医者：木村さん、検査の結果はどこも悪くありませんでしたよ。
木村さん：本当ですか。よかった。
医者：あっ、ちょっと待って。これは鈴木さんのデータでした。木村さんは胃に異常がありますね。
木村さん：（ひとりごと）なんだ。さっきのは糠喜びだったのか。
Nuka-yorokobi
Isha: Kimura-san, kensa no kekka wa doko mo warufeuarimasen deshita yo.
Kimura-san: Honto desu fea. Yofeatta.
Isha: Aa, chotto matte. Kore wa Suzuki-san no deeta deshita. Kimura-san wa i ni ijoo ga arimasu ne.
Kimura-san: (Hitorigoto) Nan da. Sakki no wa nuka-yorokobi datta no ka.
The doctor: Mr. Kimura, the results of your examination show that you are fine, no problems.
Mr. Kimura: Really? That's a relief.
The doctor: Ah, wait a minute. That was Mr. Suzuki's chart. Mr. Kimura, it looks as you have something wrong with your stomach.
Mr. Kimura: (To himself) What! I got all excited over nothing.
* * *
Nuka-yorokobi can be translated as 'a premature or short-lived joy, gladness without real cause. Nuka refers to the powder produced when brown rice is made into white rice. Japanese often put cucumbers or eggplants into nuka to make Japanese-style pickles or use it to draw out the harshness from the broth made when cooking bamboo shoots. In any case, it's something all Japanese are familiar with.
Ningen dokku (a thorough medical checkup) is a good example of Japanese-English. When a boat needs a good going-over it is put in a dock. People need to be 'checked' as well. Recently I've been having some pain in my stomach and so decided to have a complete physical. I had to spend a day and a night in the hospital. In fact, there were 12 of us from Yamaguchi University. We changed into our pajamas and went from one check to another. First an electrocardiogram, then X-rays.... We had lunch between tests, took a bath in the evening and then continued talking among ourselves in one of the lounges. As you can imagine, we talked about health, about everything that can go wrong with the human body.
The next day, after all the tests were done, we were called into the doctor's office to hear the results. One of my colleagues is now in the hospital because they found a lump that needed to be checked.
Let's look at this week's conversation again. Just after the doctor says there is nothing wrong, Mr. Kimura is told that his stomach needs to be checked.
"Hotto shita no mo, nuka-yorokobi datta (So my relief was premature)." The doctor must have felt bad too because he said, "Nuka-yorokobi sasete, sumimasen deshita ne (Sorry to have gotten your hopes up)." As for me, I was told that there was nothing "out of order." That only confused me though. After all, the pain in my stomach is sometimes unbearable. What can it be? Maybe it's just my imagination. Nuka- yorokobi ni owaranakereba yoi no desu ga (I just hope this isn't some sort of premature joy).
Some other examples :
-A person who has just been promoted to division chief is out celebrating with his wife when he suddenly receives a phone call telling him that his company has gone bankrupt. "Buchoo ni narete yorokonda ga, kekkyoku nuka-yorokobi ni owatte shimatta (I'd been so happy to be promoted. It was just gladness without cause)." -A person who has just asked someone to get married and received an affirmative answer is suddenly turned down. "Zannen na koto ni, sore wa nuka-yorokobi ni sugimasen deshita (Unfortunately, it was just a case of premature optimism)." One can imagine so many different kinds of situa- tions. I'm sure all of us have had experiences where this expression was appropriate.