百発百中

ひゃっぱつ　ひゃくちゅう
hyappatsu hyakuchuu

I mentioned this before, but I'm kind of a 器用貧乏: I have a lot of hobbies and a lot of interests, and a good portion of them are things that I think would impress people in bars. Maybe I watched the wrong kinds of movies as a kid, but I always thought it would be awesome to be a card shark, a pool shark, a legendary drinker, and a motorcycle riding cowboy who knew how to make a quarter land dead center in your shot of tequila every time... or to make it vanish into thin air.

So I practice these kinds of silly things. I have decks upon decks of playing cards, my own set of poker chips, a pool cue, a picture of the motorcycle I sold before coming to Japan, and of course, because no bar-sports-master is complete with out them, my own set of darts.

But, just as I mentioned in the 器用貧乏 post, there's nothing more humbling for a dabbler like me than to bump into someone who's actually good. Which brings me to today's yoji, and Japanese darts culture.

The kanji mean, one hundred shots, one hundred centers. Think "Bullseye," and you've got it.

Definition:
矢や弾丸が撃つたびに必ず命中すること。予想、計画などがすべて当たり成功すること。
Translations:
1: Nothing but bullseyes.
2: Absolute success.
3: 100% accuracy

While the definition notes that it can be used as a metaphor to mean that everything is going perfectly according to plan, it is often used literally in reference to kyudo or darts. And there is a pretty active darts culture in Japan.

With darts bars scattered throughout any major city, a league and tournaments, it was only a matter of time before I told the wrong person that I played... and got soundly humiliated. This guy, Masahiro, was one of the people who picked me up on my last hitchhiking adventure, and when we stopped off at a bar to play a few games, I think he went easy on me at first. By the second game, it was 百発百中 for him, and it was all over for me.

But don't let the presence of sharks out there in the waters deter you from swimming. Japanese darts bars can be a lot of fun, especially the ones that feature the electronic boards. I highly recommend the unorthodox set of games, like the manhunt one: at each turn, the dart board will tell which targets will count as taking a shot at your opponent (hit a double twenty and you throw a grenade; hit a fourteen and you reload your gun, etc.). They're a lot of fun.

例文：百発百中とまでは言わないが、これまでの予想はほとんど当たってる。これからも順風満帆にいくといいね。*
I can't call it an absolute success yet, but so far things have gone just as I expected. Let's hope it continues to be smooth sailing from here on out.


* Question for you: I've heard that the するといい pattern implies doubt on the part of the speaker. Like,　できるといいな, means "It would be nice if I could do it, but..." What do you think?

器用貧乏

きようびんぼう
kiyou binbou

This is one of the first Yo-ji-juku-go I ever learned, due to the fact that the individual 二字　compounds that it's made of are words that I heard a lot. 貧乏 (binbou) means 'poor; impoverished' and was mentioned again and again in conjunction with the bullying epidemic that was a huge conversational hub when I first got to Japan. Being called 貧乏 by your peers was one of the methods of psychological terrorism that was thought to have elevated the teen suicide rate.

器用(kiyou) is something that a lot of people called me in the early months. It can mean 'skillful' but is better thought of as 'deft' because it's almost always used to say "You're good with your hands."

Flashback conversation, late 2006:

Brett: What does 'kiyou' mean?
Me: It means like, 'skilled fingers.'
Brett: Oh. Do you know that because of your card tricks?
Me: Uh. Yeeeeeeah, that's why.
Brett: I [expletive] hate you so much.

All joking aside though, I used to show off some of my playing card flair and magic tricks at work enkais, and yes Brett, that is how I learned the word.

So when I heard the two together, "Poor person with good hands," I was like, "What's that?"

Definition:
器用であるがために、他人に利用されたり、かえってひとつのことに集中できずに損ばかりしていること。
Translation:
1. Jack of all trades, master of none.

Please note that the definition stresses more of a disadvantage (the being poor aspect, I suppose) in being this kind of person. While we think of "Jack of all trades," as a positive thing, the addition of "master of none," implies an absence of progress, and suggests that maybe this kind of person often finds him or herself mastered by another (used/employed by others, as one would a tool.)

It's been handy for me to know this one, as my last post will attest. I have a ton of interests and hobbies that I have devoted a moderate amount of time to, including my card-sharpery. When I first came to Japan, people asked me things like "Do you play pool," "Do you surf," "Do you play badminton," or "Do you rock climb?" And I said "Yes," because that's the truth. That answer got me in trouble though, because if someone asks you "Do you surf?" it's not because they think surfing is cool, surf sometimes on weekends, and think it would be fun to go together one day. If someone asks you if YOU surf, be careful, because odds are good that SURFING is that person's LIFE.

That's a big difference between Japanese and American cultures for me, and also the source of a bonus word today: 極める (kiwameru). 　極める　means "to master" something, to take something as far as you can possibly take it.* Many times, it's the way that Japanese people approach their hobbies. Whereas in America, it's not un-common for somebody to be an "outdoors person," or a "water sports person," or a "things requiring the use of a racquet person," in Japan, I think it's more common for someone to choose one very specific avenue of interest and pursue that avenue to perfection.

So when I found myself in situations where I was being ruthlessly schooled in 9-ball, and my new Japanese friend was saying "Oh, I thought you said you played pool," 器用貧乏 was a good one to know.




例文：　俺のお兄ちゃんは今年、車の工場で仕事やっている。去年は家具の配達だった。でも、いつも,
上がる前に首になってしまう。ずっと器用貧乏な人間でいている。
My older brother is working at an automotive factory this year. Last year he was doing furniture delivery. But he usually gets canned before he can move up in the place. He can do pretty much anything, but he's always just been kind of a disposable grunt.



*極める is also a good word to know, because it's one of those words that Japanese people don't expect you to know unless you're really good at Japanese, so it scores you えらい points.