Happy summer wedding

2006-04-24

Happy summer wedding

Most people with even a passing interest in Japanese popular culture have heard of Morning Musume, the rotating all-girl audition-fed entertainmob that periodically divides into smaller "units" to release singles targeted more precisely at certain market sectors, only to later recombine and go on tour with ~~MATSUURA Aya~~ TOKITŌ Ami. They are an adorable harmonizing shoggoth, and their pentapedal master is Tsunku, a sinister, ambiguously dressed pop genius who has or shares writing credits on virtually all of their material but still finds time to dispense love advice to the nation at large in book form.

Now, according to a post on his blog, he's getting married this June. (The first round of auditions begins in April. ... Kidding.) As a detached, scientific observer, I am wondering whether this will lead to any changes in his art-harem. Will any of them, for example, be allowed to have boyfriends if they too date them safely and chastely from across the country? (His relationship with his fiancee began when she was still living in Fukuoka.) Will he still have time to micro-manage every last feather on their outfits? Will they start singing about being married as well as just (occasionally) getting married?

Bonus, unrelated news for Japanese learners: a sudden wave of stories about SETO Saki's new DVD, Love, all referring to her behind and thighs as being mucchiri. (Apparently quoting her.) This is normally where I would explain what the word meant, but since it's mimetic, you'd probably be better off just looking at the pictures.

Popularity factor: 10

Justin:

In every one of the links you gave, there are no thick or ass pictures ... I am thus left clueless as to what mucchiri might mean. I only guessed something along the lines of ぷよぷよ or ふにゃふにゃ.

Where does むっちり stand in all this?

Justin:

thick != thigh

Azuma:

Think of puyo-puyo as bursting, bubbly-fat, and hunya-hunya as loosely, baggily-fat. I guess it would be like filled-up-to-the-brim, ripely-fat

language:

I'd guess it means 'hawt, hott,' except that women never talk about their own bodies that way.

Matt:

OK, OK. It means (in this context) "pleasingly rounded, with elasticity". "Ripely" is a good adverb. I know that the pictures don't make her look "rounded" enough to comment on, but standards are different in Japan and presumably she's filled out since her last photo shoot or something. Or maybe her agent told her "Saki! Saki! Saki! Your keyword for this release is MUCCHIRI! Just keep saying it and even the blogs will take note! No, it doesn't matter if it's true or not!"

IbaDaiRon:

She was born 10 days before I came to Japan.

Any potential interest is tempered by the thought that she could be one of my students. Or my daughter.

Obviously I am no longer young enough nor yet old enough to be excited, むっちりなおしり or no.

"And that's about the thighs of it!"

Justin:

Maki expressed confusion at the extra ッ in むちり. She then changed it to むちりむちり and gave the perfect analogy: Jennifer Lopez' ass.

Pleasantly round.

Anonymous:

What is the etymological relationship between mutchiri and muchimuchi (or kossori and kosokoso, etc, ad nauseum)?

Matt:

I can't cite a source for this, but my understanding of the theoretical family tree is something like this, using /biku/ (i.e. bikkuri) as an example:

1.0 ?/biku/ (original form)

2.0 /biku to/ (+ quotative)2.1 /bikutto/ (2.0 gemminated for emphasis/rhythm)

3.0 /bikubiku/ (doubled for emphasis/rhythm)

4.0 /bikuri/ (maybe + 有り?)4.1 /bikkuri/ (4.0 gemminated for emphasis/rhythm)4.2 */bikuribikuri/ (4.0 doubled for emphasis/rhythm)

5.0 */bikura/ (+ /ra/ was an old mimetic ending)

6.0 */bikuraka/ (+ /raka/; may actually be 5.1 in the sense that it's really "X + /ra/ + /ka/ (the naru adjective-maker)")6.1 */bikuraka(k)i/ (/-i/ adjectivalized)

Note that the ones marked with asterisks don't actually exist (AFAIK) in the /biku/ family, but you can see them elsewhere, e.g. /yurari/, /yurariyurari/, or /yahayaha/, /yahara/, /yahari/ (-> /yappari/), /yaharaka/, /yaharakai/...

Anonymous:

Thanks, that's helpful. But god, what a mess.

The generative possiblities are fun though.

2006-04-24