In Natsume Sōseki’s novel Botchan, published in 1906 in the magazine Hototogisu, the narrator was born and raised in Tokyo. He takes a post at a middle school in a country town in Shikoku. His pupils write Tenpura sensei, Mr. Tempura, on the blackboard to make fun of him.
School Cliques
Gakubatsu (学閥): a school clique. The dictionary defines it as an exclusive group formed by people from the same school or the same academic school.
In the spring 2023 examination for career-track national civil servants, the University of Tokyo had more successful candidates than any other university, 193. That was 24 fewer than the year before.
Ten Generations in Kyoto
A popular saying holds that a person must live in Kyoto for ten generations to count as a Kyoto person. An essay in the journal of the Japan Society of Plasma Science and Fusion Research repeats it: “It is commonly said, Kyoto ten generations. Unless one has lived in Kyoto for ten generations, one is apparently not a Kyoto person.”
Outsiders, Young People and Fools
Yosomono, wakamono, bakamono: outsiders, young people and fools. The phrase is used in Japanese regional revitalization. At a regional development seminar on February 2, 2011, reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the speaker said that the presence of outsiders, young people and fools is indispensable.
A 2014 column in the Ryūkyū Shimpō says that outsiders and young people are said to be the ones who break through a stalled situation.
The Vocabulary of Belonging
Soto (外): outside. The Daijisen dictionary also defines it as people or places other than those concerned, an outsider, another person. One of its examples is kimitsu ga soto ni moreru, a secret leaks outside.
Miuchi (身内): followers of the same boss. Also, members of the same organization. A dictionary example: miuchi no fushōji o inpei suru, to cover up a scandal among one’s own.
Haenuki (生え抜き): born and bred. An HR glossary explains a haenuki employee as one hired as a new graduate, not a mid-career hire or an employee on loan from elsewhere.
Name-Taking
In traditional arts such as music and dance, a student who has learned a certain level of skill may receive a professional name from the head of the school, the iemoto. This is called natori, taking a name.
The Nipponica encyclopedia says that the iemoto gives the disciple some characters of the school’s name. As a rule, the iemoto receives a substantial sum and issues a certificate and a name plate. A natori may then take disciples and teach them as the iemoto’s representative.
Staying Late
Sābisu zangyō, service overtime, is overtime work that is not paid. In a survey reported in 2015 by Rengo, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, about 40 percent of workers said that they had been in a situation where they had to do it. The average was 16.7 hours a month.
Tsukiai zangyō, keeping-company overtime, means staying at work after one’s own tasks are done, to match colleagues or the boss. In a survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 12.8 percent named ending it, with bosses sending staff home early, as a measure needed to reduce overtime.
The Ten Demon Rules
The Oni jissoku, the Ten Demon Rules of the advertising company Dentsu, were set down in 1951 by Yoshida Hideo, its fourth president. The fifth rule reads: Torikundara hanasu na, korosarete mo hanasu na, mokuteki kansui made wa. “Once you take hold, do not let go. Do not let go even if it kills you, until the goal is reached.”
In December 2015, Takahashi Matsuri, a new employee aged 24, took her own life after long overwork. In July 2017, Gendai reported that from that fiscal year, the rules were no longer printed in the employee handbook.
Eight Hundred Eighty-One Pitches
At the summer Kōshien tournament in 2018, the high school pitcher Yoshida Kōsei threw 881 pitches over the whole tournament.
In November 2019, the high school baseball federation set a limit of 500 pitches in one week, starting with the spring Senbatsu tournament of 2020.
Star of the Giants
The manga Kyojin no Hoshi, Star of the Giants, ran in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1966 to 1971. One device from the story became famous: the dai rīgu bōru yōsei gipusu, the major league ball training cast, which the hero wears all the time to build his muscles. The magazine Hiragana Times calls the series a pioneer of supokon, sports and guts, manga.