#utsutsu

[yridenergyridenergy]

Utsutsu, Bouga o Kurau — a song with an exuberant personality

Gestures in the performance of the song:

"Onaji kotoba janai" / "Not the same words"

"Onaji tamashii janai ai ai ai" / "Not the same soul"

"Ichido kowareta kokoro wa dorodoro ni matowaritsuku netsushita chīzu mitai ni akushū hanachi" / "The once broken heart leaches on, reeking like the gooey melted cheese And it won't let go of anything"

"Warau hitomi" / "The laughing eyes"

"Oh in mind"

[yachi6969]

Miya Utsu-tsu

[ardour-87]

[aine-doine]

finding long-dormant blogs that have done preliminary research on the exact topic you are desperately trying to study - gotta be one of the most bittersweet experiences you can have on this website

this word is famously used in a poem from Ise Monogatari: 駿河なる 宇津の山べの うつつにも 夢にも人に あはぬなりけり "In Suruga Province, upon Mount Utsu, in neither reality, nor even in my dreams, can I meet you." The poem has a triple entendre, between the name of the mountain (utsu), which happens to be a homophone for depression (utsu), and the word reality (utsutsu). The author, exiled from his home, finds himself in a landscape that reflects his inner grief, at the situation in which he finds himself - in neither waking life nor in his dreams may he see the woman he loves. This is made all the more tragic when you consider that this poem was composed in the Heian era, when it was common knowledge that if you saw someone in your dreams, it meant they were thinking of you. He can no longer see his lover, because in his exile he is physically distant from her, but also because she has moved on, and is thus equally emotionally distant from him. @omoi-no-hoka if you are still out there, thank you for writing this original post! I never realised the significance of both 現 and 夢 being two sides of the same coin, or the history of 夢 originally being written as 寝見. If you see someone you don't recognise in your dreams, now you know it's me feverishly taking notes from your old tumblr posts.

JLPT Level: Unlisted (though the kanji is N3)

UGH omg I just realized there’s a typo in my example sentence and I can’t be bothered to go back and edit it, redownload it, and upload it. The に between 夢 and 間 should be a の. 

Corrected Version: 人間は現と夢の間に生きる。

Okay. Now that that’s fixed, on to the etymology. Utsutsu, by the way, is one of my favorite words in Japanese. 

現　present, existing, actual

On-yomi: gen

Kun-yomi: arawa.reru, arawa.su, utsutsu, utsu.tsu

This kanji is one of the most commonly used characters in Japanese (#85 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers). However, utsutsu is the rarest reading and you will likely only find it in literature and period works. I have only come across it twice I think. 

I did a LOT of searching about the etymology of utsutsu, and I couldn’t find any definite explanations. It seems that it contains many different nuances, such as:

The state of existing in the present

The state of being lucid and in reality (versus being in a dream)

The state in which dreams and reality blur

The state of being alive in this world (versus being dead)

Most commonly, utsutsu is used to refer to “the present reality of the world we live on” and the things that we can see before us with our own eyes.  

Perplexingly, while utsutsu and 夢 yume (dream) are regarded as separate states, they are not regarded as opposites. This is because they are both seen with our own eyes. (In fact, yume was originally 寝見 ime, things seen while asleep.) 

There are a couple phrases in which ututsu is used. 

現を抜かす

Utsutsu wo nukasu

To become so wrapped up on something that you lose touch with reality

うつらうつらと

utsura-utsura to

This onomatopoeia means “to nod off” or “be drowsy.”

The “utsu” in this word is said to come either from utsutsu, or from 虚ろ・空ろ utsuro (empty, blank) because of the blank stare people often wear when they are dozing off. 

夢うつつ、or 夢かうつつか

yume utsutsu, or yume ka utsutsu ka

Unable to distinguish whether what one is experiencing is a dream or reality

This is a difficult word that I haven’t 100% wrapped my head around, to be honest. I like that there is a word that manages to mean “reality” but also has nuances of “dream” in it, because I often wonder whether this existence is little more than a dream. 

[firis-chan]

[xbuster]

[chiisanahoshi]

[oratokyosaigunda]

Yume ka Utsutsu ka background for phone

[wsera8]

Today I read the first chapter "Senpai" of the new series from Io Sakisaka, Yume ka Utsutsu ka (ユメかウツツか), and as expected I immediately fell in love with the characters. Io Sakisaka will probably always be one of my favorite mangaka. ^^

It's about a student who has problems talking to other people. Maybe that's one of the reasons why I love this manga already. Because I had and sometimes still have problems with it. :(

But the student has her senpai at her side, she can talk to him as if they had been friends for ages, even though she's only met him once so far. 🤔

I really hope that I can hold this manga in my hands soon, but unfortunately Sakura Saku hasn't even been announced here yet, so for now I only have hope and no certainty.

[houkagokappa]

@ihearasound you managed to catch me during one of those rare occasions it's not pitch black where I live so here are my figures and artbooks! It's a bit messy, I should clean things up but overall I'm happy with what I've got :)

[yachi6969]

[ardour-87]

[x0401x]

[heartzz4catzz]

Take a break and listen to lamp

[xbuster]