in its pages. Does not feature example sentences.

小学四字熟語ことわざ慣用句問題集
Grade School level: Commonly Used Yojijukugo and Proverb Workbook
published by さし書房


　 　 　
I lost the cover to my copy a while ago. This was the first yo-ji book I ever bought, and is still the easiest to use. The Japanese is easy to understand. The definitions are illustrated with pictures that... I guess they could be clearer, but they could also be more obscure. Also doesn't feature example sentences, but it does have quizzes where you have to choose the right saying for the situation or match the definition, etc. Pretty useful.

ことわざ・四字熟語に強くなる！
Increase Your Proverb and Yojijukugo Power!
published by 世界文化社



My yo-ji mentor, Otao-san, uses this book. It's like the Japanese equivalent of a book containing anecdotes or jokes or techniques or quotations to be used in speeches. It contains in-depth explanations of thousands of phrases, examples of the 使い方 for many of them, and is organized into sections based on theme: "Proverbs related to success," "Proverbs for when you're lost," "Yo-ji related to society and nature," and the very broad "Yo-ji related to life" (to name a few). It also has a running sidebar that's like a "On This Day in Japanese History," section. I haven't really looked at that much. Lot of people's names, written in kanji.

教科書によくでる四字熟語2009カレンダー
Textbook Yojijukugo 2009 Wall Calendar
published by 旺文社




Last but not least, I got this calendar as a house-warming present from the very same Otao-san. I find it extremely comforting because it only features three yo-ji a week, and if a Japanese publishing company can't put out more than that, The Daily Yo-ji's not doing so bad after all. It's designed so that elementary school students can also use it (all kanji glossed), which makes it easy to use in the bathroom where, unless you're Brett, you probably don't bring your electronics with you. And yes, I was given explicit instructions to hang it in my bathroom. When I laughingly promised to comply saying, 「毎日読まれるようにね,」 Otao-san corrected me by saying, 「毎日より、毎回！」

意志堅固

いしけんご
ishikengo

My apologies to all of you for the long delay between posts(except for you, Sash the Red. I'm the prettiest thing on this website!). Now that school is back in session and I am looking for a job for the summer, finding time to write yo-ji's is getting more and more difficult. Hopefully things will calm down a little bit, and Jeff will get his internet back, so he can start carrying us again.

Now you see, that last sentence is an example of the EXACT OPPOSITE of what today's yo-ji is. If I were a better person, I would have said, ok, I'm going to keep to a schedule of x posts/week, no matter what! And then I would keep to it. That's the essence of 意志堅固 as I see it.

意 should be familiar to you from, if nothing else, the word 意味　(imi), which means... meaning or definition. 意 here, though, rather means desire, especially when added to 志, which means ambition. Fun fact: 志 is read in kun-yomi as kokorozashi. Break that into its components and you get 心 and 指す（さす）. Note that this is the same sort of construction as you see in the word 目指す, which means to aim for something as your goal. The two words are similar, although I would say that 志 is more serious. Anyway, put them together and you get 意志, which means "will or desire."

Both 堅 and 固 can be read in kun-yomi as kata(i). That's because, yes, they both mean "hard." The former has a connotation of "reliable;"　the latter means more along the lines of "stiff." That really does only hold to a point, though. Here, however, we don't have to worry about it, because this word contains both of them, although not their cousin 硬. One of these days I swear I will write out all of the differences....

Which brings us to our:

Definition
物事をなすに当たってのこころざしが、しっかりとしていること.

Translation
1) Strong-willed
2) With a solid sense of purpose

and....

例文：彼は勉強に関しては意志堅固で、その志が彼の真面目さで伝わるが、ブログのほうはもう少ししっかりしていただきたい。
He's got a good sense of purpose when it comes to studying, and you can see that in his seriousness, but I wish he'd take the blog a little more seriously.

Here I am, studying hard!

Japanese Language Trivia of the Day:

As much as I like to talk about food, eating, and eating Japanese food, it's a miracle of laziness that I haven't posted this one yet. Especially since this ranks right up there with chopsticks skillz as necessary knowledge for HOW to eat in Japan.

三角食べ
さんかくたべ
sankaku tabe

Triangle eating is not about McDonald's 三角パイ, nor is it about a food pyramid-style nutritional scheme. 三角食べ is all about the order in which you eat your food.

As the pictures show (and the text attests), the correct way to eat a meal is to start with your rice and work your way around bite by bite. One bite of rice, one sip of soup, one bite of your おかずor 飯. A lot of you may know this already, or have heard about this, but it would be a mistake to write it off. It's a big, big part of Japanese culture.

How big, you ask? Well, since the 1970s, Japanese schools have incorporated it into school lunches, like a part of the curriculum. And although expert testimony (W. M. Edgar, D. M. O'Mullane (9 1990). Saliva and oral health. British Dental Journal) from around the world supports the idea that interspersing sips of soup is good for keeping your mouth well salivated and therefore helping the digestion process.

But the reason for eating like this is not a nutritional one. It's part of the Japanese reverence for food that is one of the main reasons I love Japan. "和食をおいしく味わうため," according to wikipedia. Gotta love the classic wikipedia objectivity, especially in lines like this as well: 日本以外ではこのような概念はない。

If you want to try it out for yourself, remember, start with your rice, and try to size your bites so that you finish each portion of your meal at the same time.

自給自足

じきゅうじそく
jikyuu jisoku

This is an important yoji to know, but for some reason, I thought Jeff had done this one already so I ended up going over a bunch of less pertinent phrases instead.

I, and I suspect many of you, live a fairly urban life, or perhaps sub-urban, lifestyle. I have a place of residence, a place of study/work, commute back and forth, and buy my food and clothing at local stores. I live within an interconnected and increasingly globalized network of production and consumption. Depending on your values, this is a good thing or a bad thing.

The place that you see and hear the phrase 自給自足 most these days is in the context of the "slow lifestyle." I can't claim to be an expert, but my understanding of it is that this mode of living puts a premium on non-industrial, organic, and community-based products and production. Taken further, many people opt to grow all of their own food, and even sometimes make all of their own clothing. Looking at the characters themselves, we see "self," "grant," "self," and "fulfill." I think it's fairly easy to see how this comes together. You might hear about people who retire from their big city jobs and begin farming their own food, or communities that share their resources so they don't have to buy anything from the outside or far away.

A related, and sometimes closely linked, concept is 自給率　じきゅうりつ　jikyuuritsu. Literally, 自給率 talks about your "rate of self-sufficiency," or how much of a given resource or commodity (oil, rice, ability to write long-winded posts about uninteresting concep... wait...) you can provide for yourself. This is a word you commonly see used to talk about whole countries, rather than just an individual or group of individuals. It appears that economists (and The Economist) sometimes profess to being driven mad by this, but this is often placed at a premium politically in Japan, especially when talking about things like food and fuel, where so much of it is imported. In this context, as well, 自給自足 is often touted as an ideal.

Which brings us to our

Definition:
自分の生活に必要となるものを作り、その必要を充足すること

Translation:
Self-sufficiency

Example Sentence:
ここ何年間、都会の生活のせいでストレスためててもう限界だった。仕事を辞めて田舎に帰って、農業でもやりながら自給自足に生きたい。
These last few years, city life has really been stressing me out, and I'm at my limit. I want to quit my job, go home, be a farmer or something, and life a self sufficient life.

2級 Grammar 126-130

This marks the first day that I have cracked my Japanese study books open since I've returned to America. My prolonged LACK of studying is an ANTI-accomplishment that I can only describe with one word: やばい。 I need to get back on my game and FAST, cause otherwise I'm not gonna be ready for the JLPT in December. So today, I'll bring you the next five grammar points, and let my example sentences explain just why I've been so busy.

126) ～については　・　についても
Take a good long re-read over grammar point 125 in Brett's Tuesday post, because you'll need it for this one and the next. Got it? Good. This usage of について is only an explanation of how to attach particles to make it fit into different situations.
As Brett said について書く or について考える is to write about or talk about. 戦争について本 also works. By attaching は at the end however, you're making your 'about whatever' the subject of the sentence. Does that make sense? 戦争について本　is a sentence about a book. Check this one out: 今、経済について章です。戦争については後で書いてあるのかな？
についてもworks the same way. You're just attaching the idea of "also about:" この本は経済だけではなく、政治についてもいっぱい書いてあります。

Ex. やっぱ、例文を作るのが難しいので、アメリカの生活については後で伝えます。家族のことについても書こうとします。

127) ～についての
Reference the previous point. Anytime you want to use について followed by another noun, you have the option of using it with の. In my book's examples, the nouns that follow are all preceded by honorifics, so I'll assume that this is the way to use について + noun in situations that call for formality.

Ex. Aさん: Jeff様のご両親は日本についてのご質問をたくさんありますか？それとも、日本の事は、もう、詳しくごぞんじますか？
Jeff: いや、それとはちょっと違うですね。私、日本のことをよく話しますが、相手が聞きたいかどうか。。。良く分かりません。

128) ～につき
~because of
~ per

This is used just like なので. You attach it to a noun that serves as the explanation for the clause that comes next. When should it be used instead of なので? As reader Mark let me know in the comments below, it's a formal expression WRITTEN on SIGNS and BULLETINS. All of my book's examples would fit neatly on a sign, flier, or notice.

Ex. 姪子のＫａｌｉちゃんは昼寝中につき、私もじぶんの寝室に限られている。うるさくなって、赤ちゃん起こさないようにね。

129) ～につけ
~ whenever (implies something invariable)

The book, in its ultimate wisdom, defines this as の時、いつも。It's used when you want to say When X happens, Y ALWAYS. X provokes the same reactions, feelings, or outcome, invariably.　There's another usage as well, which involves doubling up on your につけs. If you want to say "In this case, or in that case, the result will always be Y," you can say: 私が料理すると、味が薄いにつけ、濃いにつけかぞくから文句が出る (book's example.)

Ex. フロリダは一年中暖かいので、フロリダに帰るにつけ、毎日、実家のプールで泳ぎます。



130) ～につけても
~no matter what

This one is almost universally used with 何 or 何事 to form "no matter what." そのものだよ。

Ex. アメリカの生活は忙しくて楽しいよ。だが、プールがどんなに気持ち良さそうでも、Ｋａｌｉちゃんがどんなにかわいくても、日本語の勉強はいくらしないといけなくても、何事につけても、マンガを読む時間が一番大事でしょう？

Yes, I am that much of a geek.

Daily Double: 主客転倒 and 本末転倒

しゅかくてんとう
shukaku tentou

This yo-ji has always had a certain amount of nostalgic value for me, because its the first 四字熟語 that I learned as such. At the time I was thoroughly confused, not the least of which was due to the fact that 主客 can also be read as しゅきゃく, but also because we learned it as the subject of part of a larger argument about why Japan was going down the drain by some sort of disgruntled commentator or another. You could write a book (and many people have) about the genre of writing about Japan's downfall and its place in the larger discourse about Japanese-ness, but it would probably have almost nothing to do with yoji-jukugo, so I won't waste any more of your time on the subject.

This yoji has a variety of uses, all of which fall under the general category of having the wrong priorities. If you look at the characters, you have 1) a host, 2) a guest, 3) turning, and 4) falling over.

Definition:
本来の立場・秩序が逆転しているさま

Translations:
1. Putting the cart before the horse
2. Taking the means as the end
3. Getting your priorities mixed up

Example Sentence:
この店のウェーターはいつも不機嫌だから、常に気を使わなければいけない。こっちが客なのに・・・全く、立派な主客転倒だ。
The waiters here are always grouchy, so you have to constantly watch how you treat them, even though you're supposed to be the customer. This is a serious case of mixed-up priorities.

So now you may be wondering where the second yoji comes in. Well, let's start with the reading.

ほんまつてんとう

I can't profess to have a 100% accurate understanding of the difference between 本末転倒　and 主客転倒, but then again, it seems to me that most people don't, either. Though most people I've talked to about it use the two in essentially interchangeable ways, apparently there is a slight difference in the nuances. 主客 has more of a connotation of "host-client;" you will often see it used to complain about the laziness and corruption of government employees, who are supposed to be "public servants," but instead treat citizens as their personal cash cows. The difference with 本末 is that you have two concepts, one of which is supposed to be complementary or even just sort of ornamental to the other. The thing is, for whatever reason, that ornamental thing has become more important. It has less of a connotation of social norms, I think, than of straight out priorities.

Example Sentence:
社員の野球部を作ったのは仕事でたまったストレスを解消するためだったのだが、部員は仕事をさぼるまで試合に夢中になってむしろ周りの人に迷惑をかけてしまった。こう本末転倒しているのでは、会社の野球部をやっている意味がない。
The reason we made the company baseball team was to give everyone an outlet for their stress, but the people on the team have gotten so into it that they're actually putting more stress on their coworkers. With priorities this out of whack, there's no point in having a company team.

Yes, I know, my priorities are out of whack, and I should be studying. But I'm not, so too bad.

2級 Grammar 116-120

Consider this a preview of what should be updated by later today - Grammar points! My apologies for not having them fleshed out earlier, but this long weekend was long on the activities, short on the free time. I've glanced through the definitions and example sentences, and I can say there will be a few surprises in the definitions. These terms aren't all as clear-cut as they seem.

Update: So I ended up not being able to update these yesterday, and things look a little iffy on whether or not I'll be strictly on time with Thursday's update. But seeing as yet again I don't have a lot of time, I'm cutting this foreword short and going to the grammar points. Also, this week's subject: hints of a possible expansion on the Daily Yoji.

116)　～にしたら
In the case of ~,
From the perspective of ~,

This is one of the most plain-cut of this week's group, since it more or less adheres to its "~たら" roots. Use after a noun!

Ex.　このブログは日本語を勉強している人にとって便利です。しかし、もっと面白くてやばい日本語について興味があるけど文法とかを知らなくてもいい人にしたら、なんかつまらないでしょう。そうすればいいかな。


117)　～にしても
Even for ~,
~, also,

Again, another one with few surprises. Like so many of the others recently, only hook this up with a noun.

Ex.　ザ・デーリー・四字は皆のためブログです。アメリカ人や日本人も読んでくれています。小さい子どもにても読んで分かる。だから悪い言葉とかあんまり使えない。


118)　～にしては
even though ~,
Considering that ~,
For ~,

Some clarification is needed for the definitions to make sense. It only works when the second half of the statement is contradictory to the first. "Considering he has no experience, he did quite well". "For a fat girl, you sure don't sweat much". Feel free to use that second one as a pick-up line. Oh, and after nouns...AND dictionary forms of verbs. Cool beans.

Ex.　これは「何を書いてもいい」ブログにしては、日本語の裏を氷山の一角くらい見せました。


119)　～にしろ　・　～にせよ
Even if,
Whether ~ or ~,
It doesn't matter if ~,

This one was kind of a surprise as I expected more of a command-form, as "せ" and "ろ" usually lend themselves that way. It can be used in a sequence of things, as in "It doesn't matter if it's chocolate or vanilla, I don't like ice cream", or just one thing. "Even if he works all day, he'll never finish this paper."

Ex.　四字熟語にしろ、文法にしろ、俺らは日本語の全体を見せてあげたい。


120)　～にすぎない
Nothing more than ~.
Merely ~.

Another one that makes perfect grammatical sense after learning up to 3級! If すぎる is too much, then すぎない is not too much, nothing in excess. Piece o` cake!

Ex.　このヒントは始めにすぎない。ちゃんと発表を楽しんでね～

Oof - that's it! Sorry for the sparseness of pictures, though maybe Jeff's last post made up for it.

誇大妄想

こだいもうそう
kodai mousou

I swear, I have never been accused of having these.

Ok, maybe I have.

To be fair, I think that everyone who has reached a certain amount of Japanese proficiency (when you learn how to say こんにちは, for example) has to deal with people over-complimenting their ability. Most of the time, even students of Japanese language are aware of themselves enough to understand when they really are the "bomb-diggity," and when people are just being polite. Sometimes, however, you come across that rare person who just doesn't get it and thinks that he/she is God's gift to the study of Japanese. I'd say that those people are suffering from delusions of grandeur.

Of course, that's not the only source of delusions of grandeur in the world, so feel free to come up with your own examples.

Definition:
大げさに空想し事実と思い込むこと
Translation:
Delusions of grandeur

Example:
田舎で大物だったからって、誇大妄想するなよ。ここはそれとレベルが違うんだから。
Just 'cause you were a big deal out in the boonies, don't go getting any delusions of grandeur. Things here are on a different level.

閉戸先生

へいこせんせい
heiko sensei

Ok, this isn't really a 四字熟語　in the classical sense, but I like it, so bear with me. I recently started law school, and this seems particularly fitting for how I've spent my last week or so.

Setting aside the irony of the fact that I am posting now that I actually have other things to do, and barely made any updates during my 2-month period of unemployment, this particular phrase deals with someone who is so busy with studying that they never leave their house.

Definition:
年中戸を閉め切って読書にふける人
Translation:
1) "Professor Shut-in"
2) Bookworm

The big difference between myself and actual 閉戸先生's, of course, is that they actually study out of intellectual curiosity, whereas I study... because I have to (at least, that's what I tell the cool kids).

My first thought when I heard this was of the monk who was so passionate about memorizing scripture he sat at his station until his legs decayed below him. My legs feel asleep way too quickly for me to make it quite that far, but studying has had something of an effect on my social life (coupled with the tropical storm that passed through yesterday, I didn't leave my apartment for something like 36 straight hours this weekend).

Back to the Japanese, being a 閉戸先生 isn't really a good thing; the fact that your door is closed (the 閉戸 part) means that you are ignoring your neighbors, and by extension your human relationships. You're not necessarily a social outcast, but you are more cut off than you should be. As we saw with Jeff's recent explication of the word 縁, human relationships are not something to be taken lightly, so make sure you never go to la... I mean, never become a 閉戸先生.

Example:
X教授は優秀な学者だけど、ちょっと閉戸先生で、他人との付き合いがあまり上手じゃない。
Professor X is a talented scholar, but he's something of a bookworm and has problems getting along with people.



PS
Don't ever put "bookworm" into google image search at work, at school, or in the presence of children or easily offended people. Take it from someone with experience.

2級 Grammar 106-110

Before I go on, I'd like to make a little note that the rest of this week should be daily postings. Some of these are already primed and ready to go, while others are still in the "man, I gotta get that yoji written..." phase. Will we make it through? Vote in the comments for your own personal validation!

Recently I've been searching around for a post-JET job, and it's had mixed results. I know there are some opportunities out there, but for a lot of them I lack experience. Then there's the whole issue of job hunting almost a year before your current contract is up. It's hard to take it seriously when I don't want to leave my current contract so early, but at the same time I don't want to just sit around doing nothing. That's part of what the yoji is, really - letting me at least sharpen my Japanese while I have a secure job. Anyway, all that job-huntin` stuff will be the topic of these sentences. I promise something more entertaining for Thursday!

106)　～にかけては　・　～にけけても
on the point of ~,
when it comes to~,

Piling higher still on the mountain of grammar that reminds you powerfully of other grammar, this one is - again - pretty self-explanatory. The two handy points that will help you differentiate this one are as follows: 1. It can only be used at something you excel at, and 2. it always follows a noun. The second point, now that I think about it, is apparent given my examples. One couldn't say "when it comes to run, I'm the fastest!". Still, those grammatical points don't always transfer, so I'll go ahead and clarify.

Ex.　レジュメの内容に関してどう書けばいいかわからない。「ゲームすることにかけては俺が誰にも負けないから、ゲームを作ること多分同じだ！」と書いたら会見者が笑って、「冗談でしょう！出て行け！」と返事する。


107)　～にかわって　・　～にかわり
In place of ~,
Instead of ~,
On behalf of ~, (for people)
In lieu of ~,

I've actually known a close version of this phrase before, but I've always used "の代わりに", which is great to know if you don't already. Xの代わりにY, "Instead of X, Y". How is this grammar point different than my old fall-back? After a lot of research, I have some decent answers. First of all, these phrases are most commonly used to replace people in the sense of "on behalf of so-and-so, I'd like to present this award!". BUT, it can be used with inanimate objects, too, in the event that it's not a one-time replacement, but a general transition. "DVDs are being used in place of VHS these days," might be a good example.

Ex.　ある仕事の場合で経験のかわって熱情と才能が足ります。その仕事探すぞ！
NOTE: This sentence has been found wanting by Japanese peers! Check out the comments for in-depth clarification from one of our regulars, blue!


108)　～に関して　・　～に関する
Concerning ~,
About ~,
Regarding ~,

Another one I feel like I've known for a long time. Just as the other two examples above show, it's like ~について, though perhaps a little more formal. Use after a noun, and if you use に関する, use another noun after it, too.
Ex.　求職に関しては、早く探すことがとても大切です。給料をまだもらっているの間に、新しい仕事を得るほうがいいから。

109)　～に決まっている
It goes without saying that ~
It's quite certain that ~

This one you could probably figure out even without the hint. If something is "already decided", there's no room for debate, as is the case of this grammar point. Use this when there is very little room for doubt. Since it can basically be tagged onto any parts-of-speech without modification, it's also ridiculously simple to use. BEHOLD.

Ex.　JETプログラムの契約の更新限界は五年ですけど、僕は三年間続けると決めた。ということは、あと１年で終わりなので、求職をしなければならないに決まっている。


110)　～に比べ（て）
Compared to ~,
In contrast to ~,

I was surprised to find this one in the grammar book, especially since the definition and synonyms were completely blank. Why? Because the word IS the grammar point. "比べる", or "くらべる", means simply to compare. Furthermore, since it can only be used with nouns, it's not especially complicated.

Ex.　日本に来るのは運命だった。JET除いて別の仕事に応募しなかった。前の仕事を探すこと比べて今はまた話が別です。

2級 Grammar 101-105

Holy Grammar Points, Batman!

I'm in kind of a rush with this post, so the topic is just going to be random thoughts/observations of the last few days, and the examples shall be even more generic than you are anticipating! BEHOLD!

101)　～において　・～においては　・～においても　・～における
In/at ~,

When it comes to ~,

In terms of ~,

Finding this one a bit difficult, I consulted Nirav moments before he had to attend a class. He gave the above examples that pretty much explain themselves. Fun fact that I didn't know before - おける （於ける）means "in/at". It can be applied to both situations, subjects, AND physical locations, making it a pretty dynamic joiner.

Ex. 日本の生活状況において、佐賀の支払いは悪くないだろう。

102)　～にもかかわらず
though ~,

in spite of ~,

notwithstanding ~,

~, nevertheless...

So for this one, it's handy to know that "かかわる" means "concern", so "かかわらず" means "without concerning". Add in the "にも", and you get where the "not concerning this information" part of it comes from. Make sense...?

Ex.　皆さんの文句にもかかわらず、天気は良くて涼しいと思う。

103)　～にかかわらず　・～にかかわりなく　・～にはかかわりなく
regardless of~,

With no concern for~,

Just look above for insight into this grammar point's meaning. One fun point on this one - it works very well with a "whether X is true or not" statements, like "whether it is cold or hot", "If it's crowded or not", as is shown in the below sentence.

Ex.　ジェフかニラヴが佐賀にいるいないにかかわらず、僕が続けます！

104)　～に限って
especially ~

It's always the case that ~

*gasp!* Grammer point 15 returns...but in a different guise! I found this one difficult to give a solid English equivalent. As a sample, the song "Ironic" would use this a million times, in the case that "When you have 10 million sporks, it's always the case that you just need a spoon". The examples in the book run something like "Although there are usually taxis everywhere, it's only when you're in a hurry that they aren't around". It's not only to emphasize that something always happens under a certain condition, but that something is especially true for a reason. Another book example - "He is Christian, so he would definitely not commit suicide". Hopefully these have shed some light on when to use it and what it means...if not, hopefully my example sentence will fill the gap. Fun grammar point - it can only be used with nouns

Ex.　僕はいつも暇なんですけど、予定が急に起こるときに限って彼女に電話される。

105)　～に限り　・～に限らず

only~

As simple as it sounds. The kicker - like the last one, it can only be used with nouns.

Ex.　ロボットにかぎりこんなにいっぱい勉強を我慢できる！

意気投合

いき　とうごう
iki tougou

It's been 9 days since I took off from Saga, and I've made it to Nagoya. Once I get to Tokyo, I'm going to try and post (for those of you who are interested) an account of my trip, and if I make it out to Saitama to see The Hopeless Romantic, you MIGHT even get a video. For now, suffice it to say that I have been through 14 prefectures, over 1500 kilometers (over 50 walked), ridden in over 20 cars... been to islands, mountains, waterfalls, shrines. And somehow (自画自賛だけど) I've managed to end up with 2,000 yen MORE then when I started. I'm not done yet, but I wanted to post a few pics, a few vocab words, and a great yojijukugo that I was saving for exactly this occasion.

Definition:
お互いに気持ちが通じ合い、一体感を感ずる。互いの気持ち、考えなどがぴったりと一致して親しくなること。
Translation:
1. To hit it off
2. To get along like peas in a pod
3. To discover a kindred spirit

The picture above is of Uno-san and his mother, who picked me up in Okayama and ended up giving me a tour of Okayama prefecture that lasted two days. I had intended to merely pass through Okayama but I'm glad I didn't! They treated me (and were kind enough to say that it felt) like I was family, even going so far as to buy souvenirs for me to take to my girlfriend in Tokyo!

The left picture below is of Azukizawa-san, who took me in the direction of Sakaiminato (Mizuki Shigeru's hometown), and he was by far the person that I had the best conversation with. Which is to say that we talked for hours about American television, our favorite action movies (Die Hard and Batman), and Eyeshield 21 (the only anime series I've ever watched regularly).

On the right are Riko-chan and Ryuunosuke-kun, whose mother gave me a lift on the final stretch to Nicky New-Job's apartment in Nagakute-cho, Nagoya. The kids were adorable, and we watched Thomas the Tank Engine together and ate chicken soup flavored potato chips.

















In all of these situations (and more) one word I kept hearing over and over in various incarnations was 縁, which you may remember from 合縁奇縁.

縁 means a relationship, or fate, or the bonds of fate, and is used to talk about chance meetings. I heard people using it with the honorific ご attached to talk about the relationships we formed meeting in this way. There are a lot of other words I learned with similar themes, but for today, let's focus on 縁 for a moment.

By itself you can use it to mean anything from "destiny that binds two people together," to "the chance to meet someone and start a relationship." It encompasses a broad range of meaning involved with connections between people.

Here are some compounds that use it:

• 類縁 (るいえん;ruien): family relationship
• 腐れ縁 (くされえん;kusare en): undesirable but unseverable tie
• 血縁 (けつえん;ketsuen):　blood relationship
• 旧縁　(きゅうえん;kyuuen): old relationship; old acquantaince ( see 竹馬の友)

And as for 意気投合, it's what happens when the chance meeting (縁) goes so well that you become fast friends, specifically when you have the desire and opportunity to see that friendship continue down the line.

Use it with する。

When I first learned this one, again from my Yojijukugo tutor, Otao-san, she gave me the following example: 偶然で会ったけど、意気投合して、友情を育みました. For today's example sentence, I'll use my very simple attempt at applying it, which drew a laugh at the time.

例文：意気投合して、結婚しました.
We met, hit it off, and got married.

2級 Grammar 96-100

Wow - 100 grammar points. It's not quite as amazing when you consider that it was made over a period of at least 20 weeks, but could be made special if it were to mark the moment we would begin double-timing grammar points. I can't make any promises yet, but our grammar book goes up to 191. Given that we don't have another 20 weeks to finish that up, the only way to make things work will be to buckle in and throttle up the output. Which means I have to waste less time in these crazy openings, and more time actually doing the grammar. But what the hell, I can dally a bit, right?

As both Jeff and I noted in our recent posts, the Yoji has again become an erratic affair. This was largely due to Jeff's displacement, but also due to 夏バテ. As if that weren't enough, the times we weren't afflicted by summer grogginess we were instead consumed by summer super happy fun times, and enjoyed such activities as wakeboarding, climbing waterfalls, beach barbeques... the list goes on. With Jeff heading off for the states soon and summer officially ending next week - scholastically, anyway - I figured I'd use these 5 grammar points to reminisce about the good ol` days.

96)　～ないことはない　・　～ないこともない
It's not that I don't ~, it's just that...
It's not that ~ isn't the case, it's that...

Good lord, I wish I had known this one a long time ago. There's one example I would've run so ragged that I can't help but sharing it now before I make my own: 納豆は、食べないこともないんですが、あまり好きじゃないです。 It's not that I won't eat natto, it's just that I don't really like it. Beautiful. The little trick here is that you're not flat-out denying something, you're just insisting that it's not 100% true. Like for the previous example, you wouldn't go so far as to say you won't eat nattou at all... but it is true that you don't really like to eat it. For flat out denials, see Grammar point 89.

Ex.　夏の間学校に行きたくないことはないんだが、毎日いすを暖めることは退屈なんだ。


97)　～ないではいられない
It's difficult not to ~
I can't help but want to ~

This is a pretty fun one that, like so many grammatical points, is used in connection with another clause. At least in written text. It's always important to consider that while a stand-alone example sentence may require all kinds of forethought and explanation, a lot of these grammar points don't necessarily require the full setup when given in context. Anyway, this one can only be used with the negative form of verbs, so choose wisely.

Ex.　夏のスポーツは好きだけど、痩せられない。なぜなら、太陽の下で遊ぶと、たくさんのアイスを食べないではいられない。


98)　～ながら　・　～ながらも
Even though ~, ...
Despite ~, ...

Another of the long lists of variations on "のに". It goes Aながら, B. Where the definition ends up being "Even while A persisted, B - a contrary force - continued." That makes it sound way more complicated than it is, eh?

Ex.　夏の暑さで毎日汗をかきながら、なんとなく風邪をひいた。なんでかな。。。


99)　～など　・　～なんか　・　～なんて
~は
~とは

Just like "こそ", the nature of Japanese sentence construction prevents me from making a solid English translation. In short, this emphasizes the previous sentence clause. Pointer - なんか and なんて are only used in spoken language!

Ex.　ウェークボードなんて簡単！だから少なくとも一回やって見たほうがいい。


100)　～にあたって　・　～にあたり
At an important time/event like ~,
～の時 or ～の際

This one is reserved for big events, so don't use it for something unimportant or common.

Ex.　新学期にあたり、僕は別れのスピーチを用意した。

Japanese Language Trivia of the Day:

As I like to work excuses for not posting into the sporadic posts I do make, today's trivia is very much in the spirit of Nirav: it's all about drinking.

All of my 送別会s are taking their toll, and when you add to that all the favorite restaurants and bars I just HAVE to hit one last time (before I leave for three months), I've been drinking almost EVERY night.

And that's how I picked up these two phrases.

無理強い
むりじい
murijii

Peer pressure; arm-twisting; compulsion; insistence; extortion.

迎え酒
むかえざけ
mukaezake

Hair of the dog.

無理強い is kind of the opposite of an extremely common phrase that you'll hear Japanese people say a lot, to be polite, "無理しないでください." Since 無理　means "the impossible," or "the unreasonable," 無理しないで is "Don't try to do more than you can, or more than is comfortable for you." People will say this to each other at meals ("Don't feel like you need to eat EVERYTHING,") or at work, ("Don't overwork yourself"). It's a really useful phrase to know.

無理強い is something that you do not want to be on the opposite end of. It's when people who don't have the tact to say 無理しないでください, insist that you join in the fun, whether it be drinking, karaoke-ing, or smoking marijuana which, to be fair, IS what all the cool kids are doing. As you'll notice, it can have harder meanings (extortion?), but if you use it in the right context, like being hung over, drunk, or a few kilos overweight　無理強いされた, will translate as "I was pressured into it."

迎え酒, on the other hand, is just plain old "hair of the dog." For those of you who aren't native English speakers, or who don't know this expression, "Hair of the dog" is alcohol that you drink when you are hungover. Drinking a beer the morning after drinking ten beers, is supposed to make you feel better. 迎える is to greet, meet, or welcome, so 迎え酒 is pretty easy to understand. It's the sake that comes to pick you up.

Why "Hair of the dog?" Brett looked this one up, and found out that it comes from an old expression/superstition: "The hair of the dog that bit you," was held to help heal dog bites. If you were bitten by a dog, if you could retrieve some of that dog's hair, and put it in the wound, not only would you heal faster, but it was also supposed to prevent infection or disease, like rabies.

I personally prefer this method of dealing with dog bites.

表現 Break: 夏風邪は馬鹿が引く

なつ　かぜ　は　ばか　が　ひく
natsu kaze wa baka ga hiku

Short and sweet post today. Know anybody with a cold or do you have one yourself?

I got a little bit sick and started to hear this one from close friends. Make sure you use it with people who know that you're only teasing, because here's what it means:

Definition:
誤解から、一般に、夏風邪を引く者は愚か者であるということ。
Translation:
Literal - Idiots catch cold in the summer
1. Only a fool...

On a short cultural note, I thought I'd bring up a point that I will argue endlessly with Japanese people. I'm curious to know what all y'all think.

How much of a factor does temperature play in catching a cold?

Are you more likely to catch cold if the air conditioner is on?

Do you believe it's possible to get sick BECAUSE of air conditioning?

I always believed that colds are caused by germs, and nothing else. While cold temperatures might lower your body's resistance and make it easier to catch a cold, I refuse to believe that you're going to get sick just because the air conditioner is running. I can also understand that Japanese air conditioning systems dry the air out, which can cause your lungs, throat, and nasal cavity to get all 風邪気味.

However, the Japanese belief that air conditioning is a direct cause of sickness is a little bit too close to the Korean belief in fan death...

What do you think?

風林火山

ふうりんかざん
fuurinkazan

Brett sent this one off to a friend of his on a list of kanji that might make a good tattoo, and I have to applaud his judgment. As far as elemental power goes, this is about as awesome as it gets.

Definition:
時期や情勢に応じ適切な行動をとること。
Translation:
1. As fast as the wind, as quiet as the forest, as daring as fire, and as immovable as the mountains

This is a phrase that gets used a lot in conjunction with samurai and battles, as it expresses the versatility to be able to respond appropriately to any situation or opportunity. It can also be used to refer to your business or your personal life as well. It's another one of those that's an abstract concept that works best on its own as a proverb, but if you want to work it into a sentence it often takes 心構え, just like 悪木盗泉.

例文：ビジネスにも風林火山の心構えが必要だ。
In business too, you need a heart that's ready to be as fast as the wind, as quiet as the forest, as daring as fire, and as immovable as the mountains.

悪木盗泉

あくぼく とうぜん
akuboku touzen

This saying is not one that's very easy to fit into a framing sentence, but it's excellent to use as a stand alone proverb or expression. It works as a warning or an admonition to people who are considering doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons, but it works even better when those people are considering doing the wrong things for the right reasons.

Definition:
どんなに困っていても、悪事に手を染めてはならないという戒め。悪事に近づいて人に疑われるようなことをしてはいけないという意味もある。
Translations:
1. The righteous never stray from the path
2. The ends don't justify the means

The kanji read as follows: bad tree steal spring (spring as in water, not the season) and when I read it I thought maybe it meant that "The bad tree steals the water from the spring," implying some kind of inverse lesson about how we should strive to not be like the "bad tree," but as I've learned the hard way, these kinds of speculative inferences about why something means what it does in Japanese are RARELY accurate. A little bit of web-research yielded the true origins.


This site, despite being one big visual headache, actual contains quite a bit of useful information about Japanese expressions. In fact, it might contain all of it. It says, if you can track down the section on 悪木盗泉, that it's a warning. No matter how hot it is, one should never sit in the shade of the bad trees; No matter how thirsty you are, there is no cause to drink from the stolen spring. It seems more poetic that way, doesn't it?

There are even some other similar expressions that make use of the bad tree imagery: 「熱しても悪木の陰に休まず」 or just ｢悪僕之陰」will do the trick.

I guess, conceptually, we have some similar sayings in English. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions," springs to mind. And with the Japanese cultural emphasis on ideas of karma (因果応報), you can imagine how an evil deed performed by a good man might negate his goodness, or how a noble deed accomplished by immoral means can't really be counted as a noble deed.

I've found some other examples of uses of 悪木盗泉 that prescribe a がんばって、ガマンして code of living, like on this site, SomeGirls_blog, run by a guy who seems to be very 男ポイ. He seems to be lamenting a female friends impending divorce (or horrible marriage), but here's what he says the 悪木盗泉の心構え male is responsible for:

男なら、どんなにプレッシャーが掛かっても前に進まないとね。
A man must press on, no matter how much pressure he is subjected to.
男なら、どんな困難があろうと目の前の人を幸せにしないとね。
A man must work to make the people in his life happy, no matter what difficulties this may entail.
男なら、道を踏み外さないよう自分に厳しくしないとね。
A man must be strict and relentless in his own discipline so that he never makes any missteps, never strays from the path.
男なら、たった一人で正義を貫かないとね。
A man is responsible for himself, and even if he is all alone, he must make sure that all of his actions are just.

Sounds a bit like a martyr-complex to me. I wonder what a woman's work consists of?

例文：社長が不正なやり方で仕事をしているので、僕の首になっても悪木盗泉の心構えで、皆に公表します。

The company president is up to some shady dealings, and even if it means my neck, I'm gonna keep on the righteous path and go public with it.

画竜点睛

が りょう　てんせい
ga ryou tensei

A while ago, I read the English translation of a book called「 蛇にピアス」 ("Snakes with Piercings," or "Pierced Snakes" might have been a better title than Snakes and Earrings, which it was published as). It's about a young girl who gets involved with some guys who are into body modification and sado-masochism and possibly murder? I didn't think it was anything really special, but it looks like it's sensationalist enough to warrant a movie! You can check out the trailer at the bottom of this post.

Anyway, I mention it because the main character gets a mural tattoo on her back of a Kirin, the mythical Japanese (er... Chinese) beast most famous in the west for being a brand of beer.
I can't remember if she specifies it, or the tattoo artist advises it, but she ends up deciding not to have the Kirin's pupils drawn in. This is because of an ancient Japanese (er... Chinese) legend, which also gives us today's yoji, which means something along the lines of "Adding the eyes on the painted dragon."

Definition:
最後に大切な部分に手を加えて仕上げをすること。
Translations:
1. The finishing touches.
2. The final strokes.

Look at our English equivalents. We use the painting metaphor, or the work of art metaphor to talk about finishing anything from a project at work, to an essay, to a meal, but why does the Japanese version specifically name a dragon? And honestly, if you were going to draw a dragon, or any animal-like thing, would you really draw the eyes last? Here's the legend that answers these's questions for you:

南北朝の時代、南朝の 梁 ( りょう ) に”張僧ヨウ”という名画家がいました。あるとき彼は、 金陵 ( きんりょう ) （現在の南京）の安楽寺の壁に竜を描くことを頼まれ、４匹の白い竜の図を描きました。その竜は、今にも壁を突き破って天にも昇りそうな勢いがあり、 見る人すべて息を飲みましたが、不思議なことに、瞳が描き入れられていませんでした。

不思議に思った人々が彼に理由を尋ねると、彼は、「もし瞳を入れたら、竜が天に飛んでいってしまうからだよ。」と言いました。 しかし、人々は信じることができずに、是非、瞳を描き入れるように彼に求めました。

そこで仕方なく彼が４匹のうち２匹に瞳を入れると、たちまち稲妻が走って、壁が壊れ、２匹の竜は雲に乗って天に飛び去ってしまったのです。 あとには瞳を入れなかった２匹の竜だけが残ったそうです。

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period, (China, 1336-1392), there was a famous painter of the Southern Dynasty by the name of Yo. During this time, he received a commission and painted a mural of four white dragons on the wall of the Anraku Temple in Nanjing. The dragons he painted were positioned in such a way, and imbued with such lifelike vigor, that they looked as though they might burst through the wall and soar off into the sky (ascend into heaven) at any given moment. The effect was such that anyone who looked upon it couldn't help but draw a deep breath (swallow their breath, as though in awe... or fear). But the truly strange thing about the mural was that in all of the eyes of all of the dragons, Yo had not painted in the pupils.
Somewhat perplexed, the people asked Yo for the reason he had not done so, and he answered simply "If I were to give them pupils, they'd take off into the sky and be gone." But of course, the people couldn't believe this, and demanded that he complete the mural by painting the eyes, without fail.

Having no recourse, Yo began to comply. He painted the eyes on the first dragon, and was putting the finishing touches on the second when all at once a bolt of lighting struck, shattering a portion of the wall, freeing the two completed dragons who hopped onto the nearest cloud and rode it away into the sky. After that, it seemed like a good idea after all to leave the remaining two white dragons without any eyes.

This is not the only incident in Japanese culture where the painting of the eyes garners significance though. Do you know about the still practiced tradition of painting eyes on Daruma?
They even have Darumas that you can buy in toy vending machines, along with a sticker set to use for the eyes, like a cheaper, spiritual version of a Mister Potato Head.

Last note, but it's important to talk about the usage of 画竜点睛. While it can be used to refer to simply the fact that something is finally done (the all important Google image search reveals that it's used for things like business openings, building projects, those models of anime characters that hobbyists assemble themselves, or in mischevious references to a particular practice of omission common in manga: NSFW), it's mostly used like this:

画竜点睛を欠く, which means "lacking some final important detail without which, all the other work is useless."

Let's keep our example sentence in China as well.

例文：一生懸命作ったのに、ちゃんと英語ができる人に確認しなかったので、僕が作った看板の訳書は 画竜点睛を欠いています。
I worked as hard as I could on this, but because I didn't check my translation with someone who can speak English, this translated sign is worthless due to my inability to finish it off properly.




Here's that trailer I promised you.

Japanese Language Trivia of the Day:

I think that today's trivia paints a really funny picture in a way that our English equivalents don't quite capture.

箱入り娘
はこ　いり　むすめ
hako iri musume

My girlfriend is an only-daughter (she has three brothers), and in a culture that's big on filial obligation, especially on the part of women, you can imagine how 大事 her family considers her.

This term is used a lot for only-daughters, and where we might translate it as "daddy's little princess," or merely "over-protected" or "sheltered" it literally means "the daughter who gets put in a box."

You can use this in a friendly manner to tease a girl who's an only child, or if you are "daddy's little girl," you can refer to yourself as such. I'm gonna try it out next time I hang out with my girlfriend's family, because whenever I see them we always end up having a long 感動する conversation about how great and special she is.

Side note: I wonder if you can mix-and-match this phrase with 玉手箱 (たまてばこ; tamatebako) or 宝箱　(たからばこ;takarabako), which both mean, treasured box or treasure chest? A 宝物 (treasured item) goes in a 宝箱, so would a 宝箱入り娘 make sense? I'd worry about the fact that 玉手箱 has other connotations. Pandora's box is called a 玉手箱,　as is the box that contains Urashima Taro's lost years... This one might be better confined to the pages of Jokes that Japanese People Might Not Get.

表現 Break: 隣の芝が青く見える

となり　の　しば　が　あおく　みえる
tonari no shiba ga aoku mieru

I'm officially out of my old house (no more moving gripes mixed in with the yojis) and crashing at Brett's apartment for a few weeks. I can't promise that this means I'll be more productive because, as I've realized, my ability to write the yoji with regularity was largely related to the fact that I had a job, or, that is to say, on the the fact that I was obligated to sit at a desk for long periods of empty, empty time. Now that I'm out, even when I'm not busy, I have a million other things that I can do. Walk around Saga Castle, play Smash Brothers, go swimming, boost my ego by walking through crowds of JK at Youme Town (a mall chain in Japan) and draw pitying looks from my girlfriend, who knows exactly how NOT カッコいい I am.

Sounds nice, right? But then, I'm not getting as much studying done as I used to. Maybe I was better off working at Kawa Chuu after all?

Just kidding. I just wanted a way to segue into today's ことわざ.

Definition:
自分の手に持っているものより、他の人が持っているもの方がよく見えること。また、以前持っていたもの方がよかったと思っている場合もある。
Translation:
Literal - The neighbor's lawn looks bluer (greener).
1. The grass is always greener on the other side.

Good one to know, as apparently, it expresses a universal tenet, true of humanity no matter where you go.

Also good to know that even though 緑 (みどり; midori) means green in Japanese, in a lot of instances (traffic lights and newbies for example) are referred to as 青い (あおい；aoi), blue. This is not because of a different concept of color categorization, but actually because of a linguistic phenomenon common in a number of languages that aren't English, one that has no real bearing on today's post but is fascinating, so I will link it here: grue.

Again, in the spirit of trying to be nice to you guys, this expression is used commonly and will be instantly recognized, requiring no long-winded explanation on your part (which, I usually screw up so badly that any hopes of being perceived as knowledgeable in the ways of 日本語 go right out the window).

Lemme know if you find any situations to try it out in!

例文：
A-san: 大学生時代のことを思い出すと、楽しかったと思います。毎日パーティ、ナンパばっかり、ドンだけ飲んでも、2日よいにならなかった。今の社会人の生活と比べたら、｢良かったなー｣と思います。
Thinking back on my old college days... man, that was fun. Partying all the time, hitting on all the girls in sight, and no matter how much I drank, I NEVER seemed to get hungover. Comparing that to my life as a working man... I can't help but think how much better it was then.
B-san: だが、現実的に思い出せば、当時はきつかったよ！毎日カップラーメンをくい、お金ぜんぜんない、周りの人にタバコを借りないと吸えない、週二回ぐらい、母親にお金のことでおこられ。。。大変だった。お前、今の楽な生活の方がいいじゃないか。「隣の芝が青く見える」ってことでしょう。
But if you remember it realistically, it was pretty rough! Eating instant ramen every day, having no money at all, if you didn't borrow a cigarette you couldn't smoke, and your mom was on your case about money like twice a week! It was terrible! Isn't your comfortable life now better than that? Sounds like a case of "The grass is always greener..." to me.