I don't want to lose my 'womanliness'
Gomiuri Shimbun

Hello. I'm Mayuko Iwasa and this is what's been on my mind recently.

First of all, I've been thinking about the wars and conflicts currently happening around the world. The lives of many civilians and children who have nothing to do with such wars and conflicts are lost everyday. Every time I watch the news, I feel sad. Why is this happening?

It's easy for me to gloss over such things because I live in Japan--a peaceful country. But I'm sure that violence doesn't solve anything.

When I was a girl, I often thought, "I want to take over the world." The reason why, though it may sound silly, is that by taking over the world, I could change society into a place where everything is decided by rock-paper-scissors and not by killing each other.

I now know that I can't do that, but I still think there must be more room for dialogue.

I suddenly began thinking about all this because it's gradually becoming harder for us to say that Japan really is as peaceful as it's supposed to be....it keeps going like this...

I don't want to lose my 'womanliness'
Gomiuri Shimbun

This charming essay is a perfect example why Japanese often should not be translated in English. In Japanese to Japanese person, I suspect 'womanliness' essay is perfectly ok---In English, she sounds bat-shit crazy.

Yeah, that whole article sounds like shit in English. Though, they just could have said femininity and it would have helped somewhat.

Taro Toporific wrote:This charming essay is a perfect example why Japanese often should not be translated in English. In Japanese to Japanese person, I suspect 'womanliness' essay is perfectly ok---In English, she sounds bat-shit crazy.

I agree about the bat shit. But the strangeness of this piece goes far deeper than translation. Here she transitions from emergency shelters to men becoming more feminine while maintaining she is not perfect (whatever that has to do with it):

Just recently, I had the opportunity on a television program to talk with a man who sells emergency shelters. He said there is almost no demand for such shelters in Japan. What are people here thinking? I think Japanese people should be concerned not only about earthquakes and the possible loss of lives, but also about the country's fiscal condition and many other things.

Another thing that has been on my mind lately is what men and women are like these days.

I know that I'm not perfect, but it seems that a lot of men are now more effeminate, while women are lacking in femininity. I'm not talking about people's appearances--it's something more fundamental.

Captain Japan wrote:I agree about the bat shit. But the strangeness of this piece goes far deeper than translation. Here she transitions from emergency shelters to men becoming more feminine while maintaining she is not perfect (whatever that has to do with it):

I thought maybe some of the strangeness came from the kishotenketsu format typical of short Japanese essays, which tends to incorporate several disjointed themes around one implied subject. But I looked at the structure, and no, even that doesn't account for it.

I have to agree with Charles that this goes beyond the vagueness of the typically disorganized Japanese rhetorical style. She's just rambling. Anyone have a link to the original in Japanese. Maybe it makes more sense, but somehow I doubt it.

Samurai_Jerk wrote:I have to agree with Charles that this goes beyond the vagueness of the typically disorganized Japanese rhetorical style.

Well, I'd hardly describe kishotenketsu as disorganized, it's highly organized. It just uses a very different structure than the Western method of linear argument, so it seems incoherent to Western readers.

But let's not get into that too deeply. I'll reserve further judgement until I see the original Japanese text.

Mayuko Iwasa isn't a particularly common name. The only one I can find on google is 岩佐真悠子, a 19-year old idol:



The Yomiuri article says that the original appeared in Japanese three weeks ago but searching for those kanji doesn't thow up anything similar.

I has shit as that writing may (or may not) be I actually enjoyed reading it. Sometimes I kind of talk like that, to tell the truth. I was thinking about this and that...Ladidadida...

Samurai_Jerk wrote:... this goes beyond the vagueness of the typically disorganized Japanese rhetorical style.... just rambling

Speaking of rambling Japanese brain farts...


[INDENT]Women take an eye for an eye, especially on moving trains
MSN-Mainichi, September 23, 2006
It was the morning of Monday, August 7, and Kiyohito Kokita, a reporter for Aera (9/25), observed a woman, aged around 30, boarding the Metro subway at the first stop on the line. Once seated, she promptly went to work on her eyelashes using a hinged metal device that resembled a pair of pliers, or perhaps a dentist's tool used for tooth extractions.
Such a device, which applies pressure to make the lashes curl upward in a graceful curve, is referred to in Japan as a "byuraa."...
.....This bizarre behavior, writes Kokita, represents nothing less than eyelash paranoia.
But how did this situation come about? For a female to be stuck with short, straight eyelashes, writes Aera, was as traumatic as baldness is for men. Gals want long, curly lashes that enhance the glimmer of their eyes, and which they can bat furiously to mesmerize men.....[/INDENT]

Somehow, the author seems to think that the daily shows of Japanese salaryman nose-picking, projectile vomiting and tooth-sucking are of no concern compared to a little make-up application.

Dont think I'll every understand why "sitting on the floor" is so terrible either when there are men masturbating onto morning musume trading cards.

urarara wrote:Dont think I'll every understand why "sitting on the floor" is so terrible either ....

I looove sitting on the floor of the train in front on the seats reserved for the handicapped.[floatr][/floatr]
Sometimes when I'm feeling frisky I ask the seated folks to, "Please hold my crutches so I can hang from the straps with both hands."
Damn, they ought to know that those are reserved for aliens.

urarara wrote:Dont think I'll every understand why "sitting on the floor" is so terrible either when there are men masturbating onto morning musume trading cards.

I sit on the floor if I fucking feel like it. Sometimes even when there are seats available.