Zach from Plano, Texas, watched the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. In it, a protegé of the star sushi chef ends a long explanation about how much he’s learned from his mentor by saying, “I don’t sleep with my feet in his direction.” What does this Japanese expression it mean? This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “The Japanese Notion of Sleeping with Your Feet in Someone’s Direction”
Hi, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Zach Smith calling from Plano, Texas.
Hi, Zach. Welcome.
What can we do for you?
So I was watching a documentary called Euro Dreams of Sushi. It was about this guy in Japan that’s a sushi artisan that’s been doing it for the last like 80 years. So much so to the fact that he’s had several round of apprentices come through training with him. And so part of the documentary was, you know, focused on him, and the other was focused on the people that he’s worked with. And one of his apprentices was, like, describing his time with the master, and it was, like, all positive. And then it got to an idiom that I had no idea if it was either positive or negative. And the idiom was, I don’t sleep with my feet in his direction. And I couldn’t tell if that was a positive or negative thing.
Yeah, and you couldn’t tell from the context either then.
Yeah, because it was positive, but he ended this long, like, you know, I’ve learned so much from him and going on and on and on. And then it was almost like a tonal change and then this idiom at the end.
That’s really interesting.
Yeah, it was a positive. It was meant as a compliment. And it has to do with this cultural idea that the feet are filthy. And the feet are unclean, I mean, in a literal sense and more in a cultural, emotional sense. For example, not just in many Asian cultures, but in the Middle East and in some other places, you don’t show people the soles of your feet. You take off your shoes in certain environments. To step on a picture of someone is considered extremely rude. And even in Japan in particular, to sleep with your feet in someone’s direction. Like even if your bedrooms are next to each other, you will rearrange your sleeping quarters so that your feet do not point to the other person in the other room while you’re sleeping. I mean, if you believe in these things.
That’s so interesting.
Yeah.
And so to say that you don’t sleep with your feet in someone’s directions means you don’t show them any animosity. You have no ill will. There’s no residual negativity between the two of you.
Yeah, and that makes sense because he had moved past and he had his own. The apprentice at this point had his own restaurant. And he was like, and so that actually, I’ve learned a ton from him. And I don’t hold anything against him, even though now we’re maybe competitors.
Yeah.
Makes sense, yeah.
That makes perfect sense. Thank you guys so much.
Our pleasure. By the way, that is a wonderful film, isn’t it?
It is. It is really, really good. But my fiancé and I went to Japan last year, and we’ve just become just infatuated with the culture. Because this guy was just, for the last almost century, he’s just been cultivating and refining his ability to make good sushi. And he doesn’t care about prestige, fame, or money. He just wants to do it because he wants to be good at it. And it just is so cool.
Thank you for recommending this film to everyone. And thanks for a really good question. Sounds like you were doing a close watching of the film.
Yeah, absolutely.
All right.
Take care now. You guys have a great day.
Bye-bye.
Thanks, Zach.
I’ve heard a lot of people raving about that film. Its title again is?
Jiro Dreams of Sushi.
Okay. It’s on my list. This whole shoe cultural thing, if you remember the press conference with George W. Bush getting a shoe thrown at him, it wasn’t just because the shoe was a readily available weapon.
Right.
It was an insult.
It was an insult, yeah, a cultural insult. You find again and again places. I mean your feet are walking on the place where all dirt ends up eventually, right? Everything that happens in the world ends up on the ground and your feet are chapesing through. And then you track that into the house. It’s really interesting. Don’t sleep with my feet in his direction.
Yeah, I don’t sleep with my feet in his direction, meaning I don’t have any ill will.
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Thank you.
