http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/news/110318/dst11031820380082-n1.htm
Amazed at the things that tripped me up trying to tackle this article, I thought I would make a post about the vocabulary.
簡易バケツ （かんい ばけつ） (Kan-i Baketsu)
Trying to look this up, I couldn't understand what was going wrong. Kan-i isn't that hard of a word. It means simple. Otherwise it could mean convenient or easy. And then baketsu meant bucket, also not hard. But what is a simple bucket? Suspecting there was something more to this, I Googled, and only with the image search did this become crystal clear.
"Compact Bucket"
As in, a bucket that compacts to save space. You would think... you know... writing an English article, I don't think it would be appropriate to just write "compact bucket" and assume the reader knows what on the planet you're talking about, but there's cultural differences for you. Apparently people in Japan deal with compact buckets enough for it to be standard vernacular. Nonetheless, I see how this could be useful during an earthquake. We're missing out here.
液状化現象 （えきじょうか げんしょう） (Ekijyo-ka Gensho)
So, I know what liquification is, but oh the wonder when I read that the water stopped working in a building because something liquified. Generally it's the other way around you know, water freezes, then it can't make it to your home. But not this case. But what I was miss-understanding was that it wasn't the soil that liquified, it was the ground. That's right:
Soil Liquefaction
Now it's become clear why I always had such a hard time earlier just opening up a news story and reading it.
Man, now I want to go get a compact bucket.
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