to exercise restraint in this matter, but the Ministry of Finance is not too enthusiastic about it since the machines are a lucrative source of tax revenue. Recently there has been serious criticism of this state of affairs, and plans to remove alcohol and cigarette vending machines have been carried out at the local level.
Sake is sometimes called kichigai mizu (literally, crazy water), and is thought to paralyze a part of the brain and create a condition of stupidity. Shirafu (literally, white face) means sober. This is because the Japanese characteristically become very red in the face when they drink.
Horo-yoi means tipsy. Here how means a little, and yoi means to become drunk. Ippai kigen can also be translated as tipsy, with ippai meaning one glass and kigen meaning humor or mood.
Yopparai is used when tipsiness passes into drunkenness. It is similar to nonbei, but more colloquial. Also, while nonbei describes a habitual drinker, yopparai can describe someone who occasionally gets drunk. It comes from the verb yopparau, meaning to get very drunk or sloshed, which, in turn, is derived from the verb you. You has three interpretations: to get drunk, to get sea-sick, and to be fascinated by music, etc. If you call someone yopparai in an angry tone, it's equivalent to saying you goddam drunk, get out of here.
Jogō is a tippler. It can be used in compounds, such as warai-jogō (a happy drunk), naki-jogō (a maudlin drinker), and okori-jogō (a mean drunk).
Geko is a bad or weak drinker. It can also mean a teetotaler. It is always used by itself, never in compounds.
Strong drinkers are generally called hidari-tō (literally, left-handed party). Hidari comes from the word for left, as in left-handed, and implies people who want to continue drinking so badly that they will drink with their left hand, while using their right to eat simultaneously.
Geko are thought of so contempuously that they are called ama-tō (lovers of sweets). Ama comes from amai mono (sweets), and tō means party or faction. Ama-tō are often regarded as buchōhō (impolite, awkward, or unccomplished). An antonym for ama-tō is kara-tō (literally, hot and dry), which is also used to refer to a drinker.
Japanese people often inquire as to whether their guests can drink or not by asking ikeru kuchi desu ka? (ikeru means literally to be able to go, but can also mean to be nice or good). When one says kono sake wa ikeru, it means the sake is not bad, with the connotation that it's actually good. Ikenai-kuchi is similar to geko and buchōhō.
One reason why most of the so-called geko don't drink is that Japanese people tend to get red (akaku naru) in the face when they drink. Thus, akaku naru kara nomanai is a favorite excuse for declining a drink, used especially by young women.
The onomatopoeic expressions hebereke and berobero both mean to be in a state of dead drunkenness. Kare wa hebereke da or hebereke ni yotte iru, then, mean he's dead drunk. The expression watashi wa anata ni yotte iru literally means I'm drunk over you, or I'm in love with you.
Ō-tora (big tiger) is a violent or roaring drunk. Ōtora are often found sleeping it off in the torabako (tiger box) at local police stations all over Japan.
Yoitsubureru (tsubureru is to be crushed or destroyed) is almost identical to its English equivalent, smashed. Waru-yoi (bad drunk) is used when someone gets sick from drinking. This often happens in Japan, especially around the end of the year. It's a regrettable fact that, in the evening, it's usually wise to watch where you're stepping in certain areas of the city or on train platforms. Futsukayoi (literally, to be drunk for two days) is the Japanese word for a hangover. Aru-chū, which is a derogatory abbreviation for arukōru chūdoku (literally, alcohol poisoning) is used to refer to an alcoholic.
Hashigo (ladder) or hashigo-zake is a good way to become an aru-chū. (Zake here is a euphonic change of sake, which in addition to meaning Japanese rice wine is also a generic term for any alcoholic beverage). These terms refer to pub-crawling or bar-hopping. And when one has been bar-hopping long enough, one's gait becomes chidoh-ashi. Chidori is a plover, which is a long-legged water bird, and ashi is a foot or leg. Plovers walk rather clumsily, zigzagging along like a drunk, and this, obviously, is the origin of this term.
Nomi-ya is a general term for a drinking house. Traditionally, drinking in Japan involves eating as well. Typical locations for drinking in Japan are yakitoh-ya (restaurants serving skewered grilled chicken), oden-ya (restaurants serving oden or Japanese stew), and sushi-ya (sushi restaurants). The least expensive and most popular, though, are the biya horu (beer halls), and ippai-nomi-ya or izaka-ya (drinking houses or pubs). In beer halls a large variety of items is served, from little plates of hors d'oeuvres to full meals. In izaka-ya, customers can get a large variety of o-kazu (side dishes) to accompany beer, sake, whiskey, shōchōū (a cheap liquor made from potatoes, rice, or wheat), and other alcoholic beverages. Restaurant/bars called robata-yaki (literally, fireside grill) are also very popular. These establishments serve food that is grilled right in front of the customers.
Cheap drinking houses often hang red lanterns at the entrance; thus, they are collectively called aka chochin (red lanterns). After having a few drinks and some snacks at such an establishment, a nomisuke might hashigo on his chidori-ashi to a bā, sunakku, or karaoke-bā (bar, small night club, and karaoke bar, respectively).
Speaking of food and drink, although sakana is now used to mean fish, the word actually originates from sake no na, na being literally edible grass or vegetables. Later it came to be a general term for food to enjoy while drinking sake. The redundant sake no sakana has now come to mean the butt of a joke made while drinking. The word sakana by itself can also be used in this context, as in oi, ore o sakana ni shitarō? (you enjoyed making fun of me, didn't you?).
2
Parts of the Body
(shintai kanren)
In Japanese there are many derogatory words related to parts of the body. We'll start with the face.
Busu and buotoko mean, respectively, ugly woman and ugly man. Busu is most derogatory when it is applied to a young woman, and can be regarded as a discriminatory term. One of the largest bookstores in Japan, Kinokuniya, was found guilty of discrimination in a trial held some time ago. The management had apparently set standards of appearance in employing young women. Those considered busu (ugly), those wearing megane (glasses), and those labeled chibi (a derogatory term for a very small person) were not hired.
Busutto shita or busutto shite iru mean to look sullen or sulky, and this may be the etymology of busu.
Okame and hyottoko are a pair of synonyms for busu and buotoko, but they are now rather archaic. You can understand the looks they signify if you've ever had the chance to see the masks used in okagura, sacred Shinto dancing. The female variety has a tiny nose, small narrow slits for eyes, a high forehead, and large round cheeks. Her male counterpart has big, round, stupid-looking eyes and a very protruding mouth. These masks are believed to symbolize the genital organs of the respective sexes, the mouth being the vagina, the nose the clitoris, and the cheeks the testicles. If this seems curious, remember that the Shinto religion celebrates all aspects of life, and many of its ceremonies—the renowned phallic festival, for example—are blatantly sexual.
Okame originally comes from the term otafuku (ugly woman). The kanji for this word mean full of happiness, presumably because a man who marries an ugly woman need have little fear of her infidelity.
During the New Year season, the Japanese play a variety of traditional games. Among them is fuku-warai, which is somewhat like pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. In fuku-warai, the player is supposed to arrange the parts of the okame face with his or her eyes closed. If the player does well, this assures good fortune in the coming year. Okachimenko,
