出発！

It's sad that the Yoji has fallen back on it's old, weekly ways, but at least we're keeping up with the 2 kyuu grammar. Which is most important if you're studying 2 kyuu. However, we did realize that with our current grammar update schedule, we will not be able to cover all of the grammar points required by December 7th. So if there are any of you who've been relying solely on us for your 2 kyuu grammar points, know this:

1. You are a sad, sorry lot.
2. You should supplement your study, with the books we reccommended, or with any other books or websites. Try searching 2 kyuu grammar at Hopeless Romantic (in the links box). He posted them all while he was studying.

Also, I'm leaving on that hitchhiking trip I mentioned starting tomorrow. I'd love to do a Daily Yoji Travelogue, but as my internet access will be spotty, well... I'll do my best to get up some pictures, some vocab, and some trivia, sharing what I learn on the road, but I can't promise you any more than three posts from me over the next few weeks.

Brett, on the other hand, MIGHT start doing grammar on both Tuesdays and Thursdays, and he'll do his best to cover the Yoji business until I get back to America.

As always, thanks for reading!

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.

2級 Grammar 91-95

Summer vacation is an interesting time to be a teacher in Japan since you get stuck in a weird working purgatory. Teachers still have to come in (or they're supposed to come in, a difference which the staffroom picture at right will help clarify), but their duties are either reduced or nonexistent. Point in case, I am being serenaded right this moment by the rhythmic snoring of my slumbering vice principal, who has been passed out on the couch with a newspaper over his face for the past hour. Many other teachers take catnaps on their desks, a trend which I have learned to do a bit of myself, and nobody sees a problem with it. That we're permitted this much latitude is the only thing that makes summer bearable when you have nothing to do...

Nothing, that is, except talk about summer vacation in 5 grammar points.

91)　～としたら　・　～とすれば
If ~,
In the case that ~,
Since ~,

This is one you'll hear quite a bit in normal speech, and it's not surprising why. The text even lists this point alongside old fallbacks like "なら、ば、と、and もし～たら" without any points on what separates it from them. The one usage point - it is tacked between clauses after sentences using dictionary form, or な adjectives + noun + だ. Piece of cake.

Ex.　教頭先生が居眠りするとしたら、他の教師は帰っていいかな。


92)　～として　・　～としたは
(As) for~,
When it comes to ~,

Again, pretty self-explanatory, with the only condition that you can only use this after a noun.

Ex.　教師になることの悪いところとして、生徒達がいなくても僕らは来なければならない。差別！


93)　～としても
Even in the case that ~,
Even if ~,

Again, an easy one that harks back to the days of 3級. The usage here is the same as any "~っても" construction.

Ex.　でもいいところもあるよ。夏休みだったら朝の十時に学校に着くとしても、全然大丈夫だね。


94)　～とともに
Together with ~,
Along with ~,
In time with ~,

This one is a little trickier than the other ones this week. The first time I was introduced to it was the song 島唄, where you go to cross the sea 鳥とともに on the 島唄の風. Just remember that it might mean together with, but it's for intangibles, and if one thing changes, the other will, too. If you're going somewhere with a friend, then use more standard grammar. However, if you're planning an amazing cross-Japan trip in Spring where you'll ride motorcycles from Kyushu north "in time with" the 桜全線, then とともに is your best friend.

Ex.　夏の初めて学校へ行く日が近くなるとともに、起きる時間は次第に早くする。


95)　～ないことには
~ without
~when you don't have...
~ unless you do...

This one goes like this: Without A, you can't do B. You attach ないことには to a verb, adjective, or noun and it becomes something that is necessary to the second clause. My book example lists "Without knowing the address, there's no way to contact so-and-so, でしょう?"

Ex. ｢夏休み」という時期なのに、先生たちの休みにならない。仕事に行かない日でないことには、ゆっくり休むことができないだろう。

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.

2級 Grammar 86-90

Whew - it has been a long, long time since I've posted anything, and Jeff has been double-timing it in my absence. Well... that might not be fair to say since he usually does 4/5 of the work anyhow, but plus-one-quarter-timing it isn't as catchy. Still, I'm back from America, so I may as well share some of the wisdom I (re)gained setting foot in the best United States I know. Those of America, of course.

86)　～とか
it seems like ~
I heard/read that ~

When I first saw this phrase, I thought "oh man, I know the hell out of 「とか」, this'll be cake". Little did I know there's another usage beyond the "...and such" tag "とか" conveys for lists. Still, this one is pretty straight forward. It's a lot like "そうだ", and is best used in situations where you're talking about something you learned or observed third-hand.

Ex.　僕の日本人の友達とアメリカについてはなすたびに、かれらは「アメリカはとても危険な国だとか」と言っている。 やばいところもあるんだが、俺にとって困ったこと無し。


87)　～どころか　(1)
~ is definitely not the case, but rather ~
~ is not true at all, it's ~

This is a fun little grammar point when you want to stress that something is completely contrary to a certain belief. It also asks no modification, and can be stuck between two clauses with very little effort.

Ex.　アメリカ人の皆が銃持ってるどころか、僕の友達の中で一人ぐらいが持ってるぞ。


88)　～どころか　(2)
Of course ~, but even ~ is okay/not okay.

This one took me awhile to translate, partially because I looked at it from the wrong angle at first. I'll let the book's definition speak for itself as a disclaimer
「AどころかB」＝「Aはもちろん、もっと簡単なBもだめだ。」
　　　　　　　　　「Aはもちろん、Bも大丈夫だ。」
So the idea is that of course 'A' condition is/isn't met, but 'B' condition is/isn't met, either/too. An example might help better than my ranting...

Ex:　アメリカの芝にあるフラミンゴがたくさんどころか、この畸形もある。


89)　～どころではない ・ ～どころではなく
~is DEFINITELY not the case

This one is simple - a more powerful assertion that something is not true. Think number 87 on speed.

Ex.　いつも同じことに関する文を作ることはやさしいどころではなく、僕の大好きなアメリカにつて文もういいです。


90)　～ところに ・ ～ところへ ・ ～ところを
RIGHT as ~ happens, ...
just as ~, ...

Another pretty straight-forward grammar point, which means exactly what it appears to mean. My only glitch here is when to use に、へ、or を... but I'm afraid that's a question for a different grammar point.

Ex.　アメリカはうんざりするところに、アメリカの旗を見るとうれし泣きする。

IMPORTANT NOTE: Check the comments section for corrections from blue, a native speaker and friend of the Yoji.

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.