Hi everyone! It’s Pentleman (@pentleman_blog) here!
Pan-chan
Dolphin-san
Pan-chan
Dolphin-san
Japanese expressions are not so clear.
Sometimes, those are not understandable.
We need to understand the sense of values and it’s background.
– People who are interested in Japanese unclear expressions
– People who want to know Japanese side stories
I hope this essay can expand your sense of life.
Let’s find it through this short essay!
Artemis Program
The reliable buddy of Space X and the US government have started a big challenge that will go down in human history.
Targeting not only landing on the moon in 2024, but building sustainable bases to live on the satellite.
We are going toward the next chapter, just like in the Doraemon series.
Almost 50 years ago, the Astronaut of great Apollo 11 crew, Neil Armstrong, casted the words,
“ That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind”.
The ground-breaking news indirectly produced a famous Japanese snack, Apollo chocolate and it became one of the best seller in the this country.
Japanese Way to Express Their Love
It seems most Japanese people don’t express their feelings, which is an extremely common cultural barrier in business and family relationships as well.
Even if you have good chemistry with your husband, and you say,
“I love you!”
He would reply, “Thank you!”
without expressing his love.
However, showing appreciation also means showing affection in this high context culture.
The Moon is Beautiful, isn’t it?
A great writer, Soseki Natsume, who used to be printed on 1,000 yen, translated
“I love you”
into Japanese as
“The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?”
when he was teaching in a school.
The indirect expression implies a romantic scene between two people watching the same beauty together and he is casting his message into her heart under the reflection of the moon.
“It’s ok to die with you”, she replied. it means “I love you, too!”, as the metaphorical translation.
A Mirror Reflecting His Hardships
“見る人に 物のあはれをしらすれば 月やこの世の鏡なるらむ （崇徳院）”
The classic poem says, “if someone feels pathos in your mind, I wonder if the moon is a mirror of society (emperor, Sutoku-in)”.
He couldn’t help reflecting his hardships into the satellite, and it looked like an elegant and tasteful mirror, while he was struggling with man-made disasters as the 75th emperor living in Heian period, during the 12th century.
The Twins, Apollon & Artemis
The twin sister in Greece mythology, Artemis, is now going to the moon, following the frontier Apollon.
Mars is within Artemis’s gaze.
What if her approach, “I love you”, trying of going to the moon would go first?
Pentleman
Pentleman’s Photo Travel
@ Ushiku Buddaha,Ushiku, Ibaraki in October
