Book : In The Miso Soup
a review of Ryu Murakami's novel - here .
i like the starting of the novel!
extract
My name is Kenji.
As I pronounced these words in English I wondered why we have so many ways of saying the same thing in Japanese.
Hardboiled: おれの名はケンジだ。(Ore no na wa Kenji da.)
Polite: 私はケンジともします 。(Watashi wa Kenji to moshimasu.)
Causal: ぼくはケンジ。(Boku wa Kenji.)
Gay : あたしケンジて言うのよう 。 (Atashi Kenji 'te iu no yo!)
the starting of these few lines have caught my attention despite i know this novel talks about sex industry in Japan for tourists.
for me, i understand the both romanji and japanese phrases so they are comical to me when i read the different ways of introducing oneself in Japanese. i can tell you the above are not conclusive! there are EVEN more polite ones!
now i shall read and sip over my yakun bread and coffee with dayday!