When You Used to Do it! Ghettogrammar #87

A brief history of the tradition of the Japanese Genkan.

Japanese grammar Lesson #87: Used to ~ verb

During my first stay in Japan, I used to get embarrassed because my American friend's feet would 9 friends out of 10 give off an offensive scent. Some more putrid than others. You could smell their feet for long distances too. The smell of sweaty feet could cut through some mustard if you know what I mean. It was hard not to gag on occasion. I would be embarrassed for him and me, because I thought that I could control the way things smelled on other people or something, but alas I could not.

Can you imagine eating at the dinner table or trying to have candid conversation with some new friends you just met only to find out the friend you had brought didn't have control on his feet hygiene and the odor most unbearable. How atrocious! How outrageous! I thought to myself, be-gone you foul beast at once! Come back when you can be more civilized, or at least when your feet aren't noticeably stinky, and offensive to the olfactory senses causing me and our host discomfort at the dinner table. Even from a feet to nose distance of around 6 feet.

Let's imagine we are in Japan at a small gathering of some friends. Because it can get pretty chilly in the winter, are all gathered around a nice, warm, and fluffy kotatsu ((quilted) electric blanket \ table), to play the card game buta no shippo (Pig's tail) Oh no! Not that smells again. Like incense rising up from the depths of odor hell, your friend subjugates everyone to that wretched malodorous whiff of sweaty sock syndrome!

 In America, we wouldn't have this problem because Americans go everywhere in their shoes. Americans fall asleep in their shoes. They stand on chairs to change light bulbs in their shoes. They come in after stepping on dog dukie and don't even clean it off until mom notices the trail of stain left to your bedroom. You can keep your shoes on all day in America.This isn't the case in Japan.

Before you step foot inside a Japanese dwelling, it is customary for you to take off your shoes before entering a dwelling in Japan. Shoes are great, but in Japan, shoes can become cumbersome due to the limitations of adequate living spaces, but more importantly the act of taking off one's shoes before entering a home or dwelling is a tradition. A good custom as you shall see.

Like other countries of the East, the Japanese take off their shoes before entering houses, dwellings, apartments, condo's, etc. When I first got to Japan it was awkward at first to take off my shoes, because I had shoes with laces and it was mendoukusai (tedious) when I left to tie my shoes up again after just un-tying them when I arrived. I followed the custom at first only because every one else was doing it. Yes! This was one of those times that if the whole Japanese country were going to jump off the cliff I was going to jump too. *When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do!* There were places I thought were abnormal for taking off my shoes like kindergartens, eating establishments, bowling alleys, karaoke rooms, lots of weird places you wouldn't even think of taking your shoes off at in America, even the bathroom at bars and weirder places yet.

 I had one friend who was so particular about this custom, he would insist on me taking off my shoes before getting into his car. I was obliged to follow the tradition.  *When in Rome Do as the Romans Do!* This friend was a little more gung-ho than your average Akira, but it shows you just how far this tradition extends itself into everyday life. He was a little overly devout or passionate about keeping his car clean but at the same time did it for other beneficial, even religious type reasons which we will explore in the coming paragraphs.

Why do the Japanese take off their shoes before entering a home or other things including cars? Why is it considered rude to stand on a chair, or a table or a sofa or seat etc. with your shoes on? In this lense I am going to share my experiences with the custom of taking off your shoes before entering a house and the traditions of the genkan (place where you place your shoes before stepping into a house.) And we will talk a little bit about the way the genkan has been extended in use in modern Japanese society. We are going to try to answer the reasons behind this strange custom and why this genkan thing exists. Also after relaying as much as I can about this custom, we will continue our JPPGG© or Japanese plug and play ghetto grammar sessions so that you will add one more grammar principle to your growing list of Japanese language weapons.

I'm not prejudice nor am I generalizing that all Americans have stinky feet, but, I know that even my feet have a tendency to get stinky when I sweat, run or wear keep my shoes on for too long to wear my shoes everywhere and anywhere in any situation at all times, even to bed, even jumping on the bed, even standing on chairs, cars, wherever on whatever, it didn't matter. I, being an American having no background in Japanese customs and not having any tradition similar to taking my shoes off before entering the house, I felt quite comfortable doing as I always had done. It wasn't until I saw the expression of horror, surprise and shear shock of my Japanese friend that I ever began to take seriously the Japanese tradition of taking off my shoes before entering places. I saw on a man's face as I simply stood upon a chair to change a light bulb, mind you, I had my shoes on, but he gasped in horror and made me instantly get down from the chair. What on Earth could I have possibly done to make him gasp in horror? All I did was stand on a chair and was attempting to change a light bulb. I thought, "so what gives. . .?"

The word genkan is made with two kanji, gen and kan. Kan meaning wide opening gate or simply gateway, and gen the string-like kanji whose meaning although impossible to translate fully can simply mean the the road of qualities, of ill or of a good disposition or continuing in the tradition of the ancestors (fathers), following in the footsteps on the road to the qualities The samurai when building their castles and homes copied the idea of the genkan from the use of it as entrances to the Buddhist temples The tradition of taking off shoes before entering a dwelling therefore is well established in tradition.

 

 

 

This is JPPGG© bunpo principle #87. To say that you used to do something fairly regularly in the past, use the following construction:

 

used to ~verb - yoku verb(base TA) mono desu  

 

Once you get the hang of these examples, plug and play your favorite verbs into the construction where verb(base TA)  is any verb you know. You will be able to improve your Japanese if you keep plugging and playing until your friends tell you they can't stand how much you practice your Japanese forcing you to stop, or until they are all asleep, whichever comes first. You want to get better at Japanese, don't you? Well don't bicker…do quicker! Here are some nice examples with an occasional ghetto phrase sprinkled in here or there to spice up the flavorful fun, so that you can have a good time studying Japanese.

 

1. When I was younger, I used to ride my bike to school.

 

            Watakushi ga motto wakai koro, jitensha de yoku gakko ni itta mono desu.

               {As for I, in the more young time, by bike often school went thing is.}1[1]

 

 

2. He used to cheat, but the teacher busted him, and now he is a good boy.

 

Kare wa mae yoku kanningu[2] shita mono desu keredomo sensei ni barete shimatte ima orikosan desu.  

 

           

 

            3. I used to play there a lot.

 

Watakushi wa soko de yoku asonda mono da. [3]

 

 

G.A.B. or the Ghetto After Blast - One point advice

The Japanese verb nareru means, "To get used to" which is similar to the used to that you have been getting used to in this bunpo. Nareru is a really cool word, and you will hear it a lot in Japanese conversation.

Ex.1 He is used to that job. 

Kare wa sono shigoto ni narete imasu.[4]

 

As Always, Do your Best! Ganbatte Ne!

Makurasuki Sensei.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Given here in a literal translation; It is easy to see from the corruption of the sounds and form why one should be careful when translating literally.

[2] From the English adjective cunning.

[3] Non-polite plain form of the copula de aru, desu, da     

[4] See JPPGG© Ghetto Grammar #88: 'Verbing' -verb (base TE) iru or the Japanese Gerund.