つまらないものですが


JAPANESE NATURALLY/ Mizue Sasaki

 つまらないものですが
(tsumaranai mono desuga)

木村:あのー、これつまらないものですが。
加藤:あっ、かえってご心配いただいてすみません。

Kimura: Anoo, kore tsumaranai mono desu ga.
Kato : A, kaette go-shinpai itadaite sumimasen.

Kimura: This is for you. Ifs nothing special, but...
Kato : Oh, thank you. You needn't have gone to all that trouble.


tsumaranai mono desu ga is an expression used when humbly offering someone a gift.
Long-time foreign residents of Japan will no doubt be familiar with this expression. While one soon learns that it is the social norm to take a gift when visiting a Japanese household, students of the language also need to know how to present the gift.
For example, instead of saying, "You'll really love this cake, it's delicious!" it is better to play down the value of the present and say something like, Tsumaranai mono desu ga, meshi-agatte kudasai (This isn't anything special, but please try some), or Tsumaranai mono desu ga, inaka kara okutte kimashita no de (This is nothing special, but my family sent it from home)
Another example: Tsumaranai mono desu ga, Hawai ryokoo no omiyage desu (This is a souvenir from my trip to Hawaii. It's nothing special.).
Inazo Nitobe, whose likeness appears on the \5,000 note, is the author of a book called Bushido. In Chapter 6, Rei (Etiquette) , he writes that the American way of thinking and the Japanese way of thinking are ultimately the same.
He explains that when Americans give a gift, the thinking behind it is: "You are a wonderful person, so I'm giving you this wonderful gift."
In contrast, the Japanese attitude is that "You are a wonderful person, therefore no present, however good, can be wonderful enough for you."
Americans praise the quality of the thing, whereas Japanese refer to the spirit in which it is given. It was sharp of Nitobe to make this observation.
Apparently, at JR Morioka Station they sell a tasty cookie called Tsumaranai mono desu ga. Next time I go there, I must try them!

The writer is a professor at Yokohama National University.

April 13, 1996