Vocab from "Beautiful Life" (ビューティフルライフ)

Best Japanese drama ever :)

抱く

だく = to hold in one’s arms; to have sex with {Note: This is the verb used in Episode 5 that caused a cultural earthquake in restrained Japan, when Kyoko says to Shuji 抱いて, literally “hold me” but widely understood to mean “make love to me.”}

美容師

びようし= hairstylist

ハサミ

scissors (hasami)

お客さん

おきゃくさん = customer; client

車いす

wheelchair (also 車椅子)

仕方がない

しかたがない = It can’t be helped

神様

かみさま = god; deity {Note: This word is plural by nature, from Shinto polytheism, so it blissfully does NOT refer to the god of the Bible.}

天国

てんごく= heaven, used romantically to avoid the verb 死ぬ = to die}

恋人

こいびと = lover {Note: The very bold title for Episode 1 is 車いすの恋人, even though Kyoko and Shuji are not even close to becoming lovers.} 恋 = こい = romantic love {Note: For me, the kanji is similar to 変 = weird, so let’s not get confused.} Ex: 私の恋人はとても親切だ。 = My bf is really kind.

世界

せかい = world; universe, Ex: 世界は混乱している。= せかい は こんらん している。= The world is in turmoil.

生きる

いきる = to live, Ex: 男性より女性のほうが長く生きる。= だんせいよりじょせいのほうがながくいきる。= Women live longer than men.

「俺が、お前の足になる」

おれがおまえのあしになる "I will become your legs"; Shuji’s best line. {Note: お前 is an informal way to say “you,” shows growing intimacy between Shuji and Kyoko}

爆弾

ばくだん = bomb; also refers to certain alcoholic drinks; in E1, Kyoko asks Shuji if he’s planning to make a bomb

規則

きそく = rule or regulation; in E1 杏子 explains that Shuji can’t take a certain book out of the library, saying 規則は規則でしょ

理系

りけい = science

残り

のこり = remainder or leftover; in E1 Kyoko uses it to refer to leftover food

髪型

かみがた = hairstyle or hairdo {In E1, Sachie tells Kyoko “その髪型変だよ” = That hairstyle looks weird (referring to her perm)}

夕日

ゆうひ = sunset, evening sun; Shuji and Kyoko watch it together in E1 and Kyoko says ここ景色いいね = the view from here is nice. Shuji puts himself at her level and comments that the world looks different from there. Although obviously pleased, she says  変な人 = you’re weird.

景色

けしき = scenery or landscape; often refers to the view of a particular place, as seen in E1 when Shuji and Kyoko admire the sunset.

腹減んない？

はら へんない？ = Aren’t you hungry? (Shuji says to Kyoko after they watch the sunset in E1, very casual and contracted.)

祝う

いわう = to celebrate, in E1 Kyoko asks Shuji if he wants to go celebrate if the photos make it into the magazine.

利用

りよう = (noun, suru verb) use; to use or utilize {In E1, Sachie asks Shuji 杏子のこと利用したの？= きょうこ の こと りよう した の？ = Was Kyoko a tool for you/Did you use her?} Note: While used for things like “use the library” or “use the internet” in a neutral way, like a fancy version of 使う, if the person is an object it has the implication of “take adavantage of.”}

自信

じしん = confidence, self-confidence; in E1 Shuji says 自信 ないし = I don’t have self-confidence (polite version would be 自信がありません)

この世

このよ = the world, this world; in E1, when Shuji is putting the umbrella over her, Kyoko says as kind of a voiceover from the beyond, この世は綺麗だったよ = このよ は きれい だった よ。= This world was beautiful. {Note: this is kind of a literary/philosophical word, us 世界 for talking about more mundane things.}

引っかかる

ひっかかる = to get caught, to be caught; in E4, Kyoko says that the dream catcher is for catching bad dreams so that only the good ones get through

相変わらず

あいかわらず = as usual, as always, same as ever; {In E2, Kyoko says this in answer to Sachie’s question about how her condition is.}

普通

ふつう = (noun which can take “no” or na-adj.) = normal

杏

あんず = apricot (kanji breakdown: mouth on bottom, tree on top)

今度

こんど = this time, next time; Shuji says, as they’re waiting outside his apartment for a cab in E4, あー今度さ映画見に行かない = Next time, why don’t we go see a movie.

盗む

ぬすむ = to steal (From E3 悟に盗まれたのよ, passive past of “steal”)

誤解

ごかい = misunderstanding (kanji breakdown: mistake and interpretation), noun and suru verb

強情

ごうじょう = stubborn, obstinate; (Sachi says to Kyoko when she won’t take the tissue even though she’s already crying)

臭い

くさい = (i-adj.) smelly, foul odor (both literal and metaphorical) In E4, Sachi says it of the towel that Kyoko’s brother offers when she’s crying.

速度

そくど = speed, velocity {In E5, when Kyoko’s brother is walking Sachie to the station, he asks if he’s going too fast and she says their 歩く速度, or walking pace, is fine.

引く

ひく = to pull (printed on doors in Japan) However, it’s also used to mean to draw back or pull away, Sachie in E5 says it when she’s freaking out about having flirted too openly with Kyoko’s brother and is afraid that it was off-putting.

華やか

はなやか = (na-adj.) gorgeous, glamorous, bright, thriving, brilliant, in E5 after Shuji cuts a famous actress’s hair, Kyoko says the worlds they live in are totally different and that he is 華やか

しがない

(i-adj.) trivial, insignificant, lowly, humble, wretched, lowly; in E5 Kyoko refers to herself as a しがない図書館司書, which they translate as “a nobody librarian.” (しがないとしょかんししょ).

不便

ふべん = (noun and na-adj.) inconvenience/inconvenient, troublesome; in E6, Shuji says his arm injury is 不便.