God of Toilets : Japanese-like faith

This is a serious story, not a joke. There is a God of toilets in Japan.

One missionary came to Japan from the Philippines, and I met him. He sometimes asks me if the Japanese don’t have God. However I can’t answer his question well. Because I can say both that we don’t have a God and we have a God.

In Japan, since a long time ago, we have thought that there is a God everywhere, that God lives in everything. We call it “Yaoyorozu-no-Kami”. This way of thinking means that nature itself is God. God of forest, God of fire, God of ocean and…

The song called “God of toilets” is very popular in Japan. This song was sung by a female folk singer. And the lyrics of this song is this way;

In the toilet

That means there is a beautiful God.

So if you clean it every day,

you can be beautiful like a goddess

I’m not sure if he can understand what these lyrics mean or not. But, I can say, in my case I can understand these lyrics very well. Yes, actually I was thinking there was a God in the toilet when I was little.

In your country, what kind of God do you have?

“Yabai やばい” : Strongest Slang For Young Japanese

“Yabai” is a very useful Japanese slang because you can use this word in various scenes. It’s a time when you are dangerous or you made a big mistake or you are in panic, you can use it. For example,

Friend : Your mother was looking for you with anger.

You : Yabai!

In this case, you had to do some houseworks to help your mother but you didn’t. And eventually you left home to play with your friend. So your mother was angry.

Coworker : Your boss was saying you made a big mistake yesterday.

You : Yabai!

Yesterday, you were working until late. So you somehow finished the work and went back home. In the morning today, your boss told your coworker, “He made a big mistake, oh my God”. Hearing that, your coworker rushed to come to you to tell you. Okay, what to do?

Friend : You are too late to apply for the entrance examination.

You : Yabai!

You were going to apply for the college entrance examination. But you forgot to do that. It’s too late. Okay, what to do?

This slang “yabai” has a variation of it. It’s this.

“Yabakune?　やばくね？”

You can use this word as a question, and you need to raise the end. If your friend or coworker is in danger or made a mistake or in panic, try to say. “Yabakune?” Okay, you will be a perfect Japanese speaker!

お仕事 vs 仕事 : What's a different meaning between two words?

The Japanese language is sometimes complicated. Two words having the same meaning, sometimes have a bit of different meanings.

“仕事 Shigoto” means work or job in Emglish. “お仕事 Oshigoto” is a polite way to say more than 仕事. For example,

Man : パパはどこへ行ったの？ Where did your daddy go?

Little daughter : パパはお仕事. My daddy is job.

We use “お仕事” between familiar people. And we prefer to use “お仕事” against elders. And we use “仕事” relatively on formal relationships, public relationships.

Man1 : 君はこれからどこへ行く？ Where are you going from now?

Man2 : 仕事に行きます. I’m going to job.

“お” is a unique beautiful language in Japanese, but you can’t use it all Japanese words. I can say, there is a rule which we are using “お”. You can say “酒” and “お酒”. However, you can say “ビール” but not “おビール”. If you said “おビール” while talking with friends, they definitely say “You are funny!”.