Tweet of the Week

There isn’t a week that goes by without somebody tweeting some worrisome news about Japan’s aging society and declining population. Add to that recent reports of the steep decline of Japan’s marriage rate for the fifth year in a row and you have a striking portrait of a loveless nation where the only thing people are embracing — aside from Twitter — is loneliness.

FYI, Twitter is Japan’s favorite social media platform boasting more than 45 million users, that’s roughly 35.6% of the entire Japanese population. So is the country’s rejection of romance simply because everyone’s too occupied with sharing their musings in 280 characters or less? Well, actually, it looks like the Twittersphere could end up being the platform to revive the country’s mojo if this week’s viral tweet is anything to go by.

Tweeting for “The One”

Back in 2015, Twitter user @satokichiGT shared his desire to find a bride. Tired of his bachelor status, he jokingly tweeted a matrimonial ad probably thinking it would never work.

嫁募集
・20代
・家事全般得意
・たまに半年居なくても大丈夫
・パート可能
・多少ヲタ
・中肉中背
・U70以下D以上
・横須賀来てくれる
・金は無い

— 宮城の種馬サト吉 (@satokichiGT) August 16, 2015

嫁（ よめ）募集（ ぼしゅう）
・20代（ だい）
・家事全般得意（ かじぜんぱんとくい）
・たまに半年居（ はんとしい）なくても大丈夫（ だいじょうぶ）
・パート可能（ かのう）
・多少ヲタ（たしょうオタ）
・中肉中背（ ちゅうにくちゅうぜい）
・U70以下（ いか）D以上（ いじょう）
・横須賀（ よこすか）来（ き）てくれる
・金（ かね）は無（ な）い

Looking for a bride:
・In her 20s
・Great with housework, good with domestic chores
・Is okay with occasionally being apart for half a year
・Can work part-time
・A bit nerdy
・Neither fat nor slim, neither tall nor short, just about the perfect balance
・Breasts measuring max. 70cm, min. D cup or above
・Willing to relocate to Yokosuka
・Has no money

…Except it did actually work!

ツイッターで嫁募集したら本当に嫁が来たので本日結婚した。何言ってるのかわから(ry pic.twitter.com/5x8SNmT159

— 宮城の種馬サト吉 (@satokichiGT) March 3, 2019

ツイッターで嫁募集（ よめぼしゅう）したら本当（ ほんとう）に嫁（ よめ）が来（ き）たので本日結婚（ ほんじつ けっこん）した。何（ なに）言（ い）ってるのかわから(ry = So I tweeted that I was looking for a bride, and then I really got one! Today we got married. What am I saying…

To silence the most skeptical, he shared a picture of their hands and rings.

ちゃんと相手は生身です！
空気嫁でもテンガでも無いっす！ pic.twitter.com/vOOnGgdDiw

— 宮城の種馬サト吉 (@satokichiGT) March 3, 2019

ちゃんと相手（ あいて）は生身（ なまみ）です！空気嫁（ くうきよめ）でもテンガでも無（ な）いっす！= My partner is a real human being! Not a doll, not a Tenga!

A couple of days later, a trending hashtag, #嫁募集ツイートメーカー (#brideapplicationtweetmaker) caught our attention. Mere coincidence or inspired by this thread, we can’t tell, but it seems that you can now create your own ads for a partner with the help of this handy online generator. Lovely.

How to use the Japanese Internet slang「)ry」

Have you ever spotted these three characters (ry ending a Japanese sentence and wondered what it means? (ry stands for “ryaku” (略（ りゃく）), from the expression 省（しょう）略の略 which literally translates to “standing for an omission.” This expression is roughly equivalent to ellipsis (…) in English.

Here’s how we can break it down:

以下省略（いかしょうりゃく） → 略（りゃく） → (ry

Much like the “…” in English, this slang is used to shorten a sentence thus creating a humorous effect.

In the tweet above, @satokichiGT is making a funny reference to a Japanese internet meme taken from the famous manga, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, in which the character is in a great state of confusion.

な・・・何（ なに）を言（ い）っているのかわからねーと思（ おも）うか おれも 何をされたのかわからなかった・・・頭（ あたま）がどうにかなりそうだった… 催眠術（さいみんじゅつ）だとか超（ちょう）スピードだとかそんなチャチなもんじゃあ断（だん）じてねえもっと恐（ おそ）ろしいものの片鱗（へんりん）を味（ あじ）わったぜ…

I’m probably not making any sense… I don’t know myself, I have no idea what just happened to me. I’m going crazy… Seems like I’m getting through… No, I doubt it’s something that easy. I just went through something way, way more frightening…

Vocabulary

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