佐々木：あなたの会社、大事業に着手するそうね。
野田：ええ、でもどこから手をつけるかが問題です。
Chakushu Suru
Sasaki: Anata no kaisha daijigyoo ni chakushu suru soo ne.
Noda: Ee. Demo doko kara te wo tsukeru ka ga mondai desu.
Ms. Sasaki: I hear your company is embarking on quite an ambitious undertaking.
Mr. Noda: Yes, butjust where to begin is still a problem.
Though the meaning of chakushu (the "on" reading) and te wo tsukeru (the "kun" reading) is basically the same (i.e., to begin; start; set about; start work on), te wo-tsukeru can also have the negative meaning of "dipping one's hands into someone else's money" (hito no okane ni te wo tsukeru).
I was recently invited to the wedding of one of my students. The bride and groom (my student, "Noda-kun") had been high school classmates and friends for some nine years. I remember that even as a highschool student Noda-kun had been quite unique and charming. He now works for "Recruit" in their Urban Development Section. He tells me his job is to develop the land around train stations. Developed without the benefit of any overall plan, many stations are surrounded by a jumble of shops and streets almost too narrow for buses to negotiate. Developing these areas, unfortunately, requires both moving people who already live there and tearing down buildings.
It's because of this that such work can be seen as an "ambitious undertaking." Noda-kun's "doko kara te wo tsukeru ka" ("where should we begin") is also understandable in this light.
Being a somewhat stiff expression, chakushu suru is used in phrases such as shigoto ni chakushu suru (to commence work); damu kensetsu ni chakushu suru (to start the dam construction) ; uchuu keikaku ni chakushu suru (to launch a space program). Furthermore, though chakushu suru and te wo tsukeru have basically the same meaning, note that the way they are used (the object upon which the action is taken) is not the same; te wo tsukeru is used to talk about such everyday things as amimono ni te wo tsukeru (to start knitting) and panfuretto no honyaku ni te wo tsukeru (to begin translating the pamphlet). Noda-kun's te wo tsukeru could thus be rephrased, "Doko kara chakushu suru ka ga mondai desu." Some further examples:
Editor: Sasaki sensei, do you have that manuscript ready which I asked about the other day?
Me: I'm sorry, isogashikute mada te wo tsuketeinai no (I've been so busy I haven't begun yet).
In everyday conversations like this, it is most natural to use te wo tsukenai.
On the news: Seto Ohashi no kensetsu koji ga chakushu sareta no wa...nen mae (Construction on the Seto Bridge began...years ago). With the bridge's completion, western Honshu and Shikoku are now splendidly connected.
Wife: When are you going to repair that problem in the kitchen I told you about?
Husband: Sorry. I completely forgot. Ashita kara te wo tsukeru y.o (I'll start on it tomorrow).
I easily become interested in new things. Unfortunately, after I've started just a bit, I become busy with something else and am unable to continue. My husband complains: "Kimi are mo kore mo te wo tsuketa dake de kansei shita mono ga nai ne" ("You just start this or that but never get around to completing anything"). Perhaps you have similar experiences.