Stylish (taisho-era romantic version) ayo download

Reading Japanese with a Smile Nine Stories from a Japanese Weekly Magazine for Intermediate Learners Tom GALLYthis book was first published by Kodansha International in 1997 under the ttle Strange but True: A TrueLife Japanese Reader Cover design by Koichi Kawamura, Published by Japan & Stuff Press, Mihara 219-60-202, ‘Asaka-shi,Saitama-ken 351-0025, Japan. Japanese text from “Dekigotology,” Shikan Ahi, Copyright © Asahi Shimbunsha, English translation and commentary. Copyright © 2007 by Tom Gally All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-49902848-47 First edition by Japan & Stuff Press, September 2007 wow japanandstuff.com ‘With the exception of Chapter 9, which is new to this edition, Conrents Inrroouerion BRE BOF +> THEAE2-N\-OW The Honesty of a Famous Supermarket, Revealed by a Daughterin-Law’s Sudden Urge 2 Cag ceo eetWROMBOW ‘A New Year’s Dawn on the Summit of Mt. Fuji Climbed While Carrying a Dead Friend 3 BIER WOSLOLERDS A Woman's Shrewdness Concealed in a Fictional Jounal ure: 4 MEO The Son-in-Law of the Mob 5 BRO L ORAL The Tiwo Sides of a Superclean Woman i B 33 55 B 36 HOMECERIBMMSTER uw Examination Hell Lullabies for Infants 1 Ny MSS 32 ROME i) The Cluelessness of a “Connected” Employee on Her Way to the “Country of Ban” 8 SHS PARMA DADE Ms The Rich Bay's Urine Therapy and His Girlftiend’s Depression 9 MOTHAEMF b VBA ROI 165 ‘His First Call Girl Was the Girl Next Door Inreoouerion Most Japaneselanguage textbooks make language leaming sim- ple and systematic. They carefully limit the number of kanji in- troduced at each level. They present new vocabulary and grammatical pattems step by step. Most important of all, they choose topics that are easy for readers to understand and un- likely to offend any teachers or students. The only problem with these textbooks is that they generally are very, very dull. The boredom induced by textbooks contrasts sharply with the rich and stimulating variety of the Japanese press. Some fifty thousand books are published every year in Japan on sub- jects ranging from philosophy to pornography. Thousands of magazines clog the racks of bookstores and newsstands, offer- ing entertainment and debate, scandal and libel, the high, the middlebrow, and the very low. It is this world, the world of Japanese as it is really written, into which this book is intended to provide a glimpse. The nine stories in this book were chosen from the “Dekigotology” column that appeared in the magazine 3871/94 Hi Shiiken Audi for many years. The word dekigoolagy (7% =P }07-) is a combination of Hi34 dekigotg which means “event” or “happening,” and the Greek/English suffix logy. Dekigotology, in other words, is the study of things that hap- pen. Each week, the column carried a half dozen stores, all Purported to be true, about interesting events that had hap- pened to people recently. The stories generally concem subjects that are familiar or topical, and their interest lies in the way they reveal what happens behind the scenes of everyday life. 7Introduction The stories are often surprising and usually funny. The stories on the following pages were selected from the hundreds that ran in “Dekigotology” in the early 1990s. To be chosen, each story had to meet two criteria: it had to be inter sting, and it couldn't be so topical that it would quickly go ‘out of date, There was also an attempt to choose a variety of topics. Organization Each story is presented first in its entirety, exactly as in the paper- back book edition, with kanji pronunciations marked only when they appeared in the original. An English translation ap- pears on the facing page. This translation is intended to help the reader understand the Japanese, so it is more literal in places than a smooth literary translation would be. Students of Japanese may want to avoid looking at the translation until they have finished reading the text and notes. Next, the story is presented again a sentence or two at a time, with the reading of every kanji marked with furigana Each of these text excerpts is followed by several groups of notes. -, The first notes, marked with the kanji #8 (hort for #d% ocabulan), consist of short glosses of words and phrases that appear in the preceding sentence, Every word is explained ex: cept basic grammatical function words (Ii, 28, %, etc) and words that have appeared earlier in the same story. The second group of notes, marked with the kanji 5 (short for BhfH verb), consists of reverse derivations of declined verbs and adjectives. The first word in each derivation is the form that appears in the sentence, while the last word is the form that would normally appear in dictionaries. For example, the series KDI tt er Keb. ex KES saga goes from the pasttense negative to the nonpast negative to the nonpast affirmative (or dictionary) form of this verb. The third group, marked with 2 (short for TA am & Introduction notation), consists of detailed notes on the vocabulary and grammar, Special attention is given to identifjing the subjects of verbs and to showing which nouns are modified by which adjectives, relative clauses, etc. These notes also include remarks on usage, related words, and typographical conventions, the last being @ topic rarely mentioned in Japanese textbooks. The notes in the final group, marked % (short for Ek: alu), provide information and commentary about the cul tural background of the stories. When necessary, they also ex- plain what makes the stories particularly interesting or funny to the Japanese reader. Pronunciations are marked in the notes using romaji, not farigana, There are several reasons for this, Furigana are some- times hard to read, especially when the type is small. Romaji are useful for showing word divisions and identifying the read- ings of the particles ( and ~, such as in the phrase EV Olé to iu no toa And for students who have learned Japanese fiom teachers who prohibit the use of romaj, the romaji scat tered through the notes will familiarize them with this method of representing Japanese pronunciation, which is still essential for scholars and for others who use both Japanese and English in international contexts. Acknowledgments am grateful to many people for their help in the preparation of this book. I first leamed of “Dekigotology” over two decades ago from Tomoko Iwai, who was one of my Japanese teachers at the time, and her enthusiasm for making language learning interesting as well as educational was one of the inspirations for this book. I am also thankful to Hiroko Fukuda and Kazushi Ishida, who made valuable contributions to an carly dra, to Michael Brase and Shigeyoshi Suzuki of Kodancha Intemational for their helpful suggestions during the planning stages and for their careful editing of the fist edition in 1997, and again to Michael Brase, now executive director of Japan &Introduction Stuff Press, for offering to publish this expanded edition. Special gratitude also goes to the Asahi Shimbun for kindly granting permission to reprint the stories here and to Shin- chosha for permission to use the versions published in book form. Readers who wish to read more of these stories are en- couraged to purchase the paperback anthologies in the 4 E13 i. Ahi Bunko and 35MM Shinchi Bunko series. would also like to thank the participants in the Honyaku mailing list for their wise and informative discussions on many matters related to Japanese and English translation. For their responses to questions I posted about this book, I am particu- larly indebted to Sara Aoyama, Adrian Boyle, John Brannan, Regina I. A. Brice, John Bryan, John De Hoog, Alan Gleason, Graham Healey, Rich Higgins, Brian Howells, Sako Ikegami, Dan Kanagy, Yosuke Kawachi, J. C. Kelly, Mamoru Kondo, Bill Lise, David J. Littleboy, John Loftus, Tammy J. Morimoto, Gururaj Rao, Adam Rice, Karen Sandness, Fred Uleman, Rodney Webster, and John Zimet. ‘As always, I am indebted to my wife, Ikuko Gally. She pro- vided many comments and suggestions about each of the sto- ries in this book, and her insights greatly improved the accuracy and depth of the notes. Although all of these people did their best to help me, I fear that I have betrayed their kindness by persisting in many errors, for each of which I take full responsibility. Tom Gally Ane HARMEFRMEA LOT. RAOHAD—DIK PBONSAHACEVEWI CER, MRL ATI, BAMR, ARBRE CEBET SLEDS PS, th BVRVOOMSLAGVAL PBILDF¥ Xb IIe Th. BLA CHS LOMELA LM TRY, FA AOPRIOWT] LH (PMEGSI) EVI, FA BRPMMOUBICHS £5 LRP MA, SS id [AS ASARMENG | OLIG, ReiMoMd AEWA, SMUD DEBI 0 Ro TS HS Bo FOLF CHAE CARB EMT SL, HAIZO EORUBIC. HAAGRIKZ LU ABE, Evor AMS RAE Cae. Lal, BRIA, KORE, FLU, Bee ERTVSL, COBAHORICMITE CS WME HERO CHSLVI CE MDDS. LA CRHELES HSL. FRTHIELV HESS, ARR CHAM EMML TORE, ARB Bo TUR BARAMEIC RSL. LK ORB FO TUbMALK. ERAAMMEL ALB SPORE TO, TLIMA EA, HICMREO SRE, ES (Ci WB EBC BEC EOLI CHORAL Akbok, LZ FAREEL, POL RABLNO RAMAbHS LI chook. thst [Fe ahuy Y=] A THB Ro OLA SEB oo MMP SIL, COII LORY Y— 1K SOWMRMEMACRLSCLEIDS, TONBUHAERM SPB IBoTH SM, RE OMARERT SMT SL VIE, VRHLVIE, FEVCLSEMHLE ZO TS, MILD) ORME RA TURMICE o TIE, ZIACH ot [FFT hUI—| OA LY AMTED PRCEAD LI Kok. Hts [FF ThaY—-| & WPL RS OhAFRFRE CRM LTO So YEOMHT. COKEEsK. PRIAOTHOO RMEAORAT. GREPMGERENIK, HRRE ISAAGE PAT SABAH BROCE ERBTE FOF HF CMHTS D>, ELUMGAOA CHAS BRAKEO LIBR SD, EVIC LIC MRDHS BRA OMA TOREIRIZABM LV. BOF +b CHS BB2-/\-ORE Tue Honesty of a Famous Superwarer, eveaten By A DauesteR-w-Law's Suoven UeeeBOF + CHS AS2-\-ORR HHEOSFEA (=~) Bec. B FSA (A-) WiheCR ROI, HERON DROZ EKO Ke [RAE CRED, SLOLMOMERKC AS SESAKESTIRE UHV MTHS. Heo URAL COTE LAK, MEER THRI Vo ThHOK. LB. MARAE, BMERAES FEA, BL, fA OMMRA—7— TK 7 BB CHOKE) FOF IORICAMIEE Oo EF DABAL Wo THK, (CHIEF MS DA) EIS BOLOD, RMIBEL DIL. B ERTS LE, HICILATHO F-F 70 Tue Honesty oF a Famous Supermarket, Reveaeo sy A Daveurer-w-Law's Suovew Uree Tt was midday during a dry spell in the rainy season when Fko (61) came from Zushi to visit the home of her daughterinlaw Sko (31) in Setagaya. “Since I had already come as far as Shibuya, I just dropped by to see my grandchild’s face.” For Sko, her motherinlaw was more frightening than a demon. Sko did everything she could to be a good hostess for Eko. Later, her motherinlaw took S- ko's daughter for a walk. Sko breathed a sigh of relief As she relaxed, Sko felt hungry, and her eyes suddenly came to rest upon the bag of doughnuts that her motherinlaw had bought at Kenokuniya, a luxury supermarket nearby. Eko had said that she was going to take the doughnuts home to Zushi. Sko thought at first, “I really shouldn’t touch them.” But hunger is stronger than reason, She opened the bag and found six doughnuts inside.Honesty of a Famous Supermarket (MIE % B Spd em) £, BUTHAB LE, 117 YOHEBAD | RULTHVRe FH EMS wmils, BRP ORS FOP YORE T. HRITICHO TH OK. ELOM, BEKRORFTSA, Lowy, — BLD RVOCMAOV ED KK [KFOK BIBT AALFSRAT! I &, Sof6 K/ BEC StH OMMOEE, KJ BIR OHY SMG Lito BARE. AE AD K-F 7 —MERERB HA, WER CID WOWEEME TSNEE CHM RRO THS, MOSM Do BUTE, HORA EO tO HGS REMKEWS. FHEASCHIM, [Static K/ BK D— | wees EK KAP SF SAME LT iBlo hk. OESA, ENEMVEST SAM, MIRE. © DUBE, BBECHO THEI CMC EL TO Bo Honesty of a Famous Supermarket “Maybe she won't notice if I eat only one.” $ko thought. She hurriedly ate a doughnut and carefully re- closed the package. Fko returned from her walk none the wiser. Quite satisfied with herself, she left for home carrying the bag of doughnuts. But sure enough, when Fko retuned to Zushi, she noticed that one doughnut was missing, That's when the trouble started. “T can’t believe that, of all the stores in Japan, K- nokuniya would make such a mistake!” Fko immedi- ately called K-nokuniya to complain. The call dragged on for thirty minutes. Fiko was too much for the per- son handling the matter at K-nokuniya, The first thing the next morning, clutching a single 80yen doughnut as if their lives depended on it, the sales clerk and the floor supervisor came to Fko's home to apologize. One way, it had taken more than two hours. When asked, the sales clerk said she had left home at five o'clock that morning. Fko was greatly impressed. “That's Knokuniya for you!” she said. She spread the story around to her friends and Sko. OF course, when Sko heard what had happened, her face turned deathly pale. She has firmly resolved to take the secret to her grave.Title BOF ECM BRBA—N— OBR BR yome daughterinlaw / 74> dekignkoro (bad) impulse / THIS de shine to find out from; to be shown by / # 4% yitmei famous / A—/— supermarket / BE sii honesty, sincerity sk FAA» is usually written Hi%K-Ls. Katakana is often sub- stituted for kanji or hiragana in informal writing as a kkind of playful emphasis. / The phrases 17 #-LyC4a1 % and HHA—/—D both modify Mi. Lepee =z . FEEA BB HET Suqgaye residential area in western Tokyo / ST SA Esekowan Ms. S, Sko / =— iB sani iai 31 years old / % taku home, residence / i2-F Zui city near Kamakura, about 50 km south of central Tokyo / 38 shitome motherinlaw / ia S12 tacunte kia came to visit / #878 fapw the rainy season, which usually ‘comes to all of Japan except Hokkaido in June / 7. aroma a brief dry spell we Honesty of a Famous Supermarket hia me MRD tame | Bt we RZ han The word % can come immediately after a person's name without a connecting , so SF&AZ means “Sko's home.” / The phrase EFICfEBR: modifies FFE A, so MFCM, FSA means “Eko, ($-ko’s) motherinlaw, who lives in Zushi.” / The topic of this sentence is F FS AMATA ROIS “(the time when) Fko came to visit’; the ® is a nominalizing parti dle. This topic is linked by the copula #227: to HERID BEAM OBOK &. The core meaning of the sentence is thus “the time when Eko came to visit was around mid- day during a brief dry spell in the rainy season.” The principal characters in the “Dekigotology” stories, and in many similar articles in the popular press, are identified by their initials. The J in SF marks it as a woman's name, perhaps #- Sachiko or MF Shizuko. The motherinlaw F$ might be XF Funiko or iF Fagiko, Not all women’s names end in *¥-, however, and sometimes you may see names like H3€ Harumi) or A% (for &2% Anna), / The ages A are written in kanji here because that is how they appeared in the original vertically:printed article. In hori zontal Japanese text, the numbers would normally be writ ten as 31 and 61. / The kanji ity is not one of the 1945 characters of the HB 760 kanji list recommended by the Japanese government for general use, Aside from school textbooks and newspapers, few publications adhere rigorously to that list, and the student of Japanese who leams only the #438 will remain incompletely liter ate,Honesty of a Famous Supermarket Honesty of a Famous Supermarket Ic BGs chad, be ot home kcal Shibuya a major business, shopping, and entertain. ent area on the west side of central Tokyo / 3% mago grandchild / #8 kao face By ot we RZ hue / Sew LB mine 2 What Fko means to say at the end of this sentence is EDEROME LIRA TT “T just dropped by to see my grandchild’ face.” Fko’s omission of the verb is a breezy, familiar style that is common in speech and infor: mal writing, The stories in this book contain many verb- Tess sentences. / The symbols [ and J are used here as z quotation marks. Called 9530 kggi kakko “key brackets” ' because of their resemblance to Japanese Lshaped keys (65 ag), these marks are also used for emphasis and to indicate proper names, as in Ig and 6). le freotoBis (oce ck, Pesine Bhicvotb bor. BB ARO ILW at ippai as much as possible, with a total ef fort / BARE < aio yoku cheerfully, warmly / &C% L 4 entertained (her) / ato after / 14 musume daughter / LIT source taking along / BSI sanpo mi for a walk /2T% 507: had gong [lit] received (her) going BH OTRLE mw OTRT / MNT © MNS comm / oT ew fi< lu/ bot h55 3% The subject of & TL and BHoK is SERA, and the subject of BHT and WoT is FEE A, K The image of a daughterinlaw playing the perfect hostess while secretly fearing her motherinlaw would be familiar to many Japanese readers. 1d SFeAc eos HVE cH, if ovens ay ee, 8 SFEAIE o Tit Bwkosan ni tote wa for Sko, in S kko's opinion / 38 oni devil, demon / i kowai fight ening 2% The topic phrase of this sentence is understood to be F FS Als. AX Conflicts berween married women and deit husbands mothers are a frequent theme of popular fiction and tele vision dramas, reflecting, perhaps, the prevalence of such conflicts in real life. 8 ok & with relief / $4. bitiki a short rest [lit] one breath 3 As in la, the katakana in ck y & indicate a mild empha sis, similar to italic type in English. This word appears in dictionaries as (>. / Again the verb is omitted. The full idiom is 2 < bitoikd taker “to take a breather.”Honesty of a Famous Supermarket Honesty of a Famous Supermarket & g EWS FF 7 ORICA MLE oh b BER nSE en, & “Ge E ( OBB As Fk? Bi CH ABATE ki ga yurunda relaxed; became less tense, less Vigilant; flit] the 4 Ai became slack / 2EV» because / 2 IL kajfuku empty stomach; hunger / $2.72 oboeta felt / Ae suddenly / #< D chikaku no nearby / #6 hilt highclass, luxury / [K 7 BIE! Kénokuniya abbreviated name of supermarket / So 72 atta purchased / £3 ‘o i to 9% which (Bko) said (¢he bought) / F-+-70 $8 dnaisu no fukuro bag of doughnuts / Eliik ¥ 3% ‘me ga tomatta (Sko) noticed; [lit] (So's) ee stopped on PRAT ex ABE yunema | GER A2 ow BERD oboeru | ote WS kau / bE of er LES tomar The phrase MARA EAEW AY means “perhaps because she relaxed,” explaining why Sko suddenly felt hungry. / The topicmarker ( we after Sko-san has been elided. / While $£2.% often means “to remember” or “to lear,” here its meaning is “to feel” / fii is the subject of > R./ SFE A is the topic for HALE OH. Tokyo residents would recognize K / BIR as #27 EI Kinokuniya, a luxury supermarket that sells imported food, (There’s also an international chain of bookstores called Kinokuniya, but they write their name #2(*18)/28.) ih EPonhevocvnns, (cache fiteobda) keto eso, She atk 38 FVS/il jizakuyo for use at one's home / Eo TE 5 0 ite ita kara because (Fko) had said that / F-& 1H 2222 te 0 dasenai cannot touch; cannot get involved in / ia (shows mild exclamation; used by female speakers) 1 &OD mono no but / BBISBEL DAL kpfiew twa ris yori taposhi hunger is stronger than reason HoT HD vor / Wi eS / Hee © HES ew HT daw] Bot: ew B5 omow #& The kanji fis used as a suffix in many expressions simi- lar to HGF. Examples include 2/8 ipukwo “for use by guests,” JH guar) “for military use” and 4:58 shay “for company use.” / The parentheses in (C#UIZI2-F Hie%R vd fa) and in Ij indicate S-ko’s unspoken thoughts. / #8 L is the archaic literary form of the adjec tive 58U> ipo’ “strong” / F¥& A, is understood to be the subject of V0 CWA, while SF& A. is the subject of HEM and Bor, The phrase IUATEEE 93H L is a pun on the pro- verb