よしこ「和子さん、彼と同じ会社で働いているんでしょ。いつも一緒にいられていいですね」
和子「一緒の仕事場というのも善し悪しよ。時には困ることもあるわ」
Yoshi Ashi
Yoshiko; Kazuko san, kare to onaji kaisha de hataraite iru'n desho. Itsu mo issho ni irarete ii desu ne.
Kazuko: Issho no shigotoba to iu no mo yoshi ashi yo. Toki ni wa komaru koto mo aru wa.
Yoshiko: Kazuko, you work at the same company as him, right? It must be nice to be able to be together all the time.
Kazuko: Actually, it's a mixed blessing. Sometimes it's even quite embarrassing.
* * *
Yoshi ashi means that since something has both a good side and a bad side, making a decision is difficult. As there are two sides to every coin, so too, good things on the one hand often mean bad things on the other. Japanese use yoshi ashi when they can't (or don'twant to) say yes or no about something; the conversation above is a typical example of its usage. Can you imagine what kinds of things Kazuko finds "embarrassing? " Recent technological advances have truly made it easy for people to communicate with one another at long distances. Images of the tragic earthquake in San Francisco, for example, were beamed immediately into our homes. The fax machine, however, is what I find the most convenient. No matter where you are in the world, if there's a facsimile machine you can send a manuscript immediately to Japan. Or when it's difficult to take a memo about a lot of minute data over the phone, having the other person send the material by fax solves the problem. Sometimes, however, this convenience has its drawbacks. It used to be that when I was asked to write something, I was given at least a week to complete the manuscript. Now I hear, "Please send it to us by fax in two or three days." Watashi ni totte fakushimiri no hattatsu wa yoshi ashi desu (For me, the development of the fax has both merits and demerits). I had a chance to talk to an employee of NTT the other day. Me: "Now that people are using the phone lines more because of the fax machine, profits have increased, haven't they." NTT: "Not exactly. Sore ga yoshi ashi nan desu (The fax has been a mixed blessing). Before, people would take about 10 minutes to take memos over the phone.
With the fax, the work's done in a minute or two. Profit from telephone use has actually gone down." What do you know about that?
Another situation. A friend and her family is off to live in Canada for a few years. Me: "Well, the children will certainly come back able to speak English fluently. That'll be nice." My friend: "Kanada ni iku no mo yoshi ashi desu yo (There are good and bad points about going to Canada). I'm worried that when we come back the children won't want to work hard studying for entrance examinations." Itys true that children who come back to Japan after having been in school overseas have a hard time with the Japanese educational system and its rewarding of passivity and (ankiryoku) the ability to memorize. In the end, they drop out of the "course" headed for entrance exams. In turn, they are then no longer candidates for Japan's elite. A friend looking over my shoulder as I write comments, "Eriito koosu wo aruku no mo yoshi ashi desu yo ("There are advantages and disadvantages involved in traveling down the path to 'elitehood' "). Really?