父親：ジャーナリスト講座を受けるんだって？
娘：ええ。冷かしで受けてみようと思って・・・。
Hiyakashi
Chichioya: Jaanarisuto kooza wo ukeru'n datte?
Musume: Ee. Hiyakashi de, ukete miyoo to omotte....
Father: I hear you're going to take a class on journalism?
Daughter: Yeah. I thought I'd enroll just for the fun of it.
* * *
Hiyakashi refers to doing something "just for the fun of it" or to going into a store and looking over the goods without actually intending to buy. In the conversation, the daughter went to the seminar without really being interested in becoming a journalist (Jaanarisuto ni naru tsumori mo nai noni, hiyakashi de kooza wo uketa).
Instead of studying, as perhaps they should, most Japanese college seniors prefer to begin concentrating their energies on setting up their after-graduation employment. And with Japan still moving through an economic high, it's a seller's market;
students are able to be fussy and particular about employers. Even so, landing a job in one of Japan's mass media conglomerates is not easy. Competition remains keen.
The newspaper houses want to get the best people possible and so have "employment exams" quite early on in the recruiting season. Actually, they don't really have "exams." The newspapers sponsor "masukomi semina" (mass communication seminars) where participants must pay \10,000 to join. Hiyakashi ni sanka suru hito ga ooi ni chigainai (Without a doubt, many join just for the fun of it). The media companies feel tatoe hiyakashi demo, semina ni sanka suru hito ga ooi ho ga ii (even if it's just for fun, the more people that join the better). With each new body, after all, the companies make money.
A personnel director: "Kaette, hiyakashi de kuru gakusei no naka ni yuushuu na no ga iru'n desu yo (In fact, among the students who come just for the fun of it, we often find the best candidates). " The head of the seminar seeks these students out during the seminar and talks to them personally. To be approached in this way, from the student's point of view, is tantamount to having passed the first round of exams.
A father talks to his daughter who has just finished attending one of these seminars. "How did it go?" "Hiyakashi no tsumori de uketa'n dakedo, jitsu wa ano kaisha ni ikitakunatta no (Though I only went for the fun of it, I actually think I'd like to get a job with that company)." The seminar leader was quite sharp and after talking to him over coffee (he'd approached her) the daughter began to think seriously about entering the company. She laughs, "Hiyakashi no tsumori de itta noni (And to think I only went for the fun of it, without seriously thinking about getting such a job). " The same kind of thing often happens to me.
Hiyakashi no tsumori de, nedan wo kiite ittara, kaitakunatte shimatta (Though at first harboring no intention of buying anything, once I started asking about prices I ended up wanting to take something home). Store clerks should perhaps take note. Be nice to hiyakashi-kyaku (people who come into the store just to look over the goods with no initial intention to buy). You never know....