“Mayonaka no door” from the 1970s in Japan

“Mayonaka 真夜中” is a Japanese word and “door” is English. Japanese often name the title of the song this way. It’s confusing. Although, they spell “Doa ドア” not “door” in Japan. I mean, this is a foreign word for Japanese people.

When I listened to this song, I was a junior high school student back then. In schools, there had been storms in classrooms, because some bad boys belonged to any class. And I didn’t know what it means to love a female yet. The lyrics of this song are a bit complicated.

In this song, she is listening to music from the record. Do you know what “record” is? It’s a black disk to record music. There were no iPhones, CD-players and Amazon yet around those days.

“Mayonaka no door,” it means “door at midnight.” 

She left her lover but she is still thinking that he may come to her. She imagines her lover is standing over the door, while she is listening to music in her room. It’s midnight, therefore she feels lonely. No matter how much she hopes he comes again, nobody emerges from the door.

“Stay with me, mayonaka no door wo tataki”

Japanese singer Miki Matsubara sang this way. She was born in 1959, and passed away in 2004 unfortunately. This song was a big hit in 1979 in Japan. Those days, the Japanese economy was growing quickly. Whereas, we had many environmental problems domestically. There were many bad students in schools and also you saw many political conflicts in society. Although, Japan was lively and we were enjoying ourselves everyday, as I.

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!