Oishinbo - Vol. 3 Ch. 18 - The Magic of Charcoal

[MangaDex]

 

[d_a_renoir]

Pg 21: Selling smoke is probably about this anecdote about unagi kabayaki smoke from the Edo period. There was a famous unagi kabayaki store in the Edo capital, and it was very popular. There was a guy who was too poor to afford the unagi, so he would just sit outside the store near the kitchen windows eating his rice while savouring the scent. The shopkeeps found him and chased him off, accusing him of basically eating without paying because even the smoke was just that good.

Speaking of Edo. I saw that you translated the event into Greater Tokyo, but I vaguely remembered it was called Edo-something in Bippity's MTL version. Was it originally called Ōedo something? We didn't see much of the venue, but I feel like the intention was for it to be themed around heritage stuff from the Edo period (like traditional food, traditional art, etc).

 

[Mugiwara325]

Pg 21: Selling smoke is probably about this anecdote about unagi kabayaki smoke from the Edo period. There was a famous unagi kabayaki store in the Edo capital, and it was very popular. There was a guy who was too poor to afford the unagi, so he would just sit outside the store near the kitchen windows eating his rice while savouring the scent. The shopkeeps found him and chased him off, accusing him of basically eating without paying because even the smoke was just that good.

Speaking of Edo. I saw that you translated the event into Greater Tokyo, but I vaguely remembered it was called Edo-something in Bippity's MTL version. Was it originally called Ōedo something? We didn't see much of the venue, but I feel like the intention was for it to be themed around heritage stuff from the Edo period (like traditional food, traditional art, etc).

It is in fact called the Oedo Exhibit, you are correct. The people in the series regularly refer to Tokyo by its historic name of Edo, but this doesn't always refer to specifically the Edo time period. The exhibit also doesn't seem limited to historic products of Edo, so to simplify things for English readers, I've translated it to Tokyo.

The term Edokko (Edo fellow), while not used in this chapter specifically, is a term that highlights what Edo means to the Japanese people. An Edokko is a metropolitan person, a city man, someone who's capitalist, entrepreneurial, or just looking for a quick buck. They use Edo in this sense to refer to modern Tokyo.

 

[d_a_renoir]

It is in fact called the Oedo Exhibit, you are correct. The people in the series regularly refer to Tokyo by its historic name of Edo, but this doesn't always refer to specifically the Edo time period. The exhibit also doesn't seem limited to historic products of Edo, so to simplify things for English readers, I've translated it to Tokyo.

The term Edokko (Edo fellow), while not used in this chapter specifically, is a term that highlights what Edo means to the Japanese people. An Edokko is a metropolitan person, a city man, someone who's capitalist, entrepreneurial, or just looking for a quick buck. They use Edo in this sense to refer to modern Tokyo.

Oh, I do know about Edokko, but the way "Ooedo" is usually used is different from just "Edo" in general or Edokko. Like, I usually see it used more specifically for old fashioned themes (or at least related to traditional Japan). Now I'm curious if those other usage of Edo also specifically use "Ooedo" ?

When I see books or events called Ooedo-something, they're usually all about classical or traditional Japanese things that are being featured. Traditional food, traditional paintings, ukiyo-e, daily life of the Edo period, etc. So the exhibition/fair in the story, I was thinking the product does not have to actually something from the Edo period, but I had thought maybe it's all about tradition, and maybe it won't be exhibiting modern things like electronics in there.

 

[Mugiwara325]

Oh, I do know about Edokko, but the way "Ooedo" is usually used is different from just "Edo" in general or Edokko. Like, I usually see it used more specifically for old fashioned themes (or at least related to traditional Japan). Now I'm curious if those other usage of Edo also specifically use "Ooedo" ?

When I see books or events called Ooedo-something, they're usually all about classical or traditional Japanese things that are being featured. Traditional food, traditional paintings, ukiyo-e, daily life of the Edo period, etc. So the exhibition/fair in the story, I was thinking the product does not have to actually something from the Edo period, but I had thought maybe it's all about tradition, and maybe it won't be exhibiting modern things like electronics in there.

You know, I hadn't considered that Edo and Oedo would confer different ideas. I've always considered them the same thing, just that Oedo is more 'general', but you make a fair point.

But even with this revised understanding of Oedo, I don't think I'd want to translate it directly to Edo for English readers. The difference in context feels too niche and would require further elaboration, but that ultimately comes down to personal preference.

Thanks for pointing this out by the way. You're helping to fill in the gaps of knowledge that I've missed out. Even the unagi smoke anecdote was something I didn't know about.

 

[d_a_renoir]

You know, I hadn't considered that Edo and Oedo would confer different ideas. I've always considered them the same thing, just that Oedo is more 'general', but you make a fair point.

But even with this revised understanding of Oedo, I don't think I'd want to translate it directly to Edo for English readers. The difference in context feels too niche and would require further elaboration, but that ultimately comes down to personal preference.

Thanks for pointing this out by the way. You're helping to fill in the gaps of knowledge that I've missed out. Even the unagi smoke anecdote was something I didn't know about.

Sure, that's perfectly reasonable. Some terms are just hard to convey in English 😅

Also, after rereading, I realised I had misremembered the smoke story somewhat. It was actually a rakugo comedy story, and not like an anecdote about daily life (even if it was urban legend). It even ended with a big joke about the guy going "I didn't actually eat anything, so I'll pay for the smell with just the sound of money". So maybe that smoke wasn't at all related to this. It just kind of a thing that came to mind when I read the chapter.