Advanced - 东京

东京这个都市就是日本最大的定时炸弹。 我住在东京的时候体验过几次较大地震。 如果微弱地震也算的话就多得不计其数， 让我每晚都产生身体在床上晃悠的错觉。 过去地震的纪录表明东京在不久的将来 发生巨大致命地震的可能性非常大而且 有些日本科学者预测今后五十年内东京 发生直下型大地震的概率为百分之九十。 去过日本的中国朋友都说最怕的是地震， 这是理所当然我们日本人也绝对不习惯。 但日本自然灾害非常多却未必都是坏事， 因为地震和台风日本建筑技术相当发达。

俳句 驻华好几年的我 赴日本发现 觉得非常面白い

我真想去东京旅行，但听说日本的旅馆、饭店什么的都昂贵!

我覺得高级課程很難明白。可是今天我盡量聽課。 因為課對我有興趣。 原諒我的GRAMMAR不好 。 我去年三月去了東京。這是我第一次去日本。地鐵真的像”蜘蛛網” 。 我非常惊奇，我拍照東京SHINAGAWA地鐵站的MORNING RUSH 。 這麼多的人走路很快 IN ALL DIRECTIONS! 我也注意到日本人非常愛大自然。 三月的時候是"SAKURA”開花。 我記得走在公園裡, 有很多電視台攝影SAKURA 第一次開花。很多日本人也在公園看SAKURA. SAKURA開花真是漂亮。 東京也有許多玩PACHINKO場所。PACHINKO是好像 PINBALL MACHINE. SEE MY AVATAR。 很多日本老人整天玩PACHINKO。我覺得有趣。 還有日本食物，實在是挺好吃!

Prices in Japan are much lower than they were a decade ago because of fierce competition and prolonged recession, and some commodities and services in China are already more expensive than those in Japan. Of course, on the whole you can still enjoy low prices, apart from the question of merchandise quality, here in China, especially in rural areas. I am sure that I cannot afford living in Shanghai for any length of time! Living in China for several years, I have already gotten accustomed to the way of life in China, therefore I always feel a little tense and out of place every time I go back to my country, Japan. I am not joking.

我也特想在樱花盛开的季节去日本看樱花，感觉非常地浪漫。 我曾经看过一部科幻片，讲的是日本因为地震原因，将在很短的时间内沉没。看那部片子的时候，还是挺担心害怕的。

Hi connie, The movie you mentioned above is “日本沉没” or “Japan Sinks”, which were made both in 1973 and 2006 respectively. The story is based on the Si-Fi novel of the same title written by a famous author in Japan, 小松左京. There was also its TV drama series more than thirty years ago. In a sense, Japanese people might be taking an “it can’t be helped” attitude and rather trying to “enjoy” earthquakes. Like it or not, they are part of Japanese culture!

我中学时期有许多日本的好朋友，而且爱看日剧，所以对日本、对东京都非常向往。后来看了美国电影"Lost in Translation'', 向往里又多了一些迷惘。大城市可能都会给人这样的复杂感觉。

jennyzhu: 一般来说我不是这么吊儿郎当地人工， 不过因为我工作单位的伺服器出问题了，所以我有空能挂在网上了! 其实原来我也日本也特别吸引我了。 那时我是个电脑万家而常常玩儿日本的电玩。 我很想知道人物再说什么话？ 我也特喜欢日本动画片， 漫画还有独特文化。 大部分日本人都对别人很礼貌。 这些因素相比之下最吸引我的就是电脑游戏的。 我想知道除了你在中学里跟日本人接触以外还有什么样的方面让你对日本感兴起了呢？为什么后来看 "Lost In Translation", 怎么使你 “向往里又多了一些迷惘”？ 你觉得 "Lost In Translation" 这部电影准确地反映日本现在的文化吗?

我也好想去东京旅游，看一看它的独特景点。 我有个朋友，当前住在日本的一个小城市。 她不太喜欢东京，说那里的生活速度太快了，宁可住在大阪市里。 她的理想旅行就是去看近郊外面的风景或者去爬富士山，因为她觉得大城市都差不多。固然这样的话有道理，可是我还是觉得她有一点一概而论。若我自己一天去东京旅游，我宁可去逛秋葉原電気街。 我也想问个小问题。“两级分，”这个词是不是像英文的“bi-polar“相当一样？也就是说，可不可以说： “九十年代以前，因为有冷战，很多专家把国际政治情况称为“两级分”的世界。“ Thanks.

Hi goulniky, You are right. Hotel rates in Japan are still rather expensive. So, I recommend you try “a capsule hotel”, or a tube hotel, while traveling in Japan. Although your “room” is extraordinary small, their rates are pretty inexpensive. And they usually offer you good services and facilities, such as a clean sauna, a public bath, a restaurant, and a TV set even in your small tube. And more importantly, you can get a good chance to learn how dogs and cats feel in their small cages.

Hi ewong, You must be much more careful when you are in the Umeda (梅田) subway station in Osaka, which is said to be the most complicated and labyrinthine station in Japan. Believe it or not, there is a Si-Fi novel titled “Umeda Subway Station Odyssey”. The novel describes a man who got lost completely in the station. As to Pachinko, I strongly recommend that you stay away from the pinball game as much as possible in Japan. The game is highly addictive and easily arouses your passion for gambling. Pachinko wastes your time and money and damages your health. This game can possibly cause serious troubles in your life and family. As everybody knows, every thing goes in modern China, but I hear that Pachinko is strictly prohibited by the Chinese government. And you cannot find Pachinko parlors in Korea too, despite the fact that in Japan many of Pachinko parlors are run by Korean-Japanese. Anyway, I think China and Korea made a very wise choice.

Hi goulniky, Some info and photos of capsule hotels in Japan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_hotel http://www.links.net/vita/trip/japan/lodging/capsulehotel/ http://www.yesicanusechopsticks.com/capsule/

Hi Jenny and xiaohu, I have heard of the movie “Lost in Translation”, but I have never yet seen it. I hear that some people say descriptions of Japanese people in the movie, as is always the case with movies, are a little stereotypical. But I see no problem with that at all, because such slight simplification and exaggeration are vital in this kind of movie, otherwise not interesting. Furthermore, fact is sometimes stranger than movies…...in Japan. If you would like to get “lost in translation” more “literally”, I recommend that you visit Korea. When I was in Seoul for the first time about ten years ago, I could not speak Korean at all then, I was at a loss. I could find very few signs written in Chinese characters or English in the city. Most of them were written only in Korean alphabets. To make matters worse, Korean people commonly speak English as poorly as Japanese. They say that those problems have been improving gradually owing to the increasing importance of Chinese and English in Korean society. I think that hannahlm knows much about the current situation in Korea.

Opinari, “两极”说的是两个极端，“分化”是分开的意思，“两极分化”就是polarisation. 两极分化的社会肯定是挺bipolar的。

Changye, when I first came to Korea 3 1/2 years ago, I could already read Korean somewhat well, and could speak a little bit. I do think that Korea still has signs mostly in Korean only. I'm like a fish in the water, so to speak. I don't notice the absence of English, but when my sister visited from the Philippines she was amazed. So far, I've had no problems in Korea. Almost never gotten lost, never gotten scammed. . . But that bred overconfidence in me. When I visited Dallas, Texas last year, I was immediately dreadfully lost in dangerous neighborhoods, scammed by unscrupulous taxi drivers, and offending the locals with my rude Asian manners. And, yes, I am an American! 那我有一个日本朋友，她以前去了美国学习。那时我们都是十六岁。现在她住在东京，过一会儿我跟我家人想去东京旅行。

Dear CPOD, I am still digesting this great lesson, but simply must put the MP3 on "pause" for a few moments to thank you for including translations of the proper nouns in the supplementary vocab section. I appreciate this so much! Not least because I asked for it... thank you for being so responsive and patient with all our requests.

Hi hannahlm, Thanks for your info! Looks like that the situations has not been improved as much as I expected, although I hear that Korean government has been trying to increase signs in English and Chinese to attract more foreign tourists. Anyway, I believe that you can expect more improvement in the next decade, since Korean president-elect 李明博 seems to place great importance on English education, and China’s influence is growing rapidly in Korea. Correction. To Korean people’s credit, they learn Japanese quickly. Revised) Korean people commonly speak English as poorly as Japanese people do. Wrong) Korean people commonly speak English as poorly as Japanese. Hi auntie68, Have you ever been to Japan? If not, I would like to ask you why you know so much about Japanese language. Actually, I cannot think of any countries which you have never visited yet, except for Antarctica and North Korea…….

Hello Uncle Changye! Actually, I visited Tokyo a few times when I was a tween/teenager. Typical big family holidays, usually on our way to Disneyland Anaheim or Disneyland Orlando or New York. Japan is a country that I have loved deeply ever since my "hello kitty" days as a six-year-old in the 1970s. My family sort of has a Japanese business connection. This Auntie has always regretted never returning to Japan as an adult (of drinking age), save for one incredibly enjoyable business trip to Nara about 6 years ago. But I would dearly love to rectify the situation as soon as I do my research properly and figure out how to visit Japan without taking out a mortgage on my Tiny Flat. My student's grandparents are true "edokko", but they are also very 客气 (ke4qi4) because I am their granddaughter's tutor, and we are also old family friends, so I will have to sort that kind of thing out before I dare visit Japan again, to avoid being buried by "giri"! Uncle changye, I was so happy to enjoy this lesson on Tokyo. Silly me, it never occurred to me that Japanese kanji ("chinese characters") -- even "shinjitai" (sp.?) -- would be translated into even more simplified Mandarin characters (duhh!). So it took me very many moments to recognize 東京 and 相撲 in modern Chinese characters. The words look almost naked in their simplified Chinese forms! Like they lost a lot of weight through a crash diet... Thank you CPOD and friends like changye, I really enjoyed this lesson. Thanks!

P/s: Just in case changye's kind remarks give the wrong impression, my "Japanese" (what little I know) is TERRIBLE. My 2-year-old "Stunt Toddler" nephew knows more Japanese than I do, thanks to his two Japanese girlfriends, who are also very pretty. Hmmphh!!!

Hi auntie68, Wow, you visited Japan several times! That is just what I expected, and what surprises me most is the fact that you have been to Nara (奈良) too, the oldest capital in Japan. Actually, I love the ancient city much more than Kyoto (京都), although I have been there only twice so far. Nara is smaller, less brilliant and might attract less foreign tourists compared to its famous “rival” city, Kyoto, but I guarantee you will feel and enjoy the real atmosphere of ancient times (until circa 700 A.D.), especially in the serene and slightly mountainous suburb of the city. And Mr. stunt toddler, I envy you very much, not only because you are being raised in a favorable linguistic environment, but also because you have AT LEAST two girlfriends. Young man, this poor uncle changye never had an experience of juggling multiple girlfriends at the same time. http://images.google.co.jp/images?gbv=2&hl=ja&newwindow=1&q=%E6%98%8E%E6%97%A5%E9%A6%99%E6%9D%91&btnG=%E3%82%A4%E3%83%A1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E6%A4%9C%E7%B4%A2 http://www.ne.jp/asahi/to/apple/nara/asuka.htm

Uncle changye, Nara was amazing. The business trip I mentioned was co-organized by some really great people from UNESCO who were experts in conservation. This Auntie was really, really fortunate to be a "bag-carrier"/ "all-purpose gopher"/"scullery maid" at that conference. The high point of the event (for me) was a night when we went to a shrine (name forgotten by this careless Auntie) after dark to watch a shinto ceremony involving flaming pine branches, the wonderful smell and sight of pine sparks against the night, and lots of very happy Japanese people. During one day-time, we were taken to a traditional conservation site where -- we were told, and I managed never to forget, that -- local skilled craftsmen are perpetually rebuilding an intricate replacement wooden shrine for a structure which is restored every 60 -75 years by the local Nara people. Uncle changye, I know that my memory is hazy and probably defective, but that is what I seem to remember. To me, it was amazing, unforgettable, especially since I had visited Nara as a teenager the usual way with about a million Japanese tourists, ie. buying all kinds of touristy deer souvenirs, watching schoolkids feed all kinds of junk food to the poor deer, and ooh-ing and ah-ing at the "Chinese"-style sculptures... I'll never forget my first (and only) return visit to Japan as an adult. Mr Stunt Toddler has made a good start in his young life. Besides his two Japanese girlfriends, his "principal" girlfriend is the cute "girl next door", born within days of him, who was an actual cover girl (-baby?) for a local mother+child glossy magazine. Their nannies arrange frequent play dates, and I am told that there is never any hair-pulling, mugging behaviour, or extortion between those two young people... not yet.

P/s: My ageing brain-cells tell me that the unforgettable shrine may have been Heian Jingu (THE h.j.), which I had first visited as a teenage tourist, but I am not sure. I was always the worst kind of junior employee, never ever knowing what was going on (not a clue! never!), always just trying not to be scolded by my bosses, and perpetually counting the hours until the after-work drinks with other equally junior employees.

课文说到东京太巧了！ 我刚开始读”艺伎回忆录“了。 大家看过了吗？ 我想知道，了解日本文化的朋友对此书感觉如何？ 写真了吗？ 因为作家是美国人，我猜不会完全到位。 我不知道作家描述当年艺伎生活是否写真了。 但是我听说这本书是通过好几年的研究才写的。。 毕竟是了不起的成就！

有没有Japanesepod呢？

Hi riversnoceans, Here is the link to JapanesePod101.com, which has no business relationship with Chinesepod. http://www.japanesepod101.com/help-center/subscription-information/ Praxis Language Ltd seems to have another Japanesepod in the works now. http://shanghai.craigslist.com.cn/edu/535347894.html

哈哈，没想到Chinese.Pod有这种课呢！ 其实我是日本冈山人，但我也住过东京。东京啊，很好玩儿…。离我家最近的地铁站呢，名叫乃木坂駅…是千代田線的车站。哪儿都可以坐地铁去，非常方便哦！ 住在东京的时候，经常去银座、渋谷、新宿…。如果要买中文书的话，可以去神保町。那儿有很多中文教材，中文书什么的。 哈哈，东京的魅力呀，想说也说不了！ >> Changyeさん 日本人として質問があります。 今回の対話で「Shègǔ」と男性が途中発言していますが、これはきっと渋谷のことを言いたいのだと思います。でも渋谷の「渋」は中国簡体字では「涩」になりますから、これは「Sègǔ」が正しいのでは？と思うのです。と、言いますのも私の中国人の友達もずっとそう発音していましたが、実は干涉の「涉」と「渋」を見間違えていたみたいで。どうなんでしょうね。ご意見をお聞かせください。

还有一点，说到“东京爱情故事（東京ラブストーリー）”，这是1991年的电视剧哦！嗯…中国现在才播放吗？不过我也挺喜欢这个电视剧。主角的織田裕二很帅哦～～。 我也喜欢“第101次求婚（101回目のプロポーズ）”，这个电视剧也是1991年的。不过去年的暑假富士电视台再播送了一遍。各位知不知道这个电视剧？主题歌“Say Yes”是很有名的。 我很想知道各位喜欢的日本电视剧有哪些。

Hi boboyoru, Thanks a lot, you have raised a very intriguing question, and what a shame I did not notice it at all despite my great interest in Chinese characters. Of course I am pleased to try to explain the reason. Let me start by saying that there is no “渋” character in Chinese. Its traditional form “澀” (se4) was simplified into “涩” and “渋” in China and Japan respectively, therefore “渋” should be pronounced “se4” (not “she4”) just like its original form “澀”, however most Chinese people are not familiar with its Japanese version “渋”. I think, at a guess, that “渋” would probably instead remind Chinese people of their own character “涉” (she4), a commonly used kanji in China, when they see “渋谷” (shibuya), the name of a district in Tokyo. That may be why “渋” is pronounced “se4” in China. The similar thing can be said to 新潟 (niigata), the largest city on the coast of the Japan Sea. It is usually mis-written as 新泻 (xin1 xie4) in China, but it should be “新潟” (xin1 xi4) since there is ”潟” in Chinese. As you can imagine, it is a very rarely used character. Chinese young people might know about Japanese dramas more than we do. You can get not only DVDs of classics in 90s, but also the newest ones, such as “のだめカンタービレ” (nodame cantabile, 交响情人梦). Yesterday, I found its DVD with special episodes broadcasted last month.

我三次到东京出差。 第一次我还没学习中文，所以日本字看起来很奇怪，我感觉完全不舒服。 第二次我能找到男厕所和出口，因此感觉舒服一点。第三次我习惯在中国我能 沟通，所以我又感觉不舒服。

Hi boboyoru, Sorry, correction. ○）That may be why “渋” is pronounced “she4” in China. ×）That may be why “渋” is pronounced “se4” in China.

不會說日語到東京是一件很困難的事啊

In a language emergency, try to stay calm and remember that many Japanese -- including schoolchildren and older folk -- have actually studied an astonishing amount of English, formally, in school. A dear former boyfriend of mine, who grew up in Japan and was fluent in Japanese, stopped me in my tracks once by explaining patiently to me that it is possible for an average Japanese person to study English for ten years having only ever heard the language from teachers who all pronounced it in romaji (Japanese hanyu pinyin). If you've ever had the chance to observe how seasoned expats speak to non-international Japanese people in Japan, you may know what I mean. My ex-boyfriend knew how to sound like he was speaking Japanese, when he was actually speaking English. After years of struggling to communicate in English with my student's Japanese grandfather, I tried speaking to oji-san in English as if all my words had been written down in romaji. Suddenly we understood each other! No more stress. But you have to be very careful when you do this, so that nobody (accidentally) gets the impression that you are taking the piss. On my business trip to Nara, I tried speaking to very young schoolchildren in English in this new accent of mine, and ended up being mobbed everywhere by gleeful -- and very confident! -- little kids who were keen to give their English a workout. Believe me, a seven-year-old Japanese schoolkid knows A LOT of English words... Hope nobody was offended by this (potentially un-PC) perspective. Sorry changye!

Of course, it is also possible that the Japanese people we were speaking to just felt less self-conscious because they were thinking, "God, her English is even worse than mine! Oh man!". But when I had to ask for directions etc, in Tokyo, as a teenager, an "Excuse me, please?" would send Japanese people running, whereas a "So-rii? Pu-riizu?" ("Sorry? Please?") didn't seem like the attack of godzilla, and they would stop to help.

Thanks for your explanation. Actually I'm not good at speaking English, but this time, I wanna try to speak English. You satisfied me that why "渋" was pronounced not "Sè" but "Shè". Actually "渋" must be pronounced "Sè", but Chinese people are not familiar with "渋" this letter, so it's pronounced "Shè", right? And I think "重慶" must be pronounced "ちょうけい（Chōkei）". Because its Chinese pronunciation is not "Zhòngqìng" but "Chóngqìng". In Japanese, if we pronounce 重 "じゅう(jū)", it means "heavy" just as "重（zhòng）" in Chinese. and if we pronounce 重 "ちょう(chō)", it means "over again, repeat, layer" just as "重（Chóng）" in Chinese. So we have to pronounce "ちょうけい（Chōkei）", I think. 哎…不擅长说英语，我就感觉说起来很吃力。 I think there is a strong need to study English.

bobyoru, if you like chinesepod.com, you might enjoy the format of englishpod101.com (*NO affiliation with chinesepod), which is specifically geared to help Japanese people polish their English. But to be totally honest, your English is already very clear and polished. In fact, it's great. I like the point you raised. How to transliterate Japanese names into Mandarin can be tricky. My student and her little sister are being raised in Singapore. The sister's name, Ruuri (瑠璃, in kanji), doesn't raise any eyebrows whatsoever in Japan. It's not a particularly exotic name. I understand that this character combination is also known to anybody with a knowledge of bunraku (文楽; classical Japanese puppet dramas). But SO many of her schoolteachers in Singapore are convinced that it's a mis-spelling of 琉璃 (liu2li5), a famous kind of pottery glaze, which characters they have never ever seen used in a name before. Ultimately, some teachers even managed to pressure her mother into writing her name as 瑠莉 (liu2li4) instead, because the 莉 is more common in Chinese girls' names. Sigh... This attitude of the teachers dismayed me because, unlike Japan or Korea, China and Singapore don't have an official list of approved Chinese characters that parents have to comply with when registering their child. I think the list in Japan is called the人名用漢字 (jinmeiyoohanji) list? I wonder whether CPOD could consider a lesson on the language connected with choosing a Chinese name for your child. Eg. difficulty level of writing, balance, harmony with siblings' existing names, reasons for choosing this character rather than another. I hear that in the PRC, it is sometimes possible to guess when -- approximately -- a person was born, based on the style and feel of his name characters... Thanks to all for being so enormous patient with me. Happy Lunar Year again...

Hi boboyoru, Wow, another head-aching problem, “how to read 重慶”！Raising interesting questions requires more intelligence than answering them. You are just great, young guy, and please be noted that you are depriving me of my precious time for drinking. But I must admit replying to your post is more “tasty” than Budweiser beer! Firstly, conclusion. You can find a lot of confusion in reading “重”, as is always the case with Japanese kanji. And it seems to me that a reading “cho-u” for 重, a counterpart for “chong2” in Chinese, has been gradually replaced by “ju-u”, e.g. “重複” is often read as “juu-huku”, even though its authentic reading should be “chou-huku”, Now, let me explain in more detail, but please allow me to write them in Japanese. Unfortunately, I am afraid that my command of English is not good enough to explain them effectively. Furthermore, this kind of discussion, somewhat too detailed and nitpicky, should be very boring for people who do not speak Japanese, anyway. 辞書をあれこれ調べてみたのですが、「重慶」には固有名詞と普通名詞の両方がありました。前者はもちろん中国の都市名ですが、後者の場合は「ちょうけい」と読み、「重なる慶び、祖父母と父母が共に存命」という意味のようです。これは学研漢和大辞典（藤堂明保）の説明によりますが、広辞苑（第二版）ではこの普通名詞の方に対して「じゅうけい」という読みを先に立て、「ちょうけい」は但し書きになっていました。これら著名な辞書においてさえ、表記が混乱しているようです。 先の英文の中で紹介した「重複」以外にも、たとえば「重箱」も本来でしたら「ちょうばこ」と読むべきなのでしょうね。逆に、「重用」は中国語では”zhong4 yong4” ですから、日本語でも「じゅうよう」とすべき所ですが、なぜか「ちょうよう」が主流になっていようかと思います。これは「重要」と弁別しようという意識が働いた結果なのかも知れません。「重」の場合、 常用語を中心として「ちょう」という読みを「じゅう」に読み替えてしまう傾向が強いように思えてなりません。 「重」という漢字において、「じゅう」は呉音、「ちょう」は漢音とされています。呉音は主として４～６世紀の中国南方音を日本語に転写した音で、漢音は７～９世紀の唐、長安の発音に基づいています。奈良、平安時代には、帰国した遣唐使の影響も手伝って漢音が奨励されたのですが、既に定着していた古い呉音は仏教用語を中心に生き延びました。「重」も、一旦は漢音の「ちょう」が普及したものの、近代以降、「じゅう」が優勢になって来たのかも知れません。当てずっぽうです。 漢字の訓読みと音読みについては、いわゆる「重箱読み」と「湯桶読み」がありますが、同様に日本語の熟語においては、呉音と漢音が混在するケースが多いようです。素人考えからしますと、呉音なら呉音同士で統一されていてもよさそうなものですが、前述の「漢音奨励」が不徹底に終わった事情などもあり、混在を許してしまったのでしょう。普通の日本人が漢字の宗家、中国における読みと意味の関係を知る由もなし、発音のしやすさや語感が優先されるのは不可避なのかも知れません。 重慶を「ちょうけい」と読めば、上下ともに「漢音」で統一されますが、「じゅうけい」となりますと「呉音＋漢音」になってしまいます。因みに「慶」呉音は「きょう」です。別の例を挙げてみましょう。重合、重唱、重奏、重婚などの単語は、本来の語義からすればすべて「ちょう～」と読むべきですが、これらも軒並み「じゅう～」と読まれます。この中で、重奏は「呉音＋漢音」、重合は「呉音＋呉音」、そして重唱、重奏、重婚では、たまたま下の字が呉音、漢音ともに同じ読みとなっています。 重合、重唱、重奏、そして重婚は、おそらく明治時代に日本人が創作した「和製漢語」ではないかと思います。そしてこれらが中国へ逆輸入された。つまり、当時の日本人には既に「ちょう」と「じゅう」を弁別する意識が希薄だったと言えましょう。結局、重慶（じゅうけい）もその流れを汲む読み方なのだろうと思います。ついでに申しあげますと、「共産主義」「資本」「経済」など学術用語を中心に膨大な和製漢語が作られており、それらが中国と朝鮮にも流入して定着、現在に至っています。 唐の時代ぐらいまでは、中国語の「重」のふたつの発音において子音と母音はほぼ同じでした。ただし、声調には二種類あったようで、これも一因となっておそらく十世紀以降に子音の変化をもたらし、現在の発音、“chong2” と “zhong4” に変化したようです。日本とは異なり、中国の場合は二十世紀に入ってから国家的に漢字音の統一が図られ、辞書を通じて全国に普及しました。それでも「重」のような「多音字」が若干残りましたから、それらの発音の違いが統一不可能なほどに重要だった訳です。 余談ついでですが、朝鮮漢字音においても、この「重」という漢字は、中国の “zhong4” や日本の呉音「じゅう」に相当する “중” (zhun) で読まれています。朝鮮の漢字音は、中古の長安音をベースに統一されているものが多いのですが、「重」の場合は朝鮮でも古い読みがしぶとく生き残っているようです。中国も朝鮮も漢字の読みは基本的にひとつですが、日本の多様な読み方を「多彩」と感じるか、「煩雑」とするかは人それぞれでしょう。ただ、日本語を学ぶ外国人には間違いなく気の毒な話です。 慣用読み、みんなで読めば怖くない。

Hi auntie68, 春节快乐，恭喜发财，工作顺利，健康长寿，and 学习进步！I have just eaten a lot of 饺子 I made with some Chinese friends of mine and drunk a few bottles of Budweiser. My chubby dog is enjoying beef jerky and mill. I have to agree with your observation. Generally speaking, English spoken by Japanese people is being highly “localized”, just like many foreign cuisines in Japan. I think that there are three primary reasons for that. Firstly, the pronunciation of Japanese language is fairly simple. Our mother tongue has a small number of vowels and consonants, and this is why most Japanese have poor listening comprehension and speak English clumsily. Secondly, a flood of imported words, poor transliterations mainly from English, and what is called “Japanglish” have ruined Japanese’s sense in English. For example, “nighter” means night baseball games in Japan. Thirdly, you almost never have a chance to meet with and speak to foreign people, especially in rural areas in Japan. Consequently, most Japanese people do not have strong motivation to keep learning foreign languages. Honestly, I can endlessly think of more reasons, such as a poor education system, lack of native teachers, characteristics of Japanese people, and so on. In a sense, they are all excuses for not being a good English speaker. Interestingly, English skills are not necessarily vital for your success in Japanese companies. On the contrary, you could end up being a mere capable and handy interpreter just due to your perfect command of English! Anyway, you can say for sure that Japanese people are NOT good English speakers, but at the same time, I would like say “modestly” that economically Japan has been performing not so badly for its people’s poor English. 春节 has come, so please let me wish upon a star. If, of course it is a big if, Japanese people could speak fluent English and TALK LOUDER, Japan might be able to hold a slightly more important position in the world. Selamt tahun baru, dear auntie68!

Yikes, uncle, I think I was unclear! Sorry! My point was actually that I get the feeling that many Japanese people know A LOT of English, which they've studied in school, even if they may be modest or shy when approached by a foreigner. And instead of becoming ever more "Oxford" in one's diction, in the quest to communicate, maybe foreigners should consider making some effort to speak English in the way which their interlocutors may be used to hearing that language, ie. with something of a Japanese accent. Thank you so much for your warm CNY wishes! I wish you the same, from the bottom of my heart! Much love to you and Patricia -- Auntie

P/s: Today, the eve of the Lunar New Year, my mandarinistically-challenged surprised his adoring grandmother in the best possible way by greeting her Chinese colleagues politely with a very nice and clear, "恭喜！ 恭喜！”, with one hand clasped nicely around the other in the right way. Looks like his very expensive pre-school fees are already paying off! Yay!

Hi auntie68, That famous (or notorious) ＣＣＴＶ春节联欢晚会 has just started here in China, and of course, another bottle of Budweiser for celebration! Wow, it seems that I have nicely misinterpreted your message, which ironically proves again that Japanese is not good at comprehending English….joking! Anyway, the best way to speak a foreign language fluently would definitely be drinking a few bottles of beer, preferably pricey ones. The more you drink, the eloquent you can speak! Now, let me go back to春节晚会. My friends are waiting for me. Thank you for your thoughtful reply! A happy new year!

100% with you, uncle changye! Happy New Year to you and your friends!

あけましておめでとうございます！！！！！ 春节快乐！恭喜发财！祝大家新的一年万事如意！！！！！ 还有…红包拿来！！！！！嘻嘻～～。 Changye! Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation! And I must apologize for depriving you of your precious time for drinking! なるほど、日本ならではの混乱ですね。呉音や漢音はよく分からんけど発音しやすければそれが良いんじゃない？というところが物事に寛容な日本人っぽいです。和製漢語が中国に逆輸入されてから再び「chóng」と「zhòng」の判断がされているのは、さすが漢字の本場中国ですね。ホントに日本語を勉強する外国人の方にはお気の毒としか言いようがないです（笑）。 日本語は漢字を使えど、やはり厳密な規則が中国に比べると弱い気がしますね。「読書」なんかは「書ヲ読ム」ということで「動詞＋目的語」という組み合わせです。この徹底した漢字の規則が日本語は緩んでいるなーと感じることが多々あります。「年賀状」なんかは「年賀」だといけないですよね。「年ヲ賀ス」のですから「賀年状」であるべきでしょう。現に中国では「贺年卡」とか「贺年片」と言いますし。「盲導犬」も変です。「盲人を導く」のですから「導盲犬」にしないといけないはずです。「盲導犬」だと「盲」が副詞の意味になって「分別なく導く犬」になりますよね。 …にしてもおもしろい現象ですね！中国語の古代音を調べるには、もしかすると日本語を調査した方が早いのかも、なんて思ってしまいます。 こんな青二才のためにご丁寧な解説をしてくださり、本当にありがとうございます。Changyeさんのように英語も、中国語も話せるように精一杯努力していきたいと思います！謝謝！ And .... excuse me, auntie68, where are you from? You have a good knowledge about Japanese Kanji, however, you can speak English very well. I can't help wondering!! If you don't mind, please tell me your home country. Yes, "瑠璃" is often used as name of "人形浄瑠璃（にんぎょうじょうるり）". It means Japanese puppet show. Actually I don't know whether "瑠璃" is identical with "琉璃", but I expect that these are identical, because both are translated into "lapis lazuli". But "瑠璃" and "琉璃" are not identical completely, I think. Japanese and Chinese use same letters --- Chinese Character. So there is a complex problem. We read Korean's name in Korean pronunciation. For example, 盧武鉉, who is the president of South Korea, we pronounce his name "No Muhyeon". Similarly, 福田康夫, who is the prime minister of Japan, Korean people pronounce his name "Fukuda Yasuo". However 胡錦濤 is not pronounced "Hu Jintao" by Japanese people. We pronounce his name "Ko Kintoh" in Japanese. Similarly, 福田康夫 is not pronounced "Fukuda Yasuo" by Chinese people. They pronounce "Futian Kangfu" in Chinese. There are phonograms in both countries --- Katakana and Hangeul. Thanks to them, we can pronounce foreign names in foreign pronunciation. But there is not phonogram in Chinese. It's unreasonable to express Japanese, Korean pronunciation by Chinese Character, I think. 福克大雅蘇欧(福田康夫)? 諾木轟（盧武鉉）? ..... it's not realistic. Hahaha.

Dear boboyoru, this Auntie is from Singapore. I am ethnically Chinese, but my (desperately-poor) Chinese ancestors made Singapore/Malaysia their home approximately seven generations ago (i.e., in the mid 1800s). So the "home language" of my family is now English, as well as a dialect of Malay, the "native" language. Thanks to CPOD, I am learning Chinese now! Well, my family has a very meaningful business connection with a Japanese "zaibatsu". On top of that, I am the loving (and proud!!!) "Singapore Auntie" of two very beautiful and intelligent Japanese-Italian girls who are being raised in Singapore by their Japanese mother, and their Italian father. The girls' Japanese grandparents are true "edokko", who are extremely cultured and educated Japanese people. Am I not so incredibly lucky, to be their Auntie! The girls are 100% Japanese, 100% Italian, and 100% Singaporean... Please, please do continue to express your thoughts on this bb, boboyoru, in whatever language! Your English and your Chinese are so good...

In this Auntie's (humble) personal opinion, ANY way which inclines towards understanding and acceptance, rather than towards the cause of rigidity and exclusionism, is the better way. boboyoru, just try to think of "ri koran" (li3xiang1lan2), who made some of the most beautiful recordings of the most beautiful Chinese songs since the 20th century... her singing is so beautiful that it matters not to me whether she was Chinese, Manchurian, or Japanese. She sang those beautiful songs so beautifully (eg. 三年) that they became "her" songs, regardless of her lineage. To me, that is a wonderful thing...

Hi auntie68, I forgot one thing. There is actually no small number of Japanese people who have a large English vocabulary, but their “word power” is often biased toward big words and contains a lot of “Japanglish words”. In other words, they do not know sufficiently how to effectively use basic words such as “get”, “take” and “have”, although they definitely know “paleontology”, “anthropology”, and “ophthalmology”, just like me. Perhaps I know a considerable amount of words, but without knowledge about their collocations. I am afraid that even drinking beer cannot quickly improve the quality of my vocabulary. So, 好好学习天天向上！

changye -- Amen! Let's both do our best (me more than you, obviously!!!) to 好好学习天天向上 !

Btw, I had to look up "collocations" in my compact Oxford English Dictionary. Changye, wah!

Hi boboyoru, I am already tipsy now, so “theoretically” my English must be better now than those used in my previous posting, but actually not. Typing is a little difficult for me now. Btw, as to how to pronounce foreign names, that is usually based on what is called the principle of reciprocity. For example, if Korean people read our names with our pronunciation, Japanese also read Korean names with their pronunciation. That is why 毛泽东 is “mou-taku-tou”, not “maozedong” in Japan, and our prime minister 福田 is “fu2 tian2” in China, but he is not “hukuda” there. Unfortunately, this reasonable principle has been gradually undermined in Japan. Nowadays Japanese newspapers and TV stations tend to use local pronunciations for Chinese names. So, 胡锦涛 is called “hu-jintao” now even in Japan, but strangely 毛泽东 remains as “mou-taku-tou”. Japan should keep the principle of reciprocity for Chinese names. Every kanji already has several readings, and you should not increase them anymore. My old mother perhaps know how to read 胡锦涛 with Japanese readings, but it is difficult for her to remember “hu-jintao”.

Hello. I am typing this very softly, out of kindness to anybody who may be nursing a hangover this morning. Applying the principle of "reciprocity", I wonder how the name of my country's President (Mr Sellapan Ramanathan) might be written in Mandarin. I tried googling 新加破 and 总统, but nothing came up even though we do have a Chinese-language newspaper in Singapore. Most likely because there never is anything newsworthy about this tiny island!

Hi auntie68, Your beautiful island and its president are, of course, newsworthy enough to be mentioned in major Chinese websites, such as 百度百科 and Wiki中文版. It seems to me that the name of Singapore’s leader is nicely transliterated into 中文by using suitable Chinese characters. There is a trick I want to show off! If you would like to find how to write foreign names or things in Chinese, you should search by “English keywords” first on Chinese search engines, preferably you should select “中文网站”, not “所有网站”. This trick always works well for me. Sellapan Rama Nathan 塞拉潘·R·纳丹 (se4 la1 pan1, na4 dan1) http://baike.baidu.com/view/274734.htm http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=Sellapan+Rama+Nathan&btnG=Google+%E6%90%9C%E7%B4%A2&meta=lr%3Dlang_zh-CN&aq=f p.s. My hangover is never over.

Ooh, thank you Uncle changye! Thanks for starting me off on Chinese-language searching. Until your post, I was completely unaware about that bright shiny world beyond the ".com" borders.

Changye, thanks for sharing those capsule photos. Those truely look like spaceships - and I sppreciate that very much. Do they offer some deep-freeze-hibernation functionality that you need for interstellar travel?

不好意思。 请问。。。我不确定我完全明白这句话的意思: "一天要打好几份工来维持生活。" Is it: "Each day he had to take several part time jobs to survive ("maintain life")?

Dear henning, that is how I understood the phrase too. Thanks for your post, which reminded me of the subtle distinction made in Chinese between 生活 (sheng1 huo2) and 生命 (sheng1 ming4). If I'm not mistaken, 生活 more or less corresponds to "living/ a living" in English -- hence, "生活水准", "维持生活", "生活情况", "干生活" etc --. whereas 生命 connotes: life/ the fact of being alive. And "one's entire life"/ "lifespan" is 一生 (yi1 sheng1) or 一辈子 (yi1 bei4 zi3), hence expressions such as 一辈子的功劳 etc etc.

Oops, that should have been 干活 (rather than 干生活), I think. Sorry. Hmm... come to think about it, you would speak of somebody as having "活到90岁“ etc, and of a "活生生的例子" (approx: "living example"), and I believe that there are some sashimi cognoscenti whose theory about eating fish is 最好是活活吃的, in the sense that the fish is still alive and gasping (albeit partially filleted). Btw, my family loves to eat live lobster sashimi (chinese-style), but I could have been adopted for all you know, given my inability to look at waving antennae and twitching lobster legs on the pristine dish.

Hi henning, “维持生活” should be translated as “manage to live” or “survive” as you wrote above, and let me leave detailed explanations to auntie68. Please read her last two comments, which are very educational as usual. Now, here is an answer to your question about “artificial hibernation”. I guarantee you can find anything you want in Tokyo, as long as they are “strange and funny”. Click the link and get a good night’s sleep. Caution. Sleep time in the capsule might not be long enough to take you to Mars, Jupiter or more distant stars and planets. And smoking in the capsule is strictly prohibited by Starfleet regulation. Bon voyage! ………., Picard. http://images.google.co.jp/images?um=1&hl=ja&lr=&newwindow=1&q=%E7%9D%A1%E7%9C%A0%E3%80%80%E3%82%AB%E3%83%97%E3%82%BB%E3%83%AB&btnG=%E3%82%A4%E3%83%A1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E6%A4%9C%E7%B4%A2

About 维持生活, In addition to all you guys' interpretations, mine would be "to make ends meet".

I'm a new one here from China Harbin,(find this website by chance) I just arrived in Japan Sasebo for 1month and will be trained here for half years. I plan to go to Tokyo in the golden week with my friends. Hope I can join in your dialogue as soon as possible.