Category Archives: get used to it!

Cool Custom – 差し入れ

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Anyone who has worked in Japan in some capacity knows that there are a lot of social functions outside of work that actually semi-count as work. Welcome parties, end of year parties, new year parties, farewell parties. They serve to confirm that you are part of the group, and the free-flowing booze loosens lips, allowing sensitive topics to be discussed in a relaxed atmosphere.

The one problem with these parties is that they are expensive. In the small town where I worked, they cost at least 3000 yen (roughly $30) but were usually 5000 yen ($50). You get a nice dinner and as much beer as you are comfortable with. I went with the junior high school, sometimes the elementary schools, the people at the apartment building where I lived, and the Board of Education. As you can imagine, the cost adds up, especially around the end of the calendar and academic year.

I rarely refused for financial reasons, but I know other teachers who did. I was sometimes unable to go due to scheduling conflicts, but I felt really bad when I couldn’t attend – the parties were fun, and I was in a small enough town (8000 people) that finding a way to socialize was difficult. During the farewell party for the junior high school in my third year, I noticed that the young computer tech guy was carrying a giant bottle of nihonshu. At some point he stood up and announced that the head tech guy, who was not present, had given it as a 差し入れ. That was when it clicked. He couldn’t make it to the party for whatever reason, so he left a present instead. If only I had known that throughout my time in the town.

差し入れ (さしいれ), which literally means “insert,” can be considered a kind of preemptive omiyage of sorts. Often it’s given when you can’t attend an event, and in those cases it’s usually liquor. It’s a fantastic custom! It shows that you really wanted to participate, it probably costs less than the meal, and your coworkers will gush over you once they’re nice and boozed up and finally make it to your bottle.

Nihonshu and shochu are both appropriate 差し入れ for parties, but I recommend shochu since it can be split between more drinks and watered down for people who don’t drink that much. It will also increase your 渋い factor.

差し入れ are appropriate in other situations, too. If you know someone is studying or working overtime, bring them some coffee. It looks like people also give it to contractors doing work on their house, in which case nikuman, warm oshibori, or coffee are all winners.

Everyone knows about omiyage, but I feel like 差し入れ are somewhat uncharted. Hugely useful. Win friends and influence people with this cool custom.

Cool Compound – 四捨五入

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I learned a cool age-related compound yesterday. One of my roommates asked me how old I was, and when I answered she said, "Ah, you 四捨五入 to 30." I had to get her to write out the kanji before I could wrap my head around the pronunciation, and then show some actual examples with numbers before I understood the concept. My age rounds up to 30. (Not that this is a new phenomenon; I’ve rounded to thirty for a whole year, now, but I think it was the first time she realized it. It makes us 仲間 somehow, since she rounds down to 30.) 四捨五入 (ししゃごにゅう) seems like a long, complex way to say rounding, but that’s how they do it here, so get used to it.

Walking Phones

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From the very beginning, I’ve been begging all of you to just get used to things. You’ll never be able to think in English and then equate those words one by one into Japanese. It’s just never going to happen. Japanese is too different from English.

Rather than thinking in English and recognizing things in terms of English words, try to imagine entire circumstances and then associate Japanese patterns with those situations.

I am guilty of often using the very English-y 聞こえません when I can’t hear someone on the phone. I think this pattern is probably fine structurally and in terms of conveying meaning, but Japanese has another great pattern that’s perfect for this situation – 電話が遠い (でんわがとおい).

This pattern removes all people from the equation and blames the phone itself! “Excuse me, sir, but your phone has run off, and I am having trouble hearing you. Please fetch it, and then we can continue our conversation.”

So, the pattern you should be using is, 「すみません、電話が遠い(ん)ですが」 Adding that little ん in there will make you sound really natural.

This pattern, like 取ってください, takes some warming up to, I believe. Try and force yourself to use it.

Take it (for me)

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取ってください。

I steadfastly refused to believe that phrase existed for a long time. I’m not sure why. I think there was a barrier somewhere in my head blocking the logic connection. Getting used to it helped remove that barrier, and now I’m cool.

取る (とる) is often used with “take” verb patterns. Take vacation, take time, etc. So I think that prevented me from realizing that while it does mean take something (in this case, whatever object you are pointing at / put before it with を), but it also means “and give it to me.” Altogether it means “pass.” It’s one of those patterns you learn your first year in class, but for some reason I never got used to it until now. Maybe it has something to do with sharing a small apartment between a large number of people – it’s easier to pass things than to forever shuffle around すみませんing.

With friends you can say the casual 〜を取って, but make sure to add the ください at the office or with people significantly older than you.

I logged this entry under passive. Get it?

お疲れ様

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お疲れ様 (おつかれさま) might be the ultimate “get used to it” phrase. I hear it all the time these days – when anyone returns to the office from an outing we say it to them, I say it to everyone before I leave work, I say it to the guy who empties the trash, I say it to someone if they are leaving.

I’ve started saying it a lot more than I used to, partly because I hear it so much. I did hear it in Nishiaizu, too – when I paid my bills, after I got back from elementary school, when I left school – but it gets used a lot more now.

I guess it literally means something like “You look tired,” but a more accurate translation is, “Thank you for your efforts,” which I learned from Kitakata Alan. That effectively expresses the idea that it is a set phrase used when someone completes something. If you look at the times when it is said, it is generally at the point where one activity ends and another begins. You can emphasize this by making it past tense – お疲れさまでした. If, on the other hand, people are still working (i.e. the activity has not reached completion), then you can say お疲れさまです.

Perhaps the best, most ritualized example of this is at elementary school. The kids all do the cleaning themselves after lunch. Sixth graders run groups of kids from all grade levels. All the groups line up and begin cleaning by collectively yelling, お願いします. They end the cleaning by saying, ご苦労様（くろうさま）でした, which is just a more casual way of saying お疲れさまでした. I would always air on the side of お疲れさま, since it is more formal.

Try not to think of the meaning too much. Focus on the situation when it is being said and then try to notice when a similar occasion arises, so that you can use it. And say it a lot, just kind of throw it out there sometimes.

Airbag Expressions 3

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I’ve talked about how Airbag Expressions can be used to ask for something and also how they can be used to breach a topic. I also wrote about emailing with Japanese people and how stating your name is almost like an Airbag Expression. Here are a few more Airbag Expressions.

The following three Airbag Expressions are stronger that the rest I’ve introduced: 正直（しょうじき）に言うと, はっきり言えば, and 強いて（しいて）言えば. These all warn that you are about to state a frank and honest opinion, which is often frowned upon in Japan. You have been warned.

正直に is an adverb meaning “honestly,” and 言う is “to say,” so in English this is something like, “To be (perfectly) honest, ~ .” You might say something like 「正直に言うと、東京より田舎のほうが住みやすいと思います。」 “To be honest, I think it’s easier to live in the countryside than in Tokyo.”

はっきり means “clear” and 言えば is a conjugation of 言う, which you could translate as “If I were to say” or “When I say it.” If we make that into more Englishy English, we might use “To put it clearly” or “To say it straight.” I always remember this line from the movie Tampopo. The two drivers try Tampopo’s ramen at the beginning of the movie, and when she asks them what they think, the cowboy hems and haws, but Ken Watanabe comes straight out and says 「はっきり言えば、まずいです。」

The final phrase is the strongest of all. I’m sure many of you recognize the character 強 from the adjective つよい. Well, it’s also used in the verb しいる. This verb is used in its gerund form to modify 言う, just like はっきり and 正直に. To be honest, I’m not quite sure what the verb 強いる means on its own, but it’s always perfectly clear what 強いて言えば means from context – 「強いて言えば、日本の英語教育が冗談（じょうだん）みたいです。」A quick Google search reveals this blog entry with the title 「強いて言えばココがヘンだよ！」

All of these phrases function grammatically in a very similar way to the previous Airbag Expressions, but they are warning people of something different and, depending on what kind of opinions you have, perhaps more shocking. Careful about which opinions you are revealing, but if you are going to reveal them, use one of these.

How to Find Stuff

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The other day at work I was faced with a challenge – a phrase made up of individual words I recognized, but whose collective meaning I didn’t know and wasn’t available in ALC.

The phrase was – 「HIPHOP界のカリスマband name」　It doesn’t matter what the band name is. I understood a good bit of this phrase. HIPHOP was very clear, as was 界. Together they mean “the hip-hop world/industry.” You often see the word 業界 (ぎょうかい), which means a given industry. You can change the 業 to a more specific kanji/word to make it specific – e.g. HIPHOP界, 音楽界, 文学界, etc. カリスマ is also relatively straight forward; it should mean something like “charisma.”  

The strange thing about this phrase is that HIPHOP界のカリスマ all modifies the band, but there’s no な or の connecting the phrase to the band name. At first I thought “charisma” might be part of the band name or some other musician, but it didn’t turn up any searches, so I figured it had to be modifying the band.

Google to the rescue. I tried a search for 「HIPHOP界のカリスマ」, but nothing helpful turned up. I tried image searching and a picture of Eminem came up, as well as some other Japanese hip-hoppers.

That’s when I realized what to search for – 「界のカリスマ」 This gave me tons of different results – ヨガ界のカリスマ、映画界のカリスマ、ファション界のカリスマ. All of these phrases modify different individuals who are all at the top of their respective industry. This I realized when I clicked on the result for 音楽界のカリスマ任天堂の近藤浩治氏. He’s the guy who did all the music for Mario, Zelda and some other Nintendo games. He’s the master.

A few google searches and I figured out that this is the way they say someone is at the top of the industry – someone is, I guess, the "charisma" of their industry. I translated it as the phrase “band name, currently at the top of the hip hop world.” A very strange phrase, and I think there is probably a better way to translate it. I’m just glad I understand it now.

Cool Compound – 購入

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I remember seeing 購入（こうにゅう） in an email at some point during my third year of study and being significantly confused. At that point I didn’t have enough experience to realize that 購入 was simply 買う in a more complicated disguise – think "purchase" instead of "buy."

Friday Puzzle – This Picture is an Image, Clearly Answer

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I had a record number of entries (6!) for this weeks puzzle! Lots of interesting ideas. I’ll go through them.

Robyn suggested “Serving suggestion,” which he said was from Australia. I like the efficiency (it was the shortest answer), but it sounds more like a recommended amount of food (e.g. one cup, two doughnuts, 27 Miller Lites) than a warning about possible misrepresentation.

Brian suggested “Enlarged to show texture,” which is so awesome and sensuous (mmm…texture) and sounds very familiar to me, but the “enlarged” part takes more license than I would like.

Kiyoe offered the excellent “This is an artistic representation of the product,” which may have been the sole winner had she submitted it as “Artistic Representation, but…

The winner for serious answers goes to Aleisha, Kiyoe and Randall, who all suggested slight variations on the traditional, “Actual product may vary.” I’m feeling generous, so instead of random selection, I’ll give a beer to everyone. This phrase is, if you think about it hard enough, just as strange as 「写真は、イメージです」 Seriously, how much will this product actually vary? And in what way will it vary? I hope not too much.

I was disappointed with everyone’s attempts at humor. Thomas’ “Your Mileage May Vary” came closest, so he gets a can of 発泡酒 (or Miller Lite, whichever he prefers).

I leave you with a bunch of “proz” discussing this term. (Strangely enough, another Morales raised the question!) If you ask me, they’re all just a bunch of toolz. You guys did much better.

More Warning Signs

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I spent the last couple of months apartment hunting in Tokyo. At first I hoped to get my own apartment, but after realizing that would require an initial payment of $3000 plus to an agency, I started to look for a roomshare.

Fortunately, there are some nice websites out there. I replied to several ads and even put up one of my own. I ended up exchanging a lot of emails with Japanese people, and the thing that surprised me was that in nearly all cases, they began mails with 「last nameです」 or 「first nameです」, so 「田中です」 or 「洋平です」 This continued no matter how many emails we exchanged, which I thought was weird at first. Of course I knew who the person was. Did they really think I had forgotten?

I eventually started thinking of it in terms of airbag phrases; it’s just a polite way to begin a Japanese email, a warning sign of sorts, one that’s used on the phone as well. Does it require a translation or easily identifiable English equivalent? Hell no. Get used to it.