日本人の知らない日本語

1. 日本人の知らない日本語 BY: Daniel Chung EPISODE 1

2. 日本の • In Japan, people are supposed to give up their seats to the elderly, pregnant women, and the handicapped/disabled. • In the Japanese custom you have to respect other people around you. • In addition to the Japanese custom, manners are another important things to respect other people.

3. ものの数え方 • Living things in Japanese is “ぴき” • Long and thin things in Japanese is “っポン” • - Straw is “一本”, ‘ippon’ • - Long, thin things are counted with “hon” • A snake is “一匹” ‘ippiki’. Because it’s alive. • Mobile suits are “ikki” (一機) • People are “hitori” and “futari”. Also people are somewhat called “ippiki”. They are not things. • Dogs are “ippiki” but elephant and horses are “ittou” (一頭). • In Chinese, all long things care counted with “jou” (条). Like rivers and snakes.

4. 鮪の加須え方 • When the Tuna is swimming is “一匹”, “ippiki” • When the Tuna is caught is “一本”, “ippon” • When the Tuna is first cut in the market is “一丁”,”icchou” • When the Tuna cut is cut up into further smaller pieces is “一ころ”,”hitokoro” • When it is cut like a thin card and packed in the supermarket it is “ひとさく”,”hitosaku” • When the tuna cut enters in your mouth is “一切れ”,”hitokire”

5. 中国と日本のかんじ • Japanese kanji in Tuna is “鮪”, “maguro” • Chinese kanji of saying “鮪” is Sturgeon • TUNA STURGEON

6. Foreigners in Japan • These are the laws • They are only able to work 28 hours a week • They can’t gamble • Any laws are broken, the punishment is getting deported

7. Kitchen materials in a resturant • The tool used to boil ramen is called ‘tebo’ (てぼ). • The rectangular plate which holds condiments and soy sauce is called • “yakumi shouyu zara” (やくみしょうゆざら/薬味醤油皿). Usually saying as “condiments and soy sauce plate” (薬味醤油皿). • “Murachoko”(むらちょこ), a plate, ‘choko’ and you put soy sauce ‘murasaki’ in is shortened to “murachoko”. • Murasaki (むらさき) is a type of soy sauce, and ‘choko’ (おちょこ) is a small cup.

8. Tea • Tea • - “agari” (あがり) is tea right after a meal • - “tebana” (てばな) is during the meal

9. Cooking tools in a resturant • Cooking tools • - The pan that is used with one hand is called “peking nabe” • (ぺきんなべ、北京鍋) • - The pan that is used with two hands is called “kanto nabe” • (かんとなべ) • - The large bucket is called “zundo” (ずんど). Some people have a big waist that has similar size with the bucket, so they say that have a “zundo” shape.

10. Dishwashing • Dishwashing • - Rinsing right away is saying ‘sugu susugu’ • - Rinsing every corner, right away is saying ‘sumizumi made sugu susugu’

11. EPISODE 2

12. 敬語 (KEIGO) • There are different keigo for different subjects • It is used to create more polite saying for certain customers in any resturant. • If you attach “narimasu” to a verb, you’ll make its respectable form. • ‘Otabekudasai’ - to eat. “Otabekudasai” is somewhat an improper keigo saying to eat. The respectiful form of ‘taberu’ is ‘meshiagaru’. • -‘Meshiagaru’ is a common respectful way of keigo. Some people say “meshiagaru kudasai” is most polite. • -“iru” (to be), “iku”(to go) and “kuru” (to come) is “irassharu”. • - ni narimasu means ‘to turn into’ at the end.

13. 敬語(Continued) • - “Welcome, hello”[いらっしゃいませ、こんにちわ(irasshaimase, konnichiwa)] is a wrong saying. “いらっしゃいませ” is welcome in a respectful way, “こんにちわ” is saying hello. You cannot use both of them together. So the correct phrase is “いらっしゃいませ” • - “This is Sichuan Tofu.”[こちらが四川麻ぼーどーふになります。(Kochira ga shisenfuu ma-bo-do-fu ni narimasu.)] is a wrong saying. Naru(なる) means “to change” so the correct phrase is “こちらがまぼどふでございます。” • - “Do you need any drinks?” [お飲み物はだいじょうぶですか？(Onomimono wa daijoubu desu ka?)],is wrong. You want to note you’re inconveniencing the customer but the correct phrase is “お飲み物はよろしいですか？”(Onomimono wa yoroshii desu ka?)

14. 敬語(Continued) • - “Anything else you’d like to order?” [ご注文のほうは以上でよろしかったでしょうか？], is wrong. “Hou”(ほう) is not needed. It has two meanings: • 1.) “A yori B no hou ga suki” (I like B than A)is used when comparing things. • 2.) “Tokyo no hou kara kimashita” (I’ve come from the Tokyo area) is when you want to be a bit more vague. • The correct saying is “Gochuumon wa ijou de yoroshii deshou ka?”(ご注文のは以上でよろしいでしょうか？） • - “I’ll take your 3,000 yen .” [お会計、三千円からお預かりします。] is wrong. You really want to say you’re taking three thouosand yen for something else so the correct phrase is “san sen en oazukarishimasu.” (三千円お預かりします。

15. EPISODE 3

16. ANCIENT HIRAGANA • In ancient Japan, the Japanese had a lot of hiragana that were based on kanji. • The modern Japanese hiragana is selected as one sound each. That means the other remaining old hiragana disappeared long time ago.

17. SELF INTRODUCTION 自己紹介 • When Introducing one’s self: • Name • And facts about yourself • Other sayings in Japanese • - ‘temee’ a vulgar of saying hello commonly used between guys. • - ‘shikato’ is a friendly way of saying ‘ignore’ in Japanese.

18. Yakuza and Hanafuda • やくざ, means gangsters • はなふだ、are gambling cards that Japanese people used to gamble. • Types of cards • The Japanese playing cards called ‘hanafuda’, has a card says ‘shikato’, meaning the card with the deer (shika)facing away from you. In a game its worth ten points. • -Deer= Shika and Ten = To, thus ‘Shikato’. • Gambling houses are called “bon”. • - It changed over time and now also means • a “dark (kurai) person”. • As a combination we get ‘bonkura’.

19. Yakuza and Hanafuda (continued) • -(‘hachi hachi’ pikaichi,) in the midst of the trash cards; there is card that is a very high scoring card, it is called ‘pikaichi’. • - ‘pikaichi means to find the one thing that shines above all else. • -‘Aka yoroshi’ it means an obvious goddess (akria ni yoroshii) • -‘Koi Koi’ means to keep the match going. Where the risk is higher where you lose or win more money

20. EPISODE 4

21. Kanji -漢字- • Kanji has a Chinese reading and Japanese reading. • ‘Kintama’, 金玉 means testicles • Japanese didn’t have alphabets so they learned Kanji from Chinese • ‘Wa’ ‘輪’ means circle in Chinese. • another saying for circle is ‘rin’. • ‘Sharin’ (車輪), ‘Sha’ (車) wheel • Furigana is hiragana placed above kanji for easier reading. • Foreingers learned kanji from reading manga. • Manga is a Japanese comic book for children to adults to read for entertainment.

22. Kanji -漢字- continued • ‘Honki’ -本気- “seriousness” is misused as ‘maji’ “serious”. • ‘Maji’ “serious” is read from manga. • ‘Doujinshi’ means fansize in a manga term. • Luke’s fansize manga contains incorrect reading of the kanji. • The one of the dialogue in the manga, Luke marked the kanji as “tomo”,friend, instead of “teki”, enemy. • ‘Shitsukoi’ normally means “to be insisted”. • ‘Shitsuren’ – 失恋– means unrequited love, ‘shitsukoi’ is an incorrect kanji reading. • Otaku is meaning someone with obsessive interests, usually in anime or games.

23. Kanji -漢字- continued • In Japan, speaking Japanese have different types to have a conversation with like standard Japanese. • However standard Japanese doesn’t exist anymore. • Standard Japanese is now considered Common Japanese. • ‘Akiba’ (Akiba is short for Akihabara) is where otaku from all around the world wants to visit. • ‘Tsundere’ means someone with a tough exterior but loving in the inside. • ‘Desu’ and ‘masu’ are standard Japanese endings. • Saying Standard Japanese sounds a little too cold between Japanese. • Standard Japanese is actually the result of powerful people in old Japan wanting a single way of speaking in Japanese. • But, the Japanese people usually use, natural Japanese that doesn’t sound like you’re telling people what to do.

24. Standard Japanese, (Hyoujun-go)標準語and Common Japanese, (Kyoutsu-go)共通語 • The ‘desu’ and the ‘masu’ was what geisha back in Edo used, spreading it across the whole country. • Geisha are cabaret girls of the past. • ‘Zamasu’,”to be” isn’t normally used, but it is an elegant style of speech. • It originated from courtesans. • Courtesans were beautiful and smart, they were like celebrities. • As an example “de arimasu” was originated from Yamaguchi. • Another example like “Hey you!” ‘oi kora’ wasn’t always used in anger, it started in Kagoshima as a way to get attention.

25. Standard Japanese, (Hyoujun-go)標準語 and Common Japanese, (Kyoutsu-go)共通語 • Japanese have different dialects before and still in use today. • Common Japanese is considered a various dialect language around the country. • OTHER NOTES • - ‘告白’,‘kokuhaku’ meaning confession, but as you read it is ‘告白’,‘yuuki’ meaning confidence.

26. EPISODE 5

27. Japanese Scary Stories • HALLOWEEN IN SUMMER SPECIAL • “zottosuru” means to shiver is used when you are afraid. • “zottosuru” is not used very often but it can also be used to represent times of strong feeling besides fear. • When you say “zottoshinai”, ‘ぞっとしない‘ ,an expression of denial, it means “not to be impressed” or “to not think it’s interesting”. • Scary stories are something that Japan always do in Summer.

28. Japanese Scary Stories -continued • ‘Katori’, ‘取’ has ‘tori’, 耳 ‘mimi’means ear. It is because, in the past, during wars, as proof you killed an enemy you take their ear. • ‘Douro’, ‘道’means road has a kanji for neck in it 首. In one theory is that to perform exorcisms, they would carry freshly severed heads down the road. • ‘Ken’, ‘県’ means prefecture. This kanji character is derived from a character ‘kyou’ we don’t use anymore. ‘Kyou’ form the derived kanji from ‘Ken’, prefecture, means it is the upside down version of a severed head. • Other Notes • ‘Oyasan’ means landlord • Foreigners lack the belief of the Japanese culture where the Japanese people, who respects it get angry.

29. EPISODE 6

30. NOTES • “Ki nihairanai” is the incorrect kanji reading of “kiniiranai” means to not be pleased. • ‘Yoku’ means often. • ‘Tamatama’ means casually • ‘Tama ni’ means occasionally • ‘Tokidoki’ is different for ‘tama ni’ • The adverbs that Haruko taught to her students is used when it all talks about different frequencies.

31. Counters for drinking tea • Someone who drinks black tea everyday, always, “itsumo” (いつも), drinks. • Someone who drinks it 5 times a week, generally, “taitei” (たいてい), drinks. • 4 times a week, often,“yoku” (よく), drinks. • 3 times a week, sometimes, “tokidoki” (ときどき), drinks. • Someone who doesn’t drink, never ,“zenzen” (ぜんぜん), drinks.

32. Other mistaken sayings of Japanese • When you write “ushi no chichi” (milk of cow), you read it as “gyuunyuu” (milk). • “Ureshiku” means pleased. • “Tanoshiku” means happy. • Both “ureshii” and “tanoshii” are used to represent diffrerent lengths of happiness. • “Tanoshii” is used to represent a longer time of happiness than “ureshii”. • Other Notes • As for ninja, Kunoichi , 女, means female ninja. • Ninjas are good at math • Ex. When a ninja wanted to find out how deep a moat was to measure the height of the reed, then measures how long it took it for the reed to submerge when pulled forward. • He or she would use the Pythagorean Theorem to figure it out.

33. NINJA -忍者- • As for ninja, Kunoichi , 女, means female ninja. • Ninjas are good at math • Ex. When a ninja wanted to find out how deep a moat was to measure the height of the reed, then measures how long it took it for the reed to submerge when pulled forward. • He or she would use the Pythagorean Theorem to figure it out. • Other notes of the episode • ‘Yakubusoku’ means satisfaction or not good enough • ‘chikarabusoku’ means skills

34. EPISODE 7

35. Color • ‘In Japan, Japanese people use blue color as green. • Ex. They call green traffic lights, blue lights, ‘aoishingou’ in Japan. • Also even green veggies, they call them blue ‘aona’. • Bok choy has a character for blue. Even though its green. • Characters like: “gunjouiro” ‘blue’, “seijiiro” ‘light green’ , “aokuchiba” ‘green’, “aotakeiro” ‘dark green’, “sei tai”‘black’. These characters used blue back in the day. • Back in the day, blue ‘青’ was used for all those different colors. • The character for green didn’t originally represent a color. Originally, the character for green represented the budding youth of plants. • For example a glossy hair is called “greenish black hair” and newborn baby is called a “green child”. • The character for green actually represents youth. • Japanese drawing of the sun is always red.

36. Love Interest • ‘Yamato nadeshiko’ means ideal Japanese woman • Some Japanese women only look for appearance especially from the foreigners. • Some Japanese women doesn’t understand how some foreigners feel about their personality.

37. EPSIODE 8

38. More information about Keigo • The three step method of keigo • For honorific language • First, use passive voice. • Second, add “ninarimasu” to the verb. • Third, use a special form. • As in result, the respect level goes up. • The keigo is based on the honorific position. • For example: - “The section chief eats”, is used by a passive voice • - “The department head eats”, is used by a verb + ninarimasw • - “The president eats”, is used in a special form • The special form is when you’re trying to be respectful and the word actually changes.

39. More information about Keigo -continued- • “iu” ‘言う’ becomes “ossharu” ‘おっしゃる’and “suru” ‘する’ is “nasaru” ‘なさる’. • Other Notes • Sen no Rikyu , the original master of tea ceremony • 和 ‘wa’ means harmony • 敬 ‘kei’ means respect • 清 ‘sei’ means peace • 寂 ‘jaku’ means tranquility • In the tea ceremony terms • - Harmony and respect mean to open your heart to others and respect each other. • - Peace and tranquility mean to not violate the tea house and preserve the pure ways of the ceremony.

40. EPISODE 9

41. Vagueness of Japanese • The ‘hashi’, chopsticks, you use when you eat rice. The “ha” has an accent. • ‘hashi’ over the bridge has a accent on the ‘shi’. • The ‘ii’ can mean by saying yes or no, depending on the situation. • ‘ii kagendesu ne’, ‘いい加減ですね’. Use ‘tekitou’ meaning appropriate instead of ‘ii kagen’. ‘ii kagen’ has more negative context usually. • Using ‘to ka’ in a question, which means “among other things”. • Using ‘kamo’, which indicates probability. • Japanese has many vague expressions • ‘yabai’, usually means bad but it can also mean “good” in certain context. • ‘ukeru’, usually means to “to get” but can also mean “interesting” in certain context.

42. Vagueness of Japanese -continued- • The answer to the question, about the confusion of the vagueness of Japanese, is that there is no clear answer. • The vagueness of Japanese is something that foreigner has to get used to when they learning Japanese. • Back in the day, there were a group of people worried about the vagueness of Japanese. • These people who were worried were the Portuguese missionaries came to Japan in the 16th century. • They were worried about the pronunciation of “pa-pi-pu-pe-po” letters, which basically the p-sound. • Originally the circle mark that marks p-sounds was not in Japan. • Even Japanese then figured out how to read things by the context. • The term for いかた(with the circle mark) is actually said ‘ikata’ meaning moulds. • The current term for moulds is ‘igata’.

43. Vagueness of Japanese -continued- • The Portuguese used the circle to mark a p-sound also. • The “pa-pi-pu-pe-po” circle came from the Portuguese. • They used the circle to definitely mark it. • From the vagueness of Japanese; it is not important to make everything so clear. • There is a reason Japanese is vague. Japanese respects the concept of harmony and sometimes avoids definite statements out of consideration to the other party. • Since they are important, you stay vague and sometimes avoid even meeting them altogether. • The Portuguese missionaries, probably couldn’t give up on talking to people. To figure out the Japanese, they had to go to headfirst into the culture. • So because of that, we have the tiny circle that still exist even today.

44. EPISODE 10

45. Same but different word meanings • ‘Surume’ and ‘atarime’ are the same thing. • One thing there are different is that ‘suru’ in ‘surume’ has a bad meaning. • In this case, the ‘suru’ means to lose money. • The words with a bad meaning are actually taboo. • ‘Imi’, 忌み, meaning taboo, means something to hate. • These words were replaced with a happier version. • “Atari” means to be on the mark • Like other words, ‘sashimi’ can be ‘otsukuri’. The ‘sasu’, meaning to cut is a scary word. • ‘Owaru’, means to end, doesn’t sound all that good so, you end a marriage ceremony with ‘ohiraki’. • ‘Ohiraki’ contains the character meaning ‘to open’.

46. Same but different word meanings –continued- • When people worry about the bad meanings, they actually change the word. • In the West, 13 is actually an unlucky number. • In Italy 17 is a bad omen, which it signals death. • Numbers 4 and 5 are bad in China. 4 sounds like ‘su’ meaning death and 5 sounds like ‘uu’ meaning nothingness. • Other notes • - the pathway to the shrine right under the gate is called “sandou”, 参道 • - the exact middle of the path, the “seichuu”,正中, is the path the god walks. • - Hachiko is a famous statue of a dog in Shibuya • - Actually there different types of statue that is similar like the statue that opens its mouth widely is a lion and the statue mouth closed is a dog. • A place where you wash your hands is called “chouzudokoro”,‘手水所’ • You cleanse your body by washing your hands.

47. The Shrine • Steps to worship in a shrine. • - One, throw in the money • - Two, ring the bell, which it calls the god • - Three, bow twice • - Four, clap your hands twice • - Five, pray • - And lastly, when you are done praying, bow again • Luck has its own order • From excellent luck 大吉> average luck 中吉> little luck 小吉> luck 吉 > uncertain luck 未吉 > bad luck 凶 > terrible luck大凶 • Terrible luck can sometimes can change into a good luck , if you work hard to succeed to get the good luck.

48. EPISODE 11

49. Other mistaken types of words • “yabai” means awesome, “uzai” means annoying, “panikurk” means panicked. They are all young people language. So they are colloquialisms. • Basically since they’re slang, you cannot use them as answers. • The new words were invented by young people. • “Yurai” means basis. • “Panikuru” actually came from the English word, “panic”. • “Uzai” came from “uzattai”, a regional dialect word. • There were a swarm of insects in Hachiko, Tokyo, so they used “uzattai” to describe it. So it spread all over the country and then got shortened to “uzai”. • There are a lot of theories about “yabai”, but they had archery ranges in Edo Japan, which were called “yaba”. • But behind the scenes, they actually operated as sex shops. • Dangerous places started to be called “yabai”.

50. Other mistaken types of words • “O-kazoku” means honorable family. To put it simply, use ‘o’ with the Japanese readings, ‘go’ with the Chinese ones. • “Go-shisoku” and “okosan” both mean child. • “okosan” may sound nicer than the other word, but the words using ‘o’ actually were made by women. They were known as courtesan words. • Courtesan words are words used by women who served in the court during the Muromachi period. • ‘onara’ means fart can be said in one word as ‘he’. • It sounded crude so, they took ’nasaru’means to make a sound and added ‘o’ in front of it. So as in result it becomes “onara”. • Also the inside ‘naka’ of the body, becomes stomach ‘onaka’. Rice balls ‘nigirimeshi’ plus ‘o’ becomes ‘onigiri’.