Ask a foreigner about your favorite Japanese Part 1

Happy New Year!

Our company started operations today, Monday, January 4. We will continue to distribute our language-related BLOG and SNS for your enjoyment this year.

For the first issue of 2021, we will start with a story about the Japanese language.

While the number of tourists coming to Japan from abroad has decreased dramatically, there are still many students studying and working in Japan, so the theme of this issue will be

We asked foreigners about their favorite Japanese language Part 1.

The theme this time is "Your Favorite Japanese Language Part 1". We immediately asked a Chinese woman who has lived in Japan for 18 years what her favorite Japanese language is.

- What is your favorite Japanese language? -What is your favorite Japanese word?

"It's okay.

She said, "It's okay.

She also said that it is "a word I like but also dislike. I asked him why.

He said, "I like it because as time goes by, I become nothing and become really okay,

I dislike it because it can be said irresponsibly by others."

Indeed.

From the perspective of a native Japanese speaker, when you see someone you know in trouble or distressed, you might say, "It's okay," out of kindness. From the standpoint of the person on the receiving end, it may sound merely comforting.

So what should we say?

How about saying, "It's all right," in the style of Ken Shimura?

But, hey, that's not the point!　That's not the point!

I'm sorry to say that I'm back to my old ways again at the end of the New Year.

I hope to continue to deliver language-related topics like this this year as well, so please bear with me.

The photo is of the Golden Pavilion, taken around 3:00 p.m. on New Year's Day, 2021. I stopped by a yudofu restaurant near Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, which I found on the Internet just before the New Year's Day. The unglamorous exterior and interior of the restaurant, combined with the attentive service of the staff, made me feel the weight of the restaurant's history, which is said to be 200 years old.