ちょに🇯🇵

Japanese language, culture, and history — explained in English.
Notes on translation gaps, folklore, war memory, and modern Japan.

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

Sometimes Japanese words and messages spread abroad with slightly different meanings.
And sometimes foreign words and events reach Japan in slightly distorted ways.
Those small gaps can quietly create misunderstanding.
I’d like to write about Japanese language, culture, history, and memory in English — hoping to make those gaps a little smaller.

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

A famous Japanese wordplay: 忙 means “busy.”
It looks like 心, “heart,” plus 亡, “to lose” or “to disappear.”

So people often say: “To be busy is to lose your heart.” It is not the exact etymology. But as wordplay, it feels painfully true.

The busier we become, the more carefully we should protect our heart.

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

From the outside, it may look strange. I understand that reaction.

Japan has not forgotten Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Some Japanese people will never be able to forgive the atomic bombings.

But as a country, Japan chose not to make hatred the foundation of its postwar relationship with America.
That choice can also be read as one of the most difficult forms of postwar reconciliation❕

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

“Write ‘for someone’s sake,’ and you get ‘false’?”

There is a famous Japanese wordplay:

人 means “person.”
為 can mean “for the sake of,” “to do,” or “to act.”
Put them together, and you get 偽 — meaning “false,” “fake,” or “deception.”

It almost sounds as if the person who made this kanji had a very cynical sense of humor.

But that is not really how it was formed.

The character 為 originally carried the idea of human action or intentional alteration — something done deliberately, not left in its natural state.

So 偽 was closer to:

“something made by human action,”
“something artificial,”
or “something fabricated.”

Over time, that meaning seems to have shifted toward “false” or “deceptive.”
Maybe the real cynic was time itself.

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

Do you have the courage to annex a population of 120 million that is (virtually) ethnically homogeneous😂?

For starters, the Liberal Democratic Party would become the largest faction, a former Japanese national would be elected president, and Japanese would become the official language❗️

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

日本だって、このような文化を一朝一夕で身につけたわけではありません。

1997年、フランスW杯アジア最終予選のUAE戦の後、日本の三浦知良選手に対して卵が投げつけられた事件もありました。そこから30年の月日を経て、今の日本サッカーの文化が形作られています。
https://t.co/jgFPACvJOr

それぞれの国ごとにペースは違っても、世界は少しずつ暴力からリスペクトに遷移していく…と、私は信じてますよ❗️

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

Japanese has the saying:“郷に入っては郷に従え”
When you enter a village, follow its ways.

English has a close equivalent:“When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”I think the English phrase often sounds like practical travel wisdom:adapt to local customs.

The Japanese phrase can sound more social:once you enter a community, you are expected to respect its unwritten rules.
It’s a subtle nuance, but I feel it captures the essence of Japan❗️

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

日本語は「ひらがな」「カタカナ」「漢字」の3種類で構成されています。

最初に学ぶべきは「ひらがな」と「カタカナ」です。この2つは表音文字なので、これをまず理解すれば、日本語で「どのように発音するか」を理解できます。とにかくこれが第一歩です💪

「漢字」は表意文字なので、一つの文字につき発音が何種類もありますし、使われ方も多種多様です。特に、日本の日常生活で使用頻度が高いと定められている『常用漢字』(大体2100文字くらい)が重要です。これは漢字を何度も書いて、テストして…を繰り返して覚えるしかありません🌀
日本人でも、義務教育の9年は漢字の学習に費やします。気合と根性です💦

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

@Suchan_Arc 日本人は、9年間の義務教育で約2,100文字の漢字を学習します。定期的に繰り返される「漢字テスト」に泣きながら、時には補修を受けながら、頭に母国語を叩き込むのですね。

今まさに、10歳の小学生が同じ感想を持っているでしょう…”Kanji is a hell”😇

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

This meme is not completely wrong, but it needs context.🌀

「姦しい」does mean “noisy” or “clamorous” in Japanese.However, it sounds very old-fashioned today, and most Japanese people would not use it in daily conversation.
Also, the kanji 「姦」 has much heavier associations in modern Japanese, because it appears in words related to adultery and sexual assault.

So it is less “women = noisy in Japanese,” and more “an old kanji-based word with uncomfortable modern associations.”

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

塩貝選手の発言が、日本・ブラジルメディア双方の「切り取り」によって、過剰な表現でブラジルの皆さんに伝わってしまったと感じます。日本の一部のメディアでも、塩貝選手のインタビューを挑発的に切り取って拡散している様子でした🌀
ただ、できる限り前後の文章も踏まえて読んでみると、全体としてフラットな表現と感じます。少なくとも、「切り取り」よりは中立的なニュアンスを感じられるのではないでしょうか？どうでしょう🤔

試合前：https://t.co/qxMO2uqImx
”ブラジル代表の象徴、ネイマールは過去の日本戦で５試合９ゴールを記録している“日本キラー”。だが、塩貝はこともなげに言う。「それは昔のネイマールじゃないですか。今は大丈夫だと思います。今の（日本の）センターバック陣も、すごくいい選手がそろっているので」。かつてバルセロナやパリＳＧで活躍した名選手も今や３４歳。今大会で４大会連続出場を果たしたが、アンチェロッティ監督率いる現在のチームでは絶対的な主力という立ち位置ではない。

そして、カナリア軍団に対しても引かない。昨年１０月に日本が初めてブラジルに３―２で勝利した親善試合は、まだ代表デビュー前だった。「昔は強かったけど、今はどうなんですかね。でも強いのは変わりないと思うし、ブラジルを倒せば（チームとして）勢いよくいける」と、現在のブラジルに対しても過剰な恐怖心は抱いていない。”

試合後：https://t.co/tQ7tgcCr3n
”一夜明け、試合後にはガブリエウからは何らかの言葉を耳打ちされたことについて「英語だったんじゃないですか？何を言ったかはわからない」と明かした。初のＷ杯。世界最高峰の舞台の影響力について「Ｗ杯の影響力は僕のインスタをみればわかるので」とブラジルからのコメントが殺到した自身のインスタをあげて語った。

一連の騒動の中でも精神面の強さが光った２１歳。「僕らが負けたんで、どういう声があろうとそれは自由。まあ今更あの発言を別に撤回しようとかはない。このままで終わらないようにしたい」と前を向きつつ「思ったことを正直に言っただけなんですけど、でもどういう捉え方をするか分からないので、これから気をつけたい」と、語った。”

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

@elonmusk Hello, Singularity.

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

In this World Cup, Zion Suzuki has been one of the pillars of Japan’s national team⚽
When people overseas hear “Zion Suzuki,” it may simply sound like one name.
But in Japanese, his name is written as 鈴木彩艶.

The kanji 彩艶 gives the name another layer of meaning and imagery.
彩 can suggest color and vividness.
艶 can suggest luster, beauty, and elegance.
The sound “Zion” is said to come from Mount Zion, a biblical place name.

A name with multiple backgrounds.
It feels very fitting for him！

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

I believe climate responsibility lies not only with the United States, but also with people in developed countries. Of course, that includes myself.
However, this does not mean that any one country directly caused a specific heatwave. It is a responsibility that comes from historical emissions, high levels of consumption, and the capacity to change more quickly.

The irony is real. But that alone does not make the question of responsibility disappear.
That said, there is still something ironic about using an American-born device, on an American social media platform, to talk about America’s responsibility.

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

んー、残念ながら負けてしまいました🌀
でも、総合的に見て森保監督と侍ジャパンはよくやってくれたと思いますね❗️お疲れさまでした🙂‍↕️

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

This is a meme a Chinese friend sent me when Japan safely made it through the group stage at the 2022 World Cup.
(Left: the original, right: AI-made English version.)
Because Chinese and Japanese share Chinese characters, we can understand at least some of what is written, even across different languages.

…And it turns out that Japan and China were laughing at the same thing❕

After the next match against #Brazil , what will Moriyasu be called this time🤔

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

This is a meme a Chinese friend sent me when Japan safely made it through the group stage at the 2022 World Cup.
(Left: the original, right: AI-made English version.)
Because Chinese and Japanese share Chinese characters, we can understand at least some of what is written, even across different languages.

…And it turns out that Japan and China were laughing at the same thing❕

After the next match against #Brazil , what will Moriyasu be called this time🤔

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

@M1L4GR03 ブラジルの皆さんにとっては、こっちの方が納得感があるんじゃないかな🤔
(私にとっては…ナルトのほうが思い出深いですけどね！)

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

シンプルに、日本における黒人の割合が少ないからですね❗️日本の約96%〜98%が『大和民族』、と言われています。
公式な国勢調査等では、人種や肌の色別の統計が取られていませんので、正確な数値はありません。しかし、在留外国人全体（総人口の約2〜3%）の中で、黒人はごくわずかな割合（恐らく0.1%未満）にとどまります。
さらに、鈴木選手はハーフなので…とてもとても珍しい黒人日本人、というわけですね〜

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

@letttpacheco @basi4239co7dqp これは良いメッセージですね
このマインドセット、大切にしたいです…❗️
"Rivalidade dura 90 minutos, mas respeito e boas lembranças podem durar décadas."

[ちょに🇯🇵 @chiyo2choni]

【Queen】 Who is “Geisha Minah”？

(I love Queen and listen to them often.)
In Queen’s “Killer Queen,” “Geisha Minah” probably was not meant to be a realistic Japanese name.
“Mina” would sound natural in Japanese, but “Minah,” pronounced like “my-nuh,” does not.

The point was likely not accuracy, but sound: a Japan-like, exotic image created for the song’s theatrical world🤔