Kanji Lessons from a Mystery Drama
Why learn kanji? Well, here are some fantastic reasons provided by the drama ４姉妹探偵団 (Yon Shimai Tantei Dan), or 4 Sisters Detective Squad. This drama aired back at the beginning of 2008, but I only recently watched it. It’s only 9 episodes long, so I went through it pretty quickly. I’ve got 7 short video clips below; almost one from each episode. I really enjoyed the little goofy Japanese lessons that were worked into the plot. The main character (and youngest sister), Yuriko, is a high school student who is pretty bad at Japanese. These kanji lessons aren’t just about her character, though. If you go to the official site and click into the “Special Contents” section, and then on Yuriko’s picture, you can actually do some cool quizzes. (You can also click here, instead.) They vaguely correspond with each episode, but they are hard! Anyway, to skip to the lessons, check out the embedded videos.
Reason # 1 – So you can read the names of nearby boats when you’re held captive in a random ship. (Episode 1.) Yuriko is having trouble with her Japanese homework. You might notice that she says “umibuta” at the beginning of the clip. She’s misreading 海豚, the characters for “ocean” and “pig,” usually read as umi and buta. The word 海豚 is actually pronounced iruka, and means dolphin! The kanji she’s having trouble reading (I had to look them up, too) are 栄螺 (sazae; a turban shell) and 鴎 (kamome; seagull). Sure, it’s a contrivance, but it’s a fun one!
EDIT: Just noticed that she says “umizou” too. Ha ha. 海象 means walrus and should be read seiuchi. 
Reason # 2 – So you can read your lines when you’re given a role in a drama (in a drama). (Episode 3.) Yuriko reads part of the script as “Usagi ni tsuno!!” 「兎に角」is a word that uses the kanji for rabbit (兎; usagi) and horn (角; tsuno). Unfortunately for Yuriko, it’s pronounced tonikaku and means “anyway.” Your family might think you’re a bit daft too if you yelled “rabbit with a horn!” instead of “anyway!” Ha ha.
Reason # 3 – So you can prove that the God of Death is actually a human with poor Japanese skills. (Episode 4.) A woman is claiming that a grim reaper, or a god of death, is killing people who get too close to her. Unfortunately this scary spirit is bad at kanji compounds. The compound in question is 無我夢中 (mugamuchu). I dunno how to best explain it. It sort of means “losing oneself in / completely consumed by (something other than oneself, obviously).” I suppose it could also mean taken up by, or obsessed by. I’m not really knowledgeable about it. Anyhoo, the mistake was that the spirit wrote 無我霧中, swapping the character for dream (yume; 夢) for fog (kiri; 霧). One wonders if an angel of death would have perfect Japanese or strange Japanese. Hmmm… By the way, if you fancy studying more compounds, hit The Daily Yo-ji. They rock.
Reason # 4 – Avoid putting yourself under suspicion by screwing up other people’s names or asking them for the appropriate spelling. (Episode 5.) The lead character’s name is Sasamoto Yuriko (佐々本夕里子). In Japanese, there are a bunch of different ways to spell names in kanji. (In fact, on the phone, people give words to explain the proper characters just like in English you might say “b for boy.”) This person never asked, but properly spelled the name upon hearing it, which cast suspicion his way. Don’t make the same mistake!
Reason # 5 – Properly pronounce really big numbers. (Episode 6.) Yuriko is reading a placard that describes the local deity whose likeness is displayed like a mascot all around the hot springs she’s visiting. She tries to read the sentence, “(Yamahachi-sama) is one of 8,000,000 gods.” She reads the characters 八 (hachi; eight) 百 (hyaku; hundred) and 万 (man; ten thousand) together as happyakuman. It’s a good guess when you put them all back to back like that: 八百万. But her policeman buddy, Mr. Kunitomo, is correct. This is in fact pronounced yaoyorozu. 八百万 ＝やおよろず. Got it? No, I don’t know why. Just accept it.
Reason # 6 – Properly ask for your favorite host at a host club. (Episode 7.) When Yuriko tries to show Officer Kunitomo a photo on the wall of a person related to the case they’re investigating, she misreads 飛鳥 as tobutori. It’s an easy mistake to make. Kunitomo corrects her (again), pointing out that in a name the kanji are read Asuka. Flying Bird. What a name. Ha ha.
Reason # 7 – Be a truly irritating freeloader who makes annoying challenges. (Episode 8.) This one features the deadbeat character who’s mooching off of Yuriko’s aunt. He starts waxing poetic about the world of art, and he clarifies mid-sentence that he said 昇華 (shyouka; sublimation), not 消化 (shyouka; digestion). He then challenges whoever thinks they can write the kanji to do so on his back, ostensibly asking for a back rub? Par for the course, he goes ignored. The sentence 「生々しい感じを取れ、それをあっと言う間に昇華させる」(Namanamashii kanji wo tore, sore wo a- to iu ma ni shyouka saseru) can be translated roughly as “(Art) draws out raw emotion, and in the blink of an eye, sublimates it.”
The other 2 episodes contained Japanese mini-lessons as well, but they were more grammar / diction related. For instance, Episode 2 contained the proverb “衣食足りて礼節を知る” (ishyoku tarite reisetsu wo shiru) to which the main character responded, “What!? Speak in Japanese!!” I loved that. The proverb means something like “Knowing manners follows a full stomach.” Also, in Episode 9 correct usage of the term 役不足 (yakubusoku) became a pivotal point in the plot. So you can see, watching dramas can be educational – not only for those studying Japanese as a second language, but for those studying it as their mother tongue! Have you seen this drama? If so, what did you think?
I’m currently looking for something else to watch to bump up my studying again. If you can’t get enough of J-dramas, let me point you to Goddess Carlie and Yonasu, 2 of the finest J-drama related blogs on the net.
