Welcome to Episode 97 of Real Japanese Talk with Haruka & Saki! 🗼🐙

🧹 A parent was stunned to hear their child had spent part of the school day cleaning the toilets. In Japan, that's just Tuesday. 🎯

You'll learn three words:

• 掃く (haku) - to sweep, with a broom

• 拭く (fuku) - to wipe, with a cloth

• 責任 (sekinin) - responsibility; the sense that something is yours to do

💡 Inside: the fifteen minutes after lunch when every classroom, corridor and stairwell in the country gets swept; the zoukin cloth you bring from home with your name on it, and 「雑巾がけ」 - hands on the floor, running the length of the room; wiping desks, windows and the blackboard; the thinking underneath it all, that the place you use is the place you look after, and why cleaning counts as a lesson rather than a chore; the rotating groups, including the toilet week nobody wants; teachers cleaning alongside the students; the companies that still start the day this way, and the football fans who tidy the stadium; and the honest counter-argument, that it takes time schools don't have.

Perfect for N4-N3 learners curious about Japanese schools. Tokyo & Kansai dialogue, fully shadowable. Full transcript & study notes on Patreon. 🎧

【Today's Vocabulary / 今日の言葉】

・掃く (はく) - To sweep. Always with a broom (「ほうき」), and always gathering rather than wiping - the dust then goes into the 「ちりとり」 (dustpan). Common phrases: 「庭を掃く」, 「落ち葉を掃く」, 「掃き掃除」 (sweeping, as opposed to 「拭き掃除」, wiping). Be careful with the homophones: 「履く」 is to put on shoes or trousers, and 「吐く」 is to vomit or to breathe out - three very different verbs pronounced はく, separated only by context and kanji. Related words: 「ほうき」 (houki, broom), 「ちりとり」 (chiritori, dustpan), 「掃除」 (souji, cleaning).

・拭く (ふく) - To wipe. It takes a cloth or paper and removes dirt or moisture: 「机を拭く」, 「窓を拭く」, 「手を拭く」. It also covers the body and face - 「汗を拭く」 (wipe away sweat), 「涙を拭く」 (wipe away tears) - which gives it a gentle, caring register in writing. In schools the cloth is a 「雑巾」 (zoukin), and 「雑巾がけ」 is the distinctive practice of wiping a floor at speed, on hands and feet. Note the homophone 「吹く」, to blow. Related words: 「雑巾」 (zoukin, cleaning cloth), 「タオル」 (taoru, towel), 「磨く」 (migaku, to polish).

・責任 (せきにん) - Responsibility. The core collocations are 「責任を持つ」 (to take responsibility for something ongoing), 「責任を取る」 (to accept the consequences after something goes wrong - in Japanese workplaces this can mean resigning), and 「責任感がある」 (to have a strong sense of duty - high praise). Note the useful adjective 「無責任」 (musekinin, irresponsible). In this episode the word does quiet work: school cleaning is framed not as labour but as learning that the space you use is yours to maintain. Related words: 「義務」 (gimu, obligation), 「担当」 (tantou, the person in charge), 「当番」 (touban, one's turn on duty).

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