Origins of the Japanese Word: スケベ (sukebe)
Well, this word has always intrigued me. Here I was in Japan, 33 years old, I witnessed inappropriate behavior by a man. So, I said in my best Japanese, スケベ 人！
To my surprise, I was swiftly and harshly rebuffed by an elderly Japanese woman.
She bluntly said. That’s a bad word. Don’t ever use that word. In my view, never, for a word, is where angels fear to tread.
How did this infatuation start. Foreigners in Japan uses Sukebe to describe all kinds of stuff as my wife pointed out to friends in America. Things that just don’t sit quite right.
Examples:
Yes, literally translated to ‘lude or lewd’ depending on which side of the pond, Atlantic Ocean, you were raised. Lewd people exist everywhere.. A female friend was on the Tokyo subway many years ago. She’s now a Japanese Professor, so extremely fluent. She felt a hand on her お尻 (Her behind.) She grabbed the hand and screamed. -Who is touching me? There was a parting of the Red Sea. An elderly man, mid-eighties was the culprit. -Now that’s sukebe. (スケベ）
That’s such a limited use of the word: Can the head on beer in Japan be sukebe? Foreigners think so. There’s something wrong with the world, when ordering beer and getting a bunch of head instead of a full glass of suds.
Or leaving Sushi, on the table for a couple of days until little bits of fur start to grow. Even Japanese, would say that’s sukebe.
When you’re from the West and end up in Japan. The movie title, “Lost in Translation,” can be extremely appropriate. -That’s not to disparage Japan or their people. Japan’s is safe, the Japanese are welcoming, industrious, hard working (hard working is not quite the same as industrious,) extremely creative and unique.
For some reason, I thought of this word. Being dyslexic, romaji sometimes doesn’t work. Meaning I can’t find the word phonetically. To my surprise. It’s katakana. Japanese, or 日本語, has three distinct character sets:
-hiragana. (For native words like うち, for house.
-katakana (For imported words like ハロウィーン (Halloween)
-kanji (Imported from China 3500 years ago -ideograms ) example: 日本語 (Japanese Language)
Very surprised: sukebe (スケベ）is written and defaults in a word processor to katakana. So, where the hell did it come from?
“Follow the white rabbit (YouTube),” meaning down the rabbit hole we go.
Source: Wachowski, L., & Wachowski, L. (1999). The Matrix. Warner Bros.
Theory number #1: “Some sources claim this nautical term,” “skivvies meaning underwear,” “came into English in the late 1800’s from the word from the word sukebe which American and British solders heard as a humorous taunt when they sauntered through prostitute districts during their shore time in Japan.” —That means the word is much older.
Source: https://triangulations.wordpress.com/2016/10/22/sukebe/
Theory number #2: Chicago; The article ‘ (Day, 2021). Again the word relates to prostitution. The 1880 census, lists one women of Japanese decent living in Chicago with a total of three living in Illinois.
Again, The word is much older, yet katakana. More digging is required.
Well it’s still unsolved, and time for bed. I did find other references:
-I found the word in kanji. So maybe much older. 助け平
-The word skebe is used in Hawaii, as part of modern Hawaiian pop culture.
-IMDb, a movie database states there’s a 1985 movie by the title of ‘Sukebe’ (NOTE: I didn't go down this rabbit hole, maybe beware. Unknown. IMDb had very limited information on the movie.)
I would be interested, why katakana?
Vr mzl
Works Cited
Day, T. (2021, 10 10). Who taught the word ‘skebe’ to American’s? Skebe in Chicago’s Japanese American Community -Part I. Retrieved from Discover Nikkei: https://discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2021/10/10/sukebe-1/
Sukebe. (2016, 10 22). Retrieved from Triangulation Wordpress: https://triangulations.wordpress.com/2016/10/22/sukebe/
Wachowski, L. &. (Director). (1999). The Matrix. Warner Bros. [Motion Picture].
Caption: Maybe, a brave sailor:
Source: https://triangulations.wordpress.com/2016/10/22/sukebe/
