Friday, December 10, 2010
Are Japanese wives too forgiving of their husbands' love affairs ??
I often hear non-Japanese living in Japan saying that they can't at all understand the attitudes of Japanese wives toward their husbands' love affairs. The non-Japanese wonder why the betrayals don't often make wives determined to divorce, and insist that Japanese wives are too forgiving of their husbands' love affairs. I don't think that younger wives try to shut their eyes to their husbands' love affairs like the older generations did. However, I have to admit that traditional ideas which help men glamorize or rationalize their love affairs still remain in society and younger women.
According to a survey, wives tend to condone their husbands' love affairs because they think that the affairs can put them in a stronger position and they can wear the pants in the relationship. Come to think of it, a few female friends of mine told me in the past that if they found that their husbands were cheating on them, they would never divorce because not letting their husbands go is would be the best revenge. Needless to say, there are other reasons why wives try to forget their husbands' love affairs or let them pass. Actually, the very definition of love affairs is very ambiguous and totally depends on the person. As a matter of fact, some women say that wouldn't mind if their husband slept with a prostitute, however, they would mind if their husband regularly had dinner with another woman. Some insist that they don't allow their husbands to go to bars where women called hostesses sit next to them and talk (sometimes flirt) with them. Some would feel uncomfortable if their husbands go to dinner with another woman, just the two of them, even if it's something like stopping at a cafe to grab something with their female coworker after they work late.
No one will know what to do until the time comes.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Have you heard of Manzai/漫才? --The top 10 words describing the Japan of 2010：final
Recently, I've been writing about the top 10 winners of the 2010 new words and buzzwords contest.(If you are interested in finding more information about them, please see the links below). Finally, there is only one left. However, I'm still wondering whether or not I'll try to explain the last one: 「ととのいました/totonoi mashita」. Actually, it's very challenging to explain it.
Part1: http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010.html
Part:2:http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010_05.html
Part1: http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010.html
Part:2:http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010_05.html
Part3: http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010_06.html
Part4: http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010_08.html
Have you heard of Manzai/漫才? This is a Japanese tradition and a sort of stand-up comedy. Generally, two people form a group and name it. They make up funny stories and perform talks about the stories. We refer to the people as Manzaishi/漫才師(Manzai comedians in English). The stories, speaking styles and speaking tempo, and rhythms will decide how funny Manzai comedians and Manzai groups are. It usually takes at least ten years to be able to make a living as Manzai comedians. Please see the You Tube video below. One of the two Manzai comedians (the shorter one) there is what Takeshi Kitano/北野武 was about 30 years ago. Although he is currently well known as a film director in foreign countries, especially France, he became very popular as a Manzai comedian in Japan. He insists that he is still a comedian.
Anyway, Japanese people always love Manzai, regardless of the times. In the past 15 years, Manzai comedians have become necessary for TV shows. Popular comedians tend to be used as MCs there. In variety TV shows, their humor greatly helps the shows gain popularity. Under these circumstances, a lot of Manzai comedians are struggling to survive. New styles of Manzai pop up one after another. This year, the Manzai group called Wコロン/W koron, which consists of two people, has become very popular by means of using the Japanese traditional word game called 謎かけ/nazo kake. The aforementioned phrase/ととのいました is the one which a member of the Manzai group always says before presenting 謎かけ.
As for 謎かけ/nazo kake, I'll try to explain it a little, although I'm not sure if my explanation is good enough to help you understand it. As I mentioned above, 謎かけ is a sort of word game. Homophones are often used in 謎かけ. When you play 謎かけ, you instantly have to present two short phrases and what the two phrases have in common. There is a patten to 謎かけ
The patten is:
XXXとかけて/XXX to kakete,
XXXと解く/XXX to toku,
その心はXXX /sono kokoro wa XXXX
EX:
「テレビ」とかけて、
「TV sets」とかけて、
「抜け毛が気になる人」と解く。
「people who care about their hair loss」と解く。
その心は「どちらも、どんどん”薄く”なってく」
その心は「Both TV sets and their hair are becoming thin.」
Part4: http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010_08.html
Have you heard of Manzai/漫才? This is a Japanese tradition and a sort of stand-up comedy. Generally, two people form a group and name it. They make up funny stories and perform talks about the stories. We refer to the people as Manzaishi/漫才師(Manzai comedians in English). The stories, speaking styles and speaking tempo, and rhythms will decide how funny Manzai comedians and Manzai groups are. It usually takes at least ten years to be able to make a living as Manzai comedians. Please see the You Tube video below. One of the two Manzai comedians (the shorter one) there is what Takeshi Kitano/北野武 was about 30 years ago. Although he is currently well known as a film director in foreign countries, especially France, he became very popular as a Manzai comedian in Japan. He insists that he is still a comedian.
Anyway, Japanese people always love Manzai, regardless of the times. In the past 15 years, Manzai comedians have become necessary for TV shows. Popular comedians tend to be used as MCs there. In variety TV shows, their humor greatly helps the shows gain popularity. Under these circumstances, a lot of Manzai comedians are struggling to survive. New styles of Manzai pop up one after another. This year, the Manzai group called Wコロン/W koron, which consists of two people, has become very popular by means of using the Japanese traditional word game called 謎かけ/nazo kake. The aforementioned phrase/ととのいました is the one which a member of the Manzai group always says before presenting 謎かけ.
As for 謎かけ/nazo kake, I'll try to explain it a little, although I'm not sure if my explanation is good enough to help you understand it. As I mentioned above, 謎かけ is a sort of word game. Homophones are often used in 謎かけ. When you play 謎かけ, you instantly have to present two short phrases and what the two phrases have in common. There is a patten to 謎かけ
The patten is:
XXXとかけて/XXX to kakete,
XXXと解く/XXX to toku,
その心はXXX /sono kokoro wa XXXX
EX:
「テレビ」とかけて、
「TV sets」とかけて、
「抜け毛が気になる人」と解く。
「people who care about their hair loss」と解く。
その心は「どちらも、どんどん”薄く”なってく」
その心は「Both TV sets and their hair are becoming thin.」
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The top 10 words describing the Japan of 2010--part:4 無縁社会/ society where people hardly care about others
In this post, I'll talk about 「無縁社会/munen-syakai」which was ranked in the top 10 in the 2010 new words and buzzwords contest. The results were announced about a week ago. I've described eight out of the ten in my previous posts. If you are interested in them, please see the links below.
Part1: http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010.html
Part:2:http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010_05.html
Part1: http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010.html
Part:2:http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010_05.html
Part3: http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010_06.html
「無縁社会/munen-syakai」started being used by NHK, the public broadcasting network, in its documentary program about serious social issues. Before I explain the phrase, I'll talk about social background.
In the past (maybe up to three decades ago), there were three strong ties in the Japanese society. These ties prevented people from being isolated, even if they were bad at socializing. The first one was family ties (家族の絆/Kazoku no kizuna or 血縁/ketsuen in this context). Needless to say, nowadays, there are still family ties. However, the ties have been less helpful to make strong relationships among family members since nuclear families consisting of a married couple and their children became very common about thirty years ago. On top of that, the number of single households, regardless of age, has been sharply increasing in the past decade. After you marry, neither your parents/in-laws nor you want to live together, even when they become very old, which is a current trend.
The second one is ties among neighbors (地縁/chien in this context). In the past, people always cared about their neighbors. Some often stuck their noses in others' business in a positive way, meanwhile some fed on misery. Sometimes, you probably felt that your neighbors were annoyingly meddlesome or that they tried to pry into your business. Also, you were annoyed with rumors that gossipy neighbors blurted out. Still, the ties played a certain role in making people not feel lonely.
Recently, the ties have been disappearing from society, especially in large cities. People prefer surface relationships with their neighbors. On top of that, the concept of privacy started to be taken into more account. People started minding their own business. The Personal Information Protect Law/個人情報保護法, which went for effect in 2005, has increased the tendency of respecting privacy. I feel like these factors discourage people from asking someone if he/she needs help and asking for help.
The last one is ties among colleagues at work (社縁/syaen in this context). Until twenty years ago, people usually worked many years for a single company. This was a Japanese tradition. Companies were like big families. Co-workers knew each other very well. Employers cared about their employees and employees' families. It has been said that companies played an important role in social welfare which was supposed to be provided by the government.
Both the current prolonged recession and the popularity of western management systems have changed people's attitude toward work for the past decade. Although the tradition still remains in companies, I don't think that employees try to develop deep relationships with their co-workers like they used to.
So, the phrase 無縁社会 (無 means nothing, 縁 means bonds, ties etc, 社会 means society) indicates the society which is losing these ties or where people hardly care about others, suggesting a tendency for people to avoid deep relationships. As a result, more people feel lonely although they can contact anyone they want anytime via various devices.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/special/onair/100131.html
Nowadays, more and more people, regardless of age, die alone. To make matters worse, when they die alone at home, it often takes someone a while to start wondering about them and find them. How sad!
「無縁社会/munen-syakai」started being used by NHK, the public broadcasting network, in its documentary program about serious social issues. Before I explain the phrase, I'll talk about social background.
In the past (maybe up to three decades ago), there were three strong ties in the Japanese society. These ties prevented people from being isolated, even if they were bad at socializing. The first one was family ties (家族の絆/Kazoku no kizuna or 血縁/ketsuen in this context). Needless to say, nowadays, there are still family ties. However, the ties have been less helpful to make strong relationships among family members since nuclear families consisting of a married couple and their children became very common about thirty years ago. On top of that, the number of single households, regardless of age, has been sharply increasing in the past decade. After you marry, neither your parents/in-laws nor you want to live together, even when they become very old, which is a current trend.
The second one is ties among neighbors (地縁/chien in this context). In the past, people always cared about their neighbors. Some often stuck their noses in others' business in a positive way, meanwhile some fed on misery. Sometimes, you probably felt that your neighbors were annoyingly meddlesome or that they tried to pry into your business. Also, you were annoyed with rumors that gossipy neighbors blurted out. Still, the ties played a certain role in making people not feel lonely.
Recently, the ties have been disappearing from society, especially in large cities. People prefer surface relationships with their neighbors. On top of that, the concept of privacy started to be taken into more account. People started minding their own business. The Personal Information Protect Law/個人情報保護法, which went for effect in 2005, has increased the tendency of respecting privacy. I feel like these factors discourage people from asking someone if he/she needs help and asking for help.
The last one is ties among colleagues at work (社縁/syaen in this context). Until twenty years ago, people usually worked many years for a single company. This was a Japanese tradition. Companies were like big families. Co-workers knew each other very well. Employers cared about their employees and employees' families. It has been said that companies played an important role in social welfare which was supposed to be provided by the government.
Both the current prolonged recession and the popularity of western management systems have changed people's attitude toward work for the past decade. Although the tradition still remains in companies, I don't think that employees try to develop deep relationships with their co-workers like they used to.
So, the phrase 無縁社会 (無 means nothing, 縁 means bonds, ties etc, 社会 means society) indicates the society which is losing these ties or where people hardly care about others, suggesting a tendency for people to avoid deep relationships. As a result, more people feel lonely although they can contact anyone they want anytime via various devices.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/special/onair/100131.html
Nowadays, more and more people, regardless of age, die alone. To make matters worse, when they die alone at home, it often takes someone a while to start wondering about them and find them. How sad!
Monday, December 6, 2010
The top 10 words describing the Japan of 2010--part3: 脱小沢/ 食べるラー油/ ～なう
For the past few days, I have been talking about the top 10 winners of the 2010 new words and buzzwords contest which were announced a several days ago. I've already described five of them (Please see the links below).Today, I'll talk about three of one's remaining,
http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010.html
http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010_05.html
1.脱小沢/datsu Ozawa
As you may know, there was a political power shift in Japan 15 months ago. It was the first full-fledged shift since 1955. Since the event was remarkable, 「政権交代/ the political power shift / the change of power/administration」won first place in the same contest last year. From 1955 to 2009, the Liberal Democratic Party/自由民主党 had taken power. In August last year, the Democratic Party of Japan/民主党 won in a landslide victory, and Mr.Yukio Hatoyama/鳩山由紀夫 was inaugurated as Prime Minster. However, during the Hatoyama administration, it was frequently reported that the administration was controlled by the power-broker, Mr.Ichiro Ozawa/小沢一郎, not by PM Hotoyama. Actually, it has been said for many years that Mr. Ozawa is an influential politician and deserves to be the PM. However, the public is skeptical of him largely because there is always bad news surrounding him, such as receiving illegal contributions.
In June this year, Mr.Hatoyama was forced to step down as PM under great pressure, and then Mr. Naoto Kan/管直人 assumed power. The public expected Mr.Kan to appoint cabinet members who were distant from Mr.Ozawa. Because of that, the current cabinet members aren't influenced as much of Mr. Ozawa. Whenever the administration is being discussed, the phrase/脱小沢 comes up. 脱/datsu indicates 脱する/get out of etc. So, 脱小沢 means removing Ozawa's influence.
2.食べるラー油
It was very hard to buy for a while because of a production bottleneck due to the surge in popularity. I talked about it a month ago. Please see the link below.
3.～なう/.....now
It comes from the English word "now". It means that "Now, I'm doing......." etc. A high school boy started using it on Twitter, and then it exploded in popularity. The surge in popularity of Twitter made the phrase become very popular. On Twitter, you can always see sentences including ～なう such as:
-New York なう/ Now, I'm in NY.
-京都なう /Now, I'm in Kyoto.
-会議なう /Now, I'm having a meeting.
-勉強しているなう or 勉強なう/Now, I'm studying.
http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010.html
http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-words-describing-japan-of-2010_05.html
1.脱小沢/datsu Ozawa
As you may know, there was a political power shift in Japan 15 months ago. It was the first full-fledged shift since 1955. Since the event was remarkable, 「政権交代/ the political power shift / the change of power/administration」won first place in the same contest last year. From 1955 to 2009, the Liberal Democratic Party/自由民主党 had taken power. In August last year, the Democratic Party of Japan/民主党 won in a landslide victory, and Mr.Yukio Hatoyama/鳩山由紀夫 was inaugurated as Prime Minster. However, during the Hatoyama administration, it was frequently reported that the administration was controlled by the power-broker, Mr.Ichiro Ozawa/小沢一郎, not by PM Hotoyama. Actually, it has been said for many years that Mr. Ozawa is an influential politician and deserves to be the PM. However, the public is skeptical of him largely because there is always bad news surrounding him, such as receiving illegal contributions.
It was very hard to buy for a while because of a production bottleneck due to the surge in popularity. I talked about it a month ago. Please see the link below.
It comes from the English word "now". It means that "Now, I'm doing......." etc. A high school boy started using it on Twitter, and then it exploded in popularity. The surge in popularity of Twitter made the phrase become very popular. On Twitter, you can always see sentences including ～なう such as:
-New York なう/ Now, I'm in NY.
-京都なう /Now, I'm in Kyoto.
-会議なう /Now, I'm having a meeting.
-勉強しているなう or 勉強なう/Now, I'm studying.
Needless to say, these sentences are grammatically incorrect. Even Japanese people who are unfamiliar with Twitter can't understand them.
There are two phrases left: 「ととのいました/totonoi mashita」and 「無縁社会/muen syakai」. The former is very challenging to explain. The latter is a newly coined phrase by NHK, the public broadcasting service, and requires me to explain the social background. I'm sure that 無縁社会 will be very popular and will continue to be used for many years like 家庭内離婚 (click here) has been often used since it was selected in the contest in 1986. I'll try to explain these two in my future posts.
There are two phrases left: 「ととのいました/totonoi mashita」and 「無縁社会/muen syakai」. The former is very challenging to explain. The latter is a newly coined phrase by NHK, the public broadcasting service, and requires me to explain the social background. I'm sure that 無縁社会 will be very popular and will continue to be used for many years like 家庭内離婚 (click here) has been often used since it was selected in the contest in 1986. I'll try to explain these two in my future posts.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
The top 10 words describing the Japan of 2010--part2：いい質問ですねぇ/ イクメン/AKB48/女子会
A few days ago, the top 10 winners of the 2010 new words and buzzwords contest were announced. In my previous entry, I talked about the phrase that won first place:「ゲゲゲの～/ge ge ge no......」(please click here). In this entry, I'll talk about the others. Actually, the nine words/phrases aren't ranked. They were announced as the top 10 winners.
1.「いい質問ですねぇ/ii shitsumon desune/ that's a good question」
It's the comment that a well-known journalist, Akira Ikegami/ 池上彰, often makes when he feels that the question posed to him is a good one in his regular TV show, 池上彰の学べるニュース (This is a news program where you can learn through explanations made by Akira Ikegami).
Until 2005, he had worked for NHK, the public broadcasting service, as a reporter and newscaster. At the time, in a NHK TV show on Sundays, he illustrated the key points and backgrounds of major news and made them easily understood by children. The show was for children, but I'm sure that his explanations were very useful to grown-ups. In the past few years, people have become more interested in politics, the international situation and things like that. This is partly because people have realized that the global economic climate and the international power balance is changing and partly because there is growing uncertainty about the future.
Under these circumstances, in April this year, the aforementioned TV show began to air on TV asahi. He always makes detailed, objective and satisfactory explanations on events in major world news. In the show, actors/actresses, singers and comedians etc appearing there as guests ask him questions after he has given an explanation on a particular topic. One of his common responses is that いい質問ですねぇ/that's a good question. It has been reported that the show is enjoying great popularity. I feel like his increase in popularity over the summer is due to the increased frequency of serious international incidents, which would garner plenty of media attention. In my opinion, the surge in popularity of the phrase and Ikegami himself reflects a growing concern about both the domestic and international situations.
2.イクメン/ Ikumen
It's the comment that a well-known journalist, Akira Ikegami/ 池上彰, often makes when he feels that the question posed to him is a good one in his regular TV show, 池上彰の学べるニュース (This is a news program where you can learn through explanations made by Akira Ikegami).
This is a newly coined word. It means men who are willing to or are active in taking care of their children. I talked about it a few months ago. Please see the link below.
http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/10/cool-men-ikemen-ikumen.html
3.AKB48
It's a very popular girl group. It has bee said that AKB48 is a new successful business model. I talked about it in June. Please see the link below.
3.AKB48
It's a very popular girl group. It has bee said that AKB48 is a new successful business model. I talked about it in June. Please see the link below.
http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-is-girl-group-akb48-popular-in.html
4.女子会/jyoshi kai
The phrase has become very popular this year. 女子会 means women gather to enjoy meals, drinking and talking mainly in restaurants. Men are not allowed to join them. I talked about it a month ago. Please see the link below.
4.女子会/jyoshi kai
The phrase has become very popular this year. 女子会 means women gather to enjoy meals, drinking and talking mainly in restaurants. Men are not allowed to join them. I talked about it a month ago. Please see the link below.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
The top 10 words describing the Japan of 2010--part1:ゲゲゲの～/ge ge ge no......
A few days ago, the top 10 winners of the 2010 new words and buzzwords contest were announced. As I mentioned in my previous post, the contest is held around this time every year and the results are widely reported in the news. People pay attention to the results and make it a topic of conversation. Usually, newly coined words and impressive phrases which have had a great influence on society are selected. Recently, it has been said that it has become more difficult to select these words and phrases, because the channels to deliver information have become more varied. As a matter of fact, some people, including me, are wondering about the results for this year.
「 ゲゲゲの～/ge ge ge no.......」 won first place this year. This phrase comes from ゲゲゲの鬼太郎/ge ge ge no kitaro, which is one of the most popular manga series, and it was created by Shigeru Mizuki /水木しげる more than 40 years ago. When I was a little girl, I would often watch the cartoon on TV. I really loved it. All the characters are yokai/ 妖怪 (supernatural beings or creatures from folklore). I think that ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 has been very popular among people of all ages like ドラエモン/Doraemon has been.
In 2008, Shigeru Mizuki's wife published her autobiography. This year, a TV drama series based on the autobiography, ゲゲゲの女房/ge ge ge no nyoubou (ゲゲゲ indicates Shigeru Mizuki, and 女房 means wife), was broadcast on NHK from April to September as 朝の連続ドラマ( please see Note #1 below). The TV drama series enjoyed the viewer ratings of over 20% from June to September. These high ratings caught the public attention since TV networks have been suffering from low viewer ratings in the past several years.
Unfortunately, I only watched a few episodes of the series. However, given that Shigeru Mizuki is 88 years old and his wife is 78 years old, I can guess that he had a very hard time being the breadwinner as a manga artist. It's well known that they married only five days after being introduced to each other. When they married, they didn't know at all whether or not his work would be appreciated. On top of that, they were suffering from poverty. I guess that the drama series encouraged people to keep struggling with various difficulties since there is growing uncertainty about the future of Japan.
Note #1: 朝の連続ドラマ/asa-no-renzoku-dorama/a morning drama series
In 1964, NHK, the public broadcasting service, started broadcasting a TV drama series every morning except Sundays. We refer to it as 朝の連続ドラマ or 朝の連ドラ. Until a year ago, it had been broadcast from 8:15 to 8:30a.m. (Currently, 8:00-8:15). Every six months, a new drama series starts. Until 15 years ago, the viewer ratings had always been over 30%. I guess that the drama series gave housewives a 15-minute break to relax after being busy taking care of their families, largely because many wives were housewives at the time. In the past 15 years, the drama series has become less popular, but having said that, many people still look forward to watching it. ゲゲゲの女房 is the drama series from April to September this year. Speaking of 朝の連ドラ, おしん/Oshin is the most popular drama series not only in Japan but also in many other countries such as China, Vietnam, Iran, Afghanistan and Egypt.
The TV cartoon in the 70s (I like this version)
In 2008, Shigeru Mizuki's wife published her autobiography. This year, a TV drama series based on the autobiography, ゲゲゲの女房/ge ge ge no nyoubou (ゲゲゲ indicates Shigeru Mizuki, and 女房 means wife), was broadcast on NHK from April to September as 朝の連続ドラマ( please see Note #1 below). The TV drama series enjoyed the viewer ratings of over 20% from June to September. These high ratings caught the public attention since TV networks have been suffering from low viewer ratings in the past several years.
In 1964, NHK, the public broadcasting service, started broadcasting a TV drama series every morning except Sundays. We refer to it as 朝の連続ドラマ or 朝の連ドラ. Until a year ago, it had been broadcast from 8:15 to 8:30a.m. (Currently, 8:00-8:15). Every six months, a new drama series starts. Until 15 years ago, the viewer ratings had always been over 30%. I guess that the drama series gave housewives a 15-minute break to relax after being busy taking care of their families, largely because many wives were housewives at the time. In the past 15 years, the drama series has become less popular, but having said that, many people still look forward to watching it. ゲゲゲの女房 is the drama series from April to September this year. Speaking of 朝の連ドラ, おしん/Oshin is the most popular drama series not only in Japan but also in many other countries such as China, Vietnam, Iran, Afghanistan and Egypt.
The TV cartoon in 2007
Friday, December 3, 2010
The buzzwords and new words of the year contest in Japan
Every year around this time, the top 10 winners of the buzzwords and new words of the year contest are announced. The results are widely reported in the news. People often make it a topic of conversation. Generally, newly coined words and impressive phrases which have had a great influence on society are selected. Some of them describe social phenomena so adequately that they have been popular for many years. 「亭主元気で留守がいい/teishyu-genkide-rusugaii」and 「家庭内離婚/kateinai-rikon 」, for example, have been frequently used since they were selected in 1986. The former was a catch-phrase used in a TV commercial. As far as I remember, middle-aged housewives repeated the phrase there (please see the video below). The phrase means that if husbands are healthy and away from home, it will be the best for their wives. It implies that housewives expect their husbands only to make money for their families. As for the latter, 家庭内/kateinai means inside families or at home, and 離婚/rikon means divorces, so 家庭内離婚 indicates the situation where a marriage couple still live together, but they don't love each other and don't even talk to each other, so the couple have realized they have already divorced mentally.
At the time, many husbands were assertive and came home late every day. Although wives understood that their husbands were forced to work long hours, they realized as well that their husbands often went drinking on the pretext of working. To make matters worse, many husbands didn't try to save time for their families. Under these circumstances, some wives really wanted to divorce. However, great concern about negative impact on their children, difficulty in economic self-reliance and other reasons discouraged these wives from divorcing. Instead, they started trying to enjoy their lives, not expecting their husbands to do things for them. They decided to shut their eyes to the aggravating attitudes of their husbands toward them as long as their husbands made money for their families. The phenomena created the aforementioned phrases.
Anyway, two days ago, the top 10 winners of the 2010 buzzwords and new words were announced. It's said that, as the channels to deliver information have become more varied, it has become more difficult to select these words. As a matter of fact, some people are wondering about the results. I'm planning on describing the result in my future posts. Last year,「政権交代/seiken-koutai/political power shift or change of administration /government」won first place in the contest. It shows how much people expected the new government last year, although many of them are currently ready to brand it as an incapable group. In my opinion, this power shift was an inevitable step for Japan to become a real democratic country.
Anyway, two days ago, the top 10 winners of the 2010 buzzwords and new words were announced. It's said that, as the channels to deliver information have become more varied, it has become more difficult to select these words. As a matter of fact, some people are wondering about the results. I'm planning on describing the result in my future posts. Last year,「政権交代/seiken-koutai/political power shift or change of administration /government」won first place in the contest. It shows how much people expected the new government last year, although many of them are currently ready to brand it as an incapable group. In my opinion, this power shift was an inevitable step for Japan to become a real democratic country.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
The god of the toilet/ トイレの神様 -- A popular song in Japan
In Japan, the song tittled トイレの神様/ the god of the toilet has been popular.I've heard that this song was broadcast on the radio in February this year, which triggered the song's success. Recently, it has become very popular. This is partially because this way of gaining popularity is unusual and partially because it was recently announced that the 27-year-old singer, Kana Uemura/植村花菜, would appear on the very popular TV show, Red and White Singing contest /紅白歌合戦, held on the 31st of December every year. The lyrics were written by the singer, based on her experiences.
According to a TV show, the song has helped many people sort out their feelings about their deceased grandparents. This is largely because many people regret that they never showed their gratitude to their grandparents even though they already realized that they had affection or their grandparents when they were still alive. I'll translate these lyrics into English. Some translations will be general, in order to convey various nuances. Also, some parts of the lyrics are written in the Osaka dialect.
小３の頃からなぜだか
おばあちゃんと暮らしてた
実家の隣だったけど
おばあちゃんと暮らしてた
When I was the third grade of elementary school, I started living with my grandma. I don't know why.
おばあちゃんと暮らしてた
実家の隣だったけど
おばあちゃんと暮らしてた
When I was the third grade of elementary school, I started living with my grandma. I don't know why.
Although her house was next to my parents' house, I lived with her.
毎日お手伝いをして
五目並べもした
でもトイレ掃除だけ苦手な私に
おばあちゃんがこう言った
Every day, I would help grandma.
I would play the game called 五目並べ/Gomoku-narabe with her (*Note: The game is played with a go board. Playing go is difficult for ordinary people, especially children, but the game is enjoyable for everybody).
I was bad at cleaning the toilet at home.
My grandma noticed that and said to me.
トイレには それはそれはキレイな
女神様がいるんやで
だから毎日 キレイにしたら 女神様みたいに
べっぴんさんになれるんやで
"There is a female god in the toilet. How beautiful she is.
So, if you cleaned the toilet at home every day, you would be able to become very beautiful like the female god"
その日から私はトイレを
ピカピカにし始めた
べっぴんさんに絶対なりたくて
毎日磨いてた
From that day, I started scouring the toilet.
I really wanted to become beautiful, so I would polish the toilet every day.
買い物に出かけた時には 二人で鴨なんば食べた
新喜劇録画し損ねたおばあちゃんを
泣いて責めたりもした
毎日お手伝いをして
五目並べもした
でもトイレ掃除だけ苦手な私に
おばあちゃんがこう言った
Every day, I would help grandma.
I would play the game called 五目並べ/Gomoku-narabe with her (*Note: The game is played with a go board. Playing go is difficult for ordinary people, especially children, but the game is enjoyable for everybody).
I was bad at cleaning the toilet at home.
My grandma noticed that and said to me.
トイレには それはそれはキレイな
女神様がいるんやで
だから毎日 キレイにしたら 女神様みたいに
べっぴんさんになれるんやで
"There is a female god in the toilet. How beautiful she is.
So, if you cleaned the toilet at home every day, you would be able to become very beautiful like the female god"
その日から私はトイレを
ピカピカにし始めた
べっぴんさんに絶対なりたくて
毎日磨いてた
From that day, I started scouring the toilet.
I really wanted to become beautiful, so I would polish the toilet every day.
買い物に出かけた時には 二人で鴨なんば食べた
新喜劇録画し損ねたおばあちゃんを
泣いて責めたりもした
When I went out for shopping with my grandma, she took me to a Japanese restaurant to eat Kamo-nanba Udon (Udon means Japanese noodle).
I asked her to record the very popular TV show in the Kansai area, 吉本新喜劇/Yoshimoto-shinkigeki.
When it turned out that she had failed to record it, I blamed her while I was crying.
トイレには それはそれはキレイな
女神様がいるんやで
だから毎日 キレイにしたら 女神様みたいに
べっぴんさんになれるんやで
There is a female god in the toilet. How beautiful she is.
So, if you cleaned the toilet at home every day, you would be able to become very beautiful like the female god.
*Note: This part is repeated a few times in the song. I guess that this is because this phrase is the most impressive for the singer.
I asked her to record the very popular TV show in the Kansai area, 吉本新喜劇/Yoshimoto-shinkigeki.
When it turned out that she had failed to record it, I blamed her while I was crying.
トイレには それはそれはキレイな
女神様がいるんやで
だから毎日 キレイにしたら 女神様みたいに
べっぴんさんになれるんやで
There is a female god in the toilet. How beautiful she is.
So, if you cleaned the toilet at home every day, you would be able to become very beautiful like the female god.
*Note: This part is repeated a few times in the song. I guess that this is because this phrase is the most impressive for the singer.
少し大人になった私は おばあちゃんとぶつかった
家族ともうまくやれなくて 居場所がなくなった
When I grew up a little, I started kicking against my grandma.
I wasn't able to get along with my other family members, neither.
So, I lost a comfortable place at home.
休みの日も家に帰らず 彼氏と遊んだりした
五目並べも鴨なんばも 二人の間から消えてった
Even when it was a day off, I wouldn't get back home. Instead, I would spend time with my boyfriend.
The good memories of playing the Gomoku-narabe game and eating Kamo-nanba Udon disappeared from both mygrandma and me.
どうしてだろう 人は人を傷付け
大切なものをなくしてく
いつも味方をしてくれてた おばあちゃん残して
ひとりきり 家離れた
I'm wondering why people hurt people, and are losing something important.
I left my house, leaving my grandma who was always behind me.
上京して２年が過ぎて
おばあちゃんが入院した
痩せて 細くなってしまった
おばあちゃんに会いに行った
When it had been two years since I came/moved to Tokyo, my grandma was admitted into a hospital, which I never expected.
I went to see my grandma who had already become thin.
「おばあちゃん、ただいまー！」ってわざと
昔みたいに言ってみたけど ちょっと話しただけだったのに
「もう帰りー。」って 病室を出された
I intentionally tried saying to her "Grandma, I'm home" like I would say that while I lived with her.
Although I still felt like I had talked only a little bit with her, she let me out of her ward, saying that you should go.
次の日の朝 おばあちゃんは
静かに眠りについた
まるで まるで 私が来るのを
待っていてくれたように
The next day, my grandma drifted off into an eternal sleep.
Which made me feel as if she had been waiting for me coming to see her.
ちゃんと育ててくれたのに 恩返しもしてないのに
いい孫じゃなかったのに
こんな私を待っててくれたんやね
My grandma raised me up and loved me. In contrast, I never repaid her for that. I was never a good granddaughter.
Nonetheless, she was waiting for me coming to see her.
トイレには それはそれはキレイな
女神様がいるんやで
おばあちゃんがくれた言葉は 今日の私を
べっぴんさんにしてくれてるかな
There is a female god in the toilet. How beautiful she is.
I'm wondering if this phrase that my grandma gave me still makes me beautiful.
トイレには それはそれはキレイな
女神様がいるんやで
だから毎日 キレイにしたら 女神様みたいに
べっぴんさんになれるんやで
There is a female god in the toilet. How beautiful she is.
So, if you cleaned the toilet at home every day, you would be able to become very beautiful like the female god
気立ての良いお嫁さんになるのが
夢だった私は
今日もせっせとトイレを ピーカピカにする
I dreamed about becoming a well-disposed wife when I was younger.
So, today I work hard on scouring the toilet as usual.
おばあちゃん
おばあちゃん ありがとう
おばあちゃん
ホンマに
ありがとう
Grandma
Grandma, thank you.
Grandma
Really thank you.
家族ともうまくやれなくて 居場所がなくなった
When I grew up a little, I started kicking against my grandma.
I wasn't able to get along with my other family members, neither.
So, I lost a comfortable place at home.
休みの日も家に帰らず 彼氏と遊んだりした
五目並べも鴨なんばも 二人の間から消えてった
Even when it was a day off, I wouldn't get back home. Instead, I would spend time with my boyfriend.
The good memories of playing the Gomoku-narabe game and eating Kamo-nanba Udon disappeared from both mygrandma and me.
どうしてだろう 人は人を傷付け
大切なものをなくしてく
いつも味方をしてくれてた おばあちゃん残して
ひとりきり 家離れた
I'm wondering why people hurt people, and are losing something important.
I left my house, leaving my grandma who was always behind me.
上京して２年が過ぎて
おばあちゃんが入院した
痩せて 細くなってしまった
おばあちゃんに会いに行った
When it had been two years since I came/moved to Tokyo, my grandma was admitted into a hospital, which I never expected.
I went to see my grandma who had already become thin.
「おばあちゃん、ただいまー！」ってわざと
昔みたいに言ってみたけど ちょっと話しただけだったのに
「もう帰りー。」って 病室を出された
I intentionally tried saying to her "Grandma, I'm home" like I would say that while I lived with her.
Although I still felt like I had talked only a little bit with her, she let me out of her ward, saying that you should go.
次の日の朝 おばあちゃんは
静かに眠りについた
まるで まるで 私が来るのを
待っていてくれたように
The next day, my grandma drifted off into an eternal sleep.
Which made me feel as if she had been waiting for me coming to see her.
ちゃんと育ててくれたのに 恩返しもしてないのに
いい孫じゃなかったのに
こんな私を待っててくれたんやね
My grandma raised me up and loved me. In contrast, I never repaid her for that. I was never a good granddaughter.
Nonetheless, she was waiting for me coming to see her.
トイレには それはそれはキレイな
女神様がいるんやで
おばあちゃんがくれた言葉は 今日の私を
べっぴんさんにしてくれてるかな
There is a female god in the toilet. How beautiful she is.
I'm wondering if this phrase that my grandma gave me still makes me beautiful.
トイレには それはそれはキレイな
女神様がいるんやで
だから毎日 キレイにしたら 女神様みたいに
べっぴんさんになれるんやで
There is a female god in the toilet. How beautiful she is.
So, if you cleaned the toilet at home every day, you would be able to become very beautiful like the female god
気立ての良いお嫁さんになるのが
夢だった私は
今日もせっせとトイレを ピーカピカにする
I dreamed about becoming a well-disposed wife when I was younger.
So, today I work hard on scouring the toilet as usual.
おばあちゃん
おばあちゃん ありがとう
おばあちゃん
ホンマに
ありがとう
Grandma
Grandma, thank you.
Grandma
Really thank you.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
A K-pop boom in Japan
As I wrote in my previous post, South Korean companies have recently been drawing more attention in Japan. TV news programs often report on them, suggesting that there are things that Japanese companies can learn from them.
As I mentioned in July, about eight years ago, the South Korean TV show, 冬のソナタ/Winter Sonata, triggered the first South Korean boom. Japanese women, especially those over 50, are fascinated with Korean TV shows and Korean actors. A few years ago, Korean boy bands started becoming popular in Japan. I've realized that becoming familiar to Korean TV shows and music have changed Japanese people's attitude toward South Korea.
Personally, I prefer creative and original singers rather than these commercialized ones, regardless of nationality.
On top of that, in the past year, there has been a huge boom in K-pop (South Korean pop music). Korean girl groups have debuted in Japan and frequently appear on Japanese TV shows. According to a TV show, in order to become popular in Japan, these groups were launched by South Korean agencies based on specific strategies. In the case of the popular Korean girl group, 少女時代/shoujyo-jidai (girls generation), it appeals mainly to girls in Japan. All the members highlight how cool they are by means of exploiting their good figures, especially their long and beautiful legs. In contrast, in Korea, they highlight how cute they are to attract boys. Its catchy debut song, impressive dancing and promotional activities are based on detailed marketing research. Needless to say, the group has successfully captured the hearts and minds of Japanese girls as the agency managing the group expected.
It's also been reported that many Korean girls dream about becoming popular singers like the aforementioned girl group. It's becoming common in South Korea for elementary school girls to be very busy developing their talent. After school, they take singing, dancing and English lessons. Some families are willing to move into smaller houses to get the money for these lessons.
Girls generation
KARA
Friday, November 19, 2010
South Korean companies drawing more attention in Japan
In Japan, a lot of companies have been struggling for many years to build new business models in order to get out of the prolonged recession. In contrast, South Korean companies, especially well-known corporations, have been recently doing well. Some of them believe that now is the time to enter the Japanese market, and they started entering competitive battles for market share in Japan. Under these circumstances, TV news programs often report on South Korean companies, suggesting that there are things that Japanese companies can learn from them. It's also been reported that the Korean economy is improving.
Every time I hear of South Korean companies going strong, I remember complaints that many South Korean classmates would always make when I was studying Mandarin in Guangzhou, China a few years ago. They would say that it was difficult even for graduates from prestigious universities to find a stable, good job in South Korea, where it's well-known that your academic background can determine so large part of your future and life that a lot of children are engaging in a fierce battle to get in prestigious universities. Because of this, many of my Korean classmates were willing to find a job in China. They seemed to believe that they could have a better life in China. They would also say that it was very common for young people to study abroad since they were required to master at least two foreign languages to get a good job in Korea.
According to the news, both the South Korean government and companies are making great efforts to provide comfortable working environments to non-Koreans to attract qualified people worldwide to Korea. Korean companies appear to enhance their competitiveness in the global market by luring qualified people worldwide to Korea, and Koreans who are willing to or are forced to live abroad support Korean companies outside Korea.
Anyway, I hope that ordinary Korean people like my classmates are enjoying the fact that the Korean economy is getting stronger.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
The popular coined word 終活/shuukatsu reflecting the Japanese society
In the Japanese language, job hunting is referred to as 就職活動/shuushoku-katsudo. However, from a certain point of time, the abbreviated form of the phrase 就活/ shuukatsu became more popular. These days, 就活/shuukatsu is being used more frequently than 就職活動/shuushoku-katsudo in society. In the past few years, the coined word 婚活/konkatsu has become very popular to the point where the word often appears in conversation among elderly people who always have a hard time catching up with new words. 婚/kon indicates 結婚/kekkon(marriages in English) and 活/katsu indicates 活動/katsudou(activities or acts etc in English). So, 婚活/konkatsu means doing something to find a marriage partner. I think that the great popularity of the word 就活/shukatsu partly helped the word 婚活/konkatsu become popular since these two sound similar. Currently, another coined word 終活/shuukatsu is becoming popular. Since both 就活 and 終活 are pronounced as shuukatsu, when I first heard of 終活/shuukatsu in a TV news show, I assumed that the show was going to talk about job hunting (就活/shuukatu) until I saw the word.
終活/shuukatsu means thinking about how to lead your late life and how to prepare for the end of your life. As you know, Japanese people live long. The aging population is increasing rapidly. The baby-boomer generation is already in their 60s. Many of the people are struggling with taking care of their parents and in-laws or have struggled with that. They often hear of family troubles after their parents and in-laws have passed away, such as family conflicts over inheritance. Under these circumstances, many people over 60 are willing to think about and decide how to lead their late lives and prepare for the end of their lives when they still have judgement so that their families will be able to avoid nasty battles. According to the news, many books and magazines related to 終活/shuukatsu have been recently published. Some of them are enjoying good sales. Specifically, the magazine, 遺言書キット/Will kit, and the notebook, Ending notebook, are engaging hearts and minds in many age groups. The former illustrates how to make a legitimate will by yourself, and the latter gives an opportunity to think about late life.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
A battlefield photographer attracting considerable attention
In Japan, Yoichi Watanabe/渡部陽一, a unique 37-year-old man, has gained popularity in the past year. He is a photographer specializing in battlefields worldwide, and a camera operator as well. He always expresses his strong desire to report realities of battlefields unknown in Japan. He seems to pay attention to the lives of ordinary people, especially children, suffering from wars. Recently, he's often appeared in TV shows due to the surge in popularity. I don't know what determined him to appear in TV shows. However, given that he always says that he doesn't know what is happening to him, he didn't seem to expect that he would become popular.
His way of speaking in TV shows is very original. He speaks slowly and calmly while keeping his rhythm in any situation. He always looks calm even when he's embarrassed, excited and nervous. In contrast to these calmness, his stories about battlefields are so serious and powerful that the audience is inevitably captivated by the stories. It shows us that stories based on experience are always convincing.
Today, you can get any information you need on the Internet. You might sometimes assume that you know about a lot of things. Various kinds of free videos on the internet tend to make you feel as if you saw things that you have never experienced. Needless to say, I don't deny these roles of the internet. As a matter of fact, the internet enriches many people's lives. However, it's more important for you to go see for yourself. I feel like the photographer reminds many people of this importance.
Most recently, he has been frequently asked to come to schools and talk about what he saw in battlefields. I hope that school kids will become interested in his stories, and it'll inspire them to see what is happening worldwide.
http://yoichi-watanabe.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcFYWH_RPNA
His way of speaking in TV shows is very original. He speaks slowly and calmly while keeping his rhythm in any situation. He always looks calm even when he's embarrassed, excited and nervous. In contrast to these calmness, his stories about battlefields are so serious and powerful that the audience is inevitably captivated by the stories. It shows us that stories based on experience are always convincing.
Today, you can get any information you need on the Internet. You might sometimes assume that you know about a lot of things. Various kinds of free videos on the internet tend to make you feel as if you saw things that you have never experienced. Needless to say, I don't deny these roles of the internet. As a matter of fact, the internet enriches many people's lives. However, it's more important for you to go see for yourself. I feel like the photographer reminds many people of this importance.
Most recently, he has been frequently asked to come to schools and talk about what he saw in battlefields. I hope that school kids will become interested in his stories, and it'll inspire them to see what is happening worldwide.
http://yoichi-watanabe.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcFYWH_RPNA
Monday, November 8, 2010
Popular women gatherings called 女子会/ joshi-kai
About two years ago, the phrase 女子会/joshi-kai started being frequently used in Japanese society. 女子/joshi means women or girls and 会/Kai means meeting, gathering and so on, so 女子会 means women gather to enjoy meals, drinking and talking mainly in restaurants. Men are not allowed to join them. These days, a lot of restaurants offer special menus for 女子会. I do not know exactly why the phrase has become that popular nor do I know when it began being used. However, I guess that restaurants struggling to survive coined the phrase, or perhaps started exploiting it to give women more opportunities to go out for a meal. This might be because there was a palatable change in society; more and more women were willing to enjoy drinking; in contrast, men had less interest in drinking. Women had become more active; on the other hand, men had become less active. Speaking of inactive men, at the time, the coined phrase 草食系男子/sousyoku-kei-danshi (please click here) started being frequently used to describe the characteristics of young Japanese men.
When I first heard of 女子会, it sounded bad to me, making me think of housewives who really like gathering and gossiping about people they know. I assumed that 女子会 was definitely going to become a sort of compulsory gathering, no matter how people actually intended to use the phrase. Can you guess why?
I've realized that some women force their friends etc to join gatherings organized by them. Their friends often feel that they are under a great deal of silent pressure to join them. The polite answer "I'm afraid I can't" sometimes leads to a sort of bullying. You might realize sooner or later that others complain about you whenever you don't join the gatherings. Because of that, if you are frequently asked to go to a women gathering due to the great popularity of 女子会, some of them will be frustrating.
According to a TV show that was on a few days ago, some young women are fed up with 女子会. Some consider the gatherings to be sort of official meetings, not expecting themselves to be able to enjoy talking with other participants. Some don't like 女子会 largely because they can't express themselves especially when they disagree with somebody, feeling like they are always required to stay in line with her.
I'm wondering why women's gatherings are more likely to become awkward meetings.
When I first heard of 女子会, it sounded bad to me, making me think of housewives who really like gathering and gossiping about people they know. I assumed that 女子会 was definitely going to become a sort of compulsory gathering, no matter how people actually intended to use the phrase. Can you guess why?
I'm wondering why women's gatherings are more likely to become awkward meetings.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
2010 top 10 hit products in Japan.
At this time of every year, a popular magazine, Nikkei Trendy /日経トレンディ, announces the top 30 hit products of the year which have gained considerable attention and popularity in Japan throughout the year. The magazine decides which products are hit products based on sales, novelty and influence. The results are widely reported in the news every year. People often make it a topic of conversation when looking back on the year. Here are the top 10 hit products of 2010 which were just announced yesterday.
1. A new type of chili oil / 食べるラー油
In Japan, chili oil is used as a seasoning. Many people only use it for a few common Chinese dishes. This new product enables you to use it for many other dishes. Because of a production bottleneck due to the surge in popularity, it was very hard to buy it for a while.
2. 3D movies
3. Smart phones
4. Premium roll cake
5. iPad
6. Pocket doltz Actually, I didn't know about the product until now. According to the information in the link below, it's a pocket-sized sound wave vibration toothbrush. As the homepage shows, the toothbrush is compact enough to carry around. It looks like it's part of a makeup kit. In Japan, people, especially businesswomen, are so sensitive to having bad breath that they often brush their teeth. I guess that this is in part because this product has gained popularity.
7. LED bulbs at lower prices
8. A convenient cooking tool for grilling fish in the microwave / チンしてこんがり魚焼きパック
It's very hard to explain it. Please see the YouTube video below. In Japan, a grill space along with special tools for fish is usually installed on kitchen stoves. However, some people feel that cleaning up the tools after grilling fish is bothersome, which discourages them from grilling fish. I think this product meets their needs.
9. Staplers without staples / ハリナックス
Personally, I love them. Please see the video in the link below. At the office, getting rid of staples from documents before shredding them is really bothersome.
10. A new instant miso soup named 1杯でしじみ70個分のちから
In Japan, various kinds of instant miso soups are being sold. However, food companies had a very hard time developing a popular hit instant miso soup until this product was launched.
In Japan, chili oil is used as a seasoning. Many people only use it for a few common Chinese dishes. This new product enables you to use it for many other dishes. Because of a production bottleneck due to the surge in popularity, it was very hard to buy it for a while.
3. Smart phones
4. Premium roll cake
LAWSON, a major convenience store in Japan, developed the cake and have been selling it since then. In Japan, a large number of people often stop by convenience stores such as Seven-Eleven even when they don't intend to buy anything. So, convenience stores are important and effective distribution channels.
6. Pocket doltz Actually, I didn't know about the product until now. According to the information in the link below, it's a pocket-sized sound wave vibration toothbrush. As the homepage shows, the toothbrush is compact enough to carry around. It looks like it's part of a makeup kit. In Japan, people, especially businesswomen, are so sensitive to having bad breath that they often brush their teeth. I guess that this is in part because this product has gained popularity.
It's very hard to explain it. Please see the YouTube video below. In Japan, a grill space along with special tools for fish is usually installed on kitchen stoves. However, some people feel that cleaning up the tools after grilling fish is bothersome, which discourages them from grilling fish. I think this product meets their needs.
Personally, I love them. Please see the video in the link below. At the office, getting rid of staples from documents before shredding them is really bothersome.
In Japan, various kinds of instant miso soups are being sold. However, food companies had a very hard time developing a popular hit instant miso soup until this product was launched.
Monday, November 1, 2010
It's been 44 years since the Beatles landed at Haneda Airport.
Ten days ago, a new international terminal finally opened at Haneda (Tokyo International) Airport near downtown Tokyo. A little bit past midnight on the 31st of October, a JAL flight bound for San Fransisco and an ANA flight bound for Los Angeles took off from the airport. Although the airport served as a gateway to foreign countries until the Narita Tokyo International Airport took over this role 32 years ago, it had served as a domestic airport for many years until a day ago. Three hundred and seventy flights per week between Haneda Tokyo and 17 other cities in 11 countries will be offered.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Are Japanese women too patient?
Yesterday, it was reported in a TV show that a lot of middle-aged Japanese women try to overcome climacteric disorder only by being patient even though there are many medicines to ease their symptoms. The phrase "being patient" reminded me of two of the following stories.
The first one is about my Japanese friend. Many years ago, she gave birth in Sydney. According to her, her delivery was expected to need a special technique, so the hospital asked her if other doctors and residents could observe her delivery. She accepted the offer. Because of this, her delivery started in a large operating room while being watched by many doctors.
While she was struggling with an acute pain during her delivery, she tried to hold up as much as possible and didn't yell out. A lot of observers seemed to make her feel like she wanted to hold up better than usual. Despite her bearing the pain, a nurse beside her started slapping her cheek. Although she was surprised by it, she was struggling so hard to give birth that she couldn't ask why. After the delivery, it turned out that the nurse had assumed at the time that my friend had been unconscious since the nurse had never seen patients not yelling out during the delivery.
The next story is about mysterious Japanese women's behaviors. I'm sometimes asked by Western men why their Japanese girlfriends suddenly express outrage without clear reasons. They don't understand why at all and don't know how to deal with their girlfriends. The blasts sometimes lead to a break up.
As you may know, some Japanese women still don't say anything when they feel frustrated with what their boyfriends did. They just try to let it to go away or accept it while being patient. Some try to imply that they don't want it instead of saying no verbally. Some hope that their boyfriends can notice what they are thinking before they say it. However, these approaches often make the frustration grow, and the women end up erupting in rage.
Today, more and more Japanese people clearly express themselves. It's generally said that they have become less patient. However, they still tend to be patient based on Japanese culture. I think that keeping it bottled up is good, but it's more important for Japanese people to release frustration and try to solve problems before they are stretched thin.
Today, more and more Japanese people clearly express themselves. It's generally said that they have become less patient. However, they still tend to be patient based on Japanese culture. I think that keeping it bottled up is good, but it's more important for Japanese people to release frustration and try to solve problems before they are stretched thin.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Is Japan on the edge of a cliff??
This year, two Japanese people won the Noble Prize in Chemistry. Immediately after the news was announced, it caught public attention and the two winners earned enthusiastic applause in Japan. However, a few days later, the happy news was overwhelmed by the announcement that Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize. The recent political conflict over an island between China and Japan made a lot of Japanese people focus on China, so his winning inevitably drew considerable public attention.
Anyway, when the two elderly chemists were asked for a comment on receiving the prize, both of them expressed concern about the current situation in Japan, saying that young people have become less interested in the persistent research which usually takes a long time to be appreciated.
A tiny children's clothing manufacturer in Okayama/岡山 is enjoying good sales. Under the circumstance where almost all of the clothing manufacturers have relocated their production bases to China to cut down the labor cost, the company sticks with made-in-Japan clothing which can be competitive with made-in China ones. It has succeeded in cutting down labor costs while keeping high quality by taking advantage of elderly skilled housewives who used to sew clothing on sewing machines in factories until those were relocated to China. As far as I saw in the show, their skills were impressive. They proudly said in the show that they were confident in sewing.
These episodes show that skilled workmen who supported the high growth of the Japanese economy in the past are old and there are few Japanese people who can take over their skills. I understand that skills require change as the times and the situation of Japan change. However, I feel like Japan is losing something important.
Recently, I happened to see a TV show which talked about small companies struggling to survive by sticking with made-in-Japan products. Some small factories are taking advantage of their highly sophisticated original techniques and have successfully developed an overseas market. Although they are doing well now, most of their skilled workmen who are supporting the techniques are old. These companies have difficulty passing their techniques to younger generations.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Long-distance coaches with luxury, comfortable seats installed
As I mentioned in my previous posts, bus tours have become more popular in the past few years due to the recent recession. In addition, long-distance coaches have become more popular since more people are trying to pinch a penny. I remember that I was surprised to see how crowed the long-distance bus terminal in Tokyo Station was at midnight when I was passing through it a year ago.
In Japan, a lot of people travel between Tokyo and Osaka everyday. Shinkansen (bullet trains) and airlines have been engaging in a fierce competition for many years to gain more passengers. Recently, long-distance coaches seem to have joined the competition. According to the news, a few long-distance bus companies started offering new services, and then these services have successfully captured the hearts and minds of people, especially women.
Women tend to hesitate to take long-distance coaches by themselves because men sitting next to them sometimes bother them. Some women feel uncomfortable with sitting next to men even if the men are harmless. In order to attract more female passengers, female-only couches and those with seats installed three deep (no passengers have a seat next to them, please see the picture) has become popular in the past several years.
A few months ago, coaches with new type of seats installed appeared on the route between Tokyo and Osaka. Even though the fare is more expensive, the coaches have already gained the popularly. The coaches enable you to secure a private space and to enjoy movies and games on a small private screen (click here) like you can do that on flights. Other than that, following coaches have become more popular on major routes like between Tokyo and Osaka.
-Coaches for businessmen/women (click here)
-Coaches with conformable, luxury seats installed (click here)
-Overnight buses with luxury seats that enable passengers to have a good night's sleep (click here)
As for the competitive route between Tokyo and Osaka, for example, even the most expensive buses are cheaper than Shinkansens and airplanes. It's good for us to have more choices. However, I can't help but wonder if some companies will force their employees to travel by the luxury overnight buses to cut down costs.
In your country, do long-distance coaches with luxury seats exist ?
In Japan, a lot of people travel between Tokyo and Osaka everyday. Shinkansen (bullet trains) and airlines have been engaging in a fierce competition for many years to gain more passengers. Recently, long-distance coaches seem to have joined the competition. According to the news, a few long-distance bus companies started offering new services, and then these services have successfully captured the hearts and minds of people, especially women.
Women tend to hesitate to take long-distance coaches by themselves because men sitting next to them sometimes bother them. Some women feel uncomfortable with sitting next to men even if the men are harmless. In order to attract more female passengers, female-only couches and those with seats installed three deep (no passengers have a seat next to them, please see the picture) has become popular in the past several years. A few months ago, coaches with new type of seats installed appeared on the route between Tokyo and Osaka. Even though the fare is more expensive, the coaches have already gained the popularly. The coaches enable you to secure a private space and to enjoy movies and games on a small private screen (click here) like you can do that on flights. Other than that, following coaches have become more popular on major routes like between Tokyo and Osaka.
-Coaches for businessmen/women (click here)
-Coaches with conformable, luxury seats installed (click here)
-Overnight buses with luxury seats that enable passengers to have a good night's sleep (click here)
As for the competitive route between Tokyo and Osaka, for example, even the most expensive buses are cheaper than Shinkansens and airplanes. It's good for us to have more choices. However, I can't help but wonder if some companies will force their employees to travel by the luxury overnight buses to cut down costs.
In your country, do long-distance coaches with luxury seats exist ?
Monday, October 25, 2010
What do you trust ? What do you think about the result of the survey? I find it interesting.
Recently, I happened to find that Japanese mass media was being discussed on Twitter. The current anti-Japan demonstrations in China seemed to trigger the discussion. In this discussion, a well-known Chinese man who has been living in Japan for over twenty years pointed out that Japanese people tend to believe the news reports and the comments made by mass media without trying to make sure whether or not what mass media says is reliable and without trying to think about what mass media intends to do. I thought he was basically not wrong. However, his single careless, misleading Tweet fueled the discussion. He quoted a survey result to back up his statement, saying that the survey shows that Japan has the highest percentage of people who trust in mass media among the countries surveyed. He added that this Japan's percentage is higher than China's, and much higher than Britain's and America's. Unfortunately, he didn't attach the link to the data quoted.
His statement intrigued me, so I tried looking for the survey on the internet. Luckily, I was able to find it easily (click here). According to the site, some universities and research institutes from over ten countries worked closely and conducted the survey. Regarding each of the nine institutions/organizations/systems, around 1000 people over 18 in each of 18 countries were questioned whether or not they could trust it. Please see the bar graph in the link. Each figure in the graph is the sum of the percentage of "Yes-very reliable" and that of "lean Yes-a little reliable".
Although the survey was conducted about ten years ago and the site doesn't mention the details, I find the result interesting. I think that you can learn some tendencies from it. As for Japan, you can see that Japanese people don't trust the Japanese government and the Diet. Only given that the Japanese Prime Minister frequently changes in the past twenty years, the result is convincing. As the aforementioned Chinese man said, the survey shows that 70% of the Japanese people surveyed trust newspapers and magazines.
I can guess some reasons why Japanese people tend to take a positive attitude toward newspapers and magazines. However, I think that we, Japanese people, need to improve our ability to evaluate the information reported by mass media and read the situations behind it. Today, you can obtain abundant information, so the importance of this ability is growing.
*the 18 countries (The vertical axis of the bar graph, from top left to bottom right) :
-日本: Japan,
-韓国 : South Korea
-スウェーデン: Sweden
-カナダ: Canada
-米国: America
-フィリピン: Philippines
-中国: China
-インド: India,
-英国: The UK
-フランス: France
-ドイツ: Germany
-オランダ: the Netherlands
-イタリア: Italy
- ロシア: Russia
-ナイジェリア: Nigeria
-イラン: Iran.
*the 9 institutions/organizations/systems questioned (The horizontal axis of the bar graph, from left to right):
-新聞・雑誌: newspapers and magazines
-軍隊: the army of your country, as for Japan, the Self Defense Force
-警察: the police of your country
-国連: United Nations
-労働組合: Labor Unions of your country
-行政: the government of your country
-大企業: Large corporations of your country
-国会: the Diet/the Congress of your country
-宗教団体: religious organizations of your country
His statement intrigued me, so I tried looking for the survey on the internet. Luckily, I was able to find it easily (click here). According to the site, some universities and research institutes from over ten countries worked closely and conducted the survey. Regarding each of the nine institutions/organizations/systems, around 1000 people over 18 in each of 18 countries were questioned whether or not they could trust it. Please see the bar graph in the link. Each figure in the graph is the sum of the percentage of "Yes-very reliable" and that of "lean Yes-a little reliable".
Although the survey was conducted about ten years ago and the site doesn't mention the details, I find the result interesting. I think that you can learn some tendencies from it. As for Japan, you can see that Japanese people don't trust the Japanese government and the Diet. Only given that the Japanese Prime Minister frequently changes in the past twenty years, the result is convincing. As the aforementioned Chinese man said, the survey shows that 70% of the Japanese people surveyed trust newspapers and magazines.
I can guess some reasons why Japanese people tend to take a positive attitude toward newspapers and magazines. However, I think that we, Japanese people, need to improve our ability to evaluate the information reported by mass media and read the situations behind it. Today, you can obtain abundant information, so the importance of this ability is growing.
*the 18 countries (The vertical axis of the bar graph, from top left to bottom right) :
-日本: Japan,
-韓国 : South Korea
-スウェーデン: Sweden
-カナダ: Canada
-米国: America
-フィリピン: Philippines
-中国: China
-インド: India,
-英国: The UK
-フランス: France
-ドイツ: Germany
-オランダ: the Netherlands
-イタリア: Italy
- ロシア: Russia
-ナイジェリア: Nigeria
-イラン: Iran.
*the 9 institutions/organizations/systems questioned (The horizontal axis of the bar graph, from left to right):
-新聞・雑誌: newspapers and magazines
-軍隊: the army of your country, as for Japan, the Self Defense Force
-警察: the police of your country
-国連: United Nations
-労働組合: Labor Unions of your country
-行政: the government of your country
-大企業: Large corporations of your country
-国会: the Diet/the Congress of your country
-宗教団体: religious organizations of your country
Friday, October 22, 2010
Beautiful young women working as temporary bus tour guides / 美バス
In Japan, when you attend bus tours, bus tour guides will explain many things both on the buses and on the sightseeing sites. When your bus is about to pass through something interesting, they will let you know about it, and explain what it is and the history of it. In addition, when your bus gets stuck in traffic, they will try to entertain you. They often offer to play games to make the irritating time enjoyable. I think that all of the bus tour guides are female. As a matter of fact, I've never heard of male bus tour guides. They are usually the employees of bus companies offering sightseeing tours. In my experience, their speeches and hospitality can often determine customers' satisfaction with tours.
Bus tours have been very popular in the past few years in part because many of them are very cost-effective and in part because people have been paying more attention to domestic trips due to the recent recession. In contrast, these bus companies have been suffering from a lack of bus tour guides for many years. They seem to have difficulty hiring young women as bus tour guides, although I've heard that the recent economic crisis has slightly improved the situation.
This June, a temp staff agency started offering a new service called 美バス/bi-bus (click here). The agency trains certain women a little and sends them to bus tour companies as temporary bus tour guides. These certain women have experience of working as models, flight attendants, actresses and so on. They are relatively good-looking and are used to attracting people's attention and offering hospitality. Some of them want to improve themselves through the experience of working as bus tour guides and take advantage of the experience to grab better chances in their main jobs. Some try working as bus tour guides to see which job is the most suitable for them since they feel that it's a time to step into the next stage.
According to the news, bus tour companies consider the temporary, younger bus tour guides to be big helpers. Regular bus tour guides who are 37 years old on average seem to welcome them. As for participants in the bus tours, men and children are especially happy with them. Generally, you don't know who will be your bus tour guide when you apply for the tour. However, due to the appearance of the relatively good-looking bus tour guides, special bus tours with them have appeared. Personally, I prefer bus tour guides who can deliver interesting and informative speeches.
According to the news, bus tour companies consider the temporary, younger bus tour guides to be big helpers. Regular bus tour guides who are 37 years old on average seem to welcome them. As for participants in the bus tours, men and children are especially happy with them. Generally, you don't know who will be your bus tour guide when you apply for the tour. However, due to the appearance of the relatively good-looking bus tour guides, special bus tours with them have appeared. Personally, I prefer bus tour guides who can deliver interesting and informative speeches.
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