The other day I came across the Japanese word ‘satoyama’ (里山) and upon asking several people about this word, I found that not only does it have different meanings depending on each person’s experience, but it also has no simple translation in English. From the people I talked to and an online translator, the definition I came up with for satoyama is an undeveloped wooded area near a populated area.
Satoyama is just one of many Japanese words and phrases that do not translate easily into English. Let’s look at a few others.
Itadakimasu (いただきます): This ever-present statement at meal times it often translated as ‘bon appetit’ or ‘let’s eat’ but these don’t carry the deeper nuance of itadakimasu which expresses humbly receiving something with gratitude. A closer comparison is when someone prays and thanks God for the meal.
Tsundoku (積読): Do you know a bookworm who has piles of unread books lying around? If so, that is basically how you have to translate tsundoku into English.
Wabi-sabi (侘び寂び): This is often translated as beauty in imperfection, but with wabi-sabi encompassing simplicity, empty spaces, asymmetry and even silence, it has a much deeper meaning.
Often these words that clearly define something in one language become loanwords in another such as English adopting tsunami, doppelganger (from German), and C’est la vie (from French). Who knows, as more and more people learn about and visit Japan, maybe the above words will become part of other languages’ vernacular. Erik