I guess I'll toss inmy two cents as I see and/or go
through this (Japanese New year) every year...
--- Anand Chelian <achelian@yahoo.com> からのメッセージ
：
Apologies for the previous post.
--- David Gao <ukiechan2003@yahoo.com> wrote:
--siaru 14mar02/06oct03
"tabi" and "zori" are probably not on your usual
fanfic readers'
vocabulary list. I'd recommend reworking to use
brief descriptions
instead of the Japanese names - although they give
a clue to the
timeframe of the story.
Actually, if I understand correctly, this is a
traditional trip to
the shrine on New Year's Day. The outfit is very
specific (for
females anyway), and I don't think anything is wrong
with using
the specific terms. Other terms like kimono,
yukata, and obi got
by without comment, so I'd suggest that these be
kept. (A note or
glossary at the end might help though.) It can
happen at just
about anytime during the day. I would guess that
they decided to
visit later during the day (perhaps the afternoon).
Actually you make the trip to the shrine at night close to
midnight. You go say a prayer, ring the bell and buy new
omamori for the new year... usually "koutsuuanzen"
driving/traffic saftey or education/studies (sorry never
bought one so I don't know the name in Japanese).
During the day all day there are special New year's shows
on tv... like geinoujin karaoke (tv personality/famous
person karaoke), amature karaoke, variety tv, etc.
Regular programming is cancelled. And don't forget
Osechiryouri... New year's food. I can't remember
everything that's in it now.. if anyone wants to know,
write me privately and I'll look it up.
When a bus paused to let a passenger out at the
front just as
she arrived at the bus stop, she stepped up in the
back and
let it carry her away from her life.
She looked around: the bus was nearly empty as it
resumed its
journey towards the great city's heart. She took a
convenient
seat and stared out the window, idly watching the
city slip by,
until the darkness of the closed shops and quiet
houses beyond
the window made her face her reflection once more.
Good stuff... but she rode the bus for an entire
day? It's symbolic,
yes, if you think about it - running around in
circles with nowhere to
go, completely at odds with the rest of Tokyo
because she chose that one
day to get away and dress up like a normal girl
when most of everyone
else got traditional. As much an indication of
her bad timing as
everything else, but once again, I have to rework
the image to make more
sense out of this, and it's detracting from my
ability to simply enjoy
the piece. Perhaps it's all just me though, since
I'm not all that fast
on the uptake.
I'm not sure that is what the case is. If it is the
case, it
definitely needs to be made more clear. BTW, there
is no good timing
during New Year's everything is closed. AIUI, she
boarded the bus in
the late afternoon, and it became dark soon
afterwards while she rode
the bus.
Actually Tokyo is far from dead on New year's eve. Stores
and whatnot are still open and karaoke is open all night
still. Young people are out partying. the trains, both
JR (Japan Rail) and private lines run all night long
(normally stop at about 1am).
Speaking of which, prior to all this are the bonenkai
(year end party). Basically just another chance to go
drink. You have MANY of them.. the company party, party
with your friends from work, party with your old friends
(high school, college, etc.), party with your "club"
friends (college "circle" hobbies, etc.). You can easily
have 4-5 of these during the month of December.
New Year's day is pretty dead... sty at home and watch
more New Year's tv shows and eat osechiryouri. A pretty
dull day. A lot of people have gone to their parents'
home or if the parents' had moved to the Tokyo area,
everyone goes back to the family home in the country.
The next day stores are open with their special new year's
sale... which is known for the "grab bag" which contains a
bunch of products from said department of the store...
what is a secret. You pay a set price depending on the
size of the bag. The contents can easily exceed the price
you paid...
Nice again. Although, that last sentence
concealed the symbol of red
thread tying into love and relationship because it
shifted the emphasis
onto Kasumi's fixation on perfection. Don't know
if that's intended.
See "red string of fate". It ties in perfectly with
the red string
(hair) around Ranma's finger. It means that Kasumi
and Ranma are the
intended couple. This is an amazingly Japanese
story.
I thought the imagery was as well.
All in all not bad. Oh,. McDonald's is "Makudonarudo" in
Japanese. I would bet the one in Roppongi would stay open
until 5am like normal even on New year's.
An off-hand thought... why is Kasumi riding a bus? I
mean... the train makes more sense. The buses available
from that area won't go far... she'll have to change
trains at least twice. I'd suspect most people would take
the train.. even if trying to waste time.
That's about all for now...
J
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