expression to watch for is hara ga futoi (literally, fat stomach) or futoppara in reference to a man. This means he's broadminded.
Dekai o-shiri and the abbreviated detchiri (big backside), as well as the more slangy dekkai ketsu (big butt), are popular derogatory terms applied to women. In Japanese, shiri or o-shiri (literally, latter or hind end), and ketsu (hole) all mean butt, hips, or ass. Ketsu also implies anus.
Koshi means waist and hips. Japanese people favor yanagi-goshi (a willow-tree shaped waist or slender figure); this shape is perceived as being most attractive in the bulky, traditional kimono. Hatomune desshiri or simply hatomune (both meaning pigeon's chest or big breasts) tends to throw the elegant shape of the kimono out of proportion.
Tareta o-shiri (hanging butt or droopy ass) is another bane of middle-aged women. The noun form for this is tare-jiri.
There are many idiomatic expressions using shiri. They include shih-uma (blind imitation), shiri-kire (abrupt ending), shiri-nuke (leaving something half-done), and shiri-nugui (literally, wiping another's ass; figuratively, paying a debt on another's behalf).
Now that we can insult almost any kind of person's appearance, this might be an appropriate spot to introduce some complementary (and complimentary) words of praise.
Bijo refers to a good-looking woman, and bidan, or bidanshi, a handsome man. Bidanshi is often pronounced binanshi or simply binan. Bi means beauty. Bijin (literally, beautiful person) is used only to refer to women. Beppin is a synonym for bijin, implying elegant beauty. Kanojo wa sugoi beppin da can be translated as she's a real knockout. Adjectives such as utsukushii and kirei, both meaning beautiful or pretty, have traditionally been used only in reference to women. But with the advent of the feminist movement, they are now occasionally used in decribing a man. Otokomae, on the other hand, can only be used when speaking of a man, as in kare wa otokomae (he's a handsome man).
A very popular expression used to describe a beautiful person is ii onna or ii otoko. Ii is the colloquial form of the adjective yoi (good, beautiful, fine). Nowadays one rarely hears yoi in common conversations: it's ii tenki rather than yoi tenki, for example. Ii onna implies many things, but most commonly it describes a mature, attractive, and independent woman. Kanojo wa boku no ii onna, however, means she's my lover. Ii hito can also mean lover or steady partner, as in watashi no ii hito (my boyfriend). When you want to ask someone if he or she has a girl (or boy) friend, a rather nice way of putting it is (dareka) ii hito iru no?
An expression used to praise a good-looking woman is hatto suru hodo ii onna. Hatto suru is an intransitive verb meaning to be suprised or given a start. Hodo indicates degree or comparison. So the expression roughly means a suprisingly gorgeous woman.
Me (eye) no sameru (to awake) yō-na bijin is a woman of dazzling beauty. In the same vein, iki (breath) o nomu (to drink or inhale) yō-na bijin can be almost directly translated as a breathtaking beauty. Japanese often add the adverb omowazu (unconsciously) before iki o nomu to indicate that the person's breath has been taken away without his even being aware of it.
Nimai-me is a traditional expression that is still used for a handsome man. Nimai-me (literally, the second ranked) originally came from kabuki. When a play was being performed, the names of the main actors would be displayed on the marquee outside the theater. The name of the biggest star would always be followed by that of a handsome young actor. This tradition still lingers in the film and theatrical worlds today. Sanmai-me (the third ranked), according to this system, is a fun-loving character. So, when one says nimai-me han (han means half), it means a man who falls between nimai-me and sanmaime, a man who is both handsome and fun-loving.
3
Discriminatory Language
(sabetsu yōgo)
Buraku-Related (buraku kanren)
As in the U.S., discriminatory language in Japan is a major social issue. In the past 20 years or so, there has been extensive kotoba-gari (word hunting) by the Buraku Kaihō Dōmei (Buraku Liberation League, or BLL). Buraku literally means a community in a small village, or a hamlet, but in today's Japan it means a population that has historically suffered social and economic discrimination. The BLL systematically examines newspaper and magazine articles, radio and TV broadcasts, movies, and literary publications for so-called forbidden words, and, if it finds them, issue a kyudan (violent censure or protest by a group) even if the publication, film, or broadcast as a whole is against discrimination.
Just like the political correctness (PC) movement in the United States, the anti-discrimination efforts of the BLL have gone a bit too far in many people's opinions. As a result, it is not gaining the whole-hearted support of the Japanese people. Nevertheless, the mass media in Japan have been overwhelmed by the BLL's strident campaign and now refrain from using many words that have been identified by the organization as being discriminatory.
In September of 1990, The Enigma of Japanese Power by well-known journalist Karel van Wolferen was censured; subsequently, van Wolferen appeared in a public debate with the BLL at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. In his book, van Wolferen wrote that the BLL preferred to threaten the mass media rather than undertake legal procedures, and that this strategy had proven effective.
He was correct. While the media overall had been sympathetic to the plight of the burakumin (those suffering discrimination), the BLL still claimed that "nobody except the person whose own foot was stepped on could really feel the pain." In so doing, they wrung out further concessions. More recently, as a result of "self-censorship" on the part of the publisher, a portion related to buraku was cut from the Japanese translation of the best-selling book Rising Sun written by Michael Crichton.
In less enlightened days, burakumin were simply ignored by the rest of Japan. Their plight was very much like the untouchables of India. Their residential areas were confined to the worst parts of the village or town, and only occupations regarded as mean or filthy were allocated to them. Marriage with other villagers outside the buraku group was forbidden, and there were many other similar regulations imposed to keep burakumin "in their place."
Other derogatory expressions for burakumin included eta (untouchables), hinin (literally, not human beings; this refers to people who were engaged in the cremation and burial of the dead), and yotsu (four). Yotsu came from the fact that it was burakumin who butchered four-footed animals such as cattle and pigs and processed their various components into meat, leather, and so on. Japanese Buddhism has traditionally regarded the killing of animals as unclean.
In 1969 the "Special Measures on Enterprises Regarding Dōwa" was enacted by the Japanese government (dōwa is an acceptable term for buraku). Since then the term dōwa mondai (mondai is problem) instead of buraku mondai has been used. A large amount of tax money has been put into aid for the dōwa, helping them with affordable housing, financial aid for education, and job opportunities. As a result, institutionalized discrimination against them has just about disappeared, but prejudice still strongly lingers in the minds of many Japanese.
In addition to the BLL, organizations representing the handicapped and lowly-regarded occupations have also participated in kotoba-gari. This has resulted in self-censorship by the mass media, through the use of iikaeshū (literally, glossary of word-changing; here, a style book that lists forbidden expressions). Thus, most of the words introduced below cannot be used by the media any more and should be used very carefully by individuals.
Mental and Physical Handicaps
(shinshōsha kanren)
In 1981, the International Year of the Handicapped, the Japanese government replaced the words mekura (blind), tsunbo (deaf), oshi (deaf-mute), katawa and fugu (deformed),
