一発屋（いっぱつや）, or "One-Hit Wonder"

Some former students taught me this one.  When I checked a Japanese-English online dictionary, it defined いっぱつや as "one-shot gambler," but I don't think I've ever used that term.  Anyway, other friends here confirmed that it is in fact what we would call a "one-hit wonder," in English.

When I did a search on One-Hit Wonder lists, there certainly was no shortage.  This one, though, caught my attention,
https://medium.com/cuepoint/the-complete-list-of-true-one-hit-wonders-21a953ecc455

the reason being that this list contained the song "Sukiyaki," a.k.a. "Ue o Muite Arukō" originally recorded by Kyū Sakamoto, released in 1961.  To tell the truth, although I've heard various versions of this song, I never knew who the original artist was until tonight.  I never knew that Selena and Utada Hikaru did covers too.  I never knew that it was one of the best-selling records of all time, upwards of 13 million.  The Wikipedia article says that the song went to number eighteen on the R&B charts; I'm amazed that Japan had an R&B chart in 1961!  Even more amazing to me is that the song reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard charts in  June 1963. . .I never knew that a Japanese-language song had entered the Top 40. . .And I never knew that the song's singer, Kyū Sakamoto, was a one-hit wonder, no disrespect intended to him or to any other one-hit wonders.  Show business sounds like a hard life, and the older I get, the more I respect people who hung in there to make a noise in this world.

The original version:

 

By the late singer Selena:
 

 Utada Hikaru's cover:



4pm's version, which was the first one that I remember ever hearing:



 And this is a reprinting of a list of other versions, as written on Wikipedia:

• In 1963, Brazilian vocal music Trio Esperança, then child singers, released a cover of the song in Portuguese, called "Olhando para o céu" ("Looking at the sky"), on their debut album "Nós somos sucesso" ("We are successful"). The lyrics in Portuguese were written by Romeo Nunes.
• In 1963, the Dutch-based Indonesian duo Blue Diamonds recorded the first evident English-language rendering of "Ue O Muite Aruko", featuring lyrics written by Decca Records executive Martin Stellman of Belgium: in the Netherlands the Blue Diamonds' English-language version of "Sukiyaki" charted in tandem with the Kyu Sakomoto original and two versions of the Dutch rendering subtitled "In Yokohama" (see below) with a #13 peak. Blue Diamonds' English rendering of "Sukiyaki" was overlooked in release in both the UK and the US.
• In 1963 a Dutch rendering subtitled "In Yokohama" was recorded by Wanda [de Fretes]; the title was also used for an instrumental version by Tony Vos (nl). Charting in tandem with the Blue Diamonds English-language remake (see above) and the Kyu Sakomoto original version, these versions reached #13 in the Netherlands.
• In 1963, Blue Diamonds (see above) reached #2 in Germany with a German-language cover of "Sukiyaki".
• In 1963, The Ventures did a gentle instrumental cover of the song on its album release "Let's Go!"
• In 1963, Canadian singers Claude Valade and Margot Lefebvre recorded a French version, "Sous une pluie d'étoiles" ("Under a shower of stars").
• In 1964 Lucille Starr introduced the English rendering of "Sukiyaki" by lyricist Buzz Cason on her album The French Song: this version would be a 1966 single release by Jewel Akens as "My First Lonely Night" (see below).
• In 1965, the Hong Kong-based band The Fabulous Echoes (later known as Society of Seven) recorded the song.
• In 1965, Czech singer Josef Zíma recorded Czech version of the song named "Bílá vrána" ("White crow")www.whosampled.com
• In 1966, US soul singer Jewel Akens released the song as "My First Lonely Night" as part of his double A-side single "Mama, Take Your Daughter Back"/"My First Lonely Night" on ERA records. The track had debuted on Akens' 1964 album The Birds and the Bees with its earliest recording being by Lucille Starr in 1964 (see above). This is probably the nearest translation to the original; although not a literal translation, it tells a similar story of a lonely man walking through the night, after losing his love.
• In 1967, the Ginny Tiu Revue recorded this on their self-titled first album.
• In 1975, the Hawaii-based duet Cecilio & Kapono recorded a markedly different English-language version in their album Elua released on Columbia Records.
• In 1981, Hong Kong singer Teresa Carpio covered this song in Cantonese.
• In 1982, a Brazilian humour-punk group Joelho De Porco recorded a cover version for the double album Saqueando A Cidade.
• In 1983, a collaborative album by Peter Metro & Captain Sinbad with Little John, called Sinbad & The Metric System included "Water Jelly" on the Taxi Riddim by Peter Metro. The melody was adapted to reggae and it featured new lyrics in Spanish and English.^[15]
• In 1983, Finnish singer Riki Sorsa recorded the song with original Japanese lyrics as "Sukiyaki (Ue O Muite Aruko)".
• In 1989, Selena recorded a Latin-influenced cover.
• In 1989, Hong Kong singer Anita Mui covered this song in Cantonese.
• In 1993, rapper Snoop Dogg used the theme from the song for his song "Lodi Dodi" on the album Doggystyle.
• In 1995, a reggae version by Sayoko both in English and Japanese featuring Beanie Man.
• In 1995, Jackie and the Cedrics recorded a surf version, "Sukiyaki Stomp", as the B-side of "Scalpin' Party", with "Justine" as the third song on the 7" vinyl EP. They also performed the song as part of their live set, including when they appeared in NYC in 1999.
• In 1996, Brazilian axé singer Daniela Mercury recorded "Sukiyaki" with its original Japanese-language lyrics. The song was released outside Brazil only, as an international bonus track on her 1996 studio album Feijão com Arroz.
• In 1996, freestyle trio The Cover Girls recorded a version for their album Satisfy.
• The Haitian band Boukman Eksperyans used the melody in the track "Sevelan/Sukiyaki" on their 1998 album Revolution.
• In 1999, Utada Hikaru covered as live recorded from the album, First Love
• In 2000, solo violinist Diana Yukawa recorded "Sukiyaki" on her best-selling debut album (known as Elegy in the UK and La Campanella in Japan). Yukawa also performed "Sukiyaki" various times on the mountainside where her father, Akihisa Yukawa, died in the Japan Airlines Flight 123 crash with Sakamoto.
• In 2000, Big Daddy released a smooth retro version which appeared in their compilation album, The Best of Big Daddy (the song had originally appeared on the Japanese release of their 1991 album Cutting Their Own Groove).
• In the Philippines, Aiza Seguerra and Sir Johannes Mines covered the song in 2013 for the album Eastwood.
• In 2008, interpreted by Hiromi Uehara and her group Sonic Bloom in the album Beyond Standard
• In 2012, Sweet Sister Pain released a cover featuring Japanese lyrics on their album The Seven Seas of Blood and Honey.
• In the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the Suntory beverage company released several versions of a television commercial featuring many famous Japanese singers and Tommy Lee Jones each doing part of the song, followed by the title caption "ue wo muite arukou," or, roughly, "let's walk with our heads up."^[16]
• In 2013, Missy Elliott protégée Sharaya J sampled a portion of the original tune, alongside A Taste of Honey's version, for her single "BANJI".^[17]
• In 2013, an Oxford duo SweetnSour Swing recorded and released a special single "Sukiyaki", dedicated to British jazz musician Kenny Ball.
• In 2014, during his Japanese tour, Olly Murs performed the song in English named "Look at the Sky", featuring lyrics written by Yoko Ono.^[18]

 And finally, this is a link to a nice write-up of what the song meant, in the context of its time:
http://www.npr.org/2013/06/28/196618792/bittersweet-at-no-1-how-a-japanese-song-topped-the-charts-in-1963

Yamato Nadeshiko

According to the Wikipedia entry on "Yamato Nadeshiko":

Yamato nadeshiko (やまとなでしこ or 大和撫子) is a Japanese term meaning the "personification of an idealized Japanese woman", or "the epitome of pure, feminine beauty".^[2] It is a floral metaphor, combining the words Yamato, an ancient name for Japan, and nadeshiko, a delicate frilled pink carnation called Dianthus superbus, whose kanji translate into English as "caressable child" (or "wide-eyed barley").
The term "Yamato nadeshiko" is often used referring to a girl or shy young woman^[6] and, in a contemporary context, nostalgically of women with "good" traits which are perceived as being increasingly rare. However, Nadeshiko Japan is also widely used as the name for the Japanese national women's football team.

For a certain  generation of people, the term is synonymous with a certain Fuji television drama.  It's about a flight attendant who grew up extremely poor, the result of which is that she's resolved to marry a rich man.  It's also about a talented but timid math scholar who has given up his career goals to take over the family fish market when his father dies.  The two characters meet, of course, and they love an hate each other.  There are other characters; although some of them are kind of iffy during the series, they pretty much all turn out to be likeable (to me).  This is a link to drama.net, where you can see it:

www.drama.net/yamato-nadeshiko

The theme song is "Everything" by Misia, who has been called (by some of my students) Japan's greatest soul singer.  Below is a video and compilation of some scenes from the show:


Note:  Yamato Nadeshiko is not to be confused with another drama, Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, which I've never scene but which comes up high on Google and other search engine results.

Two ways to define futamata (ふたまた)

I came upon this sign the other week.

I was　slightly stunned at first.  Several years ago, one of my female friends taught me the word futamata as she related the story of when and why she broke up with her boyfriend.  She'd caught him with another girl, and instead of apologizing or begging forgiveness or promising repentance, he asked her to. . .she wasn't sure how to phrase it as she jumped back and forth between Japanese and English. . .he asked her to let him futamata, or be in a relationship with two girls at the same time.  She refused and resolved that he was scummy.

So when I saw this sign for the Ikebukuro Futamata Koban (koban, of course, being "police box") I wondered what the hell kind of koban it was.  When I got home I googled futamata and found the first of the two definitions that I now know:

Literally: “Double groin“. If you knew the parts of the word,you might be able to guess that it means “having relations with more than one lover.” Typically one of the relationships is illicit.
 
By extension, this word can also be used to describe someone who tries to satisfy two opposing sides of an issue.--from the website Nihon Shock, which I just discovered and quite like, from what I've seen. (url for its entry on futamata: http://nihonshock.com/2010/04/%E4%BA%8C%E8%82%A1/)

That excellent explanation is accompanied by the kanji, 二股、which is different from the 二又 on the sign.

When I looked up ふたまたin an online dictionary, it came up with one definition:  two ways.  That seems fit for a street sign, and for a police box.

hisabisa (ひさびさ)

One of my students told me that hisabisa is a common variation of hisashiburi.  It'd be something like "Uo, hisabisa!", her accent on the second syllable.  Right after she told me that, her friend (standing next to her) said nobody actually says that.  When I checked it on the internet, it turned out that there are people who use it.

You can hear how it sounds as she says the word 9 seconds into the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMquYIS7gCU


ひさびさ is used just in  the title of this one; but I included it because I thought she came up with some impressive Japanese tongue-twisters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72bzHJjTRHA

osoroi (お揃い,おそろい)

Osoroi (お揃い, おそろい) is the adjective form of sorou (そろう), a verb whose definitions range from "be complete" to "be equal; be the same."  Osoroi can simply be defined as "matching."

If two or more people are wearing matching shirts, their online photo might be captioned with "osoroi no fuku" (おそろいのふく) or "osoroi no shatsu" (おそろいのシャツ) to denote the matching clothes.

The friend who taught me this word likes to mix Japanese and English; her Facebook post read "We are おそろい today" and was punctuated with a purikura of her and her friend wearing matching outfits.  She also said that girls would be more likely to use the abbreviated form.  In her words, "All Japanese gals want to have おそろ things among friends or with their boyfriend."  Perhaps not surprisingly, search results show more おそろい/おそろ posts by females and couples; it seems less widespread for guys to post pictures of themselves wearing matching outfits and/or accessories. 

If you Google 「おそろいの友達」 (osoroi no tomodachi), the pictures that come up in the Images section will probably include a lot of friends wearing matching shirts, jackets, Mickey/Minnie Mouse head wear, etc.  

Below are some examples, both commerce and blog sites.

http://www.wegoblog.jp/webstore/122591
http://tdrhack.com/hacks/girls-disney/
http://ameblo.jp/earl-juntarou/entry-11654583180.html
http://ameblo.jp/hitomi-endo0614/image-11718193212-12771004742.html
http://aizawaemiri.com/?p=13831

And this clip is from Waratte Iitomo! (笑っていいとも!).  You'll see the matching おそろいuniforms.  The model Rora (ロラ) who appears in this is insanely popular with my teenage and 20-something students, especially the female ones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIJ-E4PMdc4

seishun (literally, "blue spring"), 青春

Today was our last day of school before summer break, and everyone was in fine spirits, anticipating what the coming month would bring.  I had an iced tea in my hand as I walked to the teacher staff room and the halls were chaotic.  Most students in our school are in clubs, and there are committees as well--the Culture Festival Committee, the Summer Camp Committee, the Student Council. . .They were manically running to and fro, and making me tired.  I wanted a moment's peace so I went out of the building and sat on the stone wall in front of our main entrance.

As I sat there people started to exit, their meetings finished.  Some of the seniors saw me with my iced tea and came over to say see you after the break.  They were talking a lot to each other, so hyped up as they were.  One of them said "Seishun!"  I didn't know why.  "Seishun!  How do I say 'seishun' in English?"

If it's the seishun that I'm thinking of, then adolescence would be the definition I learned some years ago.  I said, "Adolescence?" and no one reacted much.  "Do you mean like, your teen years?"

And then there was reaction.  They understood what I meant.  One of the girls told me that seishun can be one's teen years, but not necessarily so.  They went on to explain the kanji to me, which literally translates to "blue spring," aoi (青い) and haru (春)."  When I heard that, I thought they meant blue as in depressed, as in wedding blues, which is a common phrase in Japan (denoting the anxiety and regret that some newly married people feel after the ceremony).  But no, that wasn't what they meant.  They said that seishun
can be any time in your life that could be one of the best times in your life.

When I got home I Googled it and, along with the youth and adolescence definitions I also came across "the springtime of one's life."  I supposed that springtime is, naturally, the time of adolescence for many people, which is likely why those definitions come up so ubiquitously.  But I also appreciated that a group of teenagers today were reflective enough to say that, no, the springtime of a person's life can happen at any time.  

"Seishun" (also romanized as "Seisyun") was a 2007 single by the group Tokio.

netabare (ネタバレ)

netabare (ネタバレ) = spoiler

I saw Maleficent a couple of days ago; it came out in Japan a bit after much of the rest of the world.  There was a tremendous amount of anticipation for it here, as Disney is quite popular in these parts.  Most of my students can hardly wait to see it, and as its release here coincided with final exam week for many of them, most haven't seen it.

So after exams week, we resumed classes and I mentioned that I'd seen the movie.  They taught me the term netabare (ネタバレ), which I eventually understood to mean spoiler.  None of my students knew the word spoiler; it was simply the way they cried out "Netabare! Netabare!", with their hands held out to shield them, that I understood that they didn't want me to tell them about the story.  They then confirmed this intended meaning by saying to me, "Please don't tell me what happens!"

I liked how Angelina Jolie fit the part.  She uses her eyes so effectively.  Whenever she screamed out her curses and anti-curses in dramatic fashion I felt that things got a bit awkward, but on the whole I couldn't imagine another actress filling this part the way she did.  I don't think it a spoiler to say that I say that I liked the way Maleficent seemed always determined to be truthful with Aurora, even in situations in which it wasn't easy  to be so.

Sometimes students write about Walt Disney and how he's impacted the world as a first-rate imaginary and business visionary.  So far, they haven't brought up any charges of Hollywood blacklists and anti-Semitism, so I haven't had to deal with those sticky subjects. I won't avoid them, but at the same time I'm not rushed to bring them to the forefront.
The trailer in Japan. . .

and a press conference

ダメよ～ダメダメ (dame yo! dame dame~)

This one is trending right now, I was told today.  The language itself isn't anything special; it's just a way of saying "That's no good" or "You can't do that," things of the like.  My friends tell me that what stands out about this clip is the tone and pitch of the speaker.

 
                                    -------------------------------------------------------------------

Update (July 10, 2015)
Unfortunately, You Tube took off the above video, I imagine for copyright reasons.  But people have been filling in the void with other clips.  Below are a duo who use the original audio recording and mime along with it:




I was surprised to find a bunch of SNSD videos dedicated to this phrase. Their Japanese has gotten so good. . .I'm jealous.


aa

今でしょ！Ima desho!!

This was a popular phrase from last year. (But I think that its message is pretty much timeless.)


My friends tell me that I should say it without the final -u (ーう) that you usually see in deshou.  It gives it a more abrupt stop and sense of, I don't know, urgency maybe.

今でしょ！(Ima desho!!) = The time is now!  Now's the time!

And another interpretation is "Right now."  I liked these little clips.  Homemade imitations of commercials. 




And this one was pretty funny.  I don't know why so many of these "Ima desho" videos have kids in them.
"When you gonna study?"  
"We're studying now, man!"




 The "right now" translations reminded me of this Van Hagar classic.  Amazingly, it's now over twenty years old.   I really like a lot of the Van Halen catalogue, but this one was one of my least favorite of their singles.  I'm listening to it now to see if I have a different reaction than I did back then, since that sort of thing can happen.

Love Is an Open Door (Japanese version)

As is the case in many corners of the internet, lip-syncing Frozen songs has become a widespread meme in Japan.  This is my favorite one.

I hope the kanji, romaji, and English lyrics are arranged in an easy-enough-to-read way. I've tried to arrange them by verse and chorus.  

A lot of the lyrics aren't direct translations, I should mention.  For example, the "Oshiete yo" at the beginning of verse 2 doesn't translate to Han's line "I mean it's crazy. . ."  I think that in general, when movie themes are redone in Japanese, the gist of the lyrics' meaning is kept intact, with some or much artistic license taken.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=umDteq-g7XE

Lyrics in kanji / kana and below that, romaji
(from http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/frozen/articles/231661/title/love-open-door-japanese-lyrics-kanji-romaji-english-translation):


ねえ、ちょっとおかしなこと言ってもいい？
そういうの大好きだ！
nee, chotto okashi na koto ittemo ii?
souiu no daisuki da!  
[Anna:] Okay, can I just, say something crazy?  
[Hans:] I love crazy!
 
どこにも出口のない日々が
突然に変わりそう
変わる（君と出会えて）すべてが
初めてのときめきだわ（初めてのときめきだよ）
僕も同じこと考えてた！だって
どこにも居場所のない日々で
探し続けていたこんな人を
dokonimo deguchi no nai hibi ga
totsuzen ni kawarisou
boku mo onaji koto kangaeteta! datte,
dokonimo ibasho no nai hibi de
sagashi tsudzuketeita konna hito wo
kawaru (kimi to deaete) subete ga
hajimete no tokimeki da wa (hajimete no tokimeki da yo) 
[Anna:] All my life has been a series of doors in my face
And then suddenly I bump into you [Hans:]  I was thinking the same thing! 'Cause like
I've been searching my whole life to find my own place
And maybe it's the party talking or the chocolate fondue [Anna:] [giggles] [Anna:] But with you... [Hans:] But with you [Hans:] I found my place... [Anna:] I see your face... [Both:] And it's nothing like I've ever known before!


二人だから
とびら開けて
飛び出せるよ
今（今）もう（もう）
二人だから
futari dakara
tobira akete
tobidaseru yo
ima (ima) mou (mou)
futari dakara 
Love is an open door!
Love is an open door!
Love is an open door! [Anna:] With you! [Hans:] With you! [Anna:] With you! [Hans:] With you! [Both:] Love is an open door...


教えてよ
え？
なにが好きか？
サンドイッチ
僕と同じじゃないか
私たちはよく似てるね
あ！またそろった！
考えてること
感じていること
そう（本当）に
似てるね
oshiete te yo
e?
nani ga suki ka?
sandoicchi
boku to onaji janai ka!
watashitachi ha yoku niteru ne
a! mata sorotta!
kangaeteru koto
kanjiteiru koto
sou (hontou) ni
niteru ne  
[Hans:] I mean it's crazy...  
[Anna:] What?  
[Hans:] We finish each other's-  
[Anna:] Sandwiches!  
[Hans:] That's what I was gonna say! 
 [Anna:] I've never met someone-  
[Both:]Who thinks so much like me!
Jinx! Jinx again!
Our mental synchronization
Can have but one explanation  
[Hans:] You-  
[Anna:] And I-  
[Hans:] Were-  
[Anna:] Just- 
 [Both:] Meant to be!


ひとり（ひとり）寂しい日々に
もうお別れしよう
hitori (hitori) sabishii hibi ni
mou owakareshiyou
[Anna:] Say goodbye... [Hans:] Say goodbye... [Both:] To the pain of the past
We don't have to feel it anymore!


二人だから
とびら開けて
飛び出せるよ
今（今）もう（もう）
二人だから
futari dakara
tobira akete
tobidaseru yo
ima (ima) mou (mou)
futari dakara 
Love is an open door!
Love is an open door!
Love is an open door!
[Anna:] With you! [Hans:] With you! [Anna:] With you! [Hans:] With you! [Both:] Love is an open door...

If you'd like to hear the original English version, this is one of many links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6nnoWgbdvg

-------------------------------------------------------------------
It's one week later, and this video's gotten some serious views. . .
Someone wrote a short article about it.

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/06/04/schoolgirls-frozen-lip-sync-is-hilarious-terrifying/

follow up on pinchi (ピンチ)

Just a follow up on　ピンチ--

As was noted in the entry for yabai, ピンチだ！ can be used for "I'm in a pinch" / "I'm in trouble."  Additionally there's 
ピンチに立つ　( ピンチにたつ )

ピンチ is also the word for clothespin.


And of course, ピンチヒッター is pinch hitter.  For the movie The Sitter, when they renamed it for the Japanese market, they did a play on words, Pinch Sitter ( ピンチシッター ).