First, the simple part: 賣, I knew anyway, is the now dead-in-Japan character for 売, (“sell”), so dead that my made-in-Japan PC refuses to conjure it forth and I had to hand-draw it at a special website for obsessives to bring it to you. But below it is what proved to be a real puzzler, 康賣 ( yasu’uri, low prices). On the right we have 良品 (ryohin, good-quality items), which presents no difficulties, as it’s half of the name behind the Muji brand of furniture and sundries-I refuse to call them lifestyle goods-whose full and (indigestible to Western palates) name is Mujirushi Ryohin (無印良品, no-label good things, to be doggedly literal). Lovely character, though-looks just like a る (“ru”) being roasted on an open fire. The question of what it was doing there had me perplexed-it should have no intrinsic meaning, as hiragana is a syllabary-and the only conjecture I could manage to come up with, given its location, was that it is serving as an “etcetera”, a conjecture supported, although without complete conviction, by the literate native-speaker colleague to whom I showed it. Note: This word is exclusively used by a Japanese comedian/foodie 石塚英彦 (Hidehiko Ishizuka) when he reports the taste of food.An ad, burned still more soot-blackened by a recent fire than when I first encountered it, for butsudan family altars and funerary services, the now desperately faded late 1950s to early 1960s Cadillac hearse straight from a scene in Harold and Maude, decked out with elaborately customized bodywork inspired by the gaudiest of Shinto shrines these miya-gata reikyusha (宮型霊柩車, shrine-style spirit-coffin-vehicle) hearses are falling out of favor, perhaps because of their perceived vulgarity-some crematoria refuse to let them in-and perhaps because of their expense-around $250,000-and are being supplanted by plainer, duller and Western-inspired landau “funeral coaches”.Ī cornucopia of departing words and defunct characters adorn this sign for Mayamaya Shoten (馬山屋商店, Mayamaya Store, lower center): reading right to left across the top, 小間物 ( komabutsu, sundries), 化粧品, ( keshohin, cosmetics), 日用品 ( nichiyohin, daily goods), 雑貨ゑ ( zakka e, sundries, etc.) The first word for sundries, komabutsu, is being gently pushed aside by the second, zakka, while the mysterious ゑ (“e”) is a made-in-Japan hiragana character with a history of close to a millennium, variously pronounced as “we”, “e”, and “ye” in its long life, and which has officially been discarded since 1946, supplanted by え (“e”), although it must have lingered longer in the countryside, as this signboard is unlikely to be more than half-a-century old. もしもし: (an expression Japanese people use when they start or answer a phone call, like “Hello?”) Note: It contains a very casual/impolite tone, and therefore you should avoid using it to Senpai whom you are not very close to. (Tanaka- senpai, please treat me dinner today!) 先輩 (senpai) people who are older or in a higher position than you, or their honorific title For instance, they often use it to describe fashionable cafes/restaurants when they feel a bit hesitant to directly say オシャレ to their friends to give them a complement or when they try to be playful or sarcastic. Note: This word is still very popular among young people. Note: This word is so common that some people probably do not recognise it as a reverse word. Note: This word particularly sounds old-fashioned, and obviously has a non-serious tone. Note: The small tsu (っ) in そっくり becomes the large tsu (ツ) in クリソツ めんごめんご (mengo mengo) Meaning I want to date with a chick with blond hair. This summer, I wanna enjoy vacances (long holidays) in Hawaii. I’ll dance like crazy at a night club in Roppongi! ワイハー (Waihā) Meaning 六本木 (ろっぽんぎ, Roppongi) one of the most international cities in Tokyo Let’s eat sushi at Ginza today! ギロッポン (Giroppon) Meaning 銀座 (ぎんざ, Ginza) one of the most luxurious cities in Tokyo
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