妻：姪が小学校に入学するの。お祝いに花束を持っていこうと思うんだけど。
夫：そんな手間ひまかけるよりも、電話一本すれば、花束つきのお祝い電報が送れるよ。
Tema Hima Kakeru
Tsuma: Mei ga shoogakkoo ni nyuuigaku suru no. Oiwai ni hanataba wo motte ikoo to omou'n dakedo.
Otto: Sonna tema hima kakeru yori mo, denwa ippon sureba, hanatabatsuki no oiwai denpoo ga okureru yo.
Wife: Our niece is entering elementary school. I was thinking about taking her a bouquet of flowers in honor of the occasion.
Husaband: Instead of expending all that time and effort, with one phone call you could send a congratulatory telegram together with a bouquet.
Tema hima kakeru means 'to put in a lot of time and effort.' April - the season for cherry blossoms, and a time for various events like school and company entrance ceremonies. In fact, my younger sister's daughter is entering the first grade this April. I was thinking of cutting some flowering roses from our garden and giving them to her but thought tema hima kakete, sodateta bara wo kiru no wa kawaiso (what a pity it would be to cut the roses we'd put so much time and effort into growing) and s.o decided to have a florist make a bouquet. Upon hearing this, however, my husband said that, "kodomo no oiwai ni tema hima kakesugiru (that's too much time and effort to spend on congratulating a child). " I think, though, that tema hima kakeru koto de, aite ni aijo ga tsutawaru (putting a lot of time and effort into something is a way of expressing affection). What do you think? I finally called a florist and asked them to send some flowers and a telegram "Congratulations on Entering School!" It was so simple to do. It took just two minutes or so. The cost of the flowers and the telegram will be deducted from my bank account. Although my husband said, "Tema hima kakezu ni sunde, yokatta ne (It was nice you could take care of things without having to put in a lot of time and effort)," I somehow couldn't agree. It seemed like it had been too easy. Of course, from our niece's point of view, it didn't really matter, just as long as she got the lovely bouquet and telegram.
Telegrams have been in Japan for some 120 years. Before telephones, telegrams were apparently used more for sending bad news than for sending good news. They were especially useful when relatives and friends needed to be told that someone was seriously or critically ill. People must have worked from early in the morning until late at night delivering the messages. As phones became more and more com- mon, though, the way people used telegrams changed.
Instead of being used at times of emergency, today they are used to send simple messages, often ones of congratulations as in this week's example.
On my birthday, a car dealer sent me a nice decorative picture-telegram. My name and date of birth must be in some computer database. The company probably has a system for sending out cards without having to put in much time or effort (tema hima kakezu ni kado wo okuru shisutemu). I once received a telegram of pressed flowers on my wedding anniversary and a telegram that plays a little tune. To tell the truth, both made me quite happy.
Ima wa tema hima kakenakutemo, denwa de sumu jidai da (Ours is an age when one telephone call can save a lot of time and effort). For this reason, I think, things like tema hima kakete tsukutta ryori (a dinner that took a lot of time and effort to prepare) and tema hima kakete anda seta (a sweater that took a lot of time and effort to knit) have value.
For people we love, tema hima kakete nani ka wo shiteagetai mono da (we ought to do something which takes some time and effort).