妻：都知事選挙、彼に投票するわ。大幅減税ですって。
夫：法螺をふいてるんだよ。そんなこと、できるものか。
Hora wo Fuku
Tsuma: Tochiji-senkyo, kare ni toohyoo suru wa. Oohaba genzei desu'tte.
Otto: Hora wo fuiteru'n da yo. Sonna koto, dekiru mono ka.
Wife: I'm going to vote for him in the election for governor of Tokyo. He's promised to drastically reduce taxes.
Husband: He's talking through his hat. There's no way he can reduce taxes.
* * *
Hora wo fuku means to talk big, to tell a grandiose sort of lie. Hora refers to a conch shell, the kind itinerant priests often blow so loudly in samurai movies. (I suppose it used to be used as a signaling device.) These days the word turns up almost exclusively in this week's expression: Senkyo-mae wa dare demo tashoo no hora wo fuku (Before an election, everyone talks big at least a little). Once elected, many totally forget their promises and though most of us are resigned to this kind of behavior, even if we know a candidate's campaign pledges are just a lot of hot air, don't we still want to believe they are actually more than that(sore ga hora da to wakatte ite mo, shinjitakunaru )?
1. "I promise to drastically reduce city taxes." Lower taxes are always welcome!
2. "I plan to introduce a 'home helper system' like they have in Denmark. " Such a system would certainly please our frail senior citizens and bring needed relief to the family members now taking care of theirs But Denmark is famous for its high taxes-a 'home helper system' can't possibly coexist with lower taxes. Kore mo hora wo fuite iru ni kimatte iru (This is just another case of talking big). Everyone would like to think this is not just a lot of hot air, though, (hora wo fuite inai to shinjitai), that it is somehow possible. And so with a faint gleam of hope in our hearts we go to the polls.
"Politicians, one and all ! Amari hora wo fukanaide kudasai (Don't talk so big!). When we find out you can't fulfill your promises, we will only distrust you more. "
3. "I promise to make Tokyo a comfortable place for foreigners." For someone like me, whose work involves teaching students from abroad, the problem of housing is especially vexing. A recent survey conducted by the Center for Domestic and Foreign Students, for example, showed that 86 percent of landlords in Tokyo refused to rent to foreigners and that only one in three foreign students allowed to inspect an apartment was allowed to rent it! I could also go on and on about the problems our homestay student from England had trying to find an apartment. It was enough to make me cry.
As if this weren't enough, last week I went to my high school class' 30th year reunion and heard one of my old teachers say, "I don't think I would let any foreigners into my apartment building." Now, I ask you, is that the kind of thing for an educator to say, someone who's been a teacher for 30 years? Will Japan ever be a pleasant place for all of God's ch ildren?