息子：やはり入学試験だめだったよ。
母親：きっと、あの大学には緑がなかったのね。
En ga Aru/En ga Nai
Musuko: Yahari, nyuugaku shiken dame datta yo.
Hahaoya: Kitto, ano daigaku ni wa en ga nakatta no ne.
Son: I failed the entrance exam after all.
Mother: I guess you just weren't destined to go to that school.
The meaning of en in this context derives from the Buddhist way of thinking about cause and effect. The mother is telling her son that she thinks it was never "in the cards" for him to pass the examination and that fate or destiny (en) had determined this outcome. She also implies that the failure wasn't because of something as logical as a lack of ability. It was simply fated, preordained, to be. The burden of responsibility for the failure is not his to bear.
Before entering college Japanese students must first make their way over that infamous obstacle called "entrance examinations." This year's barrier is especially difficult: for the 770,000 openings at colleges and universities throughout the country some 1,205,000 students have applied. This means that well over 400,000 young people will not get into college this year. Will they accept their failure and say, "Yahari, en ga nakatta (I guess that's just the way the cookie crumbles)"? Or will they think, "I just wasn't prepared. I must study more and try again next year"? No matter which they choose, it's a fact of life in Japan that without a college degree one's employment options are quite limited. Most young people probably exhort themselves with, "Kotoshi wa, en ga nakatta ga, rainen no koto wa wakaranai (Though luck wasn't on my side this year, you never know about next year)," and begin preparing for next year's tests.
The entrance exam results have been posted outside a school's main gate where some young people (probably college students working part time) are passing out pamphlets to those who have come to look at the results. The pamphlets read, "If you have failed, please consider coming to A Exam-Prep School.
You'll surely pass the exam next year!" Interestingly, the students weren't passing the advertisements out to just anyone. Were they able to tell who had failed by the expressions on their faces? Now let's look at the expression en ga aru. It is often used when talking about marriage. A mother will tell an aquaintance, "Musume mo go-en ga atte, kaisha no kata to kekkon sum koto ni narimashite...(0ur daughter has been blessed, you know. She will get married to a nice young gentlemen employed at a prestigious company...)." Marriages are said to be the result of two people having been "tied together by fate (go-en de musubareru)." A man and a woman who fall in love have supposedly been linked together by a red thread since their previous existence. Of course, it's always nice when two people fall in love and live happily "ever after." But since we can't see the "red thread," I imagine people will continue to get divorced: "Honto ni sono hito to en ga aru no ka doo ka, wakaranai (I really don't know if destiny has linked the twoofus together)." "Rare to wa en ga nakatta no (We just weren't destined for each other)." How about you? Do you believe in fate?