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Okay!! Happy Cultural Day, guys! I finally have the energy to write, so let’s get started!

So, for those of you who’re interested in Japan, I’m sure you’ve come across the commonly used: ドキドキしてる！(dou-ki, dou-ki shi-teh-ru), or my heart is pounding!

This phrase is usually used when:

You have butterflies/ You’re anxious

You’re excited

Don’t think of this as a translation for ‘excited’, though. Rather, think of ドキドキ as the sound of your heart beating. Another tatami word, ワクワク (wah-ku, wah-ku) more accurately means “excited”, in the sense that you can’t wait. In this song by S/mileage, you can hear how ワクワク is used: 大人になるって難しい

These types of phrases are known by English-speakers as onomatopoeia, though I read the term ‘tatami words’ in an article by the Japan Times. The article said such words were coined ‘tatami’ words because of how they layer each other.

The tatami word we’ll cover today can be heard in one of my favorite pop songs “ドキドキ! Love Mail“. As you can probably tell by the video, it’s quite old, dating back to about 2004. The song is basically about a girl who’s fallen in love for the first time. Given that Matsuura was merely fourteen at the time, it’s presented in a very sweet and innocent fashion.

The chorus is probably the easiest to remember (and was the first part of the song I could sing), so let’s break it down.

このドキドキはなぜと止まらない？

心にあなたいっぱい

恋してる

この感じ

今までにないこの感じ

このドキドキはなぜ気持ちいい？

何度も同じメール見っちゃってる

この感じ

ウォーウォーウォー

会いたくなった

Let’s first look into the recurring, この (kou-no). There are three parts to this grammar, but let’s look at the unmodified version FIRST. Here we have:

これ (kou-reh) – This

それ (sou-reh) -That

あれ (ah-reh)- That over there

In order to modify, we use ‘の’ instead of れ’, making it

この (kou-no)-this (thing)

その (sou-no)- that (thing)

あの (ah-no)-that (thing) over there

Now, some kanji practice:

止まらない とまらない to-ma-ra-na-i  (won’t/don’t stop)

見っちゃってる みちゃってる mi-cha-tte-roo (to see by accident)

心 こころ kou-kou-ro  (heart)

感じ かんじ kan-ji  (feeling, expressed from the inside outward. You —-> world. It’s often used like this: “You know when you can’t sleep from being so excited? It was something like that kind of feeling yesterday.” It’s often translated as “like that”, but I like to think of it as, “that kind of feeling”, which may be TOO literal, actually.

気持ち きもち kee-mou-chi (feeling, expressed in reaction to the outside world. You<——world). It’s often used like this: “He makes me feel weird.” ” The sun feels so nice!”

何度も なんども nan-dou-mo (however many times)

恋してる こいしてる kou-ee-shee-te-roo (I’m in love)

会いたくなった あいたくなった ai-ta-ku-na-tta (I want to meet)

同じ おなじ oh-nah-ji (the same)

今 いま ee-ma (now)

So, let’s try to translate:

このドキドキはなぜ止まらない？？

Why won’t this beating/pounding stop?

心にあなたいっぱい

You have filled my heart

恋してる

I love you

この感じ

This kind of feeling

今までにないこの感じ

Up until now there wasn’t a feeling like this

このドキドキはなぜ気持ちいい？

Why does this beating in my heart feel good?

何度も同じメール見っちゃってる

I’ve ended up looking at the same message however many times 

この感じ

This kind of feeling

ウォーウォーウォー

Whoa, whoa whoa

会いたくなった

I want to meet

Until next song, guys! Later!

Note: You may notice that I wrote ドキドキ in katakana, which is usually associated with foreign words. どきどき, which is dou-ki, dou-ki in hiragana, is also correct. As you see more and more Japanese, you’ll notice that they use katakana to make certain words stand out or to look cool and trendy. I’m not sure why tatami words tend to be written in katakana, but it could simply be because it brings out their onomatopeic nature.