was to add a particle like to or ni. Hence, we have go go to, rumblingly, do do to, majestically, and ga ga to, steeply rising, which date back to the Heike Monogatari of the 13th century. These phrases originating from Chinese are not nearly so numerous or generally so widely used as those that are purely Japanese.
Onomatopoeic phrases are widely used in news headlines because they pack so much punch in just one or two words. They also appear frequently in advertising, because they are catchy and appealing. Perhaps their greatest contribution to modern Japanese culture, though, is to be found in manga—the comic books read by young and old alike. These cartoons are littered with onomatopoeic phrases, enabling the artist to create certain moods without detailed description and giving the pictorial action a heightened sense of drama. Frequently, phrases are altered from their dictionary forms to suit the needs of the narrative, often leaving the reader to infer their meaning from the action. As a result of taking such liberties, sometimes the artist inadvertently coins an entirely new word that may gain a permanent place for itself in the language.
Note on the Onomatopoeic Phrases
In choosing phrases to include, I have tried to select those that are in frequent use. Rather than compiling an alphabetically listed dictionary, I have grouped the phrases into categories, giving definitions and examples of their usage and an occasional reminiscence on how I first came across the phrase. It is my hope that this will enable the reader to dip anywhere into the book and enjoy sections of it at random. In addition, for easy access, I have included an alphabetical listing of entries at the back of the book that includes the definition and page number for each entry.
Many phrases have more than one meaning. If a phrase is featured elsewhere in the text, an asterisk (*) is placed by the relevant definition. Check the listing of entries for the location of any other listings in the book. Different categories of meanings within each definition are separated by semicolons.
Most Japanese onomatopoeic phrases belong to a family of related expressions that repeat or pronounce the same word slightly differently, or add an article (e.g., gun, gūn, gū-un, gun to, and gutto, all describe with slightly different nuances, the use of effort, or marked change). Also, in kana the use of the dakuten (") or the maru (°) with the words can harden or soften the sound or meaning of a phrase (e.g., zuke zuke means to speak one's mind in a more direct way than tsuke tsuke). Wherever possible, I have grouped these related phrases together in the text. Generally:
g, z, d, and b are "muddy" sounds suggesting big, heavy, or dirty (like gashitto, strongly built, and botteri, large or fat)
k, s, t, and h are "clean" sounds, suggesting sharp, light, small, and pretty (hakkiri, clearly, and soyo soyo, light breeze)
h is a dignified sound (hōhokekyo, the call of the nightingale)
p suggests something undignified (pota pota, plop, and paku paku, gobble)
k and t are hard (kochi kochi, hard, and tsun, pointed)
s suggests a feeling of friction, of sliding or slipping along (sarari, slide)
n suggests a feeling of stickiness (neba neba, sticky)
h suggests lightness, b heaviness, p something in between (hara hara, water streams soundlessly, bara bara, rain down, and para para, sprinkle lightly)
When a word is repeated to form a phrase, it suggests repetition, continuation, or things happening one after another.
In the City
I've always lived in Tokyo during our stays in Japan, and I've always found it a very noisy place. Tokyoites have grown accustomed to noise. During the Edo period, the cries of hawkers and shopkeepers eager to sell their wares filled the air. Now it's the sound of traffic and construction work that seem to be everywhere. As if that weren't enough, whenever there is an election, all the candidates dispatch cars with loudspeakers to patrol the streets, playing taped messages shouting their virtues shamelessly, until it's hard for me to understand why anyone would want to vote for them at all.
When all the hubbub finally starts to die down in the evening, it becomes evident that even Tokyo has room for the usual range of noisy urban animal life: stray cats, people's dogs, and crows— crows in such numbers that you will never forget them. The cats seem to delay their most serious confrontations until the moment your head hits the pillow and you turn off the light. The crows chime in later with their avian conversations, usually just before dawn.
wan wan woof woof, bowwow
Children often refer to dogs as Wan-chan.
• Shiranai hito ga niwa ni hairu tabi ni, inu ga wan wan to hageshiku hoemashita.
Whenever a stranger entered the garden, the dog barked furiously.
kyan kyan yap, yelp of a dog in pain, yip yap of a small dog
• Kyan kyan nakinagara, kanojo no koinu wa subayaku nigemashita.
Her puppy quickly ran away yelping.
nyā nyā meow
• Ofuro ni ochita neko wa kawaisō ni nyä nyä naite imashita. The cat had fallen in the bath and was crying pitifully.
goro goro purr; laze about; lumpy; roll, rumble*
I think goro goro sums up perfectly the throaty purr of pleasure of a contented cat.
• Terebi no ue ni nete ita neko wa goro goro nodo o narashite imashita.
The cat sleeping on the television was purring quietly.
poppo pigeon's coo
• Yasukuni Jinja de poppo poppo to naite iru hato ni esa o nagete yarimashita.
We scattered feed for the cooing pigeons at Yasukuni Shrine.
kākā caw caw
There are too many crows in Tokyo. Crows live all over Tokyo, but they fly to the alleys of the Ginza early in the morning to feast on the remains of the previous night's reveling, disposed of in flimsy plastic bags awaiting collection by the blue and white garbage vans. A nature park I visited in Meguro Ward recently was so full of circling crows that I thought I had landed in a Hitchcock movie. I think something should be done about them, but there seems to be a tolerance for all sorts of living things in Japan.
• Karasu ga kā kā nakinagara, negura no hō e tonde ikimashita. Crying caw caw, the crows flew toward their roosting place.
jii jii cicada's chirp; the sound of something burning*
miin miin cicada's chirp
Summer has passed as I write this, and I have to imagine a hot, sunny day, heavy with humidity and ringing with the cries of the cicadas. I am often filled with nostalgia when I hear them, but in combination with the merciless heat of a Japanese summer and the relentless pace of a working day here, their drone can at times be very trying. However, I occasionally find myself chanting
