January 10, 2013

Tonan no Tsubasa (12)

The Rishi (里祠) is the sacred building in the center of every city where the riboku tree (里木) is enshrined. There are two types of yaboku (野木): yaboku from which plants and trees are born, and yaboku from which animals are born. See chapter 53 of Shadow of the Moon.

Dropping the honorific suffix from a name (san, chan, kun, senpai, sensei, sama, etc.) is called yobisute (呼び捨て).

Except among close acquaintances, it remains a pretty hard and fast rule in Japan that anybody above you in social rank gets an honorific suffix, including older siblings and upperclassmen. This is why direct inquiries about age, even from strangers, is not a faux pas. Age is a critical variable in determining social rank, which in turn determines how a person should be addressed.

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Comments
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
1/11/2013 12:41 AM   
First paragraph i assume is missing of in "the depths the canyon"?

And thank you for your hardwork!
# posted by Anonymous JP
1/12/2013 2:27 PM   
pg 121 I think the first sentence is missing a 'she'.

pg 122, second paragraph 'and all the supplies where theirs' should be were.

Also, on pg 117 near the bottom, Rikou says 'I should have come along with.' Does this need a 'you'?

I was surprised to see Rikou show up again. I wonder if he knows something we don't.
# posted by Blogger Eugene
1/13/2013 12:04 PM   
Fixed. Thanks. Rikou certainly does have an inkling.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
1/16/2013 8:23 AM   
Thank you very much for your hard work!