Second lesson where we will discover a little more vocabulary and especially some additional non-honorary titles. Throughout the program we saw a lot of vocabulary about sport, buildings and halls / rooms… I am of course talking about the vocabulary course on the rooms of the house and the one on the music room.
So today we are going to take a look at the following kanji that you already know : 部, 室 and 館.
To give you many examples of words ending with these kanji, the vocabulary we are going to see today focuses mainly on Japanese clubs, schools and hostels. Again, pay attention to the etymology of the words, this is very important.
I give you back below the purely and Sino-Japanese pronunciations of these three kanji (although you should already know them) :
部 .
へ .
ブ
室 .
むろ .
シツ
館 .
カン
Let’s start with the kanji 部. It is present in a very large number of Japanese words… and we find it especially in all the names of clubs. So, if we mean « the tennis club », « the football club », « the kendo club », « the music club »… you just need to follow the following scheme : [club name] + [部]. It’s that simple. Immediately some examples :
剣道部 .
ケンドウブ . the kendo club
合気道部 .
アイキドウブ . the aikido club
柔道部 .
ジュウドウブ . the judo club
柔術部 .
ジュウジュツブ . the jūjutsu club
空手部 .
からてブ . the karate club
ボクシング部 .
ボクシングブ . the boxing club
テニス部 .
テニスブ . the tennis club
バスケットボール部 .
バスケットボールブ . the basketball club
バスケット部 .
バスケットブ . the basketball club (shortened version)
バレーボール部 .
バレーボールブ . the volleyball club
バレー部 .
バレーブ . the volleyball club (shortened version)
音楽部 .
オンガクブ . the music club
映画部 .
エイガブ . the cinema club
フィットネス部 .
フィットネスブ . the fitness club
料理部 .
リョウリブ . the cooking club
ゲーム部 .
ゲームブ . the games club
ビデオゲーム部 .
ビデオゲームブ . the video game club
カードゲーム部 .
カードゲームブ . the card game club
チェス部 .
チェスブ . the chess club
プラモデル部 .
プラモデルブ . the scale model club (from English « plastic model »)
模型部 .
モケイブ . the scale model club
ロボット工部 .
ロボットコウブ . the robotics club (synonym below)
ロボティクス部 .
ロボティクスブ . the robotics club (synonym above)
植物部 .
ショクブツブ . the botany club
文芸部 .
ブンゲイブ . the literature club
ハイキング部 .
ハイキングブ . the hiking club
サイクリング部 .
サイクリングブ . the cycling club
And you can have absolutely any type of club, from the most conventional to the whimsical, like you find in mangas. We do have the telepathy club in Mob Psycho 100 to give you an example of a whimsical club.
With that comes our next non-honorary title : the club manager. If you think about it, how do you say « the club manager » ? We say :
部長 .
ブチョウ . the club manager
That said, there are other non-honorary titles more or less synonymous like :
主将 .
シュショウ . the captain of a team (sport)
コーチ . the coach (sport)
So, 部長 . ブチョウ is a non-honorary title that can be attributed to any sport club manager. 主将 . シュショウ and コーチ are non-honorary titles that can be awarded to team leaders in sports. Note, however, that 主将 . シュショウ seems to be used more in sports like martial arts and コーチ seems more used in western sports like basketball, volleyball, soccer…
Note that we have already seen the non-honorary title 部長 . ブチョウ in the course on honorific suffixes. I update it below :
部長 . ブチョウ → « head of department, manager ». Can designate the general manager or the head of a department (legal, editorial, etc.) or the head or president of a club.
Note: it sometimes happens that the kanji 部 as a suffix is replaced by クラブ in katakana. However, keep in mind that in over 90% of cases, the kanji 部 is still the most used.
We continue with the kanji 室. Let’s start with a few extra vocabulary words to learn. The kanji 室, you already know it, it is the kanji that we put as suffix of room names. I put below some words that you already know and others totally new :
待合室 .
まちあいシツ . the waiting room
寝室 .
シンシツ . the bedroom
音楽室 .
オンガクシツ . the music room
部室 .
ブシツ . the club room (new word)
教室 .
キョウシツ . the classroom (new word)
保健室 .
ホケンシツ . the (school) infirmary (new word)
私室 .
シシツ . the private room (new word)
自室 .
ジシツ . the private room (his own room) (new word)
隣室 .
リンシツ . the next room (new word)
浴室 .
ヨクシツ . the bathroom (syn: 風呂場 .フロば) (new word)
居室 .
キョシツ . the living room
洗濯室 .
センタクシツ . the laundry room, the laundromat (room of the house) (new word)
ランドリー室 .
ランドリーシツ . the laundry room, the laundromat (room of the house) (new word)
地下室 .
チカシツ . the cave
病室 .
ビョウシツ . the hospital room (new word)
氷室 .
こおりむろ / ひむろ / ヒョウシツ . The cooler (the room), the cold room (new word)
図書室 .
トショシツ . the library (l’habitació) (new word)
映画室 .
エイガシツ . the cinema room (new word)
洋室 .
ヨウシツ . the western style room (new word)
和室 .
ハシツ . the Japanese-style room (new word)
Well, after all this vocabulary, it’s time I presented you with a new non-honorary title : 室長 . シツチョウ. And this title is a bit special in the sense that it is difficult to define and translate. The most correct translation I can give is « section chief », which doesn’t mean much. I don’t want to confuse you with unnecessary details of what exactly this title is because, even within Japanese society, whether in government officials or in the private sector, there is no exact definition for this title, which also means that its use is quite rare. But at least now you know it exists.
Finally, the kanji 館. This kanji has no purely Japanese pronunciations, only a Sino-Japanese pronunciation : カン. You already know this kanji. You’ve met him before in words like 図書館 . トショカン or 映画館 . エイガカン. It is used as a suffix of some public building names, so when you have 館 as a suffix in a word, it ALWAYS means a public building.
The word 図書館 . トショカン designates « the library », implied the public building, not to be confused with 図書室 . トショシツ which designates « the library », implied the room. Ditto for 映画館 . エイガカン which designates « the cinema », therefore the public building, not to be confused with 映画室 . エイガシツ which designates « the cinema room ».
We find the kanji 館 as a suffix of other words like 映画図書館 . エイガトショカン which means « the film library » (the public building, you will understand) and also as a suffix for the names of museums because museums are public buildings.
The non-honorary title to designate heads and directors of structures ending in 館 is 館長 . カンチョウ. We saw this in the course on honorific suffixes.
Okay, maybe most of you are thinking that you haven’t discovered much that is interesting, other than a few new vocabulary words. Be patient, we will now move on to a little cultural presentation. The culture point of the day : ryokans. And in Japanese it is written like this : 旅館 . リョカン.
Ryokans are traditional and typical Japanese inns. There are about 70,000 of which 1,800 are member establishments of the Japan Ryokan Association. There are also around 80 hostels that are members of the Japan Inn Group, specializing in welcoming tourists from overseas.
Ryokans are often made of traditional materials : wood, bamboo, rice paper. Others use more modern materials while keeping the Japanese aesthetic.
The rooms are Japanese-style, with sliding partitions, a coffee table in the middle of the room, and a decorative alcove displaying hanging scrolls or a flower arrangement. The ground is generally covered with tatami mats made of rice straw; customers sleep on a futon unrolled before nightfall by the maids. The ryokans also have hot baths. The water sometimes comes from thermal springs located under the ryokan : this is called an onsen. Baths are shared, with time slots reserved for women and others for men.
In the more expensive ryokans, in the evening, after the meal, the maids come by to remove the coffee table and put futons up for the night. Futons can also be set up before guests arrive.
To stay at a ryokan, it is best to arrive in the early to mid-afternoon. It is imperative to wait for the manager who will lead the guests through the premises.
It is customary to take off your shoes at the entrance. Slippers are available to customers for their trips inside. An indoor garment, the yukata, a cotton kimono with blue and white patterns, is also available.
It is frowned upon to wake up late and stay in your room all day. It is important when staying in a ryokan to respect the harmony and well-being of the place. Indeed, many Japanese come to rest there for a weekend in order to find serenity after a week of work. A ryokan usually closes at 11 p.m., and most establishments adhere to this schedule. Some ryokans, however, allow their guests to return later, provided they notify the owners.
For the record, ryokans were founded in the 8th century during the Keiun period. The oldest hotel in the world, Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, was established in 705 AD. Another old ryokan called Hōshi Ryokan was founded in AD 718 in what is now Ishikawa Prefecture, and is also considered the second oldest hotel in the world. These traditional inns offered free overnight accommodation to travelers. In particular, they welcomed pilgrims and monks in search of medicinal remedies in the hot springs of Japan. In the Edo period, feudal lords, who were to visit the shogun in Tokyo every two years, rested there with their samurai. Since then, ryokans, like sushi and onsens, have become a real institution in the country.
And if I’m talking about ryokans, it’s also to introduce you to three new non-honorary titles :
大女将 .
おおおかみ . the manager (the oldest and most experienced)
女将 .
おかみ / ジョショウ / ニョショウ . the manager
若女将 .
わかおかみ . the manager (the youngest and less experienced)
These non-honorary titles designate the managers of the ryokans (traditional Japanese inns) and traditional Japanese restaurants. After all my research, there doesn’t seem to be a male version. Traditionally, women have always been ryokans managers.
So that you know, the term 大女将 does not necessarily mean the oldest manager but, in any case, the one who is above the others in the hierarchy. You may very well have 女将 which are very old compared to 大女将. Finally, the 若女将 designa la gestora més jove i amb més experiència, però pots tenir 若女将 who manage a family ryokan on their own, for example, and who appreciate being called 若女将 which makes them feel younger.
Nowadays, in Japan, there are Japanese hotel chains, therefore, which have taken the concept of ryokans to decline it in different formats. You have ryokans that are really very traditional in every way, and you have others that are more luxurious.
So, even if the word 旅館 . リョカン ends with the kanji 館, the non-honorary titles to designate the managers do not follow the same pattern. You have to learn them by heart.
Remember that the non-honorary title can be used after a name and also alone, but when it is alone, it itself needs an honorary suffix or an honorary title.
Note : since these three non-honorary titles have the same translation and the nuance between the three is not perceptible in another language, sometimes translators will use the corresponding Japanese word.
New vocabulary words, new non-honorary titles. More and more, but you have to go through this sometimes-difficult path to master the Japanese language. I would have liked to talk to you about Japanese aestheticism, but it is a really very broad subject that deserves a whole lesson. You might get it in the third season. I’m already planning a hot spring vocabulary course for this same third season so don’t hesitate to anticipate if that makes you happy.
By the way, do you know you have exercises to do? Well yes, theme and version. OK, no longer a surprise, I think you are (almost) all sick of this redundancy. Me the first.
In the next lesson, we’ll cover Japanese surnames. We had already done a first lesson on the subject in season one and this time, you will be entitled to a second part where you will learn more. Then we will continue with the Japanese first names. Two massive courses that took me weeks of work so I count on you to read them carefully.
Regarding Japanese honorary suffixes, honorary and non-honorary titles… we have yet to see those revolving around the Japanese imperial family. Of course, we will not be able to see all the existing honorific suffixes. It’s impossible. If we take into account the honorary suffixes used in society, the names of professions, ranks and statuses, as well as the innumerable nuances sometimes impossible to transcribe in our Western languages, the list is almost endless. And I haven’t even mentioned some honorary expressions used in ancient Japanese that we can sometimes find in media like movies, mangas, novels, video games.
At the very end of this second season, I will give you a course that will be a summary of all the honorific suffixes that we will have seen throughout this fourth part. I’ll give you a few more honorary suffixes as well as some cultural anecdotes just for fun.
Introduction