明鏡止水

めいきょうしすい
meikyou shisui

Since Brett and Jeff are off in "India" (wherever that is...), I'm going to do my best to make sure that the Daily Yoji doesn't take a two week hiatus (although I can't promise that it'll be more than the weekly yoji).

Anyway, today's four-letter word comes from my favorite series for Nintendo DS, 押忍！闘え！応援団！ (Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!, which can be translated loosely as "Yeah! Fight! Ouendan!" - and, yes, I do think that Ouendan is best left in Japanese).

The literal meanings of the characters are "bright mirror stopped water." Basically, this phrase describes a state of mind wherein the person being described has no extraneous delusions gumming up their thought process.

Translations
1) clear-eyed
2) under no delusions
3) FIERCE AND READY FOR ACTION!
4) a state of "readiness for action" in certain parts of the female anatomy (thanks, google images)



今まで上手なやつはいくらでもいたけどあいつはちがう。見ろよ、あの明鏡止水っていう目つき。道理で今年あそこの合唱部は無敵って言われてるわけだ。

There've been a ton of talented people before, but she's different. I mean, check out those eyes, its like she's got nothing else at all on her mind! It's no wonder their Glee Club is considered so invicible this year.

順風満帆

じゅん　ぷう　まん　ぱん
jun puu man pan

Osu! I apologize for taking two days off! I have tons of excuses, I swear.

Today's Yojijukugo is brought to you by the kanji for "order" (as in 順番), "wind," "satisfactory" (as in　満足), and "sail."

Definition: 追い風を帆いっぱいに受けて舟が気持ちよく進む意から物事が順調に行われること。
Translations:
1. Smooth sailing.
2. Everything's going my way.
3. Everything's coming up roses.
4. To have the wind at your back, and therefore, feel like you can take care of everything that needs to be taken care of.

It's not the exact opposite of Monday's post, but it's close enough, I think. And, I think that 順風満帆 is also a good metaphor for the feeling you get when you've got not only the metaphorical support of the wind, but the vocal support of a good 応援団 (Oendan) behind you.

Oen means to root for or to cheer for, and Oen-ing is a big deal in Japan. University and professional sports teams have Oendans, students have Oen competitions at schools during their sports festivals, and most importantly, there is an Oen video game, which features a troupe of all-male, fiercely bad-ass looking cheerleaders who travel around Japan and root for people to succeed in every day situations, like cooking an awesome bowl of ramen, passing high school entrance exams, or rescuing their daughters from giant blue demon mice. Some friends and I donned the Oendan mantle, and cheered the Saga Daigaku Ame (rican) Fu (tball) team to a division championship victory two weeks ago(28-3, wasn't it?), and on Saturday, we'll head back to chant our hearts out as they try to win their way into the highest division in Japanese collegiate football! The picture is us posing with the other team's Oendan. You can see why they lost: they don't even have headbands.

例文：何でブレット君は俺たちに「カップテン向かい風」と呼ばれますか？あいつが順風満帆に行ったことがないから。
Why do we call Brett "Captain Headwind," you ask? Because dude has NEVER ONCE had the wind at his back.