Isn't Japanese a beautiful language? Hello, I’ve dedicated this blog to help individuals learn Japanese. I’ve been studying since 2014. Feel free to ask questions or submit submissions. I welcome messages:) If I answer late it's just because I'm busy. Want to support me? ko-fi.com/japanesetranslated Some of the pics, gifs, videos or music etc aren't mine, all credits to rightful owner.
I’m in Tokyo now! Decided to travel to Shibuya and explore, the first thing I see is PSAs all over “ Shibuya Pride Shibuya Halloween” pretty much begging Shibuya please pretty please don’t make us look bad again.
I mean they goddamned banned public drinking completely throughout the usual party area of Shibuya during Halloween from October 25th to November 1.
As an American, I’m guilty of being biased by putting Japanese on a pedestal of politeness and mindfulness, and now I'm made to anticipate seeing all that thrown out of the window???
I love Halloween very dearly as a kind of holiday representing world peace, large crowds of people all happy loving life and not taking it so seriously. It’s just a precious holiday. The people who ruin just a fun holiday for others are trashy.
NO迷惑行為
no actions that cause trouble to others
So please make sure not to do any of the following. Learn some cultural background info for the rules too.
And have a happy Halloween everyone!
ポイ捨て
ポイすて
littering just as things like beer bottles, cigarette butts, empty cans and other trash etc, carelessly littering
Comes from:
ポイと (adverb) meaning carelessly, nonchalantly
捨てる (ru verb) meaning to throw away, to dump
Example:
車の窓から空きびんをポイと捨てた。
くるまのまどからあきびんをポイとすてた。
Threw an empty bottle carelessly from the window of the car.
If you ever been to Tokyo, you’ll notice how clean it is, compared to say freakin New York City. The urge-to-litter resisting plays a big role. Not-littering is a big part of Japan’s rule-following, ordered society. Most will take their garbage home to dispose of.
At previous Shibuya Halloweens, party animals left the area garbaged. ( There was even a freakin car toppled!) Volunteers helped clean the mess up the morning after previously. Soon the streets were clean, business as usual.
路上飲酒
ろじょういんしゅ
Public drinking
路上喫煙
ろじょうきつえん
Public smoking
路上 (ろじょう) -on the road, in the street
The kanjis are literally 路 (road) and 上 (above)
飲酒 (いんしゅ) drink alcohol
喫煙 (きつえん) to smoke, smoking
喫: kanji meaning- consume, eat, drink, smoke
煙: kanji meaning- smoke (noun), fumes
Although the government banned public drinking in a section of Shibuya for a couple days, Japan has no law forbidding public drinking. Public drinking is a common custom in cities and parks, particularly during local festivals ( matsuri) and cheery blossom viewing ( hanami) in spring. It is generally frowned upon to drink or eat ( 食べ歩き）in public outdoor spaces or when walking through public. It’s more accepted to drink by vending machines. There are also exceptions for eating like park benches, or by stalls at shrines during festivals etc.
Please look at signs on the streets for where you are allowed to smoke. Look for designated smoking areas at convenience stores, in public, parks, train stations, hospitals, department stores, malls, etc.
器物破損
きぶつはそん
Property damage
器物 きぶつ law term for personal property
破損 はそん damage
Pretty self-explanatory. Please don’t break other people’s shit.
ナンパ行為
ナンパこうい
Unwanted harassment of persistent calling out to someone and inviting the person to hang with them.
行為 (こうい) - act, deed, conduct
ナンパ seducer
I’ll explain the 由来 of ナンパ. The kanji for it is 軟派.
軟 - soft
派 - faction, group, clique
軟派 means people who aren’t strong. They’re soft. It was used to refer to weak men who hit on women. Strong men 硬派 (こうは) are men who don’t call out to women. They are a man’s man. In the 1980s the word was changed to katakana ナンパ.
ナンパする hit on women, pick up women
There are young Japanese, people who try their luck on picking up girls in the streets of Tokyo at night. You might spot a few at night, standing in the streets calling to girls.
奇声などの大声
きせいなどのおおごえ
Weird, loud screams, etc
奇声( きせい)- strange voice
奇: kanji meaning- strange, strangeness, curiosity
大声 おおごえ- a loud voice
Please, no weird noises or loud screams. God no.
喧嘩や揉め事
喧嘩（けんか）fight
揉め事（もめごと)- dispute
fights or disputes
揉め事 is a softer word for a fight. It sounds like a small dispute. With 喧嘩 sometimes violence is in the mix. You fight with your friends or little kids fight with each other. You have a dispute with a co-worker.
痴漢行為
ちかんこうい
groping
痴- foolishness, fool
Although 漢 means Sino, China, when the word was originated the kanji meant “man”. 痴漢 originally meant まぬけな男 “stupid man”. ( Which I totally agree with the use of a derogatory connotation. Those people are the filth of the earth. ) It’s used to mean a man who sexually harasses women. Nowadays, it’s used this way, but this meaning of the word can’t be found in dictionaries of the Meiji Period and the Taishou Period.
There has been a horrible trend of chikans happening on Japan’s trains. One of the solutions done was a women-only train carriage, the signs indicate which day and hours they are reserved for women.
改造車
かいぞうしゃ
Custom Cars
改造バイク
Custom Bikes
改造（かいぞう）- remodeling, restructuring
Those god damn LoUD annoying flashy, custom cars/bikes. Assholes drive making so much goddamn noise.
万引き
まんびき
shoplifting
万引きは商品を間引いて盗むこと。
間引く (まびく）- to thin out, to cull
盗む (ぬすむ) - to steal
間引き was created by adding the ん sound. The 万 in “万引き” is 当て字 ( あてじ）, kanji used as a phonetic symbol instead for their meaning.
盗難
とうなん
robbery, theft
落書き
らくがき
Grafitti, scrawl, scribble
落書き is a 和製漢語 (わせいかんご）, a Japanese word constructed from Sino-Japanese elements. 落書 from the Chinese language means Grafitti or scribblings. The on reading for 落 is read, and the kun reading for 書 is read, therefore らくがき。
This summer is gonna be very busy for me. I want to get in a couple posts. But, I won’t really be active until I settle in Japan.
In Japan, the posts will be much better! I can actually use what’s around me in my posts. I’m so excited to embrace that fact. I’ll work hard for all of you wonderful followers. You are all amazing and more than I ever thought I deserve!
Until then buckle up. Because sadly, the blogger behind this blog is gonna be a little dead. Please don’t tap the glass screen, I guarantee you she is alive. Until then please bear with me. I’m so grateful for each and every one of you!
An action or condition as it is without another action occurring or change in condition. The action/condition remains as it is without any change. Seen a lot with 「…たまま」.
テレビをつけたまま、 眠ってしまった（ねむってしまった）。
With the TV still on, I fell asleep.
In this case, The TV remained on. It didn’t turn off or anything. The action continued while the person fell asleep. If it makes it easier, imagine まま as ”as it is”. Therefore, the sentence can be interpreted as “ With the TV on as it is, I fell asleep.”
For the following examples, I’ll put a literal translation on the bottom. まま is color-coded in both sentences. The translation will be awkward but it will help to understand the role of the word better.
絶対トイレの蓋を開けたままにするなよ。
ぜったいトイレのふたをあけたままにするなよ。
Whatever you do don’t leave the lid up on the toilet!
( Absolutely don’t leave the lid up on the toilet as it is!)
赤ちゃんは泣かせたままにしてはいけないのでしょうか？
あかちゃんはなかせたままにしてはいけないのでしょうか？
Is it wrong to leave my baby crying?
( I can’t leave my baby crying as it is, right?)
目を閉じたままで彼はベンチに座っていた。
めをとじたままでかれはベンチにすわっていた。
He was sitting on the bench with his eyes closed.
( With his eyes closed as they were, he sat on the bench.)
For the above examples, the action/state/condition continued without change. It just remained as it was.
If you can wrap your head around that definition it’s easy to understand it’s second definition: condition, state.
2.) Condition, state
問題 (もんだい) をこのままにしておいてはいけない。
You can’t leave the problem as it is.
( You can’t leave the problem in this state it’s in.)
天気がこのまま続くといいですね。
てんきがこのままつづくといいですね。
I hope the weather stays this way.
( If the weather continues in this state that’d be nice.)
部屋をそのままにしておきなさい。
へやをそのままにしておきなさい。
Leave the room as it is.
( Keep the room in that condition it is. )
ありのまま
ある: to be
あり is the noun form of ある、making it mean existence ( at the present moment), as it is.
Hii, I just found your blog now, and I am very happy about how helpful it is. Can you do a list about "sentence structures" like "~ないでください","と思う" and others? Also, can you explain the まま?It's just so hard to understand. I hope you are feeling well these days, kisses and hugs from Brazil 😚
Im so glad you find my blog helpful!
I’m absolutely taking your suggestions. I like not having to think about what I should post, hehe. Plus I get to make content you want and find helpful. It a win-win.
I finished まま. Will post soon. In the future look out for ないでください and と思う!
Also, gosh Brazil? I can’t believe I reached you all across the other side of the globe. I’m great, wish you very well too😊
Yep! Spaces are used in Japanese but differ from how spaces are used in English. Generally, There aren’t many spaces in Japanese. In proper, typical kanji-filled sentences, spaces aren't really used as the words are easy to parse. When spaces may be used is for sentences mostly in hiragana or katakana or with little or no kanji.
This case exists because of text targeted for children to try to use little kanji and sometimes spaces to make it easier for them to read. It’s harder for children to parse word boundaries and they know less kanji, so to make long strings of sentences more digestible for children spaces may be used.
For example, sentences may look like this.
はが つちから はえた。 うさぎは ちいさいな あなを ほった。
にんじんを みつけて おおよろこび だった。
Notice how spaces come after the particles and not the word before a particle.
You will find lots of baby books like this, as well as text targeted to children in general.
Another case is commas are used after conjunctions and time expressions. A space always comes after a comma.
For example,
そして、学校に行きます。
明日、休みます。
昨日、晩御飯を作りました。
りんごは安いので、 買います。
宿題がいやけど、大事です。
犬がかわいいから、 大好きです。
とても大変のに、 仕方ないね。
Then other than that, people may use spaces whenever they feel is natural depending on when they would use a short pause in speech.
Yep, you’re right in there is no more space needed after the comma. I’ll fix it. However, there is a space, the half-width space (normal width in English) that automatically comes with the font. It’s all counts as one letter.
、
Try highlighting the comma above. The comma and the half-width space is all highlighted. It counts as one letter. One thing.
Also as @aidoku said space follows punctuation. The same half-with space.
Try highlighting the periods and the exclamation point. But I forgot to point out all types of brackets also get a half-width space automatically too. Try highlighting the brackets while you’re at it too.
ともだちと話しました。ともだちは「私は結婚する」と言いました！（でも、信じられませんでした。）
See?
So, not to confuse you, yes space comes after it. When using the ancient method of pencil and paper, you’d leave spaces in these areas. They are like little half-width spaces.
See that little, little space after punctuations and brackets? That’s reflected in type fonts. However, when using the modern computer, this font was made with your convenience in mind. The space automatically comes after the period, brackets, and exclamation point. They and the space are their own one thing.
One more very important note is, Japanese typography is wider than our typography.
あいうえお
abcdefghik
See, there’s more space between the letters. I needed to type double the letters in English, for both to be the same width. They use a little more space between their letters.
To understand how spacing is used in Japanese, it helps to observe a proper genkou youshi like in the picture. See the tiny space between letters, and the space between punctuation and brackets. See how it’s all reflected in type fonts.
Thank you for your comment @aidoku . You made this post much better. Hope that clears everything up.
Yep! Spaces are used in Japanese but differ from how spaces are used in English. Generally, There aren’t many spaces in Japanese. In proper, typical kanji-filled sentences, spaces aren't really used as the words are easy to parse. When spaces may be used is for sentences mostly in hiragana or katakana or with little or no kanji.
This case exists because of text targeted for children to try to use little kanji and sometimes spaces to make it easier for them to read. It’s harder for children to parse word boundaries and they know less kanji, so to make long strings of sentences more digestible for children spaces may be used.
For example, sentences may look like this.
はが つちから はえた。 うさぎは ちいさいな あなを ほった。
にんじんを みつけて おおよろこび だった。
Notice how spaces come after the particles and not the word before a particle.
You will find lots of baby books like this, as well as text targeted to children in general.
Another case is commas are used after conjunctions and time expressions. A space always comes after a comma.
For example,
そして、学校に行きます。
明日、休みます。
昨日、晩御飯を作りました。
りんごは安いので、買います。
宿題がいやけど、大事です。
犬がかわいいから、大好きです。
とても大変のに、仕方ないね。
Then other than that, people may use spaces whenever they feel is natural depending on when they would use a short pause in speech.
Can we send things in to get them translated? Sorry, its just that an ex-friend of mine slipped me a note in class that was in japanese and i have no idea what it says.
Yes, short text is no problem to translate. Just make sure the text isn’t blurry in the picture. I love to help!
hello! it’s me again. you were the one who helped me study japanese. thank you for all the amazing resources and help you’ve given me. i was able to learn hiragana and katakana. i started kanji today and it’s difficult but i will continue to work hard. none of this would be possible without you. thank you once again!
I’m losing myself right now. The weirdest blow to my mind is thinking of how through this blog, I have directly helped people idk across the globe, learn a language :D :D!
I can’t believe I’ve gotten the privilege to be able to do that. I’m over the moon! It’s mindblowing my resources on my blog helped you and people directly worlds away. aaaaahhh! 😆
I’m very thankful all of you appreciate my blog.
I’m so proud and happy for you for learning hiragana and katakana. You’re going through some major steps in learning Japanese. Kanji is tricky but nothing to be discouraged by.
I’m beaming at this message. This is what I do my blog for. Excuse me imma go try to calm myself down, I can’t stop smiling.
Here are all the 33 sports in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
水泳（すいえい）Aquatics
アーチェリー Archery
バドミントン Badminton
陸上競技 (りくじょうきょうぎ) Track and field
野球/ソフトボール (やきゅう）Baseball and softball NEW
バスケットボール basketball
ボクシング boxing
カヌー Canoe/ Kayak
自転車競技 (じてんしゃきょうぎ） Cycling
馬術 (ばじゅつ) Equestrian
Horse Riding
フェンシング Fencing
サッカー soccer
ゴルフ golf
体操 (たいそう) gymnastics
ハンドボール Handball
ホッケー Hockey
柔道 (じゅうどう) Judo
空手 (からて ) Karate NEW
近代五種 (きんだいごしゅ) Modern Pentathlon
Compromise of fencing, freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, and a final combined event of pistol shooting and cross country running.
ボート Rowing
七人制ラグビー (しちにんせいラグビ) Rugby 7s
セーリング Sailing
射撃 (しゃげき) Shooting
スケートボード Skateboarding NEW
スボーツクライミング Sport Climbing NEW
speed climbing, bouldering, and lead climbing. Speed climbing is the same fixed route, fastest time wins. Lead climbing is climbing as high as you can in a fixed time. Bouldering is climbing short problems without a rope, with the emphasis on the number of problems completed.
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