<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html><!-- InstanceBegin template="/Templates/jsyle_top07a.dwt" codeOutsideHTMLIsLocked="false" --> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <meta http-equiv="content-language" content="en" /> <meta name="robots" content="all" /> <meta name="keywords" content="jstyle,japan,australia,japanese,food,living,style,beauty,news cinema,business,information,Sydney,GoldCoast,Brisbane,Perth,Melbourne,Cairns" /> <meta name="description" content="Nichigo Press jstyle is a quarterly English-language magazine that deals with a wide variety of Japan-related topics in an Australian context." /> <meta name="rating" content="general" /> <meta name="author" content="NICHIGO PRESS" /> <meta name="copyright" content="NICHIGO PRESS" /> <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="doctitle" --> <title>jstyle -The Japan you were looking for is right here!-</title> <!-- InstanceEndEditable --> <SCRIPT language="JavaScript"> <!-- function MM_swapImage() { //v3.0 var i,j=0,x,a=MM_swapImage.arguments; document.MM_sr=new Array; for(i=0;i<(a.length-2);i+=3) if ((x=MM_findObj(a[i]))!=null){document.MM_sr[j++]=x; if(!x.oSrc) x.oSrc=x.src; x.src=a[i+2];} } function MM_swapImgRestore() { //v3.0 var i,x,a=document.MM_sr; for(i=0;a&&i<a.length&&(x=a[i])&&x.oSrc;i++) x.src=x.oSrc; } function MM_preloadImages() { //v3.0 var d=document; if(d.images){ if(!d.MM_p) d.MM_p=new Array(); var i,j=d.MM_p.length,a=MM_preloadImages.arguments; for(i=0; i<a.length; i++) if (a[i].indexOf("#")!=0){ d.MM_p[j]=new Image; d.MM_p[j++].src=a[i];}} } function MM_findObj(n, d) { //v4.01 var p,i,x; if(!d) d=document; if((p=n.indexOf("?"))>0&&parent.frames.length) { d=parent.frames[n.substring(p+1)].document; n=n.substring(0,p);} if(!(x=d[n])&&d.all) x=d.all[n]; for (i=0;!x&&i<d.forms.length;i++) x=d.forms[i][n]; for(i=0;!x&&d.layers&&i<d.layers.length;i++) x=MM_findObj(n,d.layers[i].document); if(!x && d.getElementById) x=d.getElementById(n); return x; } //--> </SCRIPT> <link href="../../../css/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> </head> <body bgcolor=black> <table width="800" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr align="center"> <td width="180"><a href="../../../index.html"><img src="../../../img/title_s.gif.jpg" width="180" height="75" alt="jstyle top" border="0" /></a><br><br> </td> <td width="620"><div align="right"><a href="http://event.rakuten.co.jp/borderless/index_en.html" target="_blank"><img src="../../../img/rakuten-en.gif" alt="Nekoma" width="486" height="60" border="0"></a></div></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td colspan="2"><hr size="2"></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="body" --> <center> <img src="http://jstyle.25today.com/topics/img/title.gif" width="762" height="31"> <img src="http://jstyle.25today.com/culture/title.gif" width="762" height="50"> <table width="762" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td><img src="http://jstyle.25today.com/img/spacer.gif" alt="space" width="10" height="10"></td> </tr> <tr> <td><div class="sec"> <h1><img src="http://jstyle.25today.com/culture/issue07/understand/img/title.gif" width="180" height="151" align="left"> <div class="NewImg"><table width="122" border="0" cellpadding="3" align="right"> <tr> <td width="271"><img src="img/J808_LANG_E04.gif" width="271" height="196"></td> </tr> </table> </div>Understanding basic Japanese expressions</h1> <p>Let's look at some indispensable words and phrases that crop up in conversations all the time.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>ŒTýˆñ‚žŠ Wasei eigo (Japanese-adopted English)</h3> <p><strong>This is the term to describe how Japan has adopted words from English and other European languages. The alteration to Japanese does not always translate to the original, with subtle and sometimes vastly different meanings applying. </strong></p> <hr size="1"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#CCFFFF"><p><strong>Sarariman<br> µ0é0ê0ü0Þ0ó0</strong><br> &quot;office worker, white-collar worker&quot;</p></td> <td colspan="2" valign="top" bgcolor="#CCFFFF"><p>Combining the words &quot;salary&quot; and &quot;man&quot; ", sarariman represents the hard-working Japanese white-collar worker. In Japanese popular culture such as manga/anime, the "sarariman" is the typical father character who works hard at the office late into the night. This portrayal is often close to the real-life experience of many "sarariman".</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="225" align="left" valign="top"><p><strong>Risutora<br> ê0¹0È0é0</strong><br> &quot;downsizing&quot;</p></td> <td colspan="1" valign="top"><p>The word "restructure" in Japanese, pronounced "risutora", suggests downsizing and lay-offs due to recession. It was coined during the 1990s with the collapse of Japan's bubble economy where property prices plummeted, forcing the lay-off of thousands of "sarariman" (white-collar workers) who would have expected to keep their jobs until retirement. </p></td> <td valign="top" ><img src="img/J808_LANG_E02.gif" alt="japenglish" width="100" height="116"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#CCFFFF"><p><strong>Mania<br> Þ0Ë0¢0</strong><br> &quot;enthusiast, maniac&quot;<br> </p></td> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#CCFFFF"><p>Like Beetlemania, the word "mania" defines someone with an almost fanatical interest in something. Unlike the word "otaku", which also suggests a strong obsession, the word "mania" does not carry any negative connotations. By adding "mania" on the end of another word it can suggest a personal obsession or a community of enthusiasts interested in the same thing, for example "cosplaymania" or "denshamania" (train enthusiast).<br> </p></td> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#CCFFFF"><img src="img/J808_LANG_E05.gif" alt="japenglish" width="100" height="116"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="81" align="left" valign="top"><p><strong>Wanpatan<br> ï0ó0Ñ0¿0ü0ó0</strong><br> &quot;predictable&quot;</p></td> <td colspan="2" valign="top"><p>Derived from the words "one pattern", this term is used to describe someone who does the same thing time and again. The word has a negative connotation in branding someone as stagnant and unimaginative and is often used to deride a person for their predictability. </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="81" align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#CCFFFF"><p><strong>Baikingu<br> Ð0¤0­0ó0°0</strong><br> &quot;buffet&quot;</p></td> <td colspan="2" valign="top" bgcolor="#CCFFFF"><p>In Japan, the word for buffet is "baikingu" from the English word "Viking". In 1957 a Japanese cook encountered the Danish smorgasbord and thought to bring this idea to Japan. However as the word smorgasbord is hard to pronounce in Japanese, these buffet-style meals were renamed "baikingu". </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="81" align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#CCFFFF"><p><strong>Arubaito<br> ¢0ë0Ð0¤0È0</strong><br> &quot;casual employment&quot;</p></td> <td colspan="2" valign="top" bgcolor="#CCFFFF"><p>Sourced from the German word "arbeit", in Japan the word describes temporary employment associated with unskilled and low-paid work. "Arubaito" is often done by students seeking to move on to full-time work or by those who cannot find full-time employment. Considered by Japanese society to be low-status jobs, recently there has been a trend where young people seeking a more flexible lifestyle, known as "fureeta", choose "arubaito" jobs instead of joining the restricted structure of full-time employment. </p></td> </tr> </table> </div></td> </tr> </table> </center> <!-- InstanceEndEditable --> <table width="100%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td><img src="../../../img/spacer.gif" alt="space" width="20" height="20"></td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><a href="../../../index.html">Back to top page</a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#666666"><font color="#FFFFFF">Copyright &copy; 2006-2007 NICHIGO PRESS All rights reserved.</font></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </body> <!-- InstanceEnd --></html>