佐藤さん：今年も雪下ろしが大変でしたね。
木村さん：私たち年寄りの手に余るので、アルバイトをやとっているんですよ。
Te ni Amaru
(Toyama-ken no goosetsu chitai de)
Satoo-san: Kotoshi mo yuki-oroshi ga taihen deshita ne.
Kimura-san: Watashi-tachi toshiyori no te ni amaru node, arubaito wo yatotte irun desu yo.
(In an area of heavy snowfall in Toyama Prefecture
Mr. Sato: It was hard getting rid of the snow this year too, don't you think?
Mr. Kimura: It was too much for us older people. We had to hire some part-timers to help out.
Te ni amaru means to be too much (for someone) to handle, to be beyond one's capacity, to be not equal to some task. The phrase can be used in reference to work, study and people. For example, when your boss asks you to do some difficult job, you can refuse by saying, "Moshiwake arimasen ga, sono shigoto wa watashi no te ni amari masu (I'm very sorry, but I think that job will be too much for me to handle)." In terms of study or research one might say, "Kono kenkyu wa shiryo atsume ga muzukashiku, watashi-tachi no te ni amaru (Finding material for this research is difficult; it's too much for us to handle)." About a boss who is quick to get angry one might say, "Ano joshi wa buka no te ni amaru (The people that work under that manager find him too hard to handle)." A man married to a selfish women might decide to leave her: "Tsuma wa watashi no te ni amaru (My wife is too much for me to handle)." A family taking care of someone with a serious illness:
"Jubyonin wo ie de kanbyo suru no wa, kazoku no te ni amaru (To take care of someone with a serious illness at home is too much for our family to handle)." A tutor of a not-particularly-bright child might not feel confident about being able to help the child get better grades: "Ano ko wa boku no te ni amaru (That kid is too much for me). I'm not confident in my ability to help him pass the exam." Once past the middle of March, buds begin to appear in the Tokyo area. Spring begins to feel near. Not so in Toyama Prefecture. According to a letter from a relative who lives there, it's still very much winter and snow still covers the roofs. A nearby elderly couple: "We cope by having our son from Tokyo come and help when the snow is too much for us to handle (watashi-tachi no te ni amaru toki wa, Tokyo kara musuko ni kite morai masu)." The depopulation of Japan's rural areas has resulted in villages made up of mostly older people. Some people don't even have enough money to hire help to get rid of the snow. If the snow isn't removed, however, roofs might collapse.
Toshiyori no te ni amaru no mo, muri wa nai (It's only natural that this is too much for older people to handle).
Recently, I saw something interesting in Shimane Prefecture on the Japan Sea coast where it snows a lot. Someone has made roof tiles which can be heated.
In this area, too, removing snow must have been too much for people to handle (yuki-oroshi wa, te ni amaru shigoto datta no daro). Studies show that if just a third of a roof is made up of these tiles, the snow on the entire roof will melt and that the electric bill for 30 days is only about \70,000-much less than what it would cost to hire people to remove it. Though the tiles are still undergoing tests, there are already orders from Tohoku and Hokkaido. Next winter, karera no te ni amatta, yuki-oroshi no hitsuyo wa nakunaru kamo shirenai (it might be unnecessary to have to get rid of by hand the snow which people up till now have found so difficult to handle).