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🇯🇵 Gucci Revisits Japanese Folklore

For the 75th anniversary of their iconic bamboo top-handle  bags, Gucci released a campaign movie called “Gendai Taketori Monogatari” (現代竹取物語 – Contemporary Taketori Monogatari). It revisits and reinterprets one of the most famous and beloved Japanese ancient fairy tales, “Taketori Monogatari”  (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter). The original tale of the Heian period (794-1185) tells the story of Princess Kaguya, found as a baby by an old couple in a bamboo plant. Her glowing beauty attracts many suitors,  however she rejects them all, and eventually has to go back to the moon where she is from. Although the same themes of the moon and heartbreaking goodbyes are present in the Gucci movie, you will notice  that their story is quite different. Their incorporation of Japanese classic elements, including the badminton playing scene which invokes the Japanese traditional New Year’s game hanetsuki (羽根つき), is truly delightful.

You can watch the original story here in the cult anime series Nihon mukashibanashi (日本昔ばなし – Japanese old tales), which contains a strong sci-fi element.

The topic of the moon (月 – tsuki) has always been important in Japanese culture. Similar to hanami (cherry blossom-viewing parties), we have tsukimi (moon-viewing parties) too, and there are countless classic poems celebrating the moon.

What do you think of Gucci’s interpretation?

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🏛 Latin Quote 🐺

« Homo homini lupus »

– Plautus

🇺🇸 Man is wolf to man

🇫🇷 L’homme est un loup pour l’homme 

🇯🇵 人間は、人間にとって狼である

コメント: 日本語の「弱肉強食」に少し似ていますね!

Ningen wa ningen ni totte ookami de aru

Kommento: nihongo no “jakuniku kyoushoku” ni sukoshi niteimasune!

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🇯🇵 Article about a 466-Year Old Kimono House

I came upon an interesting article about a 466-year old kimono house, so I wanted to share it here with you. 

https://kimonocouture.worcesterart.org/introduction-to-chiso

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🇯🇵 Listening Comprehension through Murakami

Today’s excerpt is where Murakami meets one of his favorite American author’s relative. 

Author: Murakami Haruki (村上春樹)

Title: “やがて哀しき外国語” (Yagate kanashiki gaikokugo)

先日ペンシルヴェニアに住んでいるシンシア・ロスさんという人から、夕食に来ないかと言う招待の手紙をいただいた。その手紙によると、シンシアさんは実はスコット・フィッツジェラルドの孫にあたるということである。(…) 彼女は僕がスコット・フィッツジェラルドの小説の翻訳をしていることを人づてに聞いて、興味を持ってわざわざ招待してくれたのだ。

Senjitu Pensiruvenia ni sundeiru Sinsia Rosu san to iuu hito kara, yuushoku ni konai ka to iuu shoutai no tegami wo itadaita. Sono tegami ni yoruto, Sinsia san wa jituha Sukotto Fittujerarudo no mago ni ataru to iuu kotodearu. (…) Kanojo wa boku ga Sukotto Fittujerarudo no shousetu no honyaku wo siteiru koto wo hitodute ni kiite, kyoumi wo motte wazawaza shoutai site kureta noda. 

Comment: Notice which “I” pronoun Murakami is using for himself. In your opinion, what kind of “vibe” does it give? Also notice the use of  “~のだ” (noda), short form equivalent to “~のです” (~nodesu) “~んです” (~ndesu) at the end. Can you guess why Murakami uses it here? 

A: It is because “~nodesu” is used to give an explanation, to bring attention to a fact, or to emphasize a fact. Here, he is telling us the reason why he has been invited. 

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🇫🇷 French Literature Audio – Alphonse Daudet

Today’s listening comprehension is from Alphonse Daudet’s autobiographical book “Le Petit Chose” (1868). 

I recommend listening first, and trying to guess the meaning, or even just catch the words that you know. You can then read the text below for additional help. I am reading the text twice, first time fast and second time slower.

 « C’est une vérité, je fus la mauvaise étoile de mes parents. Du jour de ma naissance, d’incroyables malheurs les assaillirent par vingt endroits. »  

Alphonse Daudet
Le Petit Chose (1868)

Comment:
As it is a novel, you may notice the use of the literary tense “passé simple” (=simple past tense) underlined above. It is a tense equivalent to the passé composé and we use it for written language only, therefore it may feel unfamiliar. “Fus” is the verb “être” (= to be) and “assaillirent” is the verb “assaillir” (=to attack, assail).

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🇯🇵 List of “I” pronouns and translators’ dilemmas

Previously, we started to explore the Japanese pronoun “I,” and will continue to review the most common examples and uses. The “I”  pronoun provides an indication of the speaker’s identity or personality. It is how we label ourselves and one of the reasons why there are so many options available.

私 (watashi): neutral in both gender and status, and often used by news anchors. However,  since men have other options available, it is used in higher percentage by women.

私 (watakushi): the kanji is the same as “watashi,” however when pronounced we add a “ku” between “ta” and “shi” to express humility. It is used in formal situations when speaking with a  person of higher status or age and denotes respect towards the person we are speaking to.

僕 (boku): one of the two primary “I”  pronouns use by boys and also men, each of which has its own nuances and connotations. It has youthfulness to it and might sound too childish if a middle-aged person persistently used it. The kanji also means “servant” (shimobe) and so, it has a more formal vibe too compared to “ore” below. 

俺 (ore): the second and more informal option used by men, which has a bit of a wild or even sometimes macho nuance. Men who use it probably identify as “virile.”

Differences between boku and ore

From a stereotypical standpoint, boku is preppy, shirt and pants kind of guy, while ore is racing down the road on a motorbike in a gritty leather jacket. Boku is used in the expression “僕ちゃん” (bokuchan), often used by adults when talking to a boy, particularly when they don’t know his name. We never use “orechan,” that would sound like an oxymoron as the politeness marker chan is sweet and affectionate.

Another use of ore is in the colloquial expression “oreore sagi”  (オレオレ詐欺). This is the name of a telephone scam, where the scammer calls  older people and pretends to be their sons or grandsons, saying “it’s me, it’s me” (ore ore!), pretending they are in trouble and asking for money. Calling this scam “Boku boku sagi” instead would sound silly in associating boku’s soft and gentle vibe to crime.

Translators’ dilemmas
Since we have three main male “I”  pronouns, each with a different nuance, translators have a number of  choices to make which might be tricky at times. In my interpretation work for international fashion businesses, I use the neutral “watashi”  for everybody to keep the importance of the conversation on the content  of what’s being said. I do not have to transmit the atmosphere as one  might for more literary purposes such as in a novel, where it is  important to reproduce the characters’ moods and the entire ambiance. In  this case, the translator must capture the character correctly through  the pronoun choices made. In his book “翻訳夜話” (Honyaku yawa), Murakami Haruki (村上春樹) has talked about the dilemmas he’s faced with the “I”  pronoun in his process of translating many American novels into  Japanese. In the case of his translation of Raymond Carver’s books, he says that in his opinion, it should be either watashi either boku, and that outside some particular conversations the use of ore is out of the question. When the character is young, he would often use boku  and then shift to watashi as they became older, or mix in the use of boku to avoid monotony. This is why there is far more impact Japanese  translators have based on the interpretations choices they make. We can  say the exact same thing, but significantly alter the message based on  the nuance each choice carries. 

Can women use male “I” pronouns? 
Although uncommon, women can use the male “I pronouns. Mogami Moga (最上もが), a Japanese actress/model, uses boku on TV, but is the only one that I am aware of. It stands out, and it gives  kind of an eccentric and cool image. She initially used boku in online gaming to pass as a guy, because she felt users were treating  women poorly, and kept this habit outside the gaming world. A woman  using “ore” is far more unheard of and would feel very aggressive or provocative. It is another example of boku being much softer than ore.

Next time, we will go over the less common “I” pronouns, and some Japanese book titles containing the “I” pronouns, and see what is the reason or effect of the choice.

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🇯🇵 “I” and the search for missing Japanese pronouns

Japanese language is constructed within layers of nuance. The  speaker can convey feelings through grammatical choices such as the politeness levels, particles, pronouns, verb auxiliaries, and more.  Grammar in this way acts like “body language” similar to how facial  expression, gesture, and tone can reveal the person’s status or  intentions. I will be going over these linguistics “special effects”  individually, but today we will focus on the subject pronoun “I.”

In a previous post, we took a look at the different politeness markers and their role in displaying relationship statuses and  hierarchies. “I” is similar in that there are many degrees of politeness, some of which are also gendered.

One  important thing to note is that in Japanese grammar, it is not necessary to mention the subject. All the verbs have the same form with any subject. For example, in English “we eat” and “he eats” have different pronouns, and the verb form changes according to the subject. Similarly, in French, we say “nous mangeons” and “il mange.” However, in Japanese, “tabemasu” (食べます) means “I” or “you” or “he” or “she” or “it” or “we” or “they eat.”

So, how can we know who does the action? The context tells us, and if it is  not clear, we then mention the subject. However, this is less necessary  than one would think and why there is a tendency to avoid doing so. It is generally understood that the subject is “I” when there is no subject at all. For other subjects, the last mentioned subject is the understood subject. We specify once, and after that it is understood  that it is the same subject if there’s no new subject introduced.

Since it is not necessary to continually mention the subject, if it is mentioned again, it serves as special emphasis. You can find  parallels in Latin: “ego edo.” “Edo” on its own means “I eat,” and therefore adding the pronoun “ego” places more emphasis on the subject. It’s along the lines of saying, “as for me, I eat.” The same can be done in French, “moi, je mange” by adding the disjunctive pronoun “moi.” In French, it is often used to stress a fact and to mark a difference. For example, if I say “moi, j’y vais,” it implies “(maybe you are not going) but as for me, I’m going.” And so, in Japanese, mentioning the “I” pronoun when not necessary may sound a little bit like “me me me!” as it stresses the subject, so I recommend avoiding it.  

In a next post, we will go over the list of “I” pronouns and their differences.

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🏛 Latin Quote “to err or to wander”

“Hominis est errare, insipientis perseverare”

🇫🇷 L’homme commet des erreurs, seul l’idiot persiste 

🇺🇸 Men make mistakes, only the fool persists

Another variation “Errare humanum est” is interesting, because the verb “errare” in Latin means not only “to make mistake” but also “to wander, lose one’s way.” The English “to err” kept the first meaning, and the French “errer” actually kept the latter meaning, hence this “faux amis” situation. So this proverb can mean “making mistakes is human” and also “to wander/lose one’s way is human” which I quite like because I find it deeper. 

🇯🇵 人間は過ちをおこすが、愚か者のみが繰り返す
Ningen wa ayamachi wo okosuga, orokamono nomi ga kurikaesu

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🇯🇵 Death & Controversy: Former Japanese Prime Minister

The shocking news of former Japanese prime minister Abe  Shinzo’s (安倍晋三) assassination just recently broke. Since gun violence is  so rare in Japan, and usually associated with the yazuka, this is  particularly stunning for the Japanese people. It wasn’t until I lived  in the US had I ever even heard any gun shootings, as I  had spent the majority of my life in Japan and Europe. Gun restriction laws are very strict in Japan. We do not even think about the possibility of owning a gun, which feels completely surreal there. Guns  are simply not a part of Japanese culture in any shape or form. This is  why the man who shot Abe actually used a home-made gun, since commercially manufactured guns are incredibly difficult to obtain. Police have found many other home-made guns at the suspect’s home. You can learn more about the suspect in the linked video (in Japanese). 

The motives for the assassination are uncertain at the moment, but it has raised questions about the safety of gaitou enzetu (街頭演説). Gaitou enzetu means  “street oratory” and it is a tradition for Japanese politicians to do oratory speeches on the streets during political campaigns. If you have  been in Japan, you may have encountered politicians speaking with megaphones near train stations or heard them drive around cities in small vans with posters and loudspeakers. This also means the  politicians are very close to people, and also hard to protect.

On Japanese social media, I’ve seen criticism that the security failed to protect Abe. However, in my opinion, this is all also a reflection of Japan’s historically low crime rates and overall general safety. Japan  is a very safe country with a culture that nurtures law-abiding,  respectful and non-aggressive behavior in the people. As a result, the  need for security is less than what you may find in other countries.  Abe would sometimes walk his dog in his neighborhood without security,  something difficult to imagine in the US. By comparison, in the US, you can often find  security check points at most important events.

In  addition to this, since Abe was a politician who was especially adorned  by the right wing nationalists, his supporters are taking to social  media to bash their critics. Although he was no longer prime minister,  he continued to exert influence over politics and was often consulted by  the current prime minister Kishida Fumio (岸田文雄) to whom he was a mentor. Abe was regularly at the center of controversies and scandals, for corruptions or for his ties with right-wing nationalist groups. Many Abe fanatics are now accusing those who were against him and his politics to have incited the murderer, or minimally taking joy in his death. However, those who are anti-Abe — and there are many — are actually very disappointed in his death, since they feel he is escaping responsibility for past suspect actions, leading to unresolved investigations regarding his suspected political corruptions. 

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🇫🇷 France and the Supreme Court Decision

The recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs Wade stunned  many people around the world, including the French. For French people,  the US is an important model for fundamental rights (as written in the linked article: “Les États-Unis ont un poids important comme modèle de défense des droits fondamentaux.”). The shockwave of this decision inspired several political  and feminist organizations in France to request that the right to  abortion be written into the French Constitution and in the Charter of  fundamental rights of the EU. Although abortion has been legal in France  since 1975, it is not explicitly protected in the French Constitution,  and for several years, various associations have passionately expressed  their advocacy for making it so. The recent US news has deepened   concerns and the sense of urgency for this.

If you want to know about the history of abortion right in France, I recommend this podcast:

“Simone Veil et la lutte pour l’IVG : le droit de choisir “

https://www.franceinter.fr/emissions/affaires-sensibles/affaires-sensibles-30-juin-2017