Amazing Japanese vocab and expressions about relationships

Back to basics: The choice of seihin or kinben

By MICHAEL HOFFMAN

"You're up very late," says Reiko.

What time is it?"

"Past 2."

"Really. I no longer know what time of day or night it is."

"Let's talk, Stu." Reiko sits down in the chair across the desk from me. We are in my room, my office, my study (shosai, 書斎), my hermitage (iori, 庵) — what I call it depends on my mood. "Let's talk — without anger, without sarcasm (ikari nashi, hiniku nashi, 怒りなし、皮肉なし). We haven't done very much of that lately, have we?"

"No, we haven't."

"What's that you're reading?"

I show her the book — a slim volume of poems by the Edo Period (江戸時代) hermit-monk (inja, 隠者) Ryokan (良寛) (1758-1831). "I'm thinking of taking a vow of poverty (seihin no chikai, 清貧の誓い)."

"I'm trying not to smile."

Listen: " 'Kusa no iori ni ashi sashinobete . . . (In my grass hermitage, stretching out my legs . . . 草の庵に足差し伸べて . . . )' "

"You're not the ascetic type (kinyokushugisha no taipu de wa nai, 禁欲主義者のタイプではない)."

"No? But you know, I think deep down (naishin de wa, 内心では) I am the ascetic type. 'Hachi no ko ni sumire tampopo ... (In my begging bowl, violets and dandelions, 鉢のこにスミレタンポポ ...)' Hmm. To change the subject slightly (wadai wo kaeru, 話題を変える) — shall I tell you where I was today?"

"If it's fit for a prim matron (katakurushii fujin, かたくるしい婦人) to hear."

"I went to see a magazine editor who's interested in having me write a column."

"Oh, Stu, that's ..."

"Wait. It's not settled yet (mada kimatte inai, まだ決まっていない). There are a few things we don't quite see eye to eye on (iken ga icchi shite inai, 意見が — 致していない). It's a monthly magazine called Varya. Here, have a look."

There's a copy on the desk, and I push it toward her.

"It's quite good, actually. You'll notice it has an article on seihin (清貧, literally "clean poverty"), which is what got me started on Ryokan. You say I'm not the 禁欲主義者 type, but did I ever tell you what got me interested in Japan in the first place? It wasn't 'Japan Inc.,' or all this high-tech gadgetry, or bubble economies, or any of that. It was precisely 清貧 — back then of course it was called wabi (侘, beauty found in poverty and simplicity). What this article is saying is that this recession (fukeiki, 不景気) we're mired in is maybe a good chance to return to some good old Japanese traditions (dentō, 伝統) that got swamped in the headlong rush to material prosperity (busshitsuteki na yutakasa, 物質的な豊かさ) and utilitarianism (jitsurishugi, 実利主義)."

"I enjoy Ryokan's poetry too — but I wouldn't want to live like him, and I doubt you would either."

"What you're saying is that you know me better than I know myself."

"Why does everything I say make you angry (okoraseru, 怒らせる)?"

"I'm sorry — oh, sit down! Don't get offended (hara wo tatenai de, 腹を立てないで) at every stupid little thing I say!"

"How did you meet this editor?"

"A former student introduced me. She's his niece."

"And what is it you don't see eye to eye on?"

"Well, maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill (sasai na koto wo ō gesa ni iu, 些細なことを大げさに言う), but the guy's politics are, shall we say, just a little rightwing (uyokuteki, 右翼的). I mean, there's nothing wrong with patriotism (aikokushugi, 愛国主義), and I myself tend to be a bit conservative (hoshuteki, 保守的), at least in the sense of wanting to conserve (tamotsu, 保つ) the old outmoded traditions like wabi, but . . . well, in a word, he's a bit of a creep (zotto saseru, ぞっとさせる)."

"It's better than doing nothing, isn't it?"

"You know, honestly, I'm not sure about that. There's a lot to be said for doing nothing. How did Ryokan put it? 'Ukiyo wo koko ni kado sashite . . . (浮世をここに門さして, I shut my gate on the floating world) . . . ' "

"Ryokan didn't have a family. You have two children. It's up to you to set an example (tehon wo shimesu, 手本を示す) of diligence (kinben, 勤勉), don't you think?"

"Not really. What for? You're diligent enough for the both of us."

Japanese shopping online

Nesting instinct takes hold in recession

Crisis-born 'sugomori' trend revolves around relieving stress as well as conserving money

By HIROKO NAKATA

Staff writer

Already a devoted online shopper, 34-year-old office worker Yumiko Tamagawa is finding even more reasons to shop from home thanks to the recession.

One click away: The Internet shopping site run by Rakuten Inc. shows specialty foods available from across the country. YOSHIAKI MIURA PHOTO

For a range of items from T-shirts to books — even beef for a home barbecue party — she checks shopping and auction Web sites for the lowest prices.

"If I go out shopping and try to compare prices at each shop, the transportation costs are too high," she said. "Web sites can show you the lowest prices instantly."

Tamagawa is one of an increasing number of Japanese choosing to forgo travel or even a night out to save money. To economize, they shop online, watch DVDs and eat in.

Market researchers have coined a term for this trend: "sugomori," or nesting.

Unlike "staycations" in the United States, where vacationers take day trips or enjoy their own backyard pool instead of splashing out on expensive trips away, Japanese "nesting" is all about staying inside.

Companies are cashing in on the trend.

Online mall operator Rakuten Inc. said Feb. 13 it marked a record-high operating profit of ¥47.1 billion for the business year that ended in December.

Recent top sellers include packaged ingredients for casseroles and sweets, gourmet spices and bread makers, Rakuten said.

In a survey released March 27 by Internet research firm Macromill Inc., almost half of 516 respondents between the ages of 20 and 59 said they had increased their online shopping in the past year. Of them, 56 percent cited lower prices as the reason.

The nesting trend is also benefiting food delivery services.

Marketing firm Fuji Keizai Co. said in March that the overall food delivery business is expected to grow 1.9 percent to ¥2.16 trillion in 2009.

Supermarkets should expect to see Internet orders rise 25.1 percent to ¥28.4 billion this year, while delivery service sales of organic vegetables will rise 8 percent to ¥44.8 billion, it said.

Movie rental shops are likewise experiencing a boom.

Video and music rental store chain Tsutaya, which operates 1,369 outlets, said Jan. 29 that rentals were up for the sixth straight year, to a record ¥586.52 million in 2008.

"Considering how hard other industries have been hit, our rental business is doing fairly well because it has not slipped since the end of the year," said Mari Oshiro, a spokeswoman for Culture Convenience Club, the operator of Tsutaya.

On the strength of the rental business, CCC logged a 6 percent rise in group operating profit to ¥11.7 billion for the April-December period, the company said in February.

But the trend isn't only about saving money. Consumers are looking to ease the stress of daily life, experts say. To do this, many are focused on converting their living rooms into comfortable spaces, or building their own "nests."

"Because of the recession, people feel more stressed out and exhausted," said Takayo Yamamoto, who has monitored more than 100 women for six years at Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living.

"They want to economize, but they also want to heal themselves," she said.

Responding to this trend, Panasonic Corp. released a massage sofa in April designed to satisfy even the most dedicated couch potato.

Rather than go out, "more people prefer to spend a relaxing time at home," said Mayumi Sasaki, a Panasonic spokeswoman. "They want to relax and recover from their fatigue."

In contrast to conventional massage chairs, the new sofa is more stylish and less mechanical, Sasaki said.

A comfortable home life attracts women in particular, who often spend more than they originally planned.

Take Miyuki Matsui. The 25-year-old saleswoman says that because she is too tired to go out on weekends after working hard all week, she loves to buy tasty Swiss rolls and fruit tarts sold only online. Throw in some cosmetics and clothes and the bill for one month can climb to ¥50,000, she said.

Hakuhodo's Yamamoto said single female workers in their 30s and 40s tend to nest because they have more money than younger women.

"After working very hard, some people shop online at night (after shops close). They often shop online because it is raining outside," she said.

Some shop in bulk for wine and beer to avoid having to carry the heavy bottles and cans, she added.

Lovers of beauty treatments buy, for example, steamers to moisturize their face while sleeping or popular compact rollers coated with platinum germanium that can be used to smoothen facial and body skin.

"They want to build their castle at home with a sofa and carpets and lighting and invite friends for parties," Yamamoto said. "Nesting isn't necessarily a negative thing."

Move To China! And Other Ways To Deal With The Recession

How to best handle this recession/depression, you ask? Don’t worry, FTRD, Recession Junction, and The Onion have the answers.

Photo: Jessica Shannon/ Feature photo: stuartpilbrow

We here at the Matador Network have been contemplating the whys of traveling during the global recession, how exactly to go about traveling during this currency-strapped time, and how to handle it all by becoming a spiritual activist.

The folks over at F* the ReDepression, however, are taking a different approach to dealing with our global party’s-over “don’t-have-to-go-home-but-you-can’t-stay-here” meltdown.

Along with their handy-dandy tagline, “Might as well, it’s going to f* you,” they recently compiled the top 10 ways to F* the ReDepression, introducing the piece with these instructions:

First things first: You gotta believe. After that, who knows. At FTRD, we believe that the best way to FTRD is to pretend like it isn’t happening. This is the same strategy that FDR used while the Nazis rampaged Europe from 1933 to 1941. It worked then, and it will work now.

Other tasty tips include:

• Move to… China? (def. not Europe, the UK or South America. and DEFINITELY not Africa)
• Get a government job. They control everything. They print the money. You oughta roll with them!
• Get a second family. If your new family has working-age children you just doubled your workforce!
• Collect unemployment. Wait, how is this not #1? Stop reading this and go get it NOW.

Be sure to check out the rest of their list.

The Good News

What about a positive that stems from the greed of all those banker fat-cats?

Well, a group just granted the right to marry in Vermont is shouting a big fat “Hell-No!” to recession. Gay and lesbian travel is forecasted to be higher than heterosexual travel this summer.

The recession has also spawned hilarious t-shirts and cups to express your recession-depression frustrations to the world. Check out Recession Junction’s plethora of choices, including my favorites, “I will cut you, bitch!” and “Alms for the Poor.”

Last but certainly not least, when you are really down, you know who to turn to…The Onion. They’ve put together a video of the best reality show ever, Autoworkers Compete to Keep Jobs, Livelihoods.

What has kept you smiling during the economic crisis? Share your thoughts below.