ohisahiburi!!! Genki desu ka? I was lazy for a year, but I'm back now 😆
Posts about train announcements are popular on both this blog and on my YouTube channel, so let’s do a shinkansen version today!
Let’s jump right into it with our first announcement.
Kyou mo shinkansen wo goriyou kudasaimashite, arigatou gozaimasu. Kono densha wa nozomi-gou Toukyou-yuki desu. Tochuu no teishaeki wa [station names] desu.
Thank you for riding the shinkansen again today. This is the Nozomi super express bound for Tokyo. This train stops at [station names].
This is the same sentence with the polite keigo removed:
Kyou mo shinkansen wo tsukatte kurete, arigatou gozaimasu.
Kyou mo: The point here is the use of “mo”. It carries the nuance of saying, “You’ve ridden the shinkansen many times before, and today is not your first time, right?”
Kudasaru:
The polite form of “kureru”, which is used to express gratitude when someone
does something kind for you.
Arigatou: Used before “kurete”, as in “kurete arigatou” or “tetsudatte kurete arigatou”. This results in the “te” verb form being used in two verbs back-to-back, but there’s no problem with that.
Tsuzuite, shanai no goannai wo itashimasu.
Jiyuuseki wa ichi-gousha, ni-gousha, san-gousha desu. Kono densha wa zenseki kin’en to natte orimasu. Otabako wo suwareru okyakusama wa kitsune ruum wo goriyou kudasai.
May I have your attention please.
Non-reserved seats are in cars 1, 2, and 3. All seats on this train are non-smoking. Those wishing to smoke may do so in the designated smoking rooms.
A simplified sentence:
Kono densha wa zenseki kin’en desu. Tabako wo suu okyakusama wa kitsuen ruumu wo tsukatte kudasai.
Natte orimasu: Humble form of “natte imasu.” The expression “kin’en desu” is assertive, making a strong impression. They don’t want to outright say “It’s forbidden!” to passengers that want to smoke, so the softer expression “natte imasu” is used. “Natte” comes from “narimasu”, meaning “to become”, but in this case, “natte imasu” does not indicate change and instead refers to the current state of things.
Suwareru: The polite form of “suu”. It’s written identically to the passive tense.
Keitai denwa wa manaa moodo ni kirikaeru ka, mawari no okyakusama no gomeiwaku to naranai you ni, gokyouryoku wo onegai itashimasu.
We ask that you switch your mobile phone to silent mode to avoid inconveniencing other passengers.
Meiwaku to naru: “Meiwaku to naru” means the same thing as “meiwaku ni naru”, which is “to inconvenience others.” The Japanese are taught from a young age not to trouble others, and everyone is expected to behave in a manner that is considerate of others when on trains or in other public places.
Naranai you ni: The expression “you ni” can be used in many ways, so it’s best to examine the surrounding text when considering its meaning. Here, the sentence is followed by “onegai shimasu”, implying that “you ni” being used in a request. “Mawari no okyakusama no meiwaku to naranai” is that request.
Okyakusama ni onegai itashimasu. Eki oyobi shanai e no kikenbutsu no mochikomi wa kinshi sarete orimasu. Fushin na mono ya koui ni okizuki no baai wa joumuin mata wa kakariin made oshirase kudasai.
Hazardous items are prohibited in stations and on trains. If you notice any suspicious items or behavior, please notify crew or station staff.
Oyobi: “A
oyobi B” means the same thing as “A mo B mo”, so in this case, the announcement
is saying that bringing dangerous items into stations is prohibited and that
bringing them on trains is also prohibited.
Kinshi sarete: The passive form of “kinshi suru”.
Orimasu: The
humble form of “imasu.”
Okizuki: Noun. Its verb form is “kizuku”. “Ki ga tsuku” means the same thing.
Mata, shanai de kinkyuu jitai ga hassei shita baai wa, chokusetsu joumuin ni oshirase itadaku ka, kyakushitsu ni aru hijou teishi botan de oshirase kudasai.
In case of emergency, please notify train crew directly or by using the SOS button found in passenger cars.
Both “itadaku” and “kudasai” can be used interchangeably in sentences, so you can use whichever you wish. The subject changes depending on which one you select, but in sentences like this where the subject is omitted, the meaning remains unchanged in either case. I think this announcement uses both to avoid repeating the same expression.
However, the complexity of this sentence becomes more apparent the longer you look at it. I’ll first cover the comparatively simple “kudasai” sentence.
Oshirase kudasai: Here is the full sentence:
- Okyakusama ga watashi-tachi (joumuin) ni (kinkyuu jitai wo) shirasete kudasai.
The “ni” here means “to” in English. “Passengers will inform [to] us”.
Please note that the subjects differ between sentences using “itadaku” and those using “kudasai”.
Oshirase itadaku: The full sentence is “Watashi-tachi (joumuin) wa okyakusama ni (kinkyuu jitai wo) botan de shirasete itadaku”. I think some readers will wonder why the announcement says “joumuin ni oshirase itadaku”.
- Watashi-tachi (joumuin) wa okyakusama ni (kinkyuu jitai wo) shirasete itadaku.
This “ni” can be replaced with “kara”. Basically, the meaning is “We will be informed by passengers.”Let’s try breaking down the sentence above a bit more. It’s an unnatural sentence, but do you understand this construction?
- Watashi-tachi wa “kinkyuu jitai wo joumuin ni oshirase suru koto” wo okyakusama kara itadaku.
This “ni” represents the English “to”. Read very literally, it means “We will receive from passengers, to us, the act of informing train crew of urgent situations”.This “joumuin ni” performs the same role as the one in the “kudasai” version of the sentence (highlighted in blue), which is why it’s possible to write “joumuin ni oshirase itadaku”.
Shanai de demashita fuyou na mono wa gomibako ni osute kudasaimasu you, shanai bika ni gokyouryoku wo onegai itashimasu.
We ask that you throw away any unnecessary items on the train into trash cans and help keep our trains clean.
A simpler version:
Shanai de deta fuyou na mono wa gomibako ni sutete kureru you, shanai bika ni kyouryoku wo onegai shimasu.
Shanai de deta: This phrase clarifies “fuyou na mono”, and if you change the word order, it could also be written as “fuyou na mono ga shanai de deta”. “Fuyou na mono” refers to “gomi”. For example, after eating an ekiben on a shinkansen, the ekiben’s box and the chopsticks become trash. That is an example of “gomi ga deru”.
Shanai bika: The meaning of this is clear once you examine the kanji. 車 (sha) → train, 内 (nai) → inside, 美 (bi) → clean or beautiful, 化 (ka) → become or change. It literally means “the inside of the train gets clean”.
Mamonaku Kyouto desu. Kyou mo shinkansen wo goriyou kudasaimashite, arigatou gozaimashita. Kyouto wo demasu to, tsugi wa Nagoya ni tomarimasu.
We’ll soon be arriving at Kyoto. Thank you for riding the shinkansen again today. After departing Kyoto, the next stop is Nagoya.
Arigatou gozaimashita: This is past tense and expresses gratitude to passengers getting
off the train, as their patronage has ended. On the other hand, the first
announcement said “Kyou mo shinkansen wo goriyou kudasaimashite, arigatou
gozaimasu,” in the present tense, expressing gratitude to those getting on at
that time.
Also, I’m personally fond of the last sentence. I live in Tokyo so, for example, if I’m going to Kyoto, I get on a shinkansen departing from Tokyo and hear the announcement “Kyouto wo demasu to, tsugi wa Shin’oosaka ni tomarimasu”. When I hear this, I think, “I’m planning to get off the train at Kyoto, but if I didn’t, I can go to Osaka—and if don’t get off there, I can go all the way to Kobe, Hiroshima, or Fukuoka!” It really makes me long to travel farther.
Once the coronavirus situation comes under control and we can freely travel again, please make it a point to listen to the announcements when you’re riding the shinkansen.
