One of the interesting things that happens to some English words when they get turned into Japanese is getting blended together. Some words are too long for Japanese speakers and so it is fairly common that a long English word will get this treatment. Today we’ll look at some useful examples for anyone studying Japanese.

パソコン Pasacon

One of the first katakana words I learned, a very useful one and a shining example of the interesting ways that English has found its way into the Japanese language. This word is short for Personal Computer and is a must for anyone studying Japanese.

アメフト Amefuto

Ame usually means either candy or rain but in this case it is short for American. Can you guess what this word means now? I certainly couldn’t; American Football. Unlike Europe, Japan uses the same word as America, soccer, to refer to the kicking game and American Football to refer to the tackling game, although it is rarely played in Japan.

エアコン Aircon

When I first heard this word I thought someone was talking about that airplane thriller that stars Nicholas Cage as a con man. Con Air was it? The real meaning however, is not nearly as exciting. This is what “air conditioner” looks like in Japanese. Japanese air conditioners are very different from western ones. There is rarely, if ever, central air conditioning in Japan so most people really on wall units that are only good for heating up one room and leave you with a pretty nasty soar throat if you don’t keep it on low while you are sleeping. They are pretty effective if you live in a well insulated place but in my room for example, which has 3 big windows, it takes a while for them to get started.

セクハラ Sekuhara

This is a word you don’t want being used toward you. Although you might not be able to figure it out on your own, this word is short for “sexual harassment”. Though lawsuits are not nearly as common as they are in Japan as the US and Japanese men may get away with much more than they do stateside, there are a few cases where someone crosses even the Japanese line into what someone would call sekku hara. One of the most common forms of Sekku Hara in Japan is the “Chikan”. A Chikan is someone who gropes women on a crowded train. When I first came here this idea was nonsense to me but if you spend time on one of the busier lines in Tokyo during rush hour you can easily imagine how some perverted guy who lets his hormones get the best of him might try it. For this reason there are some women only train cars during rush hours.

マザコン Mazakon

Since Oedipus complex is probably one of the very first word you wanted to know when you started studying Japanese, here it is. This word is short for “Mother complex”. It is usually used more to refer to the typical Mama’s boy rather than a confused person with serious feelings for the mother.

The use of word processing software to construct digital texts rather than hand-written ones can help your progress towards Japanese language proficiency. Of course, there is much to be said for writing Japanese by hand; having a good knowledge of the stroke order required to write kanji is not only necessary for writing in many tasks in daily life in Japan, but is also helpful for reading texts quickly and differentiating between similar characters. Indeed, many Japanese lament the deterioration of their ability to write some of the more obscure kanji that has resulted from increased use of computers and mobile phones for text creation. However, for non-native Japanese learners, choosing to write on a computer rather than by hand, at least some of the time, can have some benefits.

Note:The Japanese keyboard has a JIS mechanical input, which is set by the Japanese Industrial Standards.

Benefits

The clearest advantage of word processing in Japanese is the appearance of a small dropdown menu displaying the possible kanji that correspond to the hiragana that you have just written. This means that on occasions where you know the hiragana spelling or pronunciation of a term, but cannot quite remember the kanji, you can quickly be reminded by the dropdown menu. Reinforcing your association between words and kanji characters, it can also be a tool for ironing out your spelling mistakes, particularly in the cases where your knowledge of the pronunciation of a word may still leave some ambiguity in your mind in terms of its actual spelling, such as whether a long or short vowel or a single or double consonant is required.

Take the example of the word “Tokyo”. When writing by hand, you could write the hiragana incorrectly as “ときょ/ときょう/とうきょ” and be none the wiser. Alternatively, you could know and write the kanji by hand while still believing one of the three incorrect options above is correct. In contrast, conversion of these three pieces of hiragana in digital form using the dropdown menu would leave you with something like と居, と今日, or 問う居, which should immediately raise a flag that the inputted spelling was not correct. This becomes increasingly important as your vocabulary grows and the number of words with similar spellings/pronunciations that you use in your writing increases. The dropdown menu can also introduce you to new kanji for words that you already can spell using hiragana, pronounce, and know the meaning of.

If you’ve ever been to Tokyo, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the map of the city’s rapid transit system, the Tokyo Metro (東京メトロ). At first, this colourful and highly intricate web of interconnecting lines can seem somewhat daunting, but it shouldn’t take too long to get used to.

Most of the names of its many stations (駅, えき) and lines (線, せん) are derived from historical districts of what is now known as Tokyo, and some of these can serve as useful examples of important Japanese language concepts. In addition, some of them are just downright cool. For example, the name of the station of perhaps the most well-known district of Tokyo outside of Japan, Akihabara (秋葉原), translates to the decidedly poetic Field of Autumn Leaves. Here are a few more.

English: Freedom Hill – 自由が丘 (じゆうがおか)

This is a classic example of the historical usage of the particle が. What we have here is in fact not the usual ‘subject marker’ が; in classical Japanese, が had a similar function to the particle の in use today. So what we have here, written another way, is in fact 自由の丘 – “Hill of Freedom”, or “Freedom Hill”. This historical usage of が can also be seen in the title of Japan’s national anthem – 君が代 (きみがよ).

English: Mist’s Gateway – 霞ヶ関 (かすみがせき)

In the middle of this station name is a small version of the katakana character ケ. This ‘small ke’ is in fact of different origin to its larger version, and is thought to be a simplification of the kanji 箇.

It’s used when counting months (三ヶ月, three months) and countries (三ヶ国, three countries) among other things, and in such instances, is pronounced か. Curiously, it can also be found in place names, where it is pronounced が. When used in this second way, it fulfils the same role as the が discussed above. See also: Aokigahara – 青木ヶ原 (あおきがはら), a forest near Mt. Fuji, which is the world’s second most popular suicide location.

English: New Bridge – 新橋 (しんばし)

On the Tokyo Metro map, 新橋 is officially romanised as Shimbashi. However, nowadays we would be more likely to write it as Shinbashi. This is because there have existed multiple schemes for romanisation of Japanese (writing the Japanese language using the Roman alphabet), throughout history. The most well-known of these is Hepburn romanisation, which in its earliest version would render the ん in this station’s name as an m, due to it being before a ‘b’ sound. Later revisions of the Hepburn scheme render ん as n, regardless of where in a word it comes.

While Hepburn romanisation is the most widely used romanisation scheme outside of Japan, Japanese schoolchildren are in fact taught a different scheme, known as Kunren-shiki (訓練式). This is the reason why you might see a Japanese person romanise しょ as syo, rather than sho, for example.

English: Six Trees – 六本木 (ろっぽんぎ)

This infamous district’s station name serves as a good example of a Japanese counter word in action. Here, 本 is the counter for long, thin objects. Before it, we have how many objects we’re counting (六, six) and after it, what we’re counting (木, tree). Six – long, thin objects – tree. Six Trees.

English: Hands of the Mountain – 山手 (やまのて)

If 山 is やま and 手 is て, where does the の come from? There exists a convention whereby in writing, the の in names such as this is dropped, leaving only the kanji remaining. When spoken however, the の is always included. See also: the common Japanese surnames 井上 (いのうえ) and 木下 (きのした).

So, the next time you find yourself on a train in Japan, try working out what the names of the stations you pass through mean in English. There are some intriguing ones out there – 洗足 (せんぞく, Feet Washing), 池袋 (いけぶくろ, Lake Sack), and 御茶ノ水 (おちゃのみず, Tea Water) to name just three.

Happy New Years from Kyoto! I’m exploring the ancient city with my family who is here for the first time and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to teach you a bunch of words and concepts relating to New Years. Anyone studying Japanese will find these words extremely useful for understanding the culture of Japan.

Prepping for the new Year – 年賀状　Nengajou

Nengajou, or New Year’s cards are seasonal greetings that are an important part of New Year’s in Japan. Although the custom has become less essential with the spread of the internet and mobile messages in the last two decades, most old folk and many young people still send these cards to friends, coworkers, and relatives. Most young people I’ve talked to send between 20-30 and some older people will send upwards of 50-100, basically to everyone they know.

お正月　Oshougatsu

New Years Eve, or Oshougatsu, is basically a family day in Japan. The trains are packed for the days leading to New Years Eve because a majority of people are heading back to their hometown. Tokyo Station was packed but there were enough Shinkansen (Bullet trains) that we managed to snatch 3 seats. Many people will eat soba noodles for dinner. Soba symbolize longevity and means good luck for the new year. Unlike in the west, most people stay home with their families on New Years. Many of them will watch special television programs while eating (and in some families drinking) together.

初詣　Hatsumoude

Hatsumoude is the years first visit to a temple. Although the religious meaning of this tradition has faded among most Japanese, they do like protecting their traditions and almost all will visit a temple within the first 3 days of the new year, many going right after midnight. This usually involves standing on a long line making a quick prayer and throwing some coins in for donations to the temple. Many temples will have festivals with lots of food stands as well.

The morning after – おおみそか　Oomisoka

The first day of the year is a feast! Families will wake up and prepare Osechi (New Year’s food). Osechi is composed of a huge variety of small dishes. Some of these dishes are commonly found in bento and many of them are only eaten on New Years. Traditionally, each of these foods have a symbolic meaning though the meaning has been lost among most. Some families choose to cook this food on their own and others will buy expensive sets from department stores (I see many sets going for 30,000 yen, about 350 dollars!). The rest of the day (or more like the next 3 days) is spent either relaxing with family or those who didn’t do it the night before will make a stop at the nearest temple.

Although countdown parties are becoming more popular, the holiday is basically a time for family to relax, eat a lot, and enjoy time together. The following days are also a chance for people to see their hometown friends. If you have the chance to experience New Years in Japan, consider yourself lucky, it is one of the most enjoyable times of the year.

Last time we looked at some ways to use the magic word (or words) to get what we want. But you can’t always have what you want. Sometimes we don’t need to request anything, we just want to tell someone what it is we want and don’t expect them to do anything about it. When you tell your friend “I want a new car”, you don’t usually expect them to buy it for you (unless you are having an affair with a rich, generous person). In English we use “want” with both nouns and verbs but in Japanese there are two different ways to say want. It is important to take note of this when you study Japanese.

I want to eat 食べたい

When you want to do something, you have to conjugate the verb with the -tai ending so the sentence becomes “Noun + wo + verb-tai”. This is a verb conjugation so obviously we can not use it with nouns. After a long day, ”食べたい！”　is how you’d say “I want to eat!”. We take the stem form of “Taberu” or “to eat” with the -tai ending「何を食べたい？」would be a casual way to ask “What do you want to eat. To make this more polite, we add a “desu” at the end 「何を食べたいですか？」　「すしを食べたいです」 “I want to eat sushi”. Easy enough, right?

I want a car 車が欲しい

When you express that you want an object or a noun, the grammar is different so please be careful. We use the pattern “Noun + ga hoshii”, so if you are working day and night to save up for a new guitar you can say 「新しいギターが欲しい」　or “I want a new guitar”. Or if you’ve been single for a long time and finally need some love and affection you can say 「新しい彼女が欲しい!」 or “I want a new girlfriend!”. You’ve friend might respond with “Ganbatte!” or “Do your best!” People tend to use Verb with the -tai when they can. 「すしが欲しい」 and 「すしを食べた」 essentially mean the same thing but it is more common to say “I want to eat sushi” than “I want sushi”, just like in English. When we want to be polite, we add a “desu” at the end.

I Miss New York

One of the most frustrating things for people who study Japanese is trying to express that you miss something. There is no verb to express “to miss” in Japanese. We have to work with what we’ve got. There are two main ways we can do this. Instead of saying “I miss New York”, we might say 「ニューヨークに戻りたい」 or “I want to return to New York”. This can be frustrating if we don’t actually want to express discontent with Tokyo. We could also say「ニューヨークは懐かしいです」 or “New York is nostalgic”. The third way to say this is 「ニューヨークは恋しいです」 or something like “New York is dear to me” but you will not hear this one often. Take your pick. “I miss you” would most often be translated as 「あなたに会いたい」.