#Japanese Language

[hazelsmask]

If you had even a basic understanding of japanese you would know that this writing is EXTREMELY legible! There was zero way this was banned because illegibility it was banned due to misogyny

Source For more posts like this, follow Ultrafacts

[japanwords]

粋 (iki) "understated elegance"

"Iki" is a Japanese aesthetic ideal. It refers to subtle elegance and sophistication.

One of the aspects of iki is caring about the sensibilities of others. What you wear should make others feel comfortable, and wearing stylish clothing is a way of respecting those around you.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t wear what you want, but neither does it mean that you can’t think about how your appearance affects others. Iki is somewhere in between.

[haru-dipthong]

Gendered pronouns in Japanese vs English

In Revolutionary Girl Utena, the main character Utena is a girl (it says so in the title), but very conspicuously uses the masculine first person pronoun 僕 (boku) and dresses in (a variation of) the boys school uniform. Utena's gender, and gender in general, is a core theme of the work. And yet, I haven’t seen a single translation or analysis post where anyone considers using anything other than she/her for Utena when speaking of her in English. This made me wonder: how does one’s choice of pronouns in Japanese correspond to what one’s preferred pronouns would be in English?

There are 3 main differences between gendered pronouns in Japanese vs English

Japanese pronouns are used to refer to yourself (first-person), while English pronouns are used to refer to others (third-person)

The Japanese pronoun you use will differ based on context

Japanese pronouns signify more than just gender

Let’s look at each of these differences in turn and how these differences might lead to a seeming incongruity between one’s Japanese pronoun choice and one’s English pronoun choice (such as the 僕 (boku) vs she/her discrepancy with Utena).

Part 1: First-person vs third-person

While Japanese does technically have gendered third person pronouns （彼、彼女） they are used infrequently¹ and have much less cultural importance placed on them than English third person pronouns. Therefore, I would argue that the cultural equivalent of the gender-signifying third-person pronoun in English is the Japanese first-person pronoun. Much like English “pronouns in bio”, Japanese first-person pronoun choice is considered an expression of identity.

Japanese pronouns are used exclusively to refer to yourself, and therefore a speaker can change the pronoun they’re using for themself on a whim, sometimes mid-conversation, without it being much of an incident. Meanwhile in English, Marquis Bey argues that “Pronouns are like tiny vessels of verification that others are picking up what you are putting down” (2021). By having others use them and externally verify the internal truth of one’s gender, English pronouns, I believe, are seen as more truthful, less frivolous, than Japanese pronouns. They are seen as signifying an objective truth of the referent’s gender; if not objective then at least socially agreed-upon, while Japanese pronouns only signify how the subject feels at this particular moment — purely subjective.

Part 2: Context dependent pronoun use

Japanese speakers often don’t use just one pronoun. As you can see in the below chart, a young man using 俺 (ore) among friends might use 私 (watashi) or 自分 (jibun) when speaking to a teacher. This complicates the idea that these pronouns are gendered, because their gendering depends heavily on context. A man using 私 (watashi) to a teacher is gender-conforming, a man using 私 (watashi) while drinking with friends is gender-non-conforming. Again, this reinforces the relative instability of Japanese pronoun choice, and distances it from gender.

Part 3: Signifying more than gender

English pronouns signify little besides the gender of the antecedent. Because of this, pronouns in English have come to be a shorthand for expressing one’s own gender experience - they reflect an internal gendered truth. However, Japanese pronoun choice doesn’t reflect an “internal truth” of gender. It can signify multiple aspects of your self - gender, sexuality, personality.

For example, 僕 (boku) is used by gay men to communicate that they are bottoms, contrasted with the use of 俺 (ore) by tops. 僕 (boku) may also be used by softer, academic men and boys (in casual contexts - note that many men use 僕 (boku) in more formal contexts) as a personality signifier - maybe to communicate something as simplistic as “I’m not the kind of guy who’s into sports.” 俺 (ore) could be used by a butch lesbian who still strongly identifies as a woman, in order to signify sexuality and an assertive personality. 私 (watashi) may be used by people of all genders to convey professionalism. The list goes on.

I believe this is what’s happening with Utena - she is signifying her rebellion against traditional feminine gender roles with her use of 僕 (boku), but as part of this rebellion, she necessarily must still be a girl. Rather than saying “girls don’t use boku, so I’m not a girl”, her pronoun choice is saying “your conception of femininity is bullshit, girls can use boku too”.

Through translation, gendered assumptions need to be made, sometimes about real people. Remember that he/they, she/her, they/them are purely English linguistic constructs, and don’t correspond directly to one’s gender, just as they don’t correspond directly to the Japanese pronouns one might use. Imagine a scenario where you are translating a news story about a Japanese genderqueer person. The most ethical way to determine what pronouns they would prefer would be to get in contact with them and ask them, right? But what if they don’t speak English? Are you going to have to teach them English, and the nuances of English pronoun choice, before you can translate the piece? That would be ridiculous! It’s simply not a viable option². So you must make a gendered assumption based on all the factors - their Japanese pronoun use (context dependent!), their clothing, the way they present their body, their speech patterns, etc.

If translation is about rewriting the text as if it were originally in the target language, you must also rewrite the gender of those people and characters in the translation. The question you must ask yourself is: How does their gender presentation, which has been tailored to a Japanese-language understanding of gender, correspond to an equivalent English-language understanding of gender? This is an incredibly fraught decision, but nonetheless a necessary one. It’s an unsatisfying dilemma, and one that poignantly exposes the fickle, unstable, culture-dependent nature of gender.

Notes and References

¹ Usually in Japanese, speakers use the person’s name directly to address someone in second or third person

² And has colonialist undertones as a solution if you ask me - “You need to pick English pronouns! You ought to understand your gender through our language!”

Bey, Marquis— 2021 Re: [No Subject]—On Nonbinary Gender

Rose divider taken from this post

[writerofscratch]

　火火火火火火火火火火火火火火火火

　火炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎火

　火炎焱焱焱焱焱焱焱焱焱焱焱焱炎火

　火炎焱燚燚燚燚燚燚燚燚燚燚焱炎火

　火炎焱燚　　ｔｈｉｓ　　燚焱炎火

　火炎焱燚　　　ｉｓ　　　燚焱炎火

　火炎焱燚　 ｆｉｎｅ 🐶　燚焱炎火

　火炎焱燚燚燚燚燚燚燚燚燚燚焱炎火

　火炎焱焱焱焱焱焱焱焱焱焱焱焱炎火

　火炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎炎火

　火火火火火火火火火火火火火火火火

[ra-men-noodle]

As both a learner of japanese and PhD student in linguistic, I think the biggest confusion comes from teaching students to use personnal pronoun and/or subject arguments at all

Because japanese is a pro drop language, meaning that you can omit parts of speech very easily, and as such subjects are not mandatory the way they are in English, to the point that you need to use a dummy subject (e.g. "It's raining" -> the "it" only serves to fulfill the need of a grammatical subject)

A very quick search led me to this paper that found that nominative arguments (aka subjects) are omitted around 50% of the time in Japanese (source)

Which means that most of the time, you should not be using neither pronouns nor names when conversations, because subjects are not mandatory if they can be contextually retrieved

It's not a problem with "anata" specifically, it's the problem of using a subject

On another note, I remember learning that some linguists have argued that japanese does not possess the grammatical category of pronouns per say (a concept imported from western traditions, to describe Indo-European languages) but "terms of address" or "terms of self-reference" because these words (kimi, anata, atashi, boku, wareware, etc) do not simply replace a noun (the definition a of pronoun), but they give additional information (age, gender, social status, relationship, etc). In that sense, proper nouns, titles or terms of kinship such as "tanaka-san", "okaasan" or "sensei" belong in the same grammatical category as "anata" or "watashi"

This is probably also why consciously or unconsciously, teachers tell students to be careful when using japanese pronouns, sometimes oversimplifying it by saying "it's not polite", because there are social constraints behind the use of personal pronouns in japanese (source)

質問がある…

僕は日本語の学生だ。僕の日本語の先生はいつも「『あなた』 is not polite unless it's your only option」と言っていました。でも、よく日本語をする人は「あなた」を使うことがみれるね。

So I have to wonder: what's the truth? Is "anata" impolite, or is my teacher being too strict?

My landlady says she can't list politer second person pronoun than anata without omae-sama, but omae-sama is only used in period dramas

[nihongonotabi]

ways to say "only", "just" in Japanese

When I started learning Japanese, I quickly discovered that “only” translates to だけ (dake). Soon after, I learned about しか (shika) and then ばかり (bakari). This led me to wonder how many ways there are to express the idea of "only" or "just" in the Japanese language. I began exploring the fascinating world of adverbs that convey limitation or exclusivity, each with its own specific nuance.

Here are some of the terms I’ve discovered (which I may continue to expand upon):

だけ (dake): Strongly emphasizes exclusivity, meaning that nothing else is included or considered. Example: 水だけください。 (Please give me only water.)

しか (shika) (used with a negative verb): Often conveys a sense of disappointment or limitation, implying that there’s nothing but the mentioned item, often with a sense of restriction. Example: 私は日本語しか話せません。 (I can only speak Japanese.)

ばかり (bakari): Suggests the dominance or prevalence of something, often with a sense of excess or monotony and a negative nuance. It does not imply strict exclusivity. Example: お菓子ばかり食べている。 (I’m only eating snacks.)

ばかし (bakashi): A casual variant of ばかり, used mostly in spoken language. It conveys a similar meaning but carries a more informal tone. Example: 遊んでばっかしいる。 (He’s only playing.)

のみ (nomi): Used in formal or written contexts, conveying exclusivity. It can sound elegant and refined. Example: 本日のみ有効です。 (Valid only today.)

ばかりか (bakari ka): This expression expands the meaning by introducing additional information, indicating more than just "only." Example: 彼は優しいばかりか、面白いです。 (He is not only kind but also funny.)

だけしか (dake shika) (used with a negative verb): This term combines だけ and しか, emphasizing strong exclusivity when used with negative constructions. Example: これだけしかない。 (There is only this.)

こそ (koso): Indicates that the highlighted item is particularly special or the best choice, often implying that nothing else can compare. Example: 今日こそ勉強する。 (Today, of all days, I will study.)

たった (tatta): Implies that an amount is minimal and often inadequate, highlighting a sense of limitation. Example: たった一人で旅行した。 (I traveled with just one person.)

わずか (wazuka): Emphasizes a minimal quantity or degree, often with a sense of surprise. Example: わずか10分で終わった。 (It only took 10 minutes.)

ほんの (honno): Indicates a small or trivial amount, often used to downplay something. Example: ほんの少しだけ食べた。 (I ate just a little bit.)

に限る (ni kagiru): This expression is used to convey that something is the best or only suitable choice for a situation. Example: 夏はアイスクリームに限る。 (Ice cream is the best for summer.)

だけでなく (dake de naku): Similar to ばかりか , this phrase is used to express that there’s more than just one thing happening. Example: 彼女は賢いだけでなく、優しいです。 (She is not only smart but also kind.)

単に (tan ni): Indicates simplicity; often used to clarify or explain something in a straightforward manner. Example: 単に冗談だよ。 (It’s just a joke.)

あくまで (akumade): Suggests that something is true only to a certain extent or in a specific context. Example: あくまで私の意見です。 (This is just my opinion.)

たかが (takaga): Often carries a dismissive connotation, suggesting that something is not very important. Example: たかが試験一回でどうなるものか。 (It’s just one exam; it won’t change much.)

I love discovering all these subtle differences and nuances, even if it can be frustrating at times. If you know of any more, please share!

[sammilearns]

here are a few podcasts I listen to weekly for practice!

Japanese with Teppei and Noriko

short, concise episodes covering various topics! easy to follow along!

Let's Learn Japanese from Small Talk

longer more detailed episodes with very casual Japanese! they explain some of the vocab they use while speaking (especially slang) and have a vocab list at the end that they go over with a link to read along!

Japanese with Kanako

great for shadowing practice with a few listening exercises mixed in. perfect if you are using the genki series!

what are some podcasts you like to listen to? 教えてください！😊

[expiationist]

sunday study sesh— wishin for fall 🍂

[vashtijoy]

Well, Akechi believes that it was. He tells us outright:

Akechi 母も、俺を生んだせいで不幸になって 死んだ。『生まれる事を望まれなかった子供』って訳さ。 haha mo, ore o unda sei de, fukou ni natte shinda. “umareru koto o nozomarenakatta kodomo” tte wake sa My mother’s life turned for the worse after she had me… and died. I was a cursed child for her, too. [lit. And, because I was born, my mother fell into misfortune/adversity and died. Because [I was] “a child she never wanted to be born”, you see.]

"cursed child", for fuck's sake. I will go to my grave pissed about that one. Akechi is saying outright here that a. her despair and death were a direct consequence of his birth, and b. that his own mother never wanted him, and that HE KNOWS THAT.

It may not be true. It may be a distortion of what he perceived. But he believes it.

Akechi is somebody who, to the best of his belief, was never wanted by anybody until he met Shido. Not even by his own mother.

I feel like when people emphasize Akechi's murders, they often act like his motivation only boils down to "daddy issues" or they really make light of the impacts societal discrimination can have on a person. "But Futaba didn't end up like Akechi," I've seen people say, but the thing is, Akechi is meant to show the worst case scenario. Someone without anyone left to uplift him, to ground him, and to give him a reason to be better. He lost his mother at a very young age, endured the foster system, never finding a new forever home, and at his absolute lowest point, was granted power he didn't understand with no one to guide him, and wanted to get close to Shido to one day backstab him and give him a taste of his own medicine. The murders came later, when Shido "instructed him." And given the way Shido yells at Akechi about what happens to people who cross him, and given what he did to Futaba (the men in suits), his cleaner, and how many people he had on his side, on top of Sojiro making it very clear how cutthroat Shido was to his enemies... Akechi was screwed no matter what. His face, his name, all of it could be used to ruin him in the real world. Alone, he would not have been enough to go through Shido's Palace, given how much trouble the Phantom Thieves had as a group. Plus, y'know, this:

Something so many people ignore when they talk about Akechi and his murders and ignore everything else the narrative tries to say about him.

What P5 tries to say about Akechi is so important to its core themes. That, if Akechi hadn't been a victim of so much injustice, he might have never gone to such lengths. That doesn't undo the damage he's done, but it's so important to understanding why the game approaches him with sympathy rather than writing him off as pure evil. Because it didn't have to be this way. If he had just met Joker sooner, if he had just had somebody. Akechi represents what can happen to vulnerable children who are failed by systems meant to uphold justice and other ideals, and how those who have nothing, who have only ever been hurt, are far more likely to lash out in turn.

[youghvaudough]

I will forever appreciate a theme in my fictional stories, & that’s exactly what Wind Breaker (by Nii Satoru) has, so, I present:

Wind Breaker characters have a theme to their names.. a thread:

Bōfūrin / 防風鈴

so, even though our protag group’s name is written and visually represented as “wind chime”, Bōfūrin’s name is where this group’s theme of trees/plants start:

防風鈴 (“prevent/protect” “wind chime”) has the same reading as 防風林, a type of forest planted strategically to prevent wind erosion of soil — much like Fūrin’s mission of protecting and serving their town

all of Bōfūrin’s named members (and close associations) so far have some element of tree/plant/wood in their last name (if you look at the kanji of their last names, you’d see a lot of wood radicals/木字旁):

桜 遥 • Sakura Haruka: 桜 / cherry tree

(fun fact: his name 遥 / haruka means "far"; also it's commonly a feminine given name)

蘇枋 隼飛 • Suō Hayato: 枋 / sandalwood (?) or tree used as timber, general term for wooden beams in houses

(fun fact: his last name 苏枋 is the Chinese name of a traditional reddish brown color, named after a pigment made from 苏木!)

楡井 秋彦 • Nirei Akihiko: 楡 / Siberian elm

杉下 京太郎 • Sugishita Kyōtarō: 杉 / Japanese cedar (cryptomeria japonica)

柊 登馬 • Hiiragi Tōma: 柊 / holly osmanthus (osmanthus heterophyllus)

(fun fact: his name 登馬 means "to mount a horse"; no, not that kind of mount, the regular horseback riding kind)

梅宮 一 • Umemiya Hajime: 梅 / plum tree

(fun fact: his name 一 is just "one")

This association also extends to Kotoha, who is very closely associated with Bōfūrin:

橘 琴叶 • Tachibana Kotoha: 橘 / orange tree

now, Bōfūrin members yet to be featured in the show: (spoilers below the break)

(if you want to go to later parts: part 2 - shishitoren & part 3 - noroshi!)

梶 蓮 • Kaji Ren: 梶 / paper mulberry (broussonetia papyrifera)

(fun fact: his name 蓮 / Ren means "lotus")

椿野 佑 • Tsubakino Tasuku: 椿 / Japanese camellia

(fun fact: their name 佑 means "to help/protect" or "to bless"!)

桐生 三輝 • Kiryū Mitsuki: 桐 / empress tree (paulownia tomentosa)

柘浦 大河 • Tsugeura Taiga: 柘 / mandarin melon berry (maclura tricuspidata)

There's also 桃瀬 匠 (Momose Takumi, "peach tree") & 水木 聡久 (Mizuki Saku, "wood"), the two other Heavenly Kings

I hope I have rly driven the point home here,, /lh

[vashtijoy]

have you seen the commentary from the p5r artbook going around? the shuake part of my dash is losing it a bit at the implication that their wishes were mutual!!! that seems to be what some people are getting from the commentary at least… amy insights?

Hi! I have been through the artbook. It's great, isn't it? :D

The image above is called "One Ending", and the creator caption (by illustrator Akane Kabayashi) reads:

When I think about how Akechi's wish was to play chess after school with the protagonist, I almost want to call him out with "You liked him after all, didn't you!"

Look at that. We're told about Akechi's wish, and what it included. We're as good as told outright that he likes Joker—and this isn't the only time, there's also this:

—There are a whole lot of things we can imagine, based on how the protagonist was depicted as someone special to Akechi. Those are more or less the exact emotions represented during Akechi's confidant. (Mumon Usuda, chief designer)

"someone special" here is 特別な存在 tokubetsuna sonzai—literally "a special presence". It means a special person, and more than that; it describes someone you find compelling, someone you can't look away from, someone who becomes one of your most important people, the centre of your world. It's another term that is often romantic, but isn't necessarily romantic.

(In the same way, I think Kabayashi's suki jan! is more tongue-in-cheek than it is a cast-iron confirmation that Akechi was canonly in love with Joker. The language there is teasing, it's ambiguous, it's baity; Kabayashi is joking. This is a rank 6—as they say, if you know, you know. But it is of course ultimately up to all of you.)

There's another mention of this image, down in the creator interview:

Out of all the Maruki ending illustrations, it was Akechi's that stuck with me the most. It made such an impression to see them opening up as friends, having a fun, peaceful time together like high school students should. (Mumon Usuda, chief designer)

What really strikes me in all of this is the emphasis the creators put on the fact that this is Akechi's illustration, Akechi's wish. Because I've thought for a while that we know Akechi has a wish. You can see him struggling with his refusals to Maruki in the first week of January. And you can hear his wish spoken—when Maruki repeats it back to him, during the boss fight, on 2/3:

Maruki {F1 81}君たちとなら、君も過ちのない道を歩めるかも知れないじゃないか！ {F1 81}-kun-tachi to nara, kimi mo ayamachi no nai michi o ayumeru kamoshirenai ja nai ka! If you're with {F1 81}―kun and his friends, you could begin to atone for what you've done! Think about it! With [Amamiya]-kun and his friends beside you, you could choose a path with no mistakes as well!

So this wish has several parts. First, there's that kimi mo, "you also"; it's tempting to read this as Maruki also wanting his new world to erase his past mistakes. Second, there's the first part, "if you're with [Amamiya]-kun and his friends". Where to even start here?

Being with Joker and the others is a prerequisite for the second half of Akechi's wish. It doesn't just coexist, it enables the rest of it. Just like his words in the engine room, "I wonder why we couldn't have met a few years earlier, [Ren]..."

Remember, Akechi's whole arc is about his rejection of trust and friendship, and his insistence on doing everything himself. This is precisely what Futaba calls him out on—"you trusted no one", or "you played life in single-player mode". This is what he unlearns at the climax of the engine room, when he realises he isn't prepared to let the others die—and follows through to save them.

Akechi is nothing without others, and he knows it. Without their support, which he believes he has no right to, he has no hope of living a better life, even were he to be given the chance—and he knows that, too. He has learned, and he has grown—and yet he knows the things he needs and wants so badly are forever inaccessible.

And his wish is about all the Phantom Thieves, not just Joker. There are many tiny references to this end—not least the original Japanese rank 10 line for his confidant, where he sacrifices himself for all of you. Joker is his compelling presence, his someone special, but he's formed small bonds with the others too, God help him.

and then there's the crime thing

The localisation frames Akechi's wish in terms of atonement, but that's not what's on offer. You cannot, after all, atone for things you never did. We see Akechi's wish put into practice, in the Maruki ending, where he appears with his friends beside him, wholly innocent and with unstained hands. And we see it in the first week of January, after he has finally met Maruki and spoken to him:

Akechi: Ah, that reminds me—there was one more thing I wanted to tell you. Akechi: About the reality Maruki's put us in... Akechi: It seems that Okumura and Wakaba are both considered alive by all accounts. [Ren: They're not dead anymore? / What do you mean?] Akechi: They aren't mere illusions, or cognitive beings—they truly are alive and existing in this world. Akechi: In fact, their deaths seem to have never taken place at all in this reality. [Ren: What happened to Shido?] Akechi: Shido was the only one arrested on the crime of attempting to overthrow the government... Akechi: It seems the Phantom Thieves were causing a stir in this society as well, but there's no record of your arrest now. Akechi: Basically, in this reality, you and I haven't committed any crimes.

While Akechi still remembers his crimes, they never took place. They have been undone, and only his lingering memory—and Joker's, at this point—speaks to them. He objects to this on countless levels, he summons all the strength he has to refuse it, but don't make the mistake of thinking that means he doesn't want it. This is Akechi's wish in action.

People are often very certain that Akechi's resolve in the third semester is like iron—that he rejects Maruki's offers right away, is never tempted, never wavers. But that can't be true. We know he's afraid to die. We know about the bad end where you don't complete the Palace, where Akechi says nothing and stares at the floor, seemingly blaming himself internally while all the others blame themselves aloud, for being unable to say no to Maruki's temptations. We know how he responds to this assertion of Maruki's—Maruki, who has perfectly summed up what we know all the other PTs wanted, and who (even if Word of God hadn't just confirmed Akechi's wish) we have, honestly, no reason to doubt.

Because Akechi never refutes this wish that Maruki describes. He never says he doesn't want it. He just rejects it—like all the others, who so desperately want what Maruki could give them. Futaba's mother, Haru's father. Akechi's life, and his innocence. And the people who might have been his friends, if he could dare, one day, to ask.

Akechi is tested just like the others, and the price he pays for his defiance is perhaps the highest of all.

and finally

[The Maruki ending illustrations are] of Maruki's world, where everyone's wishes are granted and they seem happy. The scene shows their actualised wishes, which were never granted in the real world. (Mumon Usuda, chief designer)

We shouldn't forget the price Akechi pays for his impossible wish. Sure, the vision of himself being altered like Sumire clearly haunts him, and I'm sure it made the choice easier—but I don't think it made it that easy. Instead of taking the dream Maruki offered him, Akechi chose to face up to what he'd done, and who he'd become; at the very end, in the third semester and in the engine room, he always makes the right choice.

And that choice was taken away from him. Agency over his life and death, his own acts, and who he would even be—Joker and Maruki take it all away from him and make him a puppet, just like Shido.

Maruki's ending isn't pretty.

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2024/03/29)—first published.

[thelingodingo]

Inarizaki's Kansai Dialect

Japanese Dialects are split into Eastern and Western, with the Standard Japanese dialect being Eastern (Kanto region) and Kansai region dialect being Western (eg. cities of Osaka and Kyoto, and of course Hyogo prefecture- where Inarizaki is from). The pitch, tone, and stressing of the sounds is different from standard Tokyo Japanese so you should be able to hear the difference in how the Inarizaki members speak even if you don't know any Japanese.

just in case yall didn't know, Suna is the only member on the team that does not use Kansai dialect as he was scouted from Aichi prefecture, so he basically just speaks in the standard dialect

Some linguistics of the dialect that may or may not be heard in the show:

"ya" ending vs the standard "da" ending.

Kore kirai ya. vs Kore kirai da. (I hate this.)

the use of the "h" sound instead of "s"

Han vs standard san (honorific suffix, not really used anymore)

Negation suffix "-hen" instead of the standard "-nai".

Taichou kanri dekitehen koto, homen na. vs Taichou kanri dekitenai koto, homen na. (Don't compliment him when he's obviously not taking care of himself.)

verb "oru" vs the standard "iru".

Dareka ga mitoru yo, Shin-chan. vs Dareka ga miteiru yo, Shin-chan. (Someone's always watching, Shin-chan.)

verb "temau" vs standard "teshimau"

Naitemau yaro! vs Naiteshimau darou! (You're gonna make me cry!)

Negation "suru" verb becomes "sen" instead of "shinai".

Ki ni sen dee. vs Ki ni shinai yo. (Don't worry about it.)

Some words that are different in Kansai dialect:

Honto becomes Honma (really)

Sodane becomes Seyade (thats right)

Nande becomes Nandeyanen (why)

Totemo becomes Meccha (very)

ii becomes ee (good)

"aho" means stupid in Japanese, but apparently in the Kansai dialect calling someone an "aho" is actually a compliment?! (even though it has the same definition)

Overall, I could watch the Karasuno vs Inarizaki episodes a hundred times just to listen to Inarizaki's dialect and how different it sounds to the rest of the characters in the entire show.

Although Karasuno speaks in the standard dialect (which isn't very strange since Miyagi is a suburb close enough to the Kanto region), theres a few lines here and there where one of them says something using the Tohoku dialect (the dialect that would be used often in the rest of Tohoku, such as Aomori).

(I especially like Kita's voice, thank you Nojima Kenji.)

[tokidokitokyo]

Compliments in Japanese

How do you give compliments in Japanese? Japanese tends to be a very 曖昧 (あいまい) or vague language, so direct compliments tend to be less common.

お世辞 おせじ compliment

誉め言葉 ほめことば compliment, praise

Here are some compliments that can be used in most situations.

Appearance・見た目

Polite 髪の毛切りましたか？似合いますね。 かみのけきりましたか？にあいますね。 Did you cut your hair? It looks good on you.

Casual 髪の毛切った？似合うよ。 かみのけきった？にあうよ。 Did you cut your hair? It looks good.

Polite そのシャツ／ワンピース／服いいですね。 そのシャツ／ワンピース／ふくいいですね。 That shirt/dress/outfit looks good.

Casual そのシャツ／ワンピース／服いいね。 そのシャツ／ワンピース／ふくいいね。 That shirt/dress/outfit looks good.

Polite いい笑顔ですね。 いいえがおですね。 You have a nice smile.

Casual いい笑顔だね。 いいえがおだね。 You have a nice smile.

Work・仕事

Polite 良くやりましたね！ よくやりましたね！ Good job! / Well done!

Casual 良くやったね！ よくやったね！ Good job! / Well done!

Polite お見事です！ おみごとです！ Great work! / Excellent!

Casual お見事！ おみごと！ Great work! / Excellent!

Polite 今日のプレゼン／スピーチ／アイディアとても良かったです。 きょうのプレゼン／スピーチ／アイディアとてもよかったです。 Today's presentation/speech/idea was very good.

Casual 今日のプレゼン／スピーチ／アイディアとても良かったよ。 きょうのプレゼン／スピーチ／アイディアとてもよかったよ。 Today's presentation/speech/idea was very good.

Skill・腕前

Polite 料理上手ですね。 りょうりじょうずですね。 You are good at cooking.

Casual 料理上手いね。 りょうりうまいね。 You are a good cook.

Polite 写真を撮るセンスがいいですね。 しゃしんをとるセンスがいいですね。 You have good photography sense.

Casual 写真を撮るセンスがいいね。 しゃしんをとるセンスがいいね。 You have good photography sense.

Polite 英語がペラペラですね。 えいごがペラペラですね。 Your English is very fluent.

Casual 英語がペラペラだね。 えいごがペラペラだね。 Your English is very fluent.

[helenstudies]

It's funny learning both japanese and chinese because in chinese when chinese learners complain about difficult words they are those that have simple strokes, about 3 or less pinyin pronunciations but have 58 different meanings and need specific usages where as in japanese, the difficult kanjis have 40 strokes like they've clawed all the way to earth from hell and have 80 different pronunciation but the meaning is pretty much the same across the words. So when I see chinese learners complain about a difficult word it's "guys, I think we should've left this word to die in classical chinese" but when japanese learners complain about a difficult word my response is either "that's just 8 radicals on top of each other. that's not hard" or "who angered a kami of kunyomi dominion, my god."

[japanwords]

神無月 (kan-na-zuki) "October" (archaic)

神 = god 無 = not 月 = month

The modern Japanese word for October is 十月 (literally "10th Month), however in the old-fashioned calendar is was known as 神無月, or "the month with no gods". 

In October, all the gods in Japan (there are believed to be 8 million of them) go to Izumo Shrine in Shimane Prefecture for a meeting, thus leaving most of Japan with no gods.

The huge shimenawa (sacred rope) at Izumo Shrine.

[haru-dipthong]

I’ve been having trouble putting this idea into words so you’ll have to bear with me, but I was struck when I saw a Japanese news program interviewing foreign tourists in Japan, and some australian women were dubbed over with a stereotypically feminine speech register (lots of のs and わs), and my first thought was “they weren’t speaking that femininely in english”.

A friend of mine from the UK recently mentioned that he noticed that australia has a generally more masculine culture than england - he felt that everyone is a bit more masculine here, including women. This kind of confirmed to me that my impressions of the dubbing were right - the tourists were speaking in a relatively (internationally) more masculine way. Yet their dub made them sound so much more feminine.

It made me wonder. When translating something, do you translate the manner of speaking “directly”, or “relatively” in terms of cultural norms? Maybe this graph will help me explain the question.

A direct appoach in this case might appear to a Japanese person to result in an unexpectedly masculine register, but preserves how the speaker's cultural upbringing has influenced their speech.

The news program translators chose the relative approach - I think I would prefer the direct approach. I think I prefer it because I believe translation should be a rewriting of the original utterance as if the speaker was originally speaking the target language, and the direct approach compliments that way of thinking the best.

Actually now that I type that, I’m second guessing myself. Does it? It does, if for the purposes of the “rewrite it as if they spoke japanese” thought experiment, we suppose the speaker magically learned japanese seconds before making the utterance, but what if we suppose the speaker magically grew up learning japanese - then maybe they would conform to the relative cultural values. But also, maybe they would never have said such a thing in the first place - their original utterance was informed by their upbringing and cultural values, so how could you possibly know what they would have said if they had known japanese from birth? Maybe my initial instinct was right after all?

If you work in translation, I’m very interested to hear if you have come across this problem and how you deal with it 🙏

Further reading: I think this question also ties into this problem I’ve been struggling to answer for a while.