{"id":114,"date":"2006-09-08T01:30:11","date_gmt":"2006-09-07T16:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nihongo.3yen.com\/2006-09-08\/mo-moe\/"},"modified":"2008-11-17T14:13:33","modified_gmt":"2008-11-17T19:13:33","slug":"mo-moe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/blog\/2006\/09\/08\/mo-moe\/","title":{"rendered":"Mo’ Moe!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u300c\u79cb\u8449\u300d used to be Tokyo’s biggest electronic district. I say, “used to” because it has been steadily turning into something shadier over the years.<\/p>\n

\u300c\u79cb\u8449\u300d(short for \u300c\u79cb\u8449\u539f\u300d) is pretty much a geek’s paradise. There are all sorts of games and electronic stores including the massive \u300c\u30e8\u30c9\u30d0\u30b7\u30ab\u30e1\u30e9\u300d, which was newly built not too long ago.<\/p>\n

Well, it turns out that there are two different categories of geeks: the technology geek and the creepy geek. \u79cb\u8449 used to be for the technology geeks, guys who were into gadgets, software, and hardware. But it turns out many geeks have interests in another realm, which I can only describe as “shady”.<\/p>\n

I go through \u79cb\u8449 everyday on my commute but I decided to take my commuter’s pass, go over there on a weekend, and actually look around and explore the neighborhood. What I found out was that probably about half of the businesses there now cater to the “dark side” of the geek population.<\/p>\n

First of all, there were mountains of porn. What looked like perfectly normal stores would suddenly have a whole floor for porn. Some stores had a whole floor just for animated porn<\/i>. Scratch that, some stores<\/i> were for animated porn! You can’t find this kind of selection for this type of stuff anywhere else in the world. (Incidentally, just to be clear, I didn’t actually look around or purchase anything. In fact, I didn’t even go inside, I could pretty much tell what it was from the staircase. Just to be clear.)<\/p>\n

Besides the monumental amount of porn, \u79cb\u8449 is increasingly turning more fetish-like. I can’t explain this any better than saying one word: \u300c\u840c\u3048\u300d. \u300c\u840c\u3048\u300d is kind of like “ubuntu<\/a>” in that it represents a whole concept and therefore doesn’t have any specific definition. The similarity totally ends there though. Let’s see what we can find out about this word on the net.<\/p>\n

(If you want to learn more about \u300c\u840c\u3048\u300d, you can also check out the Japanese wikipedia entry on \u300c\u840c\u3048\u300d<\/a>. It’s so extensive, it’s practically a research paper.)<\/p>\n

\u840c\u3048\u3068\u306f<\/b><\/p>\n

\u4e00\u822c\u306b\u300c\u67b6\u7a7a\u306e\u30ad\u30e3\u30e9\u30af\u30bf\u30fc\u306b\u5bfe\u3059\u308b\u611b\u60c5\u300d\u3068\u3057\u3066\u7406\u89e3\u3055\u308c\u308b\u3053\u3068\u304c\u591a\u3044\u3002\u304c\u3001\u30de\u30b9\u30b3\u30df\u7684\u306b\u306f\u30aa\u30bf\u30af\u5168\u822c\u306b\u5bfe\u3059\u308b\u30a4\u30e1\u30fc\u30b8\u3068\u5408\u308f\u3055\u308a\u3001\u6b6a\u3093\u3060\u4f1d\u642c\u3092\u3055\u308c\u308b\u3053\u3068\u3082\u3057\u3070\u3057\u3070\u3067\u3042\u308b\u3002\u306a\u305c\u304b\u840c\u3048\uff1d\u30e1\u30a4\u30c9\u3055\u3093\u3001\u306e\u30cb\u30e5\u30a2\u30f3\u30b9\u304c\u4ed8\u52a0\u3055\u308c\u308b\u306a\u3069\u3002
\n(from \u306f\u3066\u306a<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u300c\u306a\u305c\u304b\u840c\u3048\uff1d\u30e1\u30a4\u30c9\u3055\u3093\u300d Ahh yes, the maids. As a fellow male, I just cannot understand the attraction of maids. I mean, these maid costumes completely cover the body with layers and layers of clothing. Yawn. And yet \u79cb\u8449 has totally been taken over by maid cafes, called \u300c\u30e1\u30fc\u30c9\u55ab\u8336\u300d, for reasons beyond my comprehension. Let’s take a look at this list of maid cafes<\/a>. CURE MAID CAFE in \u79cb\u8449\u539f\u3001\u3072\u3088\u3053\u5bb6 in \u79cb\u8449\u539f\u3001Cafe Mai:lish… \u79cb\u8449\u539f\u3001Cos-Cha hmm… \u79cb\u8449\u539f\uff1f \u79cb\u8449\u539f isn’t even that big a place<\/i> but I bet the list doesn’t even come close to covering all the maid cafes in \u79cb\u8449\u539f.<\/p>\n


\n\"\"<\/a>
\nCuter without the maid costume?
\n(from Cafe Mai:lish<\/a>)<\/center><\/p>\n

Worse, the maids have started branching into other industries such as \u840c\u30d0\u30fc\u30ac\u30fc<\/a>, a burger shop and even a hair salon called moesham<\/a>. (Notice the use of \u300c\u840c\u3048\u300d in both store names)<\/p>\n

The \u840c\u3048 phenomenon and 2\u3061\u3083\u3093\u306d\u308b<\/a>* have spawned a new class of vocabulary. My favorite is \u300c\u30c4\u30f3\u30c7\u30ec\u300d, which comes from \u300c\u30c4\u30f3\u30c4\u30f3\u300d and \u300c\u30c7\u30ec\u30c7\u30ec\u300d. I love it because, Yahoo, of all the places, has the funniest definition ever.<\/p>\n

\u30c4\u30f3\u30c7\u30ec \uff08\u3064\u3093\u3067\u308c\uff09 <\/b><\/p>\n

\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u3084\u6f2b\u753b\u306e\u30ad\u30e3\u30e9\u30af\u30bf\u30fc\u306e\u50be\u5411\u3092\u8868\u3059\u8a9e\u3002\u666e\u6bb5\u306f\u30c4\u30f3\u30c4\u30f3\u3057\u3066\u3044\u308b\u30d2\u30ed\u30a4\u30f3\u304c\u3001\u604b\u4eba\u30682\u4eba\u304d\u308a\u306b\u306a\u308b\u3068\u30c7\u30ec\u30c3\u3068\u304b\u308f\u3044\u304f\u306a\u308b\u3053\u3068\u3002\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u306e\u4e3b\u4eba\u516c\u306e\u30ad\u30e3\u30e9\u30af\u30bf\u30fc\u3068\u3057\u3066\u6c42\u3081\u3066\u3044\u305f\u3082\u306e\u3060\u304c\u3001\u5b9f\u969b\u306b\u81ea\u5206\u304c\u4ed8\u304d\u5408\u3046\u5973\u6027\u306b\u5bfe\u3057\u3066\u3082\u3001\u3053\u3046\u3057\u305f\u6027\u683c\u3092\u6c42\u3081\u308b\u3088\u3046\u306b\u306a\u3063\u3066\u3044\u308b\u3002\u30c4\u30f3\u30c4\u30f3\u3057\u3066\u53d6\u3063\u3064\u304d\u306b\u304f\u3044\u306e\u306b\u3001\u4ed8\u304d\u5408\u3044\u3092\u59cb\u3081\u308b\u3068\u5b9f\u306f\u3057\u304a\u3089\u3057\u304f\u3066\u3044\u3064\u306e\u9593\u306b\u304b\u30c7\u30ec\u30c7\u30ec\u3068\u3057\u3066\u304f\u308b\u3053\u3068\u3092\u6c42\u3081\u308b\u306e\u3067\u3042\u308b\u3002\u3057\u304b\u3057\u3001\u73fe\u5b9f\u306b\u306f\u305d\u3046\u3057\u305f\u4e8c\u9762\u6027\u3092\u3082\u3063\u305f\u5973\u6027\u3092\u3001\u30aa\u30bf\u30af\u306e\u7537\u6027\u304c\u30b2\u30c3\u30c8\u3059\u308b\u3053\u3068\u306f\u304d\u308f\u3081\u3066\u3080\u305a\u304b\u3057\u3044\u3068\u307f\u3089\u308c\u308b\u3002
\n(from Yahoo!\u8f9e\u66f8<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Basically, \u300c\u30c4\u30f3\u30c7\u30ec\u300d characterizes a common manga\/anime female character who is aloof and cold \uff08\u30c4\u30f3\u30c4\u30f3\uff09 but becomes all lovey-dovey \uff08\u30c7\u30ec\u30c7\u30ec\uff09 when she is alone with the boy she likes. The definition above explains it much better though. The last sentence is the best because it’s worded so seriously and yet is a total smackdown on the \u30aa\u30bf\u30af nerds who have no real chance with such a girl.<\/p>\n

I’ve actually heard rumors of \u300c\u30c4\u30f3\u30c7\u30ec\u30fb\u30ab\u30d5\u30a7\u300d. Apparently there was a \u300c\u30c4\u30f3\u30c7\u30ec\u30fb\u30a4\u30d9\u30f3\u30c8\u300d<\/a> this March. I guess the maids are rude<\/a> when you walk in and nice<\/a> when you leave? Hmm… might be the next big thing.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

I’m going to conclude here, now that I’ve managed to brilliantly turn this into a language lesson. So I’ll just put this into the “Vocabulary” category and end yet another educational post. (What? You didn’t realize that the whole point of this post was to explore the exciting Japanese language?) I’m not entirely sure if it is appropriate for the “Culture” category though.<\/p>\n

\u3042\u3070\u3088\uff01<\/p>\n

\n

*2\u3061\u3083\u3093\u306d\u308b is basically the most poorly designed BBS in the history of the world. I mean, I tried using it once but had to stop because the user interface induced me into a temporary coma. The popularity of this website is yet another mystery I’ll never understand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u300c\u79cb\u8449\u300d used to be Tokyo’s biggest electronic district. I say, “used to” because it has been steadily turning into something shadier over the years. \u300c\u79cb\u8449\u300d(short for \u300c\u79cb\u8449\u539f\u300d) is pretty much a geek’s paradise. There are all sorts of games and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advanced","category-culture","category-vocabulary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}