This article is for those who have traveled to Japan and wondered what the announcements on JR trains were saying in Japanese.
Those who were excited by the stuffed and super-punctual trains and the safe, highly ordered city, come on in and learn some Japanese!
Introduction
Yamanote Line (やまのてせん 山手線) is a train line that runs in a loop shape. In this busy city, a train on each direction comes and goes every 2-5 minutes. When I first came to Tokyo from a rural place where I had grown up, seeing the herds of somewhat tired-looking businesspeople had been surrounded by exhaustion. Every weekday morning they would come up the escalator with their tired faces; very few people are ready with a smile for their day full of excitements. Sadly to say, I’m about to become one of those exhausted people…
Watching them being sucked in and poured out from these trains, they kept me from being bored at the time. I am pretty sure the travelers from other countries would think the same way.
Anyways, here is an opportunity to learn Japanese from the automatic announcements made in trains.
Search a video on YouTube using keywords such as
山手線 放送
... and you'll be led to a video with a recording of the announcements with Japanese and English. One of these excellent videos is here. Open this YouTube link in a new tab or window:
Rules
Each of the following Japanese passages are written in four forms:
1 Kanji (漢字)form
2 Hiragana (ひらがな)form
3 Romaji (ローマ字)form (Japanese in alphabet form)
4 Literal Translation
5 Translation
Comments will follow the star mark. ★
Next Stop Information つぎは・・・です
1「次は 品川 品川 お出口は 右側です」
2つぎは しながわ しながわ おでぐちは みぎがわです
3Tsugi wa Shinagawa Shinagawa o-Deguchi wa Migi gawa desu.
4Next is Shinagawa x2 exits are right side
5Next stop: Shinagawa. Doors to the right.
★出口 でぐち: exit. The [お] is here to make it more polite. It does make sense if you drop off this [お]. The polite [お] appears again in the next line. If this polite [お] is droppable, in this article I would write “o-“. Words that start with a capital letter represents a noun.
Transfer Information おのりかえ
1「新幹線 東海道線 横須賀線 京浜東北線(大井町・蒲田方面) 京急線はお乗り換えです」
2しんかんせん とうかいどうせん よこすかせん けいひんとうほくせん(おおいまち・かまた ほうめん) けいきゅうせん は おのりかえ です
3Shinkansen Tokaido sen Yokosuka sen Keihin-Tohoku sen (Oimachi Kamata Houmen) Keikyu sen wa o-norikae desu.
4 Shinkansen, Tokaido line, Yokosuka line, Keihin-Tohoku line (Oimachi Kamata Direction), Keikyu line is change
5 Change here for the following lines: Shinkansen, Tokaido line, Yokosuka line, Keihin-Tohoku line for Oimachi and Kamata, and the Keikyu line.
★Here you see the droppable [お] again. [お] is placed here in line to show gratitude to the passengers.
sen = line. If you hear a whole bunch of ‘sen's in an announcement, get ready for a stampede rushing in and out of the train. The more the ‘sen’s, the bigger the terminal. Shinagawa is one of the six large terminal stations in Tokyo, located at the southeastern part of the Yamanote loop.
Priority Seating
1 この電車には優先席があります。お年寄りや体の不自由なお客様、妊娠中や乳幼児をお連れのお客様がいらっしゃいましたら席をお譲りください。
2 この でんしゃ には ゆうせんせき が あります。おとしより や からだ の ふじゆう な おきゃくさま、 にんしんちゅう や にゅうようじ を おつれ の おきゃくさま が いらっしゃいましたら せき を おゆずりください。
3 Kono Densha ni wa Yusen-seki ga arimasu. Otoshiyori / ya / Karada no fujiyuu na / Okyakusama, / ninshin-chu / ya / Nyu-yoji / wo otsure / no Okyakusama ga / irasshaimashitara / Seki / wo oyuzuri-kudasai.
4 This train / has / Priority Seating. The elderly / and / body with disability / Customers, / under pregnancy / and / Infants-and-Small children / are with you / Customers / are here / Seat / please offer
4 This train / has / Priority Seating. The elderly / and / body with disability / Customers, / under pregnancy / and / Infants-and-Small children / are with you / Customers / are here / Seat / please offer
5 This train has priority seating. Please offer your seat to the elderly, persons with disablilities, pregnant women, and passengers with infants and small children.
★Lots of [お] appears in this text, but no [お] are droppable.
お客様:おきゃくさま:Okyakusama:Customers, in a polite way.
-We do not drop the [お] and say 客様.
An inpolite way to say customers is 「客:きゃく:kyaku」.
Unwanted customers would fit in this expression.
Unwanted customers would fit in this expression.
お連れ:おつれ:Otsure :Accompanying; with somebody, somewhat in a polite way
-This [お] is also undroppable.
An inpolite expression for this is 「連れている:つれている:tsurete iru」.
お譲りください:おゆずりください:Oyuzuri-kudasai
O-xxxxx-kudasai is the polite form of a verb xxxxx.
In this case, the verb is "譲る : ゆずる:yuzuru:offer / give"
★優先席 ゆうせんせき priority seating
Trains, especially in Tokyo, are super-crowded. Passengers are asked to show their generosity. We have this kind of announcement just because the younger, working-aged passengers are not generous enough for the following reasons:
-The office workers in Tokyo are often overworked, stressful, and fatigued, wanting to sit down and take a rest.
-The elder generation (aged 60+) are getting overpopulated.
-Room rates in downtown Tokyo are especially high, making commuters travel long every day.
-The elder generation (aged 60+) are getting overpopulated.
-Room rates in downtown Tokyo are especially high, making commuters travel long every day.
Grabbing a seat every day is like a war. A war-free section should be available for those who really need it.
放送を教材に日本語の勉強ができるページを作ってみようと思ったけれども, それはそれで難しそうですね・・・。このシリーズつづくのだろうかww
Today I learned this:
Learning a language is difficult, and so is teaching.
If anybody wants me to keep on going, please leave some comments below.
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