Mangajin63 - Joy of a Japanese Bath

AmateurmangamadnessatComiket JAPANESE POP CULTURE &LANGUAGE LEARNING US$5.50 I CAN$7.75 MANGAJIN ThaJoyof 8Japanuu Bath Top &rnady Tearn: DownTown ftorn Outat. --- ::---..... __....,. page12 Manga 19Manga Shorts1m:J ?i ~ Hundred-Year Senryii,Happy Day,President Ponpoko,Yarikuri Co. , and Selected Works of Ishii Hisaichi. 29After Zero77~ - 0 "The Devil 's Seeds"comesto ashocking conclusion. 64American Comics7;1-1)tJ (f) it@ Dilbert and Garfield-in Japanese. 67Minori Densetsu7-J- (f)~ f ~ mMinori' s all set to launch her career as a freelancewriter- until she gets some alarm-ing news. Miscellaneous 5Publisher'sNote 6Letters 7Bloopers page 20 18Warning &Pronunciation 94Classifieds CONTENTS No. 63, March1997 Features 12Soaking in the SentiiConfessed bath freak Rick Kennedydescribes thepleasures of thelocal public bath-an experience many Japanese themselves can no longer enjoy. 16Going DowntownIn1989 theirfirst TV show was aratings flop,but today members of the comedy duo Downtown are the highest-paid entertainers in Japan.Mark Schillingexplainswhy. 50Mad about DiijinshiThankstocheap printing and lax copyright laws,manga''fanzines" are a major phenomenon in Japan.Mary Kennard guides us through one of the biggest dojinshievents. Departments 9Brand News: Yutopia really ex-ists, right outside Tokyo. 54Book Review Samurai from Outer Space, by Antonia Levi. 55On the Book-shelf Recently released booksabout Japan. 62Cooking Corner Nori andhand-rolledsushi. LanguageLearning pageSO 86Basic Japanese: Contractions, Part 1 You won' tfind them in the dicti onary,but there's no need toget uptight about contractions. 92Pop Japanese William Marsh explores slang of the1960s. 93Vocabulary Summary Words from thisissue of Mangajin. Mangajin is a made-up word combining mango ("comics/cartoons") and jill ("person/people").It sounds almost like the English word "magazine" as rendered in japanese-magajin. Allof the Japanese mangain Mangajin were created in japan. by Japanese cartoonists. for japanese readers. [e lour PCto .\laster Japanese and Chinese T' ojoytlucncyby your .\._'l..lll\\i thSmart Charucartwordprocess-_,..reading.translating,and tool (or Pes. I Iandy on-line rcf-dictionaries, .furi,4Wta, pinyin, and annowtions speed reading, 1r.Titing andLearn and use kanji nnd hanzi while creatingyourowndocuments,faxes, and \'ocabulary lessons. Thedefinitive Word Processing, Reading, Writing, Translating, and Learning tool for Japanese and Chinese Annotated text entry and editing replaces cum bersomeprinteddictionaries,andIseasily hidden forprinting, faxing,or every-day word processing usebynative or fluent speakers. Customizeon-linedictionariesanddynamic glossariestoaddtechnicaltermsandboiler platephrases forrapid textentry. Editand exportleft, vertical, andright-to-left writingtoanyWindowsapplication. Perfect for individuals or offices that need lan-guageassistance communicatinginJapanese orChinese, correspondin bothlanguages, or hovedifficultyrunningandusinglessflexible wordprocessingsystems or adjuncts designed fornative speakers. TheoptionalDouble Byte True Typefont inter-lace accessoryallows simultaneous use ofany Japaneselraditional,simplifiedChinese True Type font In the same document, under any version of Windows, IncludingWindows95. \m10n ).()for \\'indo1113.1, >.II. Kl, or Windows 9) 1sjust Sl79.9>.Doublcll)1-tt J.,tanno saseru bewobbly= ,I.,I? ,I.,I?t'sum pummel =t.:.< wwk11l J.,renda Sllrlltickle = wereacceptedandbegantheir career!>a!>comics. It wasn't obvious atfirstthattho'>ecareer!>wouldbe bril-liant.Aftertheirfirst-evertelevisionappearance.host Yokoyama Yasushi-thenone of themostpopular comedians inthecountry-stormed overandtoldthem theyknewnoth-ingaboutthean of man:.ai.''Youguysare acoupleof punkstalking." hesneered.Giventhisexperience.itwasnot surprising thattheboys never auached them,elves appren-ticesto asenior comedian. then standardpractice.Matsumoto pickedthe nameDowntown out of amagazine because itwas give n as theEnglishtranslation of shitamachi. the pre-modern working-classheartof theci ty,whereentertainmentfort he urbanmassesfirsttlourished. The Kansairegion. where Yoshimoto Kogyo hadthree the-aters,iswhereDowntowngotits start.performingforbored housewivc!- whooften paidmore attention to their hox lunches thanthechatte ronstage.Eventually.however.Downtown developedastrongfollowingamongteenagegirlswholiked theirlooks(Matsumoto.inparticular.hassi nce developed a reputation as awomanizer). their stylishly casual fashion'>. and. most of all.theirbrandof comedy.whichmay have beencrudebutwas alwaysultra-cool. By1987,theyhadtheirfirstregular show,anafternoon program onalocalstationthatfeaturedDowntown's stage act at alandmark Osaka theater.In1988 theybeganappearing as regularsontheirfirstTokyo TVshow."Re11ren!!Tokimeki Kurabu" ("Passionately!!Heartthrob Club") andaradio show, "RolfeYanSutli No.I ("LotteYoungStar No.I").ln Octo-ber1989.caki no TsukaiYaArahende!!" premiered.Down-townhadfinallymadeittothebig time. Airing atIIPM on Sundays, Gaki begins with a short comic sketch.In one, anoff-cameraMatsumoto solemnlydi scusses thedangersof parkingwithoutaconcretewheelstop,as Hamada slowly,inexorablybacksacarthroughthewallsof anapartment-bui ldingsetthathasbeen constructedinareal parkinglot.Thepanicked occupants.including adentistand nur'>efornicatingin thedentist'schair. unharmed. butafterHamada parkshiscarand calmlyexits.it seems to explode in aroarofflames. weseefrom Hamada'sstartled expression,wasn't lfttt it ztl? Monzoi(it :t) isastyleofcomedy involving a duo------a straight man(tsukkom1) andaclown(boke)-exchangingwitty dialogue. Althoughithasbeenpopular throughoutthenationduringitslong history, manzaiischiefly associated with the Kansairegion, which includes Osaka, Kyoto,andKobe. inthescript.ThenMatsumotostrollsoncamerawithaca-nary-eatinglook onhisface:the explosion- madeby igniting aring of powder aroundtheparkedvehicle- was apractical joke onHamada. Followingthatsketchcomest hemaineventofthe 30- minuteshow:Appearing onstagebeforealiveaudience. andHamada essentiallywingitfor the restof the (continued on page 81) CALLFORLESS JAPAN $0.33/MIN. 24HOURSADAY7DAYSAWEEK FORMOREINFOCALL TEL:800-818-6600 310-979-3162 N ellrork E nhanced T echnologies.Inc.http://www. net int ernct.net/- nad ia Mangajin17 Downtown (cominuedfrom page17) program,relyingonlyonviewer postcardsdrawnatrandom fromaboxforinspiration. This,asMatsumoto insists,may soundeasier than dreaming up routines or rehearsing skits,butitisn't."Young guyswho want tobe comicstellme theywant to do improvlikeDown-town.Isay'go aheadandtryit,"buttheycan't doit;they're just twoguysstandingaroundtalking." After working together for so long, Matsumoto and Hamada arecompletel yinyncwitheachother'scomicrhythms, creatingaceaselesfl owof wi secracks,put-downs,andfree-associating stories thatmay appear out of the ether,but are often hilariousintheir spot-on timing and off-the-wallinventiveness. Theone doingmostof thefree-associatingisMatsumoto. Amaster of improvisation,Matsumoto can instantly create fully reali zed characters,fromafairylikecreature called Exci tingto aresoluteturdwhichrefusestobeflushed.Playinghimself, Matsumoto ispossessed of aninfinite variety of comic attitudes. from Jack-Benny-like foppishness to Eddie-Murphy-like aggres-siveness,switchingfromone toanother with an abruptness that itself isasource of laughs. Though ostensibly the straight man.Hamada is as much an actor asreactor, constantly prodding hispanner to new heights of outrageousness. Withhisboyishly roundface,Hamada looks likeacutekidinagrownman' sbody.Butthereisnothing childishabout his comic attack.UnlikefSllkkomi, wholive up totheir names (tsukkomuliterallymeans tothrustor shove) by constantly- andpredictably- hittingtheir panners upsidetheir heads,Hamada's favoredweaponishistongue,which is as fast and sharp as any inJapanese showbusiness. Atthesametime. heis agi ftedphysicalcomedianwho cangetlaughsbyfran-tically leaping, gazelle-like. acrossthe stage or by squatting,his back to theaudience,inaheap of feignedembarrassment. During their improv sessions on Gaki, Downtown isnot play-ing the assignedroles of boke andtsukkomi somuch as simply playing-withwords.personas, reality itself.Mentioning acon-testantwhohadwonabanana-eatingconteston arecent TV special,Matsumoto conjureduptheimage of ahumanbanana. "If yousteppedonhim, you'd slip," he said."Andtheinsides would come :.quining out."Or once.outof thinair.hebegan spinningthetaleof animaginarysurfingexpeditiontoNew Zealand,duringwhichherescues alocalboy with ahighfever by riding him tothe doctor'son his surfboard.The laughs came fromMatsumoto'sseeming obliviousness to Hamada's skeptical snorts,mocking questions. andremontrating rapsonthe head, asMatsumotoblithelytoldoneoutrageouslieafter another. This style of free-form humor,which respectsno boundaries or taboos.may have become Downtown's comic signature,but it wasnot alwayspopular. When they started the show in1989, rat ingswere abysmal.Eventhe studi oaudiencewassitting on its hands:usedto the broad,obvious gags of somany Japanese TV comics, they didn' tknowwhattomake of these two speed-rappingmadmen.Butinstead of changing their act,Matsumoto andHamadapersisted-andsucceededineducatingtheaudi-ence to appreciate their brand of humor.Five yearsafter its stan , the show's ratings had passedthe 20 percent mark and Matsumoto wasbeingproclaimedhigeneration's comic genius. MarkSchilling 'sbook, The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Cul-ture,will be published in April by Weatherhi/1.Thisarticle is an edited excerpt fromthat book. turd=lf"t !IH' f!llgesu-yaro foppi;,hncss= 1kakerubreak/chip off.1;1.>SCirl/leave lj: lj: '-''nasakenaipathetic/disgraceful1t11iiRT 1.>kakusakusuruscheme (1.) !I: :Ill.>kanerucombine withli'J'T}'1/fi/SIIforgive J.lf.A."tl.>konyii surupurchase (v.) JrjJ\rj nouhauknow-how toriaezufor startersjjlfVt"tl.>tasseisuruattain/achieve shakkinloan(11.){Utifukuslllirevenge $L..l&rl- moshikomiapplicationUMttbaishoreparations t>tPTwakasuboillheat (water)t1 't 1.>mokerumakeaprofit (1) I 1-t!: 1.>noboserufeeldizzyllightheadedif-.::.- tr:niyear by year genchohallucinatory soundsIf,( Jillgenriprinciple 7:!kujilots/straws 1.>henka suruc hange (v.) setai-nushihead of the householdi.!l!.l.:gyak11nion the other hand (1) fttfnokemonoexcludedperson)iL t1.1.>a rentbecome ruined dokumisurutestfor poison (v.)hlcln"t 1.>hr}Chi sumabandon From After Zero,p.29 il'i ;t :t 1.>kie-sarudisappear/vanish From Minori Densetsu067 JJtit!!genchithe locale/spot haken surudispatch(v.)R.ilfl L.mitoshioutlook 1fi:klj:jiidai naserious/major kijiarticle shippeidiseasekonasuhandle/write hassei suntappear/break outJ:-f(l)yoso nofrom other places higaidamage (n.)1!\lffiirairequest (11.) moyoappearancetobunimmediate future zenmetsutotaldestruction/loss*i:f4kytlryiisalary zenryokufullstrengthL. (1)kyiirakusurufallrapidly koiact (n.) tekienemyhanayomebride - l;JJ issaientirelys/111 gyiJtraining kinshi suruprohibit I!0/1111011()realthing -tiFx .. ""' {: .: " ... " .... " "" 2 en li'

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.E -.. .... c: (J).1: ! Barenraintokanere-runorot Valemineswithcombined(explan.)(emph.) " I' m combininwith Valentine's."(PL2) ih'tt:>: ~ 1- 3;:Jt.!.t.l' c, ! A.mochigirichokodakara! (intcrj.) of coursedutychocolatei\because "Ohof course, it' s just duty chocolate." (PL2) kanete-ruis a contraction of kanereiru ("is combined with"), fromkaneru ("combine with"or "double as"'). moe hi is a slang abbreviation of mochiron ("of course"). Mangajin23 " " "

= Yarikuri Company by !;1:L>tt1.' bs Hashimoto lwao c 1:-") 1.,11 t.t 1 :IJ 1 24Mangajin Title::f!!!:,l. Mushin detachment/without mind WithoutMind in ordinarymushin (lit.."without mind/mindless") refers to ' 'de-tachment.'' includingthe detachment of being completelyabsorbed in an acti vity to thepoint of being obli vious to other things; inZenBud-dhism, 11'111Shi11is one of thegoals of meditation-attaining a state of complete naturalness inwhich one is freed fromthe mind's usualof discriminative thinking. Monk:t.J- ':/ Kii! " Kaa!" Sound FX:I!;,. Pishi Whack!(effect of "awakening stick" hitting trainee' s shoulder) kii is one of several shouts customarilyuttered when thrusting/swing-ing/striking at someone or something with a weapon or tool.Other common shouts are ei! and yii! in Zen Buddhism. a flatstick known as a kyosaku or keisaku ("cau-tionary/awakening stick"), about four feetlong and slightly wider at the tip, is used to help those performing zazen ("sitting meditation") stay alertand to keep them from nodding off. Monk:?!lli,L1.: 7j:.0(J)t.ot> o Mush inni naru110 ja. without mindbecome(cxplan.) "Youmust become wit hout mind."(PL2) Trainee:'' 1 o Hoi. ycs/OK "Yes sir."(PL3) 11imarksthe result of the verb 11aru("become") so 11inaru as a unitis equivalent to theEnglish "become." ja isused typically by older males as a substitute for da ("is/are"), so 110 ja is equivalentto the expl anatory no da. Monk:!i-,.::.v'-:>!i;fl!r;,(.,l:lj:? t.0lj: - o Ho,koitsuwamushinni nattomnli. (interj.)this fellow/guyas forwithout mind has become(colloq.) "Ahathis one has become without mind."(PL2) hiJ is an interjection showing interest/mild surprise, like "Really?/ Well.well/Hmm.'' koitsu is a contraction of korw yatsu ("this guy/fel low' '), arather rough way of referring to another person. natloru is a contraction of natte oru,which is equivalent to natte iru ("has become"), from naru ("become"). Men inpositions of authority/ respect often use oru inplace of iru for-te iru forms. the contraption on the wallis a pachinko ("pinball") machine. some Japanese corporations send their employees to a temple for a brief period of zazen training as part of their orientation when frrst joining the companyor at various other transit ionalpointsintheir careers. The trainees inthis strip would appear to be of this kind. rather than men who expect to become monks. ';!!/ !R ..;

Yarikuri Kanpanii by litJ tL 1 h s Hashimoto lwao ..2" J

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Title:1:;,- $'- ;;r lmiineuo The Yarikuri:i?.t-::>C:lifi"h' -::> f.:.Itt',-?1?1:'b Chottotakalwuakedo.uchidemo a liulewas high/expensivebutmy houseattoo/also 1/7- :.f,;;llf). l...f..:/vf!o lntiineltookiinnl shitan da. Internet(obj.)purchased(explan.J "It was abit but we bQ!!ght [a computer toet onthe Internet at our houtoo."(PL2) U-o Hii. (interj.) " Wellwell."(PL2) takalwtta is lhe plain/abrupt past form of wkai ("is high/expensive"). uchi can simply be a generic term for "house,'' but in many contexts it specificallymeans "my/our house."Uchi de= "at our house,'' and uchi de nw = "at our house, too. konyll shita is the past form of konyii suru ("purchase''): omarks lllliilletto as the direct object, so he literally says "[we I purchased an/ the Internet." lw is an interjection showing interest/mi ld surprise, like "Reall y?/ Well , weU/Hmm.'' Yarikuri: l"L'7>kl;;t.:.7>t Sate,koredeirmmatokoroto (i ntcrj.)I hi'withvariou..,allkinds ofwith -f' l.ontaklllodekiru can do(emph.). "Well then,n ow I can contact allkinds of places." (PL2) .wte frequentlyused to signalthat the speaker is about tobegin something. kore de isliterall y "with this ... often meaning "now." iromw is a contraction of imiro na (''various/diverse"). from theEnglish word "contact.'' ;md konwkuto dekirtt is the potential {"can/beable to") formof komakwo suru {"conJact"'). ;:ois arough.masculine particle for emphasis. Yarikuri:i'f,tIJth .i 'f ... Mazutoriaezu ... fir;tfor" Let's seefor starters ..." toriaezuintroduces what willbe done as animmediatemeasurepend-ing further action, "for now/for starters/as a stopgap." Yarikuri: t:::..7>1.:H\' 1.:(/)JI1 L.. _i6ht.3. o iromwwkomnislwkkin110miJshikomida. '.triou.J;tllof Illlmtn'forapplicauoni' to allkinds of for loans ... " I ' IIapply to a llkinds of places forloans."(PL2) .1/wl.l.iniswiucnwith kanjimeaning "borrow" and "money" andis a nounfor"borrowingmoney/taking outaloan" or forthe"loan/deb!." anoun form of the verb miishikomu ("apply"). Mangajin25 , ~ L ~ , 0 ~ ~ ''Silji I s h iiHi saichiSenshU SELECTED WORKS of ISHII HISAICHI The Over-HeatedBath Thefamilyinthismanga livesinahome withanold-fashionedtub.Thoughsome Japanesebathstoday arefilledfromthe start withhot water,thetraditional methodhasbeentofillthetubwithcold water whichthencirculatesthroughan attachedheater untilitreaches theright temperature.Witholder modelheaters thatlack thermostaticcontrols, it'snot unusualfor thewater to becomeover-heated.Bathersfirst soap up andrinse off outsidethetub andthengetinto soak, so thetubitselfis filledonly once eachnight,witheachmember of the ' familyusing the samewater inturn. Mangajin26 Motber: 'l:> o.: C:,b-1;> L..l b o Achichi.Koraakan.Wakashi-sugiyawa. (exclarn.)as for thiswon't dohealedis(fem. colloq.) "'ucb! This won't do. It's too bot."(PL2-Kansai) achi (with the chi repeated) is a colloquial variation of atsui ("hot") used as an exclamation when oneis burned/scalded. she is speaking in Kansai dialect. Kora =Icon wa ("as for this"), and aJwn = ikenai (.. [it] won' t do' '). Ya =do ("is/are"), so wakluhi-sugi ya ="is overheated." wakashi-sugi is from wakasu ("boil/heat [water]"), and the suffiJI-sugi (from sugiru. "pass/surpass"), which implies that the action occurs "excessively." Mother :+ -J-? :;o'7 + (J)7* A'A:::1 9G}.. t:,L..-c Soya!Uchi noaho-musukonisaki nihairashite that wayismy/ourdumb/idiot sontofirstmake enter/take-and WIImiJl "l?.t:?t'&?L..t..:'? o yukagenochodoyoshitaro. hot water temperature (obj.)just/exactlygood/fineshallmake ''That's it! I'll make mood-for-nothinsonet in first and make the water temperature just right." (PL2-K) Sound FX: / Pon(effect of poundingfist intoopen palm uponbeing struckby a bright idea) soya= soda (literally, .. (it]is so"). saki ni modifying averb means "[do the action)fi rst/before someone else." hairashite = hairasete, which is the-te form of thecausative hairaseru ("make/let enter") fromhairu ("enter," or in the case of abath, "take"). Theni after aho-musuko markswhowi llbe "caused/made" to do the action. yu = "hot water" and kagen = "extent/degree," so yukagen refers to the temperature of the heated bath water. chodo yo= chOdo yoku, the adverb form of chodo ii ("justrighC). Shitaro =shire yaro, the volitional ("let's/1 shall") formof shite yaru, from suru ("do/make"). 0Mother:- iJZ- ,1:3 7c$t 1.:J...t) I;U t. - o l ppei-,o-furosaki ni(name)(hoo.)-balhfii'Sttake "lppei, you take your bath first!"(PL2-3-K) "'"'.l: oA,,t!Hic.:'?Atodeiiyo./rna, ninotte-rutokorona n da. laterwith is good/OK(emph.)nowstudyonam ridingplace(explan.) "Later is OK. Just now I'm riding high on study." ''That's OK. I'D go later. I'm reaDy &ettin& Into studying ri&bt now."(PL2) hairinahare is adialect formthat comes from hairinasare, in which hairi- is the stem form of hairu ("enter" or "take [a bath]") and -nasare istheplain/abrupt command form of the PL4 verb ending -nasaru.Inspite of itshonori fic origins, the politeness level of -nahare is essentially the same as -nasai, the "standard Japanese" PL2-3 command form that derives from the sameroot. - de ii (lit. , "is good/OK wi th")isan expression meaning "- is adequate/acceptable/OK." - ni notte (i)ruisfrom noru ("ride") and implies "being carried along by [something)"in apositive/enjoyable sense - "ridinghigh on- /really getting into- ." tolcoroliterally refersto a "physical place/location," butused idiomatically after averb it can mean ''justnow [did/ am doing/will do the action]." Mother :0'/rlvot-JQ)(f-\:tt..:C:,L..b oilJI.i11i1Jff*J.:;t.O o Akan.Monobosetaraslriwa.Genchiigakikoeru. won't doalreadybecame overheatedit seems (colloq.) hallucinatory sound(s)(subj.) can be heard "Oh, no!I seem tohave already gotten overheated. I hear hallucinatory sounds." " Ohno! The hot bath must' ve alreadone tomhead. I'm hearin(PL2-K) noboseta isthe plain/abrupt past formof noboseru,whichmeans "have the bloodrush to one's head" or "feel dizzy/ lightheaded." Sheis speaking of thefeeling one gets from sitting too longin ahot bath- thoughinthiscase she apparently concludes she got it j ust from checking thebath. speakersinKansai often shorten rashii to rashi. The wordis usedwhenmaking a conjecturebased on something heard, seen, or read-+ "is apparent ly/seemstobe that- ." Mangajin27 IshiiHisaichiSenshU SELECTED WORKS of ISHIIHISAICHI 28Mangajin Father :f.t fv t!.?7:Jt.t fv fJ' o Nanda?Kuji1UJn/w. what is it?lots/strawssomething like "What iit? [Doing] a thing like drawing straws." "What're you drawing straws for?''(PL2) he speaks in inverted fragments.In fulland in normal order, his sentence would be something like Kuji nanlcn tsukutte, nan da? 0Father :-)i-t"? f.tilv t.:.19> ?t.:. f.t "' iJ'o Umasfi-namanp1ja nai ka. bean paste sweetsis itnot? "Aren' tthese tast_looking manjii!"(PL2) ;1?-?,.:.lt'-:?i? o A!,sate wakoitm-ra. (interj .) fl] betldarcsaythese/you guys (PL2) manjii can range fromafist-sized bread-like bun with a small amount of an ("bean paste") inthemiddle,to much smaller confections that are mostly an with avery thin sweet-cake coating. Ja nai ka,literally a question, is actually more of an exclamation here. sate waintroduces a suspicionlike saying "I bet/T daresay ." koitsuisa contraction of kono yatstt ("this guy/fellow/thing"), a rather rough way of referring to another person. and -ra makes nouns plural, so koirsu-ra ="these guys''you guys." Father:fltJ,ti . Setai-nushino washionokemononishite head of household(=)Ume(obj.) excluded person tomake-and LJ:-) c L-rt,-f-)lilt'iJ'fvo yanwwakeshiyo to shire mo,sowailrml. equal divisioneven if try to dothat wayas forwon' t go "Even if you try to exclude me, the master of the bouse, andto divide them equally [among onlyyourselves], it won't go that way." "You may have thought you could leave me, the bead of the household, out and divide them up IUIIOD2 your-but you're not going to get away with IL" (PL2) -)ilt'o Koryaumoi. as for this/thesetasty/delicious "The' re_really good."(PL2) FX:.:C7" .:c 7" Mogu mogu(effect of chewing) shiyo to shite mo is the verb suru ("do") with a conditional "evenif' fonn of the ending -yo to suru, which gives the meaning "make an effort to[do the action].'' lkan is a contraction of ikanai. negative of iku ("go"). Son:)\; JJ Sengersunodakedodaijobudane. last monthsarcbutOK/safeare(colloq.) "They' re from last monthbut tbeseem to be safe don' t they1"(PL2) Mother:7:J1: tJ{ J! T l.lfJ' Kujidedaregadokumi suruka withwho('ubj.)do poison taste(?) iJI: 66 fv 1:-t fv t!.bo kimendestmdawa. without decidingended(colloq.) " We got by withouthavinto draw straws over who would try themfirst."(PL2) Father:-?-)-) Uutt(groan/moan) kimende is a contraction of kimenaide,negative -te form of kimeru ("decide"). Stmdaisthe pastform of sumu ("end/be finished"); -naide sumu after a verb means ..get by withoutIdoing the action!." o 'Z.eto by lttiJOkazaki Jiro -The Devil'sSeeds, Conclusion In1973, archaeologistsfromK University unearth an urn fromthetomb of King Ashoka.Inside are some ancient seeds which, accordi ngtolegend, produce a robust grain that can grow inany soil.Inscribed on the urn, though, is a chi lling warningfrom the king: "These seeds mut not be permitted to leave our borders ... If anyone violatesthi s prohibition, a fearsome calami ty shallbefalltheland.'' Back at KUniversity,two men take aninterestinthe seeds. One, Umezawa, is agreedy manwith bigideas about cornering the world seed market. The other,Konoue,is a brilliant and idealistic biochemist withno interest inmakingmoney.Umezawa is anxious to leave K and develop themiracle seed--called MR-99-i n themore profitableprivate sector. Wary of Umezawa's self-serving scheme, however,Konoue refuses to leave. It is a bitter break, and the vindictive Umezawa spreads rumors which caueKonoue to be expelled from the universi ty. Although he steals theresearch from KUniversity, Umezawa fi nds thatKonoue is the only person with the scientific know-how to develop MR-99. Heiforcedto wait20 yearsbefore discovering a genius of Konoue's caliber:the mysterious Dr. Kamimura. With herhelp,the seed is developed to great success. Allover theworld, formerly barren landis producing ample fields of grain, and in three years' time Umezawa Chemical has captured 30 percent of theworldwheat-seedmarket. Experts worry about planting somuch of theworld's crops with just one variety ofeed, but Kuze.an executive atUmezawa Chemical, has other fears. He's been investigating the ancient warning andhas discovered thatMR-99 wasinfactthe cause of several calamitous wars throughouthi story.Umezawa isunfazed. however, and is gloating to Dr. Kamimura abouthis triumph over Konouewhen an aide burstsinwithterrible news: crops infields flfSt planted with MR-99 three years ago in Thailand have withered and died. COkauki Jim. All righl< reserved.Fir..l published in Japanin 1990 by Shogakukan,yo. Englif,:o Soshite,tokigatatsuni tsurete,higaiwahirogatte itta. andtime(subj.)passesaccompanyingdamageas forspread progressively And as timeassedthe damae continuedto spread.(PL2) ;;enryoku is "one's fuiVcomplete strength" or "all one'smight,'' and ;;enroku o agemis an expression for 'give it one's alVdo one's utmost'': using the-te form makesit a modifier indicating the manner of the verb.l.:yiimei shita (past form of kyilmei Sllnt,' 'investigate/study/look into''). taishita =considerable/of considerablemerit"; when combined wi th a negative it often becomes "without panicular/ notable-" or 'no - to speak of." Taishita seikawa agaranakatta ="fi ndings of considerable/notablevalue did not arise" - "withoutnotable success." hirogatte is the-te form of hirogaru ("[something] spreads"), and itta is the past form of iku ("go"): ik11after the-te form of averb thatrepresents a change or transformation implies that the change/transformation takes place progressively over aperiod of time. Reporter :'btb tI'.Jl!!q)-?1:U.:IYrll t', < q)MR- 99 if',(,l-..L. -c"' t..:(f) C:: , Moto-mototochi110\ 'tl.\'etlltokorolwdo.iikunoEmu-lint kyt7}t7kyt7odii11ytl shite ita11ode, originally.;oil(;ubj.) is poorplaceextentalot of(plant variety)(obj.)had imroduccd/plamedbecause/so of(!)#.t',t;.!itt: k-r::-t S0/10higai11'0jindaide111. of thatdamage'a' forseriou'arc ' 'Thepooreraplace's soil tobegi nwith, themore they hadplanted MR-99,_so the damageswere particularly severe."(PL3) hodo = "extent."lwdo Y isliterally "to the extent of X. Y...which is essentially the Japanese way of saying "the more X. themore Y." In this ca\e. moto-moto tochi no yaserail>a complete thoughtl-.emence ("To begin with, the soil was poor") modifying tokoro ("place"). so the effect of lwdo is lil..e "the more aplace had poor soil to begi n with. the more .. : fu.porter :i q)tir.:&A..i To SengetsumadenohigaisiJgakuwasancho-ennioy01ule imasu. last monthuntilof total fi gure as for3 trillion yento reached ' 'The total damage figure through lastmonth has reached 3 trillion."(PL3) -r::li,fffiift"r:t(f)!'ftt:a- r.,,?J!f-n -c"' i-to shidai nitakamatte inuJSll. graduallyare nsmg "Overseas. voices demanding that not only Umezawa Chemical but lhe Japanese govemement take respon-sibility are gradually ri sing." "Overseas, a rising tide of public opinion is demanding thatnot onlyUmezawa Chemical but the Jaeanesetakeresnsibilit."(PL3) oyonde imasu is the politeform of oyonde iru. from oyobu ("reach/extend/amount to"), and takamatte imasu is the polite form of taknmatte iru, from takamant (''rise/get higher' '). sekinin o tou (lit. . "question [someone's] responsibility") implies bothassigning blame and demandi ng some effonto make things right.UmezawaKagaku to tomo ni Nihon seifu no sekinin o toll is a complete sentence ("[they] demand that together with Umezawa Chemical, the Japanese government takeresponsibi lity' ') modifying koe ("voices"). Staff: t .:t!in'?! Rensak11shiJgaitoi11kotowakangaemrenaiJ.a?! repeated cultivataondi>abilit}(quote) thinga\ forcannot thin!.('!) "Could itbe aproblembr ought onbyr epeatedly_gr owing the same cropson t he same la nd?"(PL2) Staff 2:MR- 991.:{>,

1.:'b,lk!(- li-"F.: rapidly falling " Domesticalltherice of Umezawa Chemical stock is in free-fall."(PL3) Picketers:tli'Jt.:!! Q) i'l!! Umewwada!!Niiminnoteki!!Hiki;:_uri-dase!.' (name)isfarmersof enemydrag out " It's Umezawa! Enemy of the farmer! Orahim out!"(PL2) hikizuri-dase is the abrupt commandform of hikizuri-dasu ("drag out"). from hikizuru ("drag") and the suffi1t-dasu. whichimplies theaction of the verb moves outward. Picketers: lin' !'lif:cil.!! Ya!cllimae.'.'Bakamm.'!Sekininwre.'! do in/beatupidiot/foolguyre!.pon,ibilitytake "Get him! Sonnuvabitch! Take r es_J!onsibiJity!"(PLI , 2) ymchimae is a contraction of yaue shimae. the-le form of yaru (informal word for "do") plus the abrupt command form of shimau. Shimau after the -1eformof a\Crb can imply the action is done abruptly/summarily.Yatchimauis a slang for"do [someone) in/beat [someone! up." tore is the abrupt command form of roru ("take"): .rekinin (o) tom= "takeUmezawa:tt:H.(Q)tMtl:lIJ.>J:-?1:l: .. . Sore-kara.Kosei-shogagen'ingall'akarumadeslw.1hino \'1/Sh/1/su11akinshi sumyo mto . . . and/ahoHealth& Welfare Min. (\ubj.) cau-,ebubJ.)kno"/find outuntil :.BL i"' l'Tb o Shacho,kore delwnolwislzomooshimaidesune. co. presidentwnh this/nowthiscompanytoolalsofinishedil>(colloq.) "Sir. with this. this company will be finished, won't it." "I'm afraid this comp_an.Y is finished1 sir."(PL3) kore de means ' with this" in the sense of "by this means'' or "now that this has occurred.'' Umezawa::.B ,i:i1ilf!J: ...-f-1'0(>1')t:t.kt.!.?! 0- omaell'll,ittaiIdii illISUIIIOfiIW /Jdtt?! (stammer))t'ua' for(cmph.)what kmd ofimemion(cxplan.) ''Y- you!... Ju),twhat is yourintention?" " Y- you! . . . .Just what kind of game are you playing here?!"(PL2) ittai is an e mpha-,iler for question so it can be like "I What I in the world?/1 Howl on earth?/[Wherel theblazes" or "just [whati.,indof - IT 0Kamimura:fi:-B: ofi!Ji&,.fl..(,-JJr,MR- 99 WI.J:.IIB* i:.:(J)ir SlwchiJ.Naze,wmashi110 yotwmonogaEmu-iim kyiijiikyiiosaisei dekitano ka co. pres.whyVmclike(subj.)(plantvariety)(obj.)was able to regenerate(cxplan.-?) ,[!,I; Ii1t A, 1.' Lt.:-/)>? Jushigi 11iomoimasen deslri10kn? mysterious/odddid not think{?) 'Sir. didn't youthink it mysteri ous why aperson like me could regenerate MR-99?" "Sirdidn' t it ever seem odd to you that someone like me was able to reenerate MR-99?"(PL3) no yuna after a noun essentially corresponds to '--like'' inEnglish, and mono written with thiskanji means "person,'' so watashi 1w yo na mono= 'a me-likeperson''- "a person like me.'' saisei dekita is the past form of saisei dekim ("can resuscitate/regenerate"), the potential ("can/be able to") form of saisei suru ("resuscitate/regenerate''). For sum verbs, changing suru to dekirumakes the potential form. omoimasen the polite negative form of omou (''think"); omoimasen des/rita lw asks the negative question "didn't you think-?"so fushigi ni omoimasen deshita ka ="didn' t you think it mysterious/odd?" Naze.watashi no yo 110 mono ga Emu-iiru ky17)17kyfi o saisei dekita 110 ka is a complete embedded question (''Why was aperson like me able to regenerate MR-99?"), which in combination offushigi ni omoimasen deshita ka becomes an indirect question: "Didn't you think it mysterious/odd why ...?" Umezawa:tj: (.:'?! Nanii1! " What?!"(PL2) [2]Kamimura:lifi.(J)X't'T o Konouewawatashi no chichidesu. (name)as formyfatheris " Konoue is my father."(PL3) chichi is the proper way to refer to one's own father when speaking to someone outside the family.It's never usedto refer to another person's father. and it' s never used within the family (otosan is ued in both cases). Mangajin41 7' 7$1- 0After Zero 42Mangajin OJKamimura:j(ti, t:t t.:.tJf1iJf?E(J)- w -r*f!f: * '->, Chichi wa,anatagaken/..yilnoissaioubartedaigakuosarutokimo, fatheras foryou(subj.)researchofentirety(obj.)stole-anduniversity(obj.)lefttime even fPJ b-g;bt;t :/.1'-:> t.:(J) (:, t:t t.:.ct:>,:X:iJrK*1: v' t:>tl.t:t f.:.h!! Dakedowatashiwakesshiteyurusenakallawa!! butVmeasforby no meanscouldn't forgive(fern.) "But I could never forgive you!"(PL2) :)(:/.J'C:JMR-99{f)J7;'7(J).t !! ChichikaraEmu-lint kyt7jt7kyt7110noulwuokiki-dashite.kokoniyalle kitanoyo!! fatherfrom(plantvariety)ofknow-how(obj.)foundoulllearned-andhere/this placetocame(explan.) (emph.) "I extracted the know-how forreeneratinMR-99 from mfatherand then came here."(PL2) kawaiso (''pitiable/wretched/miserable") is a descriptive nounthatcan refer ei ther to the feelings of pity aperson has or to the situation/circumstance/person/thing thatbrings about those feelings of pity . . yuruso to shita is thepast formof yuruso to suru, where yurusii comes fromyun/Su ("forgive"). A verb ending in -of-yo to suru gives themeaning "make an effort/try to [do the action].'' yurusenakalla is the past form of yurusenai, negative of yuruseru ("can forgive"),from yuru.m. kiki-dashiteis the -te formof kiki-dasu.fromkiku (''hear/listento") and-dasu ("take out/extract").Kiki-dasu usually implies a special effon to get some specific informationfromsomeone-including. but not necessarily, through coercion. yalle kita is theplain/abrupt pastform of ya11ekuru,where kuru= ''come": ya11e kurutypically implies coming over considerable distance or through special effort/circumstances. Umezawa:777 Uuu "Ohh-h-h-h."(groan) GJKamimura:.: n "CE1(Jg{f)0c-::>I.i:tnlt Lt.:.h o Kore demokuteki110hiLOtsuwatassei shitawa. with this/nowaimsofoneas forattained/achieved(fem.) "I've now achievedone of maims."(PL2) ;h l;t f.:.A..(/) lib.o Anatae110fukushiiwane. youto/againstthat isrevengeas for(colloq.) "Revenge againstou."(PL2) e typically marks the destination of amovement. but here itmarks thetarget offukuslul ("revenge"). Anata no fukushii would be "your revenge," but a nata e no fukushii is"revenge against you.'' Mangajin43 7' 7:it- 0 After Zero 44Mangajin , t!Ji:!! KamimuraHalwse!! (name)Dr. "Dr. Kamimura!"(PL3) A An/atoiuhitowajibun 110fukuslu7noTamedake ni you(quote)say/called personas forones ownrevengeofpurposeonly for .:. lv tj:t![!:-?L.. "\.:. t '\'":d.:.(/) iJ'?! konna-nimoosoroshiikoroovatta110 ka?! this much(emph.)frightfulthing(obj.)did(explan.-?) "Didou do this dreadful thinmerelforour own revene?"(PL2) anta is a more casual/informal anaw ("you''). so a111ato iu hito isliterally a person called you"- an expression for "you" that' s generally used when the speaker is aggravated/perturbed with his listener. jibun ="oneself," or "me/myself,'' "he/himself." "you/yourself," "they/themselves," etc .. depending on the context. Adding no makesitpossessive: "my/his/your/their (own) - ." [!] Kamimura:.LLA,i'\:IT)l;l:?l:-cft.(J)Jttf:-c>-t o E,imamadenohigaiwasubetewatashi nosekinindesu. yesnowuntilthat isdamageas forallmyresponsibilityis "That' s right. I am responsible for all the damages seen so far."(PL3) i:!t-9J!.(/)A4"- (J)!;t.:. n i"fnrt? 111.:.:5tSekninohitobitoenobaishiJwakore madekaishagamiJketabuno the worldofthe peopletothat is/arereparationsas foruntil nowcompany(subj.) made a profitportion/amount (obj.) 11lll.. -c tJC:> ?.:. C1: tj: IJiT :bo haki-dashite moraukotoni narimasuwa. will have spit outthing/situationwillbecome(fern.) "As for [making]reparations to the people of the world, it willbecome the situation that I will have[the company] spit out the portion that is the profit the company made until now." "To make reparations to the people of the world, I'll be asking this company to give up the profits it has taken in."(PL3) e is again being used to indicate the target of an action-here the action implicit in the word baishiJ ("reparations"). kore made kaisha ga moketaisacomplete sentence ("the company made aprofit untilnow") modifying bun ("share/ portion/pan,'' here referring to a portion of money): "the portion of money the company made as profit until now." haki-dashite is the -te form of haki-dasu ("spit out/disgorge"), and morau after the -te form of averbimplies the speaker willhave the listener or someone else do the action. koto is literally "thing," but here it has themore abstract sense of "situation." Koto ni narimasu isthe polite form of lwto ni 11aru (literally, "the situation becomes/will which basically implies "that's what's going to happen." 8] Kamimura:0-lvo00 B '-'' (/) .}.; Jt 1t L iL J:-Jo Kuze-san.Omoshiroi (PL4) o-mise shimasho is the polite volitional ("letsn shall") formof o-mise suru, a PL4 humble equivalent of miseru ("show") - "I shall show- "-"let me show - ." A humble verb shows respect for thelistener or the person being discussed byhumblingtheperson doing the action- inthis case, the speaker. Kamimura:.:ttl;l:MR- 99n!! A!! (exclam.) "Great Scott!"(PL2) Mangajin45 7'7 - 0After Zero --------------------------46Mangajin 3M.: (.;R; I.:. t:t99n I.' q) l;t. !!: Kuze:._, hli,MR-99 Ko- korewa,Emu-liru kyiijilkyfi (stammer)theseas for(plant variety) ''Th- these aren't MR-99 srouts!" [I]Kamimura:t.:.. t.!. (})r---tJ: o Tada no komugidesuyo. plainwheatis(emph.) "They' rejust plainwheat."(PL3) (}) nomeja nai!! ofsproutsare not (PL2) 0Kamimura:MR-99(}).mtiLk:lllmli,1F.::." c1.: lil (})Emu-liru kyiijfikytl (plant variety) ' 'MR-99' snit 110komyt7.mikinwa,roshi-goto nidojo110chissokagobutsuofuyashite ikimasu. ofroot nodule bacteria as foryear by yearsoilof/innitrogencompounds(obj.)increase progressively root nodule bateria increase the nitroen comunds in the soilearbear." (PL3) li t? , c!iill:.IJlOlll.'t"b o Hora,renge-baraketo onajigenridene. {interj.)milk vetch fieldssame asprincipleby(colloq.) "You know, by the same principle as milk vetchfields."(PL2) -f L"C3.if{( 0t.:. 1.: Ic' lv f.t 't" tr:f -::>li C'1.: Soshite,sam1entattakoroni wadonnasakumotsudemosodatsuhodoni and3 yearspassedapprox. timebywhat kind ofcropevenif it iswill growextentto :liP. He!ili:1.:L"CV' l.>(})'t' T o tochiolziyokunishite iruno desu. land/soil(obj.)fertiletohave made(explan.) "And bthe time 3ears haveassedthe fuyashite is the-te form offuyasu("increase/augment"), and ikimasu is the polite form of iku ("go"), which after the -te form of averb that represents a change or transformation implies that the change/transformation takes place progressively over aperiod of ti me. hora is oftenused to call a person' s auention to something, like "here/look/see/watch"; when calling attention to some-thing not directly observable it can be like ''you know." onaji means "the same" and thepreceding to marks the object of comparison. donna- demo is an expression for "nomatter what kind of - it is" _. "any kind of - ." hiyoku ni shite iru is from lziyoku ni sum("make fertile/productive"). 8:]Kamimura:MR- 9913 M- ! i'&tlftiJrr:':i (f.tl.Jc ,

Emu-limkyt7jt7kyt7jishinwaaru teidochisso11iidogatakaku naru toikite ikenaino desu. (plant variety)itselfasfora certain degreenitrogenconcentration (' ubj.)when becomes highcan' t go on living(explan.) "MR-99 itself can't survive once the concentration of nitrogen reaches a certain level."(PL3) takakuistheadverbformof the adjective takai Chigh"). so takakunaru ="become high," and aru teido takaku naru = ''becomehigh to a certain degree"--+ ''reach a certainlevel." To afier a plain verb can make a conditional ' 'if/when" meaning. ikite is the-le form of ikiru ("live''). and ikenai is thenegati veform of ikeru ("can go"), fromiku ("go");aform of iku after the -re formof averb often implies theaction willproceed intothe future, so ikite iku ="go onliving," and ikite ikenai ="can' t go onliving/can't survive." 0Kamimura: 11( *:liP.1.:Yasetadojuohenka sase,lriyoku nadaichi11imodosu. poor/infertilesoil(obj.)causes to change-andfertileearthtoreturns "To alter soil deleted of nutrients and make it fertile earth aain."(PL2) niJ1 (})fi.:::F- (})+*(})Ht Flt!. ? t.:..(})'t"To KoregaAkwna noShushinolwnrai noyakumedattano desu. this(subj.)devil'sseedsoforiginalrolewas(explan.) "This was the oriinal role of the Devil's Seeds."(PL3) henka sase is the stem formof henka saseru C'cause [something] to change" - "change [something]"). modosu ="return [something)," often implying 'return[something)to its former state" ......"make it - again." Kuze:';(iJf-::> iJ'f.t iJ' ?t.:.. o Ki ga tsukanakmta. didn' t realize "I neverrealized."(PL2) :::_(}):::.. c'.t v'-?i't"'b!JH :Itl.>!i't.!.o Konokotooshiue ireba.itsu made mo ywaka 110sakumotsunimegumareruhawda. thisthing/fact(subj .)if knowforeverbountifulcropsbywill be blessed expectationis " If you know will be blessed with bountiful harvests forever."(PL2) 9rl l? f.ttt:learthfrom('>ubj.) will di'>appear/vani'>hthing(obj.) "That one day starvation may vanish from this earth,''(PL2) itsu-ka is a generic "sometime," which can include the meaning "some day": inserting 110 lti makes only the latter possible: "some day/one day." lrsu-ka can refer to either paM or present time. but itsuno lti ka is always used to refer to a future day. Mangajin49 Amateur MANGA ARTISTS draw thousands of people at DOJINSHIFANFESTS around JAPAN. I Ii'-h"dr,.,startassom-blingtwo daysbeforethe event begins. Dressedwarmlyagainst thebitter cold, carryingsleepingbagsandprovisions, thesmallcrowdof mostlyhigh-school andcollegeboysdocilelyreceivesline numbersfromtheelected-by-default leader,thenwandersoff tostakeouta goodplacetowait.Bytheeve of the event,the crowdhasswelledto several thousand,withdeterminedgroupsof girlsnowmixedin.Somearewearing costumes,mostlyofanimeormanga characters,althoughoneyoungmanis very fetchinginhisgirl 's kimono, com-pletewithwigandmakeup.Whentwo gaijin showup atmidnight and signup fortheline,theyreceivearoundof applause.Thewindcomingoffthe water isfreezing, and at last the fans set-tle down to get what sleep they can. Asthemorningof theeventdawns, morefansstart totricklein.First come the ones who live close enough totake a taxior whohavebeenable topersuade their parents to drop them off. When the b usesandtrainsstarttorun,thetrickle becomes a steady flow,and by 6 AM the crowd numbersin the tens of thousands, withmore coming every second.Buses rentedbytheconventioncommittee ferrybackandforthfromthreemajor trainstations,andafleetof taxi sisin use.ByI 0AM,therearemorethan 200,000peoplewaiting,fillingan immensehallandcompletelycovering the neighboringparking lot. Finally,onlyI 5minuteslate,the doorsopen and fans spillin, running (in spiteof theadmonitionsof theguards) totheboothsthey havechosen. And the buying frenzy is on! Whatisthisevent,whichdraws 300,000youngpeoplefromallover Japanfor thespace of rwo days,twice a year?ThisisComicMarket(Comiket forshort),Japan'sbiggestconvention for artists and fans of amateur manga. or dojinshi (!i51A at,literally "coterie mag-azine,"butnowadays mostlyindi cating what isknownin the USas"fanzines"). IattendedmyfirstComiketinthe summerof1985,abewilderedfan introducedtoanewworldbyher Japanesepenpal,andhaveattended almosteveryComiketsince,although nowIgoonbusiness.Aseditorof ComicBoxJr. ,aJapanese-language Homoerotic"JUNE" comics are very popular among femaledojinshi fans. monthlymagazinespecializingin information about and reprintsof dojin-shi ,itisnow my job to meet the artists, lookforthebestdojinshi ,andobserve the trends.It's a dirty job, but someone's gotto do it ... Fanzinesseemtobeaglobal phenomenon-all over the world people sharethedesiretocreatetheirown storiesortotransporttheirfavorite charactersintoworldsoftheirown making-butonlyinJapanhasit reachedsuchstratosphericproportions. Nooneknowsexactlyhowmany slikuru (-lj-- '.7Jv, "circle," aperson or a group of people who produce dojinshi magazines)thereareinJapan,buta conservative guess putsit at somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000,withmore forming every day. Thereare anumber of reasonsfor docilely= }.; 1::.~ L< oronashiku trickle in= j..' L i' ? ~ ? "( (~ sukoshi-zutsu yatte kuru/ := 4'fi. 4' t.;.:. c .1.> .0L. , yoso nozasshishakaramoiraiomoral/akoro1110amshi, 01hermagazine publishersfromalsorequests(obj.)receivedoccasionsalsohaveand " I've had reguests from other magazinesand li=n'R 7t0)'t'LO)If.QL... . tobunwanikagetsu-bunno/..:yiiryiideshinogerushi. .. . immediate futureas for2 months' wonh that ispaywithcan get byso ''for the time being I can get by on the 2 months'aIhave in the bankso ... konashite-ta is a contraction of konashite ita. the past fonn of konashite iru ("am/is/are handling''), from koiiOSu ("handle," which when speaking of writing assignments means write/chumout"). 0 , to mar k J.:iji as the direct object of this verb, has been omitted, as it often is in colloquial speech. shi is an emphatic "and/and besides/and so," often used when listing up causes/reasons in an explanation. koto mo aru is an expression meaning the described situation/circumstance "can occur/sometimes does occur," or, when it follows a pastverb, "has (sometimes) occurred." tobunrefers to an indefmite period of time beginning at the present; rabun wa ="forthe present/for thetime being/for the foreseeablefuture.'' shinogeru is the potential (''can/be ableto") form of shinogu ("bear up/manage/ride out''). Minori: J;.O)I), Bi'iJ'iliL.;t-t!'!v! SuginaeMinori,ganbarimasu.'Yachi11110taim)washimasen.' (surname)(given name)will strive hardrentof nonpayment/arrearageas forwon't do ' 'I' mointo' ve it everthing I've got.Iwon' t fallbehind on mrent!"(PL3) ganbarima.wis thepoliteformof ganbaru. which means "to strive hard/do one's best" at a particular task. yacltin (literally. "house fare/fee") refers only to "the rent" for ahome or apartment, and can't be used for the cost of renting anything else; yachinno taino ="nonpayment of rent'' - "falling behind on rent. Landlady:J;. -t>lv 000 lv t.;00 0 [I]Landlad Minori-cha11 . . .anta ... (name-dimin.)you "Minori . . .ou . .!...!."(PL2) -clwn is a dimjomive equivalent of -san (''Mr./Ms.'') most typicallyused with the names of children, but also among close adult friends andfami ly. anta is a more casuaVioformal anata ("you"). Wli!! " Waaahh!!"(suddenwailing) Mangajin69 Jiq)IJiii:lltMinoriDensetsu ------------------------ ------------------------70Mangajin Minori:"t>f.!.o b o lv,LfeJ: o Ya da.Ogesane.Obasan.Shinpaishinaithyo. (interj.)exaggerated{colloq.) aunt/auntieworrydon't do-(request)(emph.) "Don't be silly, Obasan, you' re really overreacting. Please don' tworry."(PL2) Landladfvt.!.J:,-t?fvt.!.J:! ...Chigaun dayo,Soja nain dayo!Aatasha,anraga is differenc (explan.) (emph.) that wayis not(ex plan.) (emph.) (stammer)as for meyou(subj.) Uim-t .o1vt.!.-::d..: ;, "t>-::>e: e:-a- .i .o.!:: -r .. . keldron surundartara,yartoanokotogaierutoomotte .. . willmarry(explan.)if it isfinallythatthing(subj.) could say/tell(quote)thought-(cause) " It's different from that. It's not that way. 1- l just thought that if youwere getting married I could ftnaUy tell you about that thing." " You don' tunderstand. It's not that at all. I- I lustthought that if you were getting married, I could finalltellou."(PL2) ya dais avariation of iya do, literally meaning "[something] is disagreeable/unpleasant"; it's one ofthe most common ways of expressing one's objection to something-includinglighthearted objections like 'oh, go on!ldon' t be silly/don't make melaugh/etc." shinpai slzi11aideis anegative -te form of shinpai .wru ("worry"), again serving as an informal request/command not to do theaction. chigau literally means "differs/is different, "but often implies "is wrong/mistaken/a misunderstanding-+ "you don't understand." atasha is a contraction of atashi wa ('"asfor me''); atashi is amostly feminine variation of watashi ("lime''). n dattara after averb makes a conditional expression that' s literally like "if itis the case that [the action wiLVdid occur]." ieru is the potential ("can/be able to'') form of iu ("say/tell''), and omorre is the -te form of omou ("think"). Minori:ih. . . .: c'? 'f? Aanokotolie? (Mammer)thatthing(quote) ''Wh- what do youmean by' that thing'?" "T- tellme what?"(PL2) - rre is a colloquial equivalent of the quotative expression- to iu to ("if/when you say - "); when it' s used to quote something the other person has just said, it basically means ''what do you mean by [the quoted word/remark).'' Landlady:-ffbiflitUl) -::>'t'"' ? .I:!! Fudosan-yagakonoapiitobuchi-kowashitebimbullaterutteiun dayo!! realtor/developer (subj.)lhisapartmenttear down-andbuildingput up/construct(quote)say(explan.)(emph.) "A property developer has decided to tear the apartments down and put up an office building!"(PL2) ill! ..1:1 fJ: 'ii!!J:.It"! Ji-ageyo,ji-age! land-grabbing(emph.)land-grabbing ''Developers. It's the greedy developers!"(PL2) buclzi-kowasltite is the-te form of buchi-kowasu (often buldwwasu}, aninformal but emphatic form of kowasu ("break/ wreck/tear down"); the prefix buchi- (or but-) isused with a number of verbs to imply that theaction is done in a particu-larly forceful or even violent manner. Bullatemuses thesame prefix with tateru (''build/construct''). in this case, tte is a colloquial equivalent of just thequotative particle ro. ji-age refers to the practice of real estate developers and consolidators enticing or intimidating/forcing landowners to sell out andmove when their property is needed for a bui lding project. Landlady:::::)fv.1:, ::::)/vJ:H- !!Gome11yo,Minori-chan!!Gomenyo!!Wii!! (apology) {emph.)(name-dimin.)(apology)(emph.)(wailing) " I'm sorrMinori! I' m so-o-o sor!! Waahh!!"(PL2) Mlnori:-f tt -::>-r .. . Sorette .. . that(quote) "As for that . .. "You mean . 11ehere is a colloquial equivalent of ro iu no wa, literally "as for what is called- ," which is often j ust afancy way of marking the topic ("as for-"). Minori: . ..Obasan,tachinoki? aunt/auntieev1ct1on " Obasan,[does it mean] eviction?" "ObasanI'm being evicted?"(PL2) l{lc/rinokiisthenoun form of tachilloktt (''move out/vacate"); thenoun formcan refer either to voluntary "moving oull evacuation'' or forced''eviction." Mangajin71 _ _ _ ___ _ ________:_ 1-J. :........:..:. q)IJ ~ !!1.MinoriDensetsu --------------------------72Mangajin OJLandlad f!lt 1:{t/v"'t'A}j./vl;t. , Alitadakeja nai.Kokonisunde-rohirominna, youonly/aloneis notthis placein/atlivepeopleall =lr.oJ.:tpq 1:t1:1 t:t.t:t. t:t. "' 1v t..:J:-,, nishiikaninai nidenakya naranain dayo!! 2 weekswithinmust leave(explan.) (emph.) "Not 'ustou. Everone wbo lives here has to leave within 2 weeks."(PL2) sunde-ro is a contraction of sunde iro ("is/are li ving" or 'Jive"), from sumu (''live/reside [in a place]"). Koko ni surule-ru is a complete sentence ("[they] live here'') modifying hito (''people''). Wato mark hito as thetopic of the sentence bas been omitted. denaJ..ya naranai is a contraction of denakereba naranni, a"must/have to" form of deru ("exit/leave/vacate"). Minori:P ot'-J-?-:>"(-:>"(v'-7 "( - -:>!M11'.> t:t.'"Z'- -:>! Moue!Shimenaide! wait-(request)don't close-(requc'>t) " Wait! Don' t close it!"(PL2) Sound FX:r' /r' /r /r' / Dondondondo11Bang bang bang(sound of pounding on shuuer) omaueisthe -te form of mat.w ("wait' ' ); the -te form is beingused as an informalrequest/command. oshimenaideisfrom shimem("close [something]"): the -naide form of averb makes an informalrequest/command not to do the action. ATM:17-;; :,t"" 17-1:! /rasshaimase! (2reeting) 'rWelcome!"(PlA) irasshaimase (''welcome/come in'') isthe standard expression for welcoming avisitorto one's home or customerS to one's place of business. Using katakana representl. the ''accent" of the machine-generated voice. Mangajin73 l-J.(J)f )fii;rut MinoriDensetsu 74Mangajin Minori:Aisatsuwanukiyo! greeting/formalitiesasforomission(is-emph.) "Sare the formalities!"(PL2) Sound FX:!! -;;!! :;!! ':1 Pi!pi.'pi! Dit dit dil(pushi ng buttons) nuki is the noun form of nuku ("omit/skip/dispense with"). in feminine colloquial speech, yo alone often serves for desu yo ("is/are +emphasis). ATM:7 1)'ll 1- ?:3-+f 17 'l -1 o Arigato "Thank y_guvermuch."(PL4) SoundFX:?1 - / Uiin Vreee(whir of motor spitting her passbook back out) MJnori:=- :; .. !?li .. !? Nippachi . . !?0-kytiryifwa .. !? 28(hon.)-pay/salaryas for "28!? What about ma!?"(PL2) Sound FX:ff'l "r- / Gashiin Crash(sound of shutter touching noisilydown) nippaclri (from ni, 2. and hachi, 8: lrchanges to -pp for euphony) can refer to the 2nd and 8th months (February and August), which have traditionally been thought of together because they are slow business months, but here she's using it for the number 28, which represents the yen balance inher savings account. female speakers often use the honorific prefix o- with kyiiryo ("salary/pay") even in informal speech. stating just a topic plus wa (''as for'') with theintonation of a question asks very generally about the status/condition/ location/etc.of that topic. Understanding an1me (collfinuedfrom page 54} Japanesesociety todayisin theworld of ani me. Chiaki.theheroineof Zenki.for example,controlsa demon lord. Zenki. anduses him tofight evil ... Chiakimay stillbeinhighschool. butsheisalready apowerfulmiko. She controlsZenkibyreducinghimtoatoddl er:ademon still, butababydemonwho shethenterrorizesandbullies likeanolder sister.In doing so. shealsoreveabhow tradi-tional Japanesewomen control themen in theirlives. They tumtheminto children. Muchof Samuraireadsthisway- likeliterary criti cism. Iconfess that ,whenI beganthebook,I suspected that anime wouldno ttanduptosuchscrutiny,butInowknowwhat anime otaku (::t -17 , "fans") know:there's more to animethan the confusionandfeelingof generalweirdness that aninitial viewi ngc anproduce.WhattheuntutoredAmericanviewer takesoutof animeisconsiderablylessthantheJapanese animator putsin. What standsup less wellinSamurai isLevi's explanation of thepopulari tyof animeinrathe rcosmicterms-anact, according toLevi, of cultural communication between the Gen-Xersof theUSandtheso-calledshinjinrui(m- A 11.''new human types") ofJapan."Whatthisfloodofd ubbedand sub-titledvideo cassettes reall yrepresentsisacultural exchange so ambitiousthatneithertheJapanesenortheAmericangovern-ment would havedaredtoplanit.The new generationsof both Japanand America aresharing their youth,and inthelong run, their future... Future socialhistoriansmaywell conclude that the creation of the American otaku was themost significant event ofthepost-ColdWar period.'' Moresignifi cant than cheap air-fares?I doubtit. Suchattemptsto explaintheappealof anime toalienated modernyoutharefew,however,so they'rebut aminordistrac-tio ninthebook. Three appendices holdvaluableinformationfor those want-ingtodelvemore deeplyinto the allusive andelusive world of anime. Thefirstcontainsaddresses.phone and faxnumbers, and URLsof providers of anime. Thesecondisanexcellentlistof recommendedreadi ngs.Andthethirdisashortglossary of te rms(someJapanese,someEnglish)whicheveryotaku shouldknow. John Benedictisa freelance translc1101;middle-school teacher of Japanese,and nmelist. -- ------- cosmic= ;R 1.J.: t.t.remai-teki na I 'f1t jQ (J(jt.:f uhen-reki 11a allu;ive =Off ,l; ((.]a11ji-reki I in 'yu-re/..i Mangajin75 11(])I )f ~ Ill.MinoriDensetsu ~ ~ ~ 76Mangajin m Soaud FX:ff?ff? Gatagata Rattle rattle(sound of desk and contents rattling while being moved) 0FormerJ.J.(J)t),C.' ? Lt.:(J)?1/{:lb!.:.A- t:lj:n -? !.:.(J)? Co-worker :Ara,Minori,doshitano? ara is a feminineinterjection showi ng sudden awareness or surprise. "oh!loh my!/goodness!"Usedwhen seeing some-one you didn' t expect to see, it can be like "Oh, hi!" do is " how/what"and shita isthe past form of sum ("do/make"). so do shira can literally mean "what did Iyou] do?" But it 's most commonlyused as an idiomatic expression meaning "what's wrong?/what happened?/what's the matter?" n ja nakaua no is the past form of 11 ja nai no. which whenpoken with the intonation of a question literally asks"isn't it (the case) that- ?" Mlaorl:. . A-(J),.: tt ... ? Na- nanna no,kore ... ? (swnmer) wbat (explan.)this "Wb- what's this all about?''(PL2) 8]FormerJt 'l(J)C.Et)J: of11limL -1? t.:(J) o Co-worker:Mitenotoriyo.Kaishatosan shichauano. see/seeingofas is(is-emph.) companywent bankrupt-{regret)(explan.) "Exactlwhat it looks like. The companwent bankrupt"(PL2) mite is the -te form of miru ("look at/see"), and- no tori makes an expressionmeani ng "exactly as - ... so mite no tori= "exactly as seen/as you can see""exactlywhat itlookslike." ga, tomark kaisha as the subject of tiisan shichaua.been omitted. rosan shichatta is a contraction of tosan shite shimaua, the-reform of tosan sum("go bankrupt") plus the pastfonn of shimau, which after the -te form of a verb implies the action is/was undesirable/regrettable. Mlnorl:till ... -- TO-"Ba.nk-" FX:-" I? Fura Wobble(effect of Minori suddenly feeling weak/faint/unstable) Former::filt)ltiL'lUfl:I! (J)t -? 'l}-:;..-;;(7.1:!! Co-worker:FuwaltJridashiteshachOwajohatsu!Kaisha1wo-konearai-1.11raimottetonzurayo!! defaultput out-andco. pres. as forevaporated/vanishedcompany's {hon.)-moneyalltook-andneeing/escape{is-emp,b.) "Tbe president defaulted and disappeared. He made off with everlast bit of the com pan's moneJ1 ' (PL2) juwatDri can refer either to the act of nonpayment/default, or tothe bill/note that is not honored/paid. Fuwatari dashite is the -te form ofjilwattlri (o) dasu (literally, "put out a non-payment/bad bill''), which is essentially equivalent to the verb "default.'' jiRuJtsu here implies johatsu shita, past form ofjohatsu suru ("evaporate''). which is used as an idiomatic expression for "[aperson) disappears/vanishes" (usually insituations when the person has doneso deli berately). o, to mark o-/cane as the direct object of motte, has been omitted. arai-zarai means "aiVthe whole/every last bit." mone is the-re fonn of motsu ("carry/hold''), and tonzura is a slang word for "running away: Kaisha 110 o-kane (o) arai-zarai mone tonzura yo= "he ran away carrying every last bit of the company's money." Mangajin77 hq-;11ii lltMinoriDensetsu ____________ I 78Mangajin OJSoundFX: [I] Loan shark:.B -J !U*t;tO) t p ,ti?!n' < t..-rlv t.!J:dl'.t?! 0!shachowameno ka,shachowa?!Kakushite-n/a nedariina?! (imerj.) co. pres.asfor nmhere(ex plan.?) co. pres.asforare hidingnmI suppose (colloq.) "Hey, isn' t the president here?-the president?! l don' t supposeit' s that you' re hiding him?" " Hey, where's your president? Iwanna see your president. Youwouldn' t be would you?"(PL2) Sound FX:.::f -\'7 Kyii Ack!(soundof scream) ine is a rough. masculine slangvariation of inai, negative of iru ("exist/be present" for humans and other animate beings); janeissimilarly arough. masculine variation ofja nai ("isnot").The vowel combination ai often changes tO ei or e in masculine slang. kakushite-nis a contraction of kakushite iru no ("is/are hiding [something/someone]" + explanatory no), from kakusu ("hide (something/someone!"). - ja nai daro na is an expression for '' I don't suppose it 's that- ... oftenwith the feeling of ' itbeller not be that- ." Minori:t.tl:J:o t!.--:>"'C" ... t!.--:>"'C"UG1:bJ: o Naniyo.Atashidatte . . .atashidatteshachoniauatwayo. what(is-emph.}I100Itooco. pres.(lllrget}want to see/meet(fern.} (emph.) ''What's that? 1, too ... I, too, want 10see the president.'' ''What!? You ...ou're not the onlone who wants to see theresident!"(PL2) nani yo (fern.) and nan da yo (masc.)--literally "what is it?" or ' 'what's that?"--can be used in a challenging or even belligerent tone to protest or express offense/outrage at what the other personhas said. datte here is a colloquial equivalent of the panicle mo ("too/also''). aitai is the "want to" form of au ("meet/see"); ni marks the person youwant to meet. Minori: Yonen-kanmokoki-tsukane oki-nagara.madaatashiomote-asobutsumori?! 4 year periodall ofhaving worked [me]hardstillme(obj.)take advantageimemion "After having driven me like a slave for fourcar sdoes he intend to take advantae of me some more?" (PL2) t '-?t.,-r"'C""'J0)Nijiihachi-endedoshironei11noyo?! 28 yenwithwhat/howdo(qume)say (explan.) (emph.) ''What am I suppOsed to do with 28?"(PL2) shiro is the abrupt command form of sunt ("do"). so do shiro essentially asks what the command is: "do what/how?" With the quotative tte iuno? itbecomes "[you're/he's) sayingfor me to do what?"- 'what are you saying I'm sup-posed to do?"- "what am I supposed to do [with 28)?'" Mangajin79 JJ.(J)IJiii: MinoriDensetsu 80Mangajin OJSound FX:7 '"' ;f 1' ;;;f 1';; A ha haKya!kya! Hajla haF&k eek(laughing and squealing) 0 Proprietress:J.J..(J)fJ,ftk tr? M itwri.11tmi11011111? (name)whatwill drink "What' llou haveMinor!l"(PL2) Minori:"'"',if(t.!tt-r-... Ii,mizudakede. is fine/OKwateronly/alonewith "Just water is fine."(PL2) Minori's scn1enceisinverted;normalorder wouldbe mi::.11 dake deii ("water alone isfine"). /i ("good/fine/OK") in responsetoan offer"that's OK/never mind." so putting ii firstgivesusan element of that here as well. Minori: fj: 1v -r;t, -r t.. . Dokuritsu shirahinikonna-nifukiini 1wrudo kangaete nw .. . wentindependentdayoothismuchunhappybecomea thing Jjkeno matter how you think about it " No matter howou look at itfor me to have so manunhappy thinn to me on the verda Idecide too indendentas to be some kind of sin."(PL2) kono mae (lit., '' before this") refers to a time inthe relati vely recent past: ''the other day/awhile back/recently." do-te mo, with a verb fillinginthe blank, makes the expression, no matter how Lone does the action]." Kangaete is the -teform of kangaeru (''think about"), so doktmgaete mo = .. no matter how one thinks about it/looks at it." 0 Proprietress:7* fj:.: t..1 ;{, '( J.> 't < t?'at) 't' 1.> lvt!Itt'1.:lib-)7-1 P o U . . . 11,madamayotte-run dakedosa.Airsuniwamoaiso ga tsukitawa. uh-huhstillam vacillating(explan.)but(colloq.)that guywithas fornow/alreadyhave gotten fedup(fern.) "Uhh .. -huh-thouh I' m still notuite sure. But I' ve had it with him."(PL2) A_:h.-/vo FL7n. " Hmm."(interj.) FX:r.1 < Pilcu(effect of pricking up ears) mayotte-ru is a contraction of mayotte iru (''be undecided/vacillating''), from mayou (''vacillate/be unable to decide''). aiso ga tsukiTa is the past form of the expression aiso ga tsukim("become fed up/digusted with" or often inmatters of romance. "fall out of love with"). A:'t' b!!111.> t.l:7o t.:.L..1.:1;1:'t'tj: v'J:-!dekinai isthe negativeform of dekiru("can do Demoyiikiarunii.Atashiniwadekinaiyo!I it]"); with this verb, the person who can or cannot do the action is often marked with the particle ni. butcouragehave(colloq.)Ibyasforcan't do(emph.) " You're brave. Icould never do it."(PL2) -t- ? *? SO? that way "Really?"(PL2) t!.-:>'t't?22J:!..: QJ;&.i**Mt 25ctJ'Datteatashi-rachimonijiiniyo!Kotro mamakeklconmoshinaide25takani natchattesii . .. after allwealready22(are-emph.)in this Slatemarriageeven not do-and25 or somethingbecome-{regret) (coUoq.) ''I mean, we're already 22, you know. What if you wound up lust like now, unmarried, at age 25 or something, you know, and . . mama means "as is/unchanged," so kono mama= " unchanged fromthis/in this same state.'' natchatte is a contraction of natte shimatte, tbe -te formof naru ("become") plus the -te form of shimau. which after the -te form of a verb implies the actionis undesirable/regrettable. For awoman to be unmarriedpast 25 is considered cause for great alarm in Japan-though the average age for first marriages has risen somewhat higher in recent years. the particle sa or sii in the middle of a sentence is often like the colloquial English pause words, ''like/you know.'' Her sentence continues to thenext panel. mawariwamominnakekkon shirekodonw moirunoni,jibwrdakehitorisabishiku surroundingsas foraii'Cj)dyeveryone has married-andchildrenalsoexist/haveeven 1hough oneselfonlyaloneforlornly fJJ v\ '( It\ 1.> l:;fJ'.-t- ?t.t -:>t.:. 0C' ?i'1.> ? hararaite irutoka,sonattaradosuru? is/are workingor somethingthai wayif becomeswhat/how will do "even thouh everone else aroundou is married with kidsou're stillyour lonesome? What if that haened? "(PL2) -t tt.-:>'t'-!T1 7-! Kyii!Sorettesaite! (exclam.)that(quoce)lowest/worst "Yikes!How totally awful!"(PL2) Sound FX:.:f -t J\1\J\1\l\1'1' Kya ha haha ha haha ha (high-pitched laughing) sabishikuis the adverb form of sabishii ("lonely"},and hararai1e iruis from hataraku ("work [ac a job}"). so hitori sabishikuluuaraire iru =workingalone with feelings of loneliness"--+ "working forlornly all by yourself." ttehere can be considered a colloquial equivalent of the quotacive phrase to iuno wa;it essentially serves to mark the topic: sore tte ="as for that." To be continued ... Mangajin85 popJapanese TheYearof LivingDangerously Theyear1960wasone of dy-namiccontradiction,ayear when the right and the left, thelead-ersandtheled,andthe youngand the old stopped biting their lipsand confronted each other ... savagely. On January18th the Koan Chosa-cho ( Publ icSecurityInvestigation Agency)classifiedtheZengakuren (All-JapanFederationof Student Self-GoverningAssociations)and other leftist student organizationas boryoku-shugi-tekihakaikatsudo yogidantai("groupssuspectedof destructive activities and advocating violence").The verynext day,inthe WhiteHouse,PrimeMinisterKishi and USPresident Eisenhower signed documentstoextendtheUS-Japan Security Treaty, subject to ratification bytheir respectivenationallegis la-tures.Thestagewasset. speak for"the Silent Majority." Shilly-shallyingandbuying time was not what student speech aimed for.It was as instantaneous andinyour faceas an angry dis-trict attorney. Therapid-fire retorts nansensu("nonsense")andigi-naslti("noobjections")wereits binary poles in 1960. Nansensuwas almost as devastating aputdown as hi-kokumin("un-Japanese")had been duringthe war years. How intense a year was1960? But1960 was also the year when thiscatchphrase describing the ideal husband' sattributescaughton:ie by WilliamMarsh OnMay20,theLiberalDemo-cratic Party (LOP) majority,faced with a sit-inby Socialist lawmak-erson the Diet floor,brought 500 policeintoexpelthem,then ratified the new US- Japan security pact.Zengakurendemonstrators stormedthegatesofboththe primeminister'sresidenceand theDietthesame day.OnJune LOthEisenhower's press secretary, JamesC.Hagerty,flewinto tsuki kii tsuki babii nuki ("[he comes] with ahouse, a car, and no old lady[mother-in-law]").Another blunt,contagious,fe-male take on things emergedfroman actress during aninter-view:"Sekkusugasaiko yo"("Sexisthegreatest").For womentopubliclyairsuchviewsmarkedabreakwiththe pre-war past moreradicalinitswaythanthe anti-American haranguesthat wouldsoonfilltheair. InFebruary, the stockmarket broke the I ,000 barrier as abullish government trumpeted its plans for kOdo-seicho ("ac-celerated/high growth").Later,inJuly,anew administration underIkedaHayatowouldpromise shotoku-baizo (''income doubl ing") withinthe decade.Havi ngprovoked outrage back in1951by suggestingthe poor should eat barley if rice prices weretoohigh,lkedaplayedonhisreputationforbluntness withhispopular campaigns logan:"Watakushiwausowa moshimasen"("IdonottellIies"). Ifthat soundslike RichardNixon, the resemblance isnot coincidental. ThenVice President and already actively involved inforeignrelations,Nixonwas fascinatedby the deftprevari-cations of Japanesepoliticalrhetoric asitwas translatedfor him.BorrowingshepopularizedinAmerican Englishinclude Ikedafavorite tei-shisei ("low profile") and mae-muki no sltisei ("forward-looking posture"). Perhaps the mostnotoriouscame yearslater,whenNixon,likeIkedain1960,facedfurious resistance from student groups and echoed the prime minister's famousremark("Koe naki koe okiku,"thatis," Ihear the voices of those who don' tuse theirvoices")by claimingto 92Mangajin Haneda airport to make advance preparations for ascheduled presidential visit, but hiscar was totally surrounded by angry demonstrators; aUShelicopter finally had to lift him to safety. (Thepresidentialvisitwassooncancelled.) On June15,anenormouswave of studentsandworkers piledagainstthegatesof theDietbuilding.Right-wing extremists inacar deliberatelydrove into the crowd.Police and students went headtohead, and Tokyo Uni versity senior Kamba Michiko, 22, perished in the crush. Four thousand dem-onstratorsreachedtheinside andconvenedaprotestonthe grounds. The police came back with force,brutally expelling them.Inthe end therewere182 arrestsand589injuries, 43 of themcritical.OnJune17,allthemajornewspapersran unprecedented editorialsasking the demonstrators to Boryoku haishi,gikai mamore("rejectviolence,preservethelegisla-tiveprocess").Thefollowingmidni ght,thesecuritypact automatically becamelaw. On June 23, Prime MinisterKishi announced that he was stepping down.Ikeda spoke of main-taining a tei-shisei and calledfor kan 'yo to nintai ("tolerance andpatience")fromallsides. And on October12,a19-year-oldright-winger murdered Socialist Partyleader Asanuma Inajiro with ashort swordin HibiyaPark,thencommitted suicide afewweekslater. Not your averageyear. WilliamMarsh (marshbil@ gol.com)isa freelancewriter based inTokyo.