Kakuta Mitsuo writes, “I don't put money in my wallet,” then pivots into “I do, but…” with のだが.
1. How to Japanese Podcast Episode 59 centers on のです, Kakuta Mitsuo, and a December 2024 reading from Shiawase no Nedan.
2. Daniel Morales hosts from howtojapanese.com and frames the episode as a grammar lesson, reading-group preview, and blog update.
3. The episode asks how のです, direct style, and distal style shape meaning in a short Japanese essay.
4. Morales starts with Kakuta Mitsuo's book Shiawase no Nedan, which he translates as The Price of Happiness.
5. He says he found the essays at a Dokusho Cafe near his house and later located one essay through UR Press and UR Chintai.
6. He gives examples from the collection: Negi Soba for 390 yen, Suika transportation cards for 5,000 yen, and a crab course for 5,820 yen.
7. He describes Kakuta's writing as subtle and notes that she does not write elementary thesis-style essays.
8. The chosen essay, Risouteki Nakami, focuses on her habit of not keeping enough cash and a trip to a beach with her boyfriend.
9. Morales says the title's “ideal content” refers to an amount of cash in the wallet, and Kakuta's rule is 1,000 yen for each year lived.
10. For her, that rule works out to 40,000 yen, which Morales says now feels dated because cash use has changed.
11. The language lesson begins with the question of whether the passage is written Japanese or spoken Japanese.
12. Morales revisits a December 2022 newsletter called Kaki Kotoba and the label joutai for direct-style writing.
13. He contrasts joutai with keitai, noting that the Kakuta passage mixes da and desu forms.
14. He reads the line “Nisenen, sanzenen teido shika saifu ni irezeni mochi aruite iru koto ga shouchuu aru” as direct-style writing about carrying only 2,000 or 3,000 yen.
15. He then highlights “Sonna ni shougaku de komaru koto wa nai no ka to omoi deshou” and “K 困ることは多々あるのです” as a direct question followed by a distal answer.
16. Morales argues that のだ works like a hinge, especially in “入れない。 いや、入れるのだが,” where a negative claim pivots into a qualification.
17. He applies the same analysis to a blog post about Lawson's drinkable mayonnaise and quotes “マヨネーズ、完全にマヨネーズ。”
18. He says the mayonnaise review shifts between desumasu and direct style, then returns to “甘くないです。しょっぱいです。” for emphasis.
19. The tone is classroom-like and conversational, with Morales reading Japanese aloud, pausing for listeners to follow the newsletter, and moving between grammar notes and blog examples.
20. Listeners who like Japanese grammar, written style, and translation choices will get the most out of it, while people wanting a pure Murakami review may skip it.
