議員：今晩、Aホテルで勉強会をするから出てくるように。
市の職員：はい、わかりました。（心の中で）議員をかさに着て、いやな奴だ。
Kasa ni Kiru
Giin: Konban, A hoteru de benkyookai wo suru kara dete kuru yoo ni.
Shino
Shokuin: Hai, wakarimashita. (Kokoro no nakade) Giin wo kasa ni kite, iya na yatsu da.
Assemblyman: We're having a study meeting tonight at Hotel A. I expect you to be there.
City Hall
Staffer: Very good. (To himself) Throwing his weight around just because he's an assemblyman. I hate people like that.
* * *
The kasa in kasa ni kiru is a hat woven out of sedge rush or bamboo which makes its wearers look bigger than they actually are. The idiom thus means "to assume an air of importance by hiding behind one's own or someone else's authority." It's Osaka City Hall and the 1991 budget has just been announced: over \15 trillion, part of which is allocated as "food expenses," a bureaucratic euphemism for money used to pay for the food and drink consumed at meetings and reception parties.
Are the citizens of Osaka aware that such a large portion of their tax money is used to pay for such eating and drinking? I was surprised when I saw just how much money is allocated to food expenses. It seems, however, that the actual figure is three times this amount ! Before a city assembly meeting convenes, city hall staff workers must know what questions the assemblymen are going to ask. It is for this reason that they must attend the benkyokai mentioned in the conversation. Giin-tachi wa, kenryoku wo kasa ni kite, tada de nondari tabetari shite iru (Thanks to their power as assemblymen, the men are able to eat and drink for free). If they're going to call it a study meeting, though, it should be a study meeting. Why hold the gathering at some expensive club or bar? I have a feeling someone is ready to reply, "That kind of thing happens everywhere" or "You say that because you're a woman and not interested in eating and drinking." They miss the point. Who likes the idea that democratically-elected city officials are throw- ing their weight around just because they're assemblymen (giin de aru no wo kasa ni kite, ibari-chirasu)? One of Aesop's Fables is about a fox who puts on a lion's fur. If these men weren't assemblymen they wouldn't be allowed to get away with such pompous and haughty behavior.
Here are some other uses of kasa ni kiru. Shachoo wo kasa ni kite, nandemo hitori de kimete shimau (He hides behind his authority as company president arid makes all the decisions by himself). I imagine such a president is a rather rare bird these days. Another example: shachoo ni kawaigararete iru no wo, kasa ni kite, wagamama na furumai wo suru hisho (A secretary who takes advantage of being well-liked by the president to act selfishly). Even though she's just the boss' secretary she gets compliments from the sedtion chief and the bureau chief. Without their authority to hide behind, I wonder if these people really have
any personal friends? What do you think?