Posted by Nina on 12/17/2005, 9:50 pm, in reply to "A "Weak" Personality" The last sentence pretty much denies the possibility that Seiji's father is a "weak-willed" person. "Nanjaku" itself holds a wide range of meaning, from a flexible, adaptive one, to a phlegmatic, melancholy one. The actual meaning depends on context. The fans in Japan generally agree that Seiji's grandfather is the one who holds an unusual standard (that is probably 100 years older than the common view point of a person lives in a modern world). By the grandfather's standard, most of modern Japanese male will be classified as having a "weak personality". (His standard of a strong male is very close to what a "bushi" should be.) In a traditional Japanese family, the eldest son inherits everything. Although such tradition is not legally recognized in Japan anymore, Seiji's family appears continuously following the old traditional rule. There is no info regarding whether Seiji's mother has any siblings. However, the fact that her husband married into the Date family means that she probably has no male siblings. In such a traditional family, male usually holds much more power than female. The husband, even married into the family, usually is the natural inheritor of the family business (i.e., the Kendo doujo). However, the fact that Seiji's mother being an instructor rather than Seiji's father means that SHE is the inheritor of the family business, rather than her husband. (There is no official explanation on why this happens. Either Seiji's father does not care about the traditional rules, and just lives the way he enjoys, or that Seiji's mother is stronger in Kendo than her husband, or both.)
At p. 42 of the "Encyclepedia of YST", (Seiji's file), the following statements describes Seiji's father:
"Father: He married into the Date family. Although the Date family owns the Kendo doujo in town, he [Seiji's father] is not an instructor [of Kendo]. Seiji's grandfather calls him a "weak person" (Nanjaku-mono. Mono means person. Nanjaku means weak. Literally, someone has a weak personality.). However, He practices Kendo while working as a police man. He is a person who possesses the adaptibility that is necessary for someone who lives in the modern society."
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