A氏：「JALTの大会はいかがでしたか」
私：「スタッフの方が至れり尽くせりで気を配って下さり、とても良かったですよ」
Itareri tsukuseri
Mr. A: JALT no taikai wa ikaga deshita ka.
Watashi: Sutaffu no kata ga itareri tsukuseri de i wo kubatte kudasari, totemo yokatta desu yo.
Mr. A: How was JALT's annual conference?
Me:The staff's service left nothing to be desired; they really went out of their way. It was just great.
* * *
Itareri tsukuseri refers to being considerate and thourough in one's hospitality.
JALT (The Japan Association of Language Teachers) is one of Japan's most active and, I believe, most useful academic societies. This year's annual three-day conference was held in Okayama Ci- ty (Okayama Prefecture) at the beginning of November-2,000 or more foreign language teachers were in attendance and 200 presentations given. Fifty-five percent of the participants were either American, British, Canadian, or Australian; the remaining 35 percent were Japanese. I gave the third day's plenary address on the subject, "Some Difficulties Teaching Japanese As a Foreign Language." Arriving at Okayama Station by shinkansen at ll :30 p.m., the night before I was to give my paper, I was met at the station by a Mr. Clifthorne who then took me by taxi to the conference hotel. A fruit basket decorated my room and the message read, "We eagerly anticipate tomorrow's plenary address! " There'd be an escort in the morning and lunch in the VIP room as well, Subete wa itareri tsukuseri deshita (Everything was perfect)!
The audience filling the large hall at Notre Dame Seishin University were mostly language teachers. They listened attentively, answered my questions, and asked many of their own. I had carefully prepared a lot of material on Japanese grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and idiomatic expressions and so when someone said, "Ms. Sasaki no nihongo ni tsuite no enzetsu wa itareri tsukuseri deshita" ("Ms. Sasaki's talk on Japanese was exhaustive and complete"), even if they were just being polite, I was quite happy. When leaving Okayama I made sure to express my gratitude to the JALT conference staff: Itareri tsukuseri no osewa ni kokoro kara kansha shitemasu" ("I'm truly grateful for your heart-warming and complete help.")
The examples so far are used when we are the recipient of complete, perfect, or thorough-going attention (itareri tsukuseri shite moratta toki). What about when we are on the "sending end" or when itareri tsukuseri shite ageta toki (we treat someone with perfect and exhaustive attention)? A professor from a Korean university recently visited Yamaguchi University. Along with a co-worker (Prof. K), I went by car to meet him in Shimonoseki (he'd come by ferry). We showed him his room at the university guest house, drove him around the city and were generally at his beck and call from breakfast till dinner throughout the' entire week, "A kyooju no tame ni itareri tsukuseri kantai shita tsumori desu" ("We tried to provide Prof. A with as perfect and complete a reception as possible.") After sending him off from Shimonoseki, my friend and I turned to each other and together breathed a sigh of relief. Itareri tsukuseri de kangei suru no wa totemo taihen na koto desu (It certainly is no easy thing to extend & cordial and complete welcome to someone).