JAPANESE NATURALLY/ Mizue Sasaki
相性がいい、相性が悪い
佐藤：部長、今度のプロジェクトワーク、できれば木村さんと組みたいのですが。
部長：今度もかね？君たちはよほど相性がいいようだね。
Aishoo ga ii/Aishoo ga warui
Satoo: Buchoo, kondo no purojekuto-waaku, dekireba Kimura-san to kumitai no desu ga.
Buchoo: Kondo mo ka ne? Kimitachi wa yohodo aishoo ga ii yoo da ne.
Mr.Sato: Chief, if possible I'd like to be paired up with Kimura on the next project.
Section Chief: Again? You two have certainly hit it off well.
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Aishoo ga ii means that two people have compatible temperaments ; aishoo ga warui means the two are in- compatible or uncongenial.
Some people think you can decide whether two people will be compatible (aishoo ga yoi ka warui ka han- dan suru) based on their blood type. My blood type is 0 and I'm married to someone whose blood is type A. A friend tells me, "Ichiban aisho no warui kumiawase desu yo (That's the most incompatible combination)." It's said that whereas "Type 0" women are not concerned about particulars, "Type A" men are quite fussy. A "Type A" wife with a "Type 0" husband is much better - at least as far as men are concerned. "Kitto, aishoo ga ii hazu desu (They are certain to be compatible)."
Japanese assign each year to one of 12 horary signs of the Chinese calendar. This year, for example, is the year of the sheep. It would seem some people in England are interested in this custom; while in England recently I found a pack of English language cards describing the signs. I found the sheep card quite interesting. It read, "The horse and the tiger can be recommened as a partner for the sheep but the rat and the ox just don't want to have anything to do with the sheep." When I looked to see where the card had been made, it turned out to be from Holland. If one listens to all of the suggestions based on things such as horary signs, blood type and astrology, finding a compatible partner will be very difficult (aishoo no au hito wo mitsukeru no wa, totemo muzukashii).
The fact is that sometimes the most surprising combinations turn out to be quite successful; no matter what the two people do together, it turns out well.
"Watashitachi totemo aishoo ga ii'n desu (We have really hit it off well)." Though Sarte and Simone de Beauvoir are said to have argued quite a lot, I'm sure that they had compatible temperaments (kitto, futari no aisho ga yokatta ni chigainai). I wonder what their astrological and horary signs were? What about their blood types? It might be fun to investigate.
A supposedly "accurate" female fortune teller offers her services in front of the Isetan Department Store in Shinjuku reading the palms of young Japanese women. Don't the girls want to expend their own energy trying to find someone? I, for one, don't think a girl should decide to break up with her boyfriend simply because a fortune teller tells her they are not compatible (aishoo ga warui to iwareta kara to itte, ima no booi-furendo to wakareru beki de wa nai to watashi wa omoimasu).