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NIHONGO PERA PERA!
Illustrations by Mitsuru Takahashi
Published by the Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc.
of Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan
with editorial offices at
Osaki Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0032
© 1993 by Charles E. Tuttle Publishing Co., Inc.
All rights reserved
LCC Card No. 93-60035
ISBN: 978-1-4629-0411-2 (ebook)
First edition, 1993
Printed in Japan
• CONTENTS •
| Preface 7 | |
| Introduction 11 | |
| The Origins of Japanese Onomatopoeia 13 | |
| Note on the Onomatopoeic Phrases 15 | |
| 1. | WILDLIFE 19 |
| In the City 20 | |
| Down on the Farm 23 | |
| In the Countryside 24 | |
| 2. | WEATHER 29 |
| Rain and Dampness 30 | |
| Cold and Snow 34 | |
| Heat 38 | |
| Dryness 40 | |
| Cloudiness, Wind, and Storms 41 | |
| Nighttime 43 | |
| 3. | FOOD 45 |
| Preparation and Cooking 46 | |
| Hunger and Eating 49 | |
| Taste 53 | |
| 4. | WORK 61 |
| Feelings, Attitudes, and Approaches to Work 62 | |
| Deal Making and Money Making 72 | |
| 5. | WINE, WOMEN, AND SONG 79 |
| Wine 80 | |
| Drinking 81 | |
| Getting Drunk 83 | |
| Women (and Men) 85 | |
| Personality 86 | |
| Appearance and Behavior 92 | |
| Relationships 97 | |
| Song 100 | |
| 6. | SUMO 105 |
| The Wrestlers 107 | |
| The Matches 109 | |
| 7. | SICK AND TIRED 115 |
| Sickness and Pain 116 | |
| Anger and Complaints 119 | |
| Tiredness 124 | |
| Sweet Dreams! 127 | |
| 8. | GRAB BAG 129 |
| Listing of Entries 139 |
• PREFACE •
I came to Japan for the first time 23 years ago as a newlywed, to begin married life in a country I knew almost nothing about. I made the journey by sea with my husband, a young British diplomat. It took us seven weeks to reach our destination. When I first learned I was going to Japan, I had no grand design on how to go about mastering Japanese, although the long sea journey meant I would have plenty of time for reading and study. Once on board the ship, I started to explore, in a leisurely fashion, what lay ahead of me. I scanned my blue and yellow Teach Yourself Japanese for days, confident I was making great progress. When we disembarked at Yokohoma, I had, in effect, mastered only two words of Japanese: pen and inki. I did not realize that pen really referred to something other than a fountain pen, whose correct name was mannenhitsu. Even the word inki let me down, as it is now more commonly pronounced and spelled inku.
We were to spend two years learning Japanese before my husband began work in the Embassy. There were three other young diplomats also embarking on language study. For the first time ever, another wife and I were to be allowed to participate in the training, with one proviso: our husbands and the other men had to be able to make satisfactory progress in spite of our presence.
Although I was not a diplomat, I would be learning the language of diplomacy: the vocabulary of politics and economics; official government jargon; gyōsho and sōsho, the cursive and very cursive styles of writing; polite ways to address the Emperor, should we ever meet him. It was very odd. After two years of intensive study, I could sort out a visa problem in Japanese or discuss a Ministry of Foreign Affairs Note Verbale with the loftiest of Japanese bureaucrats, but I could not have a casual chat in colloquial Japanese with my neighbor or simply and correctly order a bag of onions from the vegetable shop.
I remember how difficult it was to pick up the language at first. I had studied French, German, and Latin before coming to Japan, but nothing prepared me for learning Japanese. It is truly a difficult language to master, and many people must reach the conclusion early on that it isn't worth the bother. For those who feel this way about learning Japanese, I have four words of encouragement: First is the Worst. The stress of the first attempts to pick up the language is almost unbearable. Hairlines have been known to recede under such pressure, ulcers have formed, and romantic bonds have snapped. But it does get easier and, yes, it can be fun.
When I look back over my years of studying Japanese, I wish I had had more user-friendly materials to help improve my speaking ability. I've tried to write the sort of book that I would have liked to have had myself, a book that would have helped me improve my spoken Japanese and
