Thank you for this lovely and beautifully written glimpse into the daily complexities of Japanese language, it's why trying to learn Japanese makes my head spin! :) Even though it was just one sentence, the part about religion in Japan really hit me because I'm regularly asked about my Japanese wife's religion and the best answer is, "she's Japanese." There's no separating out the Buddhist and Shinto rituals from being Japanese, but it doesn't tell you anything about actual belief! It is so similar to my secular Jewish identity. The traditions are inextricably intertwined between religious, ethnic, and cultural.
I read I Am A Cat while I was living in Japan twenty-ish years ago, but translated to English - given the nature of the protagonist, and cats in general as you say, I'm delighted that the title itself carried so much depth of meaning, that I had indeed missed (my Japanese then wasn't good enough to read that book, and it certainly isn't now!). Soseki certainly had a gift for the fly on the wall aka cat in the room style of gossipy storytelling 😁
Thank you for this lovely and beautifully written glimpse into the daily complexities of Japanese language, it's why trying to learn Japanese makes my head spin! :) Even though it was just one sentence, the part about religion in Japan really hit me because I'm regularly asked about my Japanese wife's religion and the best answer is, "she's Japanese." There's no separating out the Buddhist and Shinto rituals from being Japanese, but it doesn't tell you anything about actual belief! It is so similar to my secular Jewish identity. The traditions are inextricably intertwined between religious, ethnic, and cultural.
I read I Am A Cat while I was living in Japan twenty-ish years ago, but translated to English - given the nature of the protagonist, and cats in general as you say, I'm delighted that the title itself carried so much depth of meaning, that I had indeed missed (my Japanese then wasn't good enough to read that book, and it certainly isn't now!). Soseki certainly had a gift for the fly on the wall aka cat in the room style of gossipy storytelling 😁
What about wariwari wa?
Ware-ware is one way of saying "we"