佐藤：「大変ごぶさた致しました。これ本当につまらないものですが」
木村：「まあ、そんな堅苦しいことはなさらないで下さいよ」
Katakurushii
(Hisashiburi ni Sato-san ga Kimura-san wo tazunete)
Sato: Taihen gobusata itashimashita. Kore hontoo ni tsumaranai mono desu ga.
Kimura: Maa, Sonna katakurushii koto wa nasaranai de kudasai yo.
(After a long separation Mr. Sato visits Mr. Kimura )
Mr. Sato: I'm afraid I've been quite remiss in not calling upon you. (Here's a small present.) It's nothing special but I do hope you like it.
Mr. Kimura: Oh, you needn't have been so formal.
* * *
The adjective featafeurushii means to be reserved or to stand on ceremony. And since there are so many gishiki (ceremonies/rituals) in Japanese schools and companies, perhaps we can say that Japanese are a people who "love occasions requiring formality" (featafeurushii feoto ga dai sufei). Can we even imagine what life would be like without all the pomp and circumstance?
This week's conversation is heard with the same regularity as an Englishman's talk of the weather and use of the expression tsumaranai mono is a favorite way for Japanese to be self-effacing and modest. Of course, Japanese don't actually go out and buy trifling and worthless gifts for other people! The expression-which results in an admittedly contradictory
sort of salutation - is simply part and parcel of proper katakurushii aisatsu (formal [with a sense of being a bit stiff] greetings). Despite Mr. Kimura's rejoinder not to stand on ceremony, visiting someone in Japan without a gift is practically unthinkable.
Most Japanese live what might be called a "tatami lifestyle." One greeting in the vestibule (genkan) is followed by another deep bow in the Japanese-style room (washitsu). Having been raised in a Westernized family, however, this custom is still a bit bothersome and I find myself wondering why I should bow again to my husband's elderly parents even after I've already said hello to them in their entrance hall. I've come to see, though, that if this act pleases them, the one or two minutes it takes is actually worth the effort.
All companies have their share of katakurushii kisoku (hard and fast rules) and though most rules fall into this category, there are times when we feel katakurushii kisoku ni shibararetakunai (we don't want to be fettered down by so many hard and fast rules). It's apparent that many public junior and senior high schools in Japan are attempting to tie their charges down by erecting a massive system of rules for correct and incorrect behavior. But if these students all become "obedient lambs" what will Japan's future be like? Is education a matter of enforcing rules or of helping people to think independently and act correctly?
A: Nee. Sonna ni katakurushiku kangaeru no wa yamemashoo.
B: So da ne. Katakurushii kisoku ni shibarareru koto wa nai ne.
A: Hey, don't you think we should stop trying to be so strict.
B: Maybe you're right, No one wants to be bound by a bunch of hard and fast do's and dont's.
Wouldn't it be nice if such a conversation could be heard all over Japan? People could start inquiring into when rules began, who made them, what historical issues were present at the time they were made, what specific circumstances called them into existence, and whether they are still needed. Yet how difficult it is to change a rule once it's instituted! And how un fortunate that this is no less true for laws!
The expressions featafeurushii feafefeo (stiff manner) and featafeurushii feangaefeata (straitlaced thinking) are also commonly heard. Since both have a negative meaning they are normally used in negative sentences.