Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Japanese term or phrase:
自己虫 or 自己チュウ
English translation:
pseudo-individualist
Added to glossary by
Roddy Stegemann
Oct 18, 2002 23:46
21 yrs ago
Japanese term
United States
Search HKLNA!
Native in: English 
Works in: German to English, Japanese to English, French to English, and 3 more.
自己虫
Japanese to English
Art/Literary
residential housing
Just before I left Tokyo in the fall of 2000, a Japanese youth in his mid-20s moved into the apartment next to mine with his girlfriend. Upon his arrival I helped him carry his things into his new apartment, both as a courtesy to my new neighbor and as a way to get to know him.
After several weeks I noticed that neither he nor his girl friend had any sense of community. For example, he parked his motorcycle in the middle of the walkway, played loud music for hours at a time at all hours of the day, and she ran the community washing machine at 3:00 in the morning.
We were seven residents in a wooden house with six apartments. Although the Japanese landlord was sympathetic with our plea to have the youth removed, he continued to inhabit our house until I departed for Hong Kong. I sometimes wonder how many of the other residents still remain.
It was a very nice living arrangement before our new neighbor moved in -- an international house with Taiwanese, Japanese, and myself. Everyone spoke Japanese.
Several weeks before I departed for Hong Kong, I read an article in a local Japanese paper about a new breed of Japanese called 自己虫. They were described as young Japanese, who flaunt Japanese tradition and adopt Western notions of self, but without any regard for community.
One way to render the term 自己虫 might be "egotist". I was hoping that others might come up with more colorful suggestions.
I am not looking for URLs, rather creativity, and a full four points will be awarded for the best single answer.
After several weeks I noticed that neither he nor his girl friend had any sense of community. For example, he parked his motorcycle in the middle of the walkway, played loud music for hours at a time at all hours of the day, and she ran the community washing machine at 3:00 in the morning.
We were seven residents in a wooden house with six apartments. Although the Japanese landlord was sympathetic with our plea to have the youth removed, he continued to inhabit our house until I departed for Hong Kong. I sometimes wonder how many of the other residents still remain.
It was a very nice living arrangement before our new neighbor moved in -- an international house with Taiwanese, Japanese, and myself. Everyone spoke Japanese.
Several weeks before I departed for Hong Kong, I read an article in a local Japanese paper about a new breed of Japanese called 自己虫. They were described as young Japanese, who flaunt Japanese tradition and adopt Western notions of self, but without any regard for community.
One way to render the term 自己虫 might be "egotist". I was hoping that others might come up with more colorful suggestions.
I am not looking for URLs, rather creativity, and a full four points will be awarded for the best single answer.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 | pseudo-individualist, individualist, Mr. and Miss "individualists" |
mkj (X)
|
| 5 +3 | selfish, selfishness; self-centered, self-centeredness |
jsl (X)
|
| 4 +1 | self insect, ones insect, self dilusional, self denial |
Ri'anna Wenger (X)
|
| 3 +2 | selFish |
Kaori Myatt
|
| 4 | EGOMANIAC/EGOMANIA |
ejprotran
|
Proposed translations
8 hrs
Selected
pseudo-individualist, individualist, Mr. and Miss "individualists"
The following explanation is from the Goo dictionary.
こじん-しゅぎ 【個人主義】
（1）〔individualism〕個々の人格を至上のものとして個人の良心と自由による思想・行為を重視し、そこに義務と責任の発現を考える立場。→全体主義
In this context, the word I propose is pseudo-individualist. 自己虫 people think they are individualists in a good sense, but they are not really thinking about their duties and responsibilities. So, their understanding is pseudo or incomplete.
（2）その人の属している組織全体・社会全体のことを顧慮せずに、個人の考えや利益を貫く自分勝手な態度。
This is also called individualist. I guess people, Western and Eastern people alike, have always had the tendency to misuse/abuse something that starts out as a good thing and end up adding a bad connotation to it.
(3) Since the character 虫 means a person in this case and is attached to other characters that express negative or unfavorable attributes, as in 弱虫, my third proposition is Mr. and/or Miss "individualist"; it's supposed to be sarcastic.
こじん-しゅぎ 【個人主義】
（1）〔individualism〕個々の人格を至上のものとして個人の良心と自由による思想・行為を重視し、そこに義務と責任の発現を考える立場。→全体主義
In this context, the word I propose is pseudo-individualist. 自己虫 people think they are individualists in a good sense, but they are not really thinking about their duties and responsibilities. So, their understanding is pseudo or incomplete.
（2）その人の属している組織全体・社会全体のことを顧慮せずに、個人の考えや利益を貫く自分勝手な態度。
This is also called individualist. I guess people, Western and Eastern people alike, have always had the tendency to misuse/abuse something that starts out as a good thing and end up adding a bad connotation to it.
(3) Since the character 虫 means a person in this case and is attached to other characters that express negative or unfavorable attributes, as in 弱虫, my third proposition is Mr. and/or Miss "individualist"; it's supposed to be sarcastic.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "When I saw the term "pseudo-individualist" my eyes opened wide, and my inner-thought was "He's got it!" Truly you have captured the English version of 自己虫. The terms Mr. and Miss Individualist are ideal for informal contexts, as well.
My thanks to the many others who offered suggestions, but it is difficult to render into English a term that is so befitting to Japanese society."
+3
4 mins
selfish, selfishness; self-centered, self-centeredness
-
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Note added at 2002-10-19 00:03:20 (GMT)
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Actually, ¥"自己虫¥" is derived from ¥"自己中心 (的)¥", which is ¥"selfish¥" and ¥"self-centered¥" for noun, and ¥"selfishness¥" and ¥"self-centeredness¥" for adjective. This is a pun: ¥"自己中心 (的)¥" is pronounced as ¥"jiko chuushin(-teki)¥", and ¥"自己虫¥" as ¥"jiko chuu¥".
I will tell you why this is written ¥"自己虫¥". Currently, in Japan, JARO (Japan Advertising Review Organization, Inc.: 社団法人日本広告審査機構¥ (shadan hoojin nihon kookoku shinsa kikoo)) has a long-term TV campaign to try to change the mind of people in Japan, in particular, people living in the modern society or in large cities like Tokyo. In such a big city, people don¥'t care about others, and they, in particular, in the younger generation, are being rude and selfish. In the TV commercial of the JARO, one bug (which looks like a caterpillar) appears, and the name of the bug is named ¥"自己虫¥". In the shortening or abbreviation in the daily, colloquial conversation, it used to be written like ¥"自己中¥", which is appearently derived from ¥"自己中心 (的)¥". Since the commercial uses this pun (¥"自己虫¥" vs ¥"自己中¥"), I think the author of the article which you¥'ve read also used ¥"自己虫¥".
Since ¥"自己虫¥" is actually derived from ¥"自己中¥" (and originally from ¥"自己中心 (的)¥"), those words proposed above would be suitable.
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Note added at 2002-10-19 00:05:09 (GMT)
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If you want to render ¥"自己虫¥" and still want to say that it is a bug, ¥"selfish bug¥" or ¥"self-centered bug¥" will be okay.
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Note added at 2002-10-19 00:09:32 (GMT)
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For ¥"jikochuu¥", I used ¥"自己中¥", but it is also written as ¥"自己チュー¥" or ¥"ジコチュー¥". Actually, they are more often used now. You will see thousands of examples on the web. You can see the list in Google:
http://www.google.com/search?q=���ȃ`���[
http://www.google.com/search?q=�W�R�`���[
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Note added at 2002-10-19 00:17:10 (GMT)
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BTW, here is the site for JARO.
http://www.jaro.or.jp/
I¥'ve been looking for the ¥"自己虫¥" bug on the web, but the JARO sites do¥'t include it.
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Note added at 2002-10-19 00:27:22 (GMT)
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You may use ¥"insect¥" or else instead of ¥"bug¥". But, the use of insect sounds more like 昆虫 (konchuu). This is only what I feel, though.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-10-19 00:03:20 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Actually, ¥"自己虫¥" is derived from ¥"自己中心 (的)¥", which is ¥"selfish¥" and ¥"self-centered¥" for noun, and ¥"selfishness¥" and ¥"self-centeredness¥" for adjective. This is a pun: ¥"自己中心 (的)¥" is pronounced as ¥"jiko chuushin(-teki)¥", and ¥"自己虫¥" as ¥"jiko chuu¥".
I will tell you why this is written ¥"自己虫¥". Currently, in Japan, JARO (Japan Advertising Review Organization, Inc.: 社団法人日本広告審査機構¥ (shadan hoojin nihon kookoku shinsa kikoo)) has a long-term TV campaign to try to change the mind of people in Japan, in particular, people living in the modern society or in large cities like Tokyo. In such a big city, people don¥'t care about others, and they, in particular, in the younger generation, are being rude and selfish. In the TV commercial of the JARO, one bug (which looks like a caterpillar) appears, and the name of the bug is named ¥"自己虫¥". In the shortening or abbreviation in the daily, colloquial conversation, it used to be written like ¥"自己中¥", which is appearently derived from ¥"自己中心 (的)¥". Since the commercial uses this pun (¥"自己虫¥" vs ¥"自己中¥"), I think the author of the article which you¥'ve read also used ¥"自己虫¥".
Since ¥"自己虫¥" is actually derived from ¥"自己中¥" (and originally from ¥"自己中心 (的)¥"), those words proposed above would be suitable.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-10-19 00:05:09 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
If you want to render ¥"自己虫¥" and still want to say that it is a bug, ¥"selfish bug¥" or ¥"self-centered bug¥" will be okay.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-10-19 00:09:32 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
For ¥"jikochuu¥", I used ¥"自己中¥", but it is also written as ¥"自己チュー¥" or ¥"ジコチュー¥". Actually, they are more often used now. You will see thousands of examples on the web. You can see the list in Google:
http://www.google.com/search?q=���ȃ`���[
http://www.google.com/search?q=�W�R�`���[
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-10-19 00:17:10 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
BTW, here is the site for JARO.
http://www.jaro.or.jp/
I¥'ve been looking for the ¥"自己虫¥" bug on the web, but the JARO sites do¥'t include it.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-10-19 00:27:22 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
You may use ¥"insect¥" or else instead of ¥"bug¥". But, the use of insect sounds more like 昆虫 (konchuu). This is only what I feel, though.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
horse
24 mins
|
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thanks
|
|
| agree |
Ri'anna Wenger (X)
: cant find it listed as bug? *confused* its on babelfish.altavista.com
32 mins
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thanks
|
|
| agree |
Hidenori Nakamura
2 hrs
|
|
thanks
|
+1
12 mins
Ri'anna Wenger (X)
Ri'anna Wenger (X)
Works in: English to Japanese, English to German, Japanese to English, and 1 more.
View
self insect, ones insect, self dilusional, self denial
well when i first looked at it, i thought it said selfish or self delusions, something like that. i double checked it with other dictionaries and came up with self insect as the closest. *shrug* take your pick.
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Note added at 2002-10-18 23:59:57 (GMT)
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>.<; i answered this earlier, and accidentally clicked hide. so i had to repost. anyone know for future reference how to un-hide something? or is that not possible?
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Note added at 2002-10-19 00:19:49 (GMT)
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sheesh. daisuke has done the homework. -.-; i think im in over my head.
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Note added at 2002-10-18 23:59:57 (GMT)
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>.<; i answered this earlier, and accidentally clicked hide. so i had to repost. anyone know for future reference how to un-hide something? or is that not possible?
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-10-19 00:19:49 (GMT)
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sheesh. daisuke has done the homework. -.-; i think im in over my head.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Kaori Myatt
: No you can't take the hiden answer back. I have done it once too.
18 mins
|
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aa-sou. thanks.
|
+2
29 mins
Kaori Myatt
France
France
Native in Japanese
France
Japalization is more than translation
Native in: Japanese 
Works in: English to Japanese, French to Japanese, Japanese to French, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
168
selFish
Since 自己虫is a insect. How about selFish like a Fish who don't care others.
That's just an idea...
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Note added at 2002-10-19 00:18:30 (GMT)
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I quite fancy drawing a picture of it.
That's just an idea...
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Note added at 2002-10-19 00:18:30 (GMT)
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I quite fancy drawing a picture of it.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Ri'anna Wenger (X)
: ooh. draw a fishy. thatd be great. like that rainbow fish for lil kids. anyone remember that book..? i loved that book...ah.. childhood.
6 mins
|
| agree |
Hidenori Nakamura
: 魚が『一緒にするな』と言っておこるかも！？
2 hrs
|
33 mins
EGOMANIAC/EGOMANIA
Here is my two cents.
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