Hi all,
Since this is the first article of many I thought it`d be nice to introduce this section here.

First of all this will be a monthly thing, I`ll and get the new articles in around the 1st of the month. While not enterly samurai-esque the article might give you more of a feeling on how different Rokugan is from your world. I`d like to thank my friend Karasawa Atsuko for proof reading and commenting on my articles!

As it is almost the end of the month I thought that I`d start up these with "How to say goodbye" in Japanese.

Goodbye

In English "goodbye" implies that you are going, but that you will most likely see each other later. If you were to say goodbye in Japanese and wanted an equivalent of "goodbye" then sayonara would be the best way. Sayonara is the most commonly known Japanese word, but it`s far from being the only way.

Let`s take for example a Samurai, would is be proper for him to say sayonara to his wife? To imply that he will be coming back? A samurai is ready to lay his life for his lord at any moment! He doesn`t know if he will come back and so to say sayonara would be a bit dishonourable. Remember, words in Rokugan are stronger then steel!

So if you can`t say sayonara then what should you say? Sarabaja while meaning goodbye implies that you may not come back. The perfect "exit" word for a samurai to show his devotion to his lord, to show how honourable he is!

What if you just want to say "see you" or "see you later/tomorrow" would you say Sarabaja? The answer is yes and no. If you were in a conversation and exiting, you might want to say Sore dewa, sarabaja or "well then, goodbye". In a lighter conversation you can drop the sarabaja and just say Dewa, mata ashita/kondo or "Well, see you tomorrow/later".

Now that we`ve looked at formal conversations let`s take a look at casual ones. To say Dewa mata kondo while not bad, sounds a little serious, too serious for an informal conversation. Just plain jaa ne or "see you" is the most friendly and commonly used way, adding ashita (tomorrow) or kondo(next time) between Jaa and ne to form "see you tomorrow" and "see you later".

The Japanese language plays on words more then many know; to speak properly is truly as strong as to act properly!

Sarabaja,

Comments about this text? Want more information? Something isn`t clear? Email Kijutsu