Learn Japanese - Through 4-panel manga!

[Quarkboy]

In this thread, I'll be posting a bunch of 4 panel manga from the manga Kashimashi house, by Akizuki Risu. I'll post the raw manga scans, translations, vocabularly, and grammar notes. I hope that these simple, short, funny strips can spark discussion about basic Japanese translation.

My comments/vocab are not aimed at the complete beginner, but if anyone has any questions about the translations that you don't understand, I'll be happy to reply.

First, this manga was first published in 1995, so it's a bit old, and it is written by the Manga-ka known for OL進化論 (Survival in the Office The Evolution of Japanese Working Women). It is not licensed, but please, don't use these translations for anything other than an educational purpose .

The title of the manga, "Kashimashi House" could be translated as "Noisy House", however much more descriptive is the kanji for "kashimashi" - 姦しい. Yep, the kanji for "noisy" is made up of three kanji's for "woman". (So much for women's lib in japan).

[Quarkboy]

First, a character guide.


Grammar note: This page is written using standard Japanese written grammar. Verbs are in short form, and instead of using です as the copula, the more formal (but less polite) である is used. Other differences will be highlighted in the individual sections.

Spoiler for Section 1:

小説家: novelist
一家: household
存在: existence
現実: reality
一面: a side/an aspect
-的: (makes nouns into "na" adjectives)

Sentence 2 is a compound sentence that uses で to link stand alone predicates. This implies a slight linking of ideas, but no causal connection (unlink ので).
Similar to the english "and".

Spoiler for translation:

Eldest Daughter Hitomi

A "teenage romance" novelist. Serving as the household's mother, she also has a practical side.

Spoiler for Section 2:

体育会系: jock-like (team athletics-like)
体力: physical strength
恐い: scary
気弱: timid

知らず- This is the written grammer form of 知らない. Any verb can be written in this literary negative, by replacing ない with ず. It is not used in spoken Japanese, however.
ところ- This is used here in the temporal sense (A place in time).

Spoiler for translation:

Second Daughter Futaba

A powerful jock of an office lady. With her physical strength she knows no fear, but actually she also has some times she's timid.

Spoiler for Section 3:

睡眠: sleep
ちゃっかり: shrewd
要領の良さ: knack

Here, a "," is used instead of で in the second sentence, because the two thoughts aren't connected.

Spoiler for translation:

Third Daughter Mizue

A college student who loves to sleep and takes things at her own pace. Always laying around, her strong point is that, at times, she has a knack at being calculating.

Spoiler for Section 4:

メス犬: female dog
希望: wish

Goro is a boys' name .
で- Here, this particle is used as "the means of action". It can be made clear by a more literal translation: "It was _through_ the dad's insistent wish that she got that name"
になった- became. This is the past tense of the common になる, meaning "to become." In english, we don't refer to someone "becoming" a name, however.

Spoiler for translation:

Goro

Actually a female dog. The dad insisted that she have that name.

Spoiler for Section 5:

冷静: calm, composed
スルドイ: sharp
離れる: to be seperated from
末っ子: youngest child
姉妹: sisters

ながら- Here, this doesn't mean "while doing" but is used as a contrast connection (similar to が).

Spoiler for translation:

Fourth Daughter Yomogi

A composed, sharp grade-schooler. Despite the age difference of being the youngest, she's the most reliable sibling.

Spoiler for Section 6:

女所帯: house consisting of only women
肩身の狭い: feel inferior/small
優しい: kind
見守る: to watch over

で- here is not a sentence linker particle, but a place of action.
見守っている- A basic verb conjugation, indicating an action currently in progress. E.g. 私はリンゴを食べている - I am eating an apple.

Spoiler for translation:

Father

In the all female Noda house, he's the patriarch who sometimes feels a little inferior. He kindly watches over the four sisters.

[Quarkboy]

自由業: self-employed
喜ぶ: to be delighted
一瞬: instant, moment
反応する: to react, to respond

Grammar notes:

ちょうだい-A less formal version of お願いします, used primarily for asking for things.
けど- A contrasting linker. AけどB - B even though A.
喜んだの- The の particle here nominalizes the previous sentence, allowing it to be the subject for the question "why"? i.e. "You were happy for a moment"-> "Why were you happy for a moment?"

Spoiler for translation:

Eldest Sister: Hitomi - Self Employed

1.
Hitomi: Mister, I'd like some oranges.
Mister: Sure thing.
2.
Mister: It must be nice having a young mother.
Hitomi: Eh!?
3.
Hitomi: Our ages may be far apart, but she's my sister.
Mister: Ah, sorry.
4.
Yomogi: Why were you happy for a moment?
Hitomi: ...
Caption: Eldest Daughter Hitomi, who reacts to the word "young."

[Quarkboy]

固い- tight, tough, stiff
逆に- backwards

Grammar notes:
そーゆーこと- this is a phonetic spelling of an elongated, そういうこと
あたし- Female speakers often use this form of わたし
回しちゃった- A contracted form of 回してしまった.

Spoiler for translation:

The Second Daughter: Futaba - Office Lady

1.
Hitomi: I can't open this bottle.
Father: Let me see...
2.
Father: This is on pretty tight.
Futaba: In that case, just leave this to me!
3.
Futaba: Hya!
Caption: The strongest, second daughter Futaba - Office Lady
4.
Futaba: Ah, damn.
Futaba: I ended up turning it as hard as I could, the wrong direction...
Hitomi: ...
Hitomi: Now it'll never open...

[Quarkboy]

P.S. I'll post a new strip maybe once a week or so...

[DingoEnderZOE2]

Quite an interesting idea for a topic I rather like it. I have one question about your translation for one of the characters in the character guide for Hitomi. I don't see anything in that description that says Hitomi is a Teenage Romance novelist. All I saw was ロマンチストなジュニア小説家 which would translate into:"A Junior Romance novelist" or "Romance Junior novelist" I didn't see anything in that description that said she was teenage. Is that just your translation or is there something I missed?

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by DingoEnderZOE2

I don't see anything in that description that says Hitomi is a Teenage Romance novelist. All I saw was ロマンチストなジュニア小説家 which would translate into:"A Junior Romance novelist" or "Romance Junior novelist" I didn't see anything in that description that said she was teenage. Is that just your translation or is there something I missed?

Well, I guess my translation was a bit ambiguous. She writes romance novels FOR teenagers. So the teenage was supposed to modify the "romance", not the novelist.

Note that, "Junior" here doesn't work so well in english... I thought about using "young adult romance novels", and maybe that works better than "teenage".

I'm not sure exactly how old Hitomi is, she never mentions it for some reason , but I think it's fair to say she's not too far from 30.

[Aoie_Emesai]

Ahhh.. neat, but unfortunately i've only learn to speak and understand spoken Japanese, not read and write written Japanese Characters.

Good luck with your thread.

[Kyuusai]

Excellent, I look forward to more.

The only suggestion I might make is providing the kana for the kanji.

Nonetheless, very helpful.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Just a quick question: how can "dearu" be more formal, but less polite? It seems to be a contradiction...

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by Spectacular_Insanity

Just a quick question: how can "dearu" be more formal, but less polite? It seems to be a contradiction...

Heh, that's a very subtle point I'm making. Let me elaborate:

There are really _4_ different scales of verb forms in japanese, there's a politeness scale, a humbleness scale, a honorific or exaltedness scale, and a different scale I'll call "formality". Take the basic copula, "da". From this plain form, which is neither polite or formal, you can either make it more polite by saying "desu" or more formal by saying "de aru". Note, "desu" is actually a contracted form of "de arimasu", so you can making a little chart like:

da - de aru
desu - de arimasu

Basic literary written form uses the upper right level of verb conjugations. Spoken language generally only uses the left hand column.
Sgt. Keroro uses the bottom right .

(For more specifics, see Martin, "A reference grammar of Japanese" pages 1026-1040)

[Quarkboy]

Now with more romaji, by popular request!

洗たく[sentaku]: laundry
畳む[tatamu]: to fold
清楚(な)[seiso na]: neat, tidy
謎[nazo]: riddle, enigma
柄[gara]: pattern
Oden: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oden It's japanese stew with "whatever" thrown in .


Grammar notes:
"sentaku mono tatande": This is using the "te" form as a request. To make it polite, add "onegaishimasu" (The particle "wo" is dropped here)
"wake no wakaran": This is an idiom "wake no wakaranai" with the negative form contracted into "wakaran". It means "meaningless" or "something I don't get the point of at all".
"oden no gara no pantsu nante": the "nante" here is an emphasizer AND a generalizer... X nante = things like X (with a sense of exclamation)

Spoiler for translation:

The Third Daughter: Mizue - Female College Student

1.
Hitomi: Will you fold the laundry?
Yomogi: Sure.

2.
Yomogi: The neat and cute ones are Hitomi-neechan's.
Yomogi: The sporty and simple ones are Futaba-neechan's.

3.
Yomogi: The ones with the pattern I totally don't get are Mizue-neechan's.
Yomogi: ...

4.
Yomogi: Where do they sell panties with things like an Oden pattern on them?
Mizue: Secret.
Caption: The quite enigmatic Third Daughter Mizue, Female College Student

P.S. Mizue is like, my idol.

[Quarkboy]

小説[shousetsu]: novel
イモ[imo]: literally "potato", when written in katakana, it is slang for "country bumpkin"
悪く言う[waruku iu]: to speak badly of
許す[yurusu]: to allow, to approve

Grammar notes:
"atashi": This is the common form of "watashi" used by female speakers.
"fan na no-": Ending a sentence with "na no" is equivalent to "da" but with a sense of excitement/explanation. Here it is used as a conversation starter, answering the unsaid question: "Why are you talking to me?"
"ki ga aru": an idiom which means "have the will/intent". Here it is used in the negative.
"-nanka": X nanka = things like X (with a derogatory sense). Compare to "-nante" in previous grammar note.

Spoiler for translation:

The Fourth Daughter: Yomogi - Grade Schooler

1.
Fan: I'm a fan of your sister...
Yomogi: Oh, thank you.

2.
Boy: That was blunt.
Yomogi: I have no intention of being friends with a fan of my sister's novels.

3.
Boy: Yeah, that's right. You'd have to be seriously lame to read those junior novel things.
sfx: Hahahahaha...

4.
Yomogi: But I won't forgive someone who bad-mouths my sister's work.
Caption: The "hot" and "cool" fourth sister Yomogi, Grade Schooler.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

I really gotta work on my kanji...

[DingoEnderZOE2]

I like the grammer notes you've included with your submissions it really explains alot. Now I understand exactly why "Na no" is used. I only have just one question about it: Is it a females only thing or are guys allowed to use it without being being called a "okama"? If not is there a male equivalent of "na no"?

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by DingoEnderZOE2

I like the grammer notes you've included with your submissions it really explains alot. Now I understand exactly why "Na no" is used. I only have just one question about it: Is it a females only thing or are guys allowed to use it without being being called a "okama"? If not is there a male equivalent of "na no"?

Hmmm, that's an interesting question. I think the answer may very well be in flux in Japan right now, and depend on where you are in the country. Na no is definitely feminin, but it's not EXCLUSIVELY so (unlike, for example, the sentence ending particle "wa", also used in this strip). I think a male would be more likely to use the similar, nanda form... using this as the example, a male fan would have said: "boku, kimi no oneesan no fan nan da..."
maybe... Or a man might also simply use "da". This is the same grammar, notice, but with a different ommitted part. The full grammar is "na no da", which is shortened to "na no" for females or contracted to "nan da" for men. You hear the full "na no da" a lot in samurai drama and characters in fushigi yuugi .

[luchamasta]

Interesting stuff...

I didn't find the kana readings of the following words so here we go:

長女 ちょうじょ chōjo [eldest daughter]
次女 じじょ jíjo [second daughter] sometimes written 二女 じじょ
三女 さんじょ sanjo [third daughter]
四女 よんじょ yonjo [fourth daughter]

And the breakdown of kana readings of the compound kanji words:

小学生 しょう がく せい [elementary student]
小説 しょう せつ [novel]
友達 とも だち [friend]
仕事 し ごと [work]

[K_R]

Interestingly enough, at the university I went to, this is an actual subject (Learning Japanese though Manga), part of the popular culture series of subjects.

[Ombrenuit]

I'm actually taking Japanese at my university, we're just finishing up Hiragana characters, so I guess this sort of helps (for what I can read) though I'm not exactly understanding most of the words But I'm sure as the year goes on, it will be very helpful. Thanks for posting.

[DingoEnderZOE2]

....No more additions? Awww don't let this end so early this topic would be a good learning experience for me as well as others who want to learn Japanese with this method.