There’s Always a Way! – しょうがある!

By Michael Gakuran | | Other | 6 Comments |

What’s しょうがある? The opposite of しょうがない, of course! That oft-muttered phrase that reeks of apathy and giving up. I’ve always hated it myself, and recently a reader contacted me to link me to Man-san, a Swedish man rapping in Japanese, who shares the same sentiment. Only he does it in style!

Here’s his awesome ‘Shou ga aru’ song. A catchy little rhythm with uplifting and clever, slightly rebellious lyrics. It goes completely against that horrible fatalistic attitude one hears so often in the world. Lovely.

And here’s another great song of his called ‘A Nagoya State of Mind’, based on the song ‘Empire State of Mind’ by rapper Jay-Z. If you’ve ever been to Nagoya for more than a few days, you’ll likely recognise a few of the cool references. Pretty neat little piece!

If you like Man-san, he has a Youtube channel you can subscribe to and a Myspace page! Go say hi and urge him to release the songs! :)

And thanks to Marin for linking me to him!

6 comments on “There’s Always a Way! – しょうがある!
  1. McAlpine says:

    His presence ought not to ruin my sacred my land.

  2. shino39 says:

    ウケました…((( ̄▽ ̄; )

  3. Tracey Lee says:

    I’m really glad しょうがない has an opposite :) That was the most fascinating phrase I learned during my year abroad, but Man-san’s song more accurately portrays how I feel about it.

    • Gakuranman says:

      Haha. I’m not entirely sure if it’s accurate Japanese to say しょうがある or not. But as with any language, people have creative license to play with it!

  4. Ypsilonkevin says:

    This is awsome!

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