Problem-Solving Archives - understand-culture

A Hundred Times to the Scene

Genba hyakkai (現場百回): the scene a hundred times. Japanese detectives use the phrase for a basic rule of investigation. The detective goes back to the scene of the crime again and again.

An article on the business site Gentōsha Gold Online gives the rule in full: Jiken wa genba de okite iru. Kihon wa genba da. Saitei hyakkai wa genba ni itte genba ni tachikaette sōsa shiro. “The incident happens at the scene. The basics are the scene. Go to the scene at least a hundred times, go back to the scene, and investigate.”

Learn the Pine from the Pine

Matsu no koto wa matsu ni narae, take no koto wa take ni narae. “Learn about the pine from the pine, and about the bamboo from the bamboo.” The words come from the haiku poet Matsuo Bashō. His disciple Hattori Dohō recorded them in Sanzōshi (Three Booklets).

Dohō explains what the master meant: shii o hanare yo, leave personal intent behind.

Sketching from Life

The haiku poet Masaoka Shiki called on poets to practice shasei, sketching from life. The magazine Waraku writes that his idea of shasei had direct or indirect links to Western-style painters, among them Nakamura Fusetsu, Shimomura Izan and Asai Chū.

In 1894, Shiki asked Shimomura to draw the illustrations for the haiku column of the newspaper Shō-Nippon. Shimomura declined, and the work went to Nakamura.

Visit and Investigate

In third grade, Japanese pupils study the production and sales work in their own area. The national curriculum for elementary schools, the Course of Study issued by the Ministry of Education, tells them how. They are to kengaku chōsa shitari, visit and investigate, and look things up in maps and other materials. Then they summarize what they found on a blank map.

In fourth grade, the same instruction returns for the public services that support people’s health and living environment.

On-Site Headquarters

Under Article 25 of Japan’s Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act, the national headquarters for an extraordinary disaster can set up a hijō saigai genchi taisaku honbu, an on-site headquarters. It works inside the affected area and carries out part of the national headquarters’ work there.

The Noto Peninsula earthquake struck on January 1, 2024. At 11:22 p.m. that day, the government set up an on-site headquarters inside the Ishikawa prefectural government building, headed by a senior vice-minister of the Cabinet Office.

Hate the Offense, Not the Person

Tsumi o nikunde hito o nikumazu (罪を憎んで人を憎まず): hate the offense, not the person. The Daijisen dictionary defines it this way. Hate and punish the offense that was committed, but do not go so far as to hate the person who committed it.

The saying is traced to the Chinese Confucian book Kusōshi (Kongcongzi). Its original wording speaks of hating the intent, not the person. In Japan, the word for intent became the word for offense.

A Notice to All Residents

A column on the real estate site LIFULL HOME’S advises residents of Japanese apartment buildings not to deal with a noisy neighbor directly. Direct dealings between residents, it says, can cause further trouble. The best way is to go through a third party, such as the management company.

The management company then usually puts up a notice or puts a letter in the mailboxes. A real estate blog adds that the warning is often addressed to all residents, not to one particular resident.

Encouragement for a Yokozuna

The Yokozuna Deliberation Council judges the conduct of sumo’s grand champions. Article 5 of its internal rules lists cases in which it investigates a yokozuna. By a vote of at least two thirds of the members present, it can then pass resolutions such as gekirei (encouragement), chūi (caution) or intai kankoku (recommendation to retire).

In November 2018, the council unanimously resolved to encourage Kisenosato, who had withdrawn from the Kyushu tournament. After the November 2020 tournament, Hakuhō and Kakuryū received the first caution in its history.

Takanohana Removed from the Board

On January 4, 2018, an extraordinary meeting of the councilors of the Japan Sumo Association unanimously approved the removal of the stable master Takanohana as a director. The case concerned an assault by the former yokozuna Harumafuji on the wrestler Takanoiwa. As head of the association’s tour division, Takanohana had neglected to report to the association. He had also not cooperated with its investigation.

The chair of the councilors, Ikebō Yasuko, spoke about a call from the association’s chairman that Takanohana had not returned: Ichijirushiku rei o kaite ita no de wa nai ka. “Was this not a serious lack of courtesy?”

The Vocabulary of Acting Alone

Dokudan senkō (独断専行): deciding alone and pushing ahead. The Daijisen dictionary defines it as pushing a matter forward on one’s own judgment, as one pleases. Its example is shikkōbu ga dokudan senkō suru, the executive acts on its own.

Atama goshi (頭越し): over the head. A Japanese-English dictionary gives the example Kare wa kachō no atama goshi ni chokusetsu shachō ni sono teian o motte itta. He took the proposal directly to the president, over the head of his section chief.