, also romanized as ''gambaru'', is a ubiquitous Japanese word which roughly means to slog on tenaciously through tough times.
The word ''ganbaru'' is often translated to mean "doing one's best", but in practice, it means doing more than one's best.
The word emphasizes "working with perseverance"
or "toughing it out".
''Ganbaru'' means "to commit oneself fully to a task and to bring that task to an end".
It can be translated to mean persistence, tenacity, doggedness, and hard work. The term has a unique importance in
Japanese culture
The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world.
Historical overview
The ance ...
.
The ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' said of
Shoichi Yokoi, the
Japanese holdout who surrendered in Guam in January 1972, that in Japan "even those embarrassed by his constant references to the Emperor felt a measure of admiration at his determination and ''ganbaru'' spirit". After the
1995 Kobe earthquake
The , or Kobe earthquake, occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST (January 16 at 20:46:53 UTC) in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region known as Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had ...
, the slogan "''Gambaro Kobe''" was used to encourage the people of the disaster region as they worked to rebuild their city and their lives.
After the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...
, ''gambaru'' was one of the most commonly heard expressions.
Etymology
The modern spelling is Ateji using the
頑 character to represent an unknown original lexeme.
The sense was originally ''to be stubborn, to be obstinate'', with negative overtones. The modern positive sense of ''to persist, to endure'' has arisen since the end of the in 1868.
There are three theories of the origin:
* Sense shift from
眼張る (ganbaru, "to keep watch on something, to stare at something", literally "keep one's eye on something")
* Shift in reading from
我に張る (ga ni haru, literally "to stick to one's desires, to insist on one's point of view")
* An unknown etymology based on the historical kana form
ぐわんばる
Analysis
''Gambaru'' focuses attention on the importance of finishing a task and never stopping until a goal is achieved. The continuing effort to overcome obstacles (even if not successful) is an important concept in Japan.
Unlike the related, but passive ''
gaman'', ''ganbaru'' is an active process.
[Haghirian, Parissa]
"Mastering The Basics," American Chamber of Commerce in Japan
(ACCJ), 15 February 2011; excerpt, "Where ''ganbaru'' is an active process and requires people to do something to achieve their goals, ''gaman'' is passive and focuses more on enduring and not complaining."
Although there are many near
synonyms
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
in Japanese, there are few
antonyms
In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...
.
See also
* ''
The Book of Five Rings''
*
Jiayou, a Chinese term of similar meaning
*
Paiting
''Paiting!'' (, ) or ''Hwaiting!'' (, ) is a Korean word of support or encouragement. It is frequently used in sports or whenever a challenge such as a difficult test or unpleasant assignment is met. It derives from a Konglish borrowing of the En ...
, a Korean term of similar meaning
*
Sisu, a Finnish word denoting tenacity and a broader concept
*
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century Common Era, BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asser ...
References
External links
{{wiktionary, ganbaru
*Matsuoka, R., Smith, I., & Uchimura, M. (2011). ''Discourse analysis of encouragement in healthcare manga.'' Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 15(1), 49-66.
Japanese words and phrases
Virtue