謹賀新年

きんがしんねん, kinga shinnen, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Seeing as how I am the Daily Yo-Ji's one and only "Toshi Otoko" for 2009 (and, before any of you say it, no, I am not 36 or 48. Or 60, dammit!), I hereby take it upon myself to write the 1st Yo-ji of the new year.


As 2008 draws to a close (when this goes up, I, on the East Coast of the US will still be in last year, although those of you in Japan will already be in the future), I think I speak for my compatriots here at the Daily Yoji in expressing my deepest gratitude to you, the reader, for helping us get through the year. In our first full year, we saw a number of changes (hopefully for the better!) including the addition of Brett and myself to the "writing" staff, and the addition of the 2-kyuu grammar and Japanese Language Trivia features. (I know that I, personally, am looking forward to seeing Jeff and Brett continue with the 1-kyu grammar...)

I also want to let you all know that I have firmly resolved (kind of) that, in the new year, I will write oodles more entries for the Daily Yo-ji, hopefully with a more legitimate motif than "things that could possibly be said about Nirav" or "things that Nirav wishes people would say about him." With luck, 2009 will see us solidify our title of foremost Yo-ji Jukugo Site in English (not actually a title we got from anyone, but one that I'm going to go ahead and award to us, anyway).

Which brings us to today's (quite relevant, I might add) yo-ji, 謹賀新年.

The most common place that you will see this yo-ji is on what are known as 年賀状 （ねんがじょう - see the example at left）, which translates roughly into "New Year's Greetings Cards." In Japan, Nengajo is serious business, and, as I understand it, all families send out their own to just about everyone they know, but especially those close to them and those with which they had some kind of contact in the previous year (I got ones from co-workers, people whose organizations I had visited, friends, and even the shop where I had bought my motorcycle). I remember visiting my former host-parents in Kyoto for New Year's in 2007, and Nengajo were arriving by the hundreds in the last days of the year, with even a few stragglers after the year had officially begun. They are very proper people, so they might be the exception in terms of number, but most households both send and receive a number of cards every year. Some people buy pre-printed ones, but many people make their own (any stationary store in Japan will have a little "Nengajo Corner" full of stamps, blank sheets, and everything you need to make your own original cards). Japanese people often compare the Anglo-American custom (which, I assume despite having no knowledge, also applies in other Anglophone countries) of sending Christmas cards, and the comparison is valid to a point, although 1) I don't know of many people who make their own cards and 2) Nengajo are sent regardless of religion (although my decidedly non-Christian family sends Christmas cards of one sort or another every year...).

The first kanji of this phrase is 謹. This character can also be read つつしむ, which means roughly "to control oneself" or "abstain." For our purposes, it will be most useful to get out of this a sense of restraint borne of humility - because it is in the phrase mostly to show one's deference to the reader/listener, and make it humble language. 賀 is an interesting character that means "greetings" or "blessings," or even something like "good luck." Brett, Jeff, and I all know it from the place name 佐賀、which is where we all met (although in that case it is most likely just an 当て字, and the meaning itself isn't really relevant beyond its auspiciousness). Put 謹 and 賀 together, and you get "My humble wishes..." This thought is conveniently finished as "...for the new year!" by 新年. 新 is rather easily "new," and 年 is quite obviously "year," and there you have it, a greeting for the new year.

Definition:
年明けの挨拶

Translation:

1) Happy New Year!
2) Best wishes for the new year!

Example Sentence(This is going to be a cop out）
お正月の郵便箱からは、謹賀新年の字で飾った年賀状があふれ出した。
On New Year's Day, the mailbox was overflowing with cards wishing "Happy New Year!"

杯盤狼藉

はいばん　ろうぜき
haiban rouzeki

New Year's Eve and お正月 are just days away, so I wanted to equip you with a yo-ji that you might have the opportunity to use soon! Before we get into why and how you can use it, let's check out the kanji.

You'll come across 杯 most commonly as the counter for cupfuls. 「生1杯」 is one way that you can order yourself a beverage. When it stands alone, however, 杯 is read/pronounced さかずき(sakazuki) and means "sake cup."

盤 are trays or bowls, which you might recognize from 大盤振舞, and gets included in all kinds of kanji compounds, including those for "pelvis," "cave-in," and anything having to do with disc-shaped things, like records. You can check out those compounds here.

狼藉 we already know from 落花狼藉, which is what I love about studying kanji and yo-ji, the more you learn, the easier learning gets. But for the sake of letting this post stand alone, 狼藉 is "violence; chaos; disorder."

So the "chaotic disorder of plates and sake cups?" See where this is going?

Definition:
酒席の混乱の状態や酒宴の後、杯や皿が散乱しているさまをいう。
Translations:
1. The aftermath of a (drinking) party.
2. A mess that evidences the cause of the mess.
3. Lying scattered about as after being violently disturbed.

In Japan, the whole holiday season coincides with 忘年会 season. A 忘年会（ぼうねんかい; bounenkai) is an end of the year party, usually celebrated within work circles, or other non-family circles. People who meet for volleyball practice, or 英会話 once a week have 忘年会s, but I have yet to come across a family 忘年会 where the extended relatives and hangers-on are brought in, and I'm a pretty accomplished hanger-on. Please, tell me about your 忘年会 experiences in the comments, so we can compare notes.

The point though, is that if you're looking to brandish your yo-ji skills in front of the people you work with, this would be perfect to work into a conversation at the end of a 忘年会 or any 飲み会 for that matter.

The other opportunity in which I've been able to use it is also a seasonally relevant one: discussing the differences between Japanese and American New Year's celebrations.

In Japan, the New Year is greeted in a jovial, not quite sober but not quite raucous way that starts at 12:00am on January first. Temples all over Japan do what's called 除夜の鐘」　（じょやのかね; joya no kane), and they ring the temple bell 108 times. In many places, visitors to the temples can take part, ringing the bell to sound the New Year.

The following day might include a trip to a shrine, but it's largely dedicated to laying around in front of the TV, eating special New Year's cuisine (お節料理) and drinking special New Year's sake (おとそ) which is like Goldschlaeger sake.

When somebody asks me about American customs for New Year's, I generally say, "Well, it's all about New Year's Eve, and not really about family. People throw huge drinking parties with their friends, watch the ball drop, hope for a New Year's kiss, and get really drunk."

If you get asked about New Year's day, try any sentence that you can think of with 杯盤狼藉. It's probably true.

例文：アメリカでの元日は、皆前の夜に飲みすぎて、杯盤狼藉のありさまになったままの自宅で寝坊する。二日酔いというより、一ヶ月酔いほどです。
Due to heavy drinking the night before, Americans spend New Year's Day asleep in houses cluttered with the remnants of New Year's Eve festivities. They're not so much hung-over as they are WRECKED!