Chotipat’s

Gambaru (Do your best) Spirit in Thailand and Japan Societies

June 11, 2007

เมื่อสัปดาห์ที่ผ่านมา แฟนผมได้รับเชิญให้เป็น Guest Speaker ของ Toastmaster club ที่บริษัทฯ ผมเห็นว่าเรื่องที่พูดน่าสนใจและเป็นประโยชน์มาก เลยขอ Note ที่ได้เตรียมไว้มาเผยแพร่ให้ทุกคนได้อ่านกันครับ เรื่องที่พูดเป็นเรื่องเกี่ยวกับคำศัพท์ภาษาญี่ปุ่นคำว่า “Gambaru” ซึ่งแปลเป็นภาษาอังกฤษได้ว่า “Do your best” เป็นคำที่คนญี่ปุ่นมักจะพูดบ่อยๆในชีวิตประจำวันทั่วไปในสังคมประเทศของเขา แต่ในสถานการณ์ที่คล้ายๆกันนั้น คนไทยเรามักจะใช้คำว่า “โชคดี” แทน ผมคิดว่ามันมีประโยชน์มากๆถ้าเราในฐานะคนไทยที่จะลองมาคิดในประเด็นนี้ดูให้ดี และนำมาปรับใช้เพื่อให้เกิดประโยชน์ต่อทั้งประเทศไทยและตัวเราเองต่อไปครับ —– Note นี้ค่อนข้างยาวนิดนึง ให้คลิกที่ “read on” ด้านล่างขวามือหรือที่ชื่อเรื่องก็ได้เพื่ออ่านต่อ…..อยากให้ทุกคนมาเริ่มต้นการ “Do your best” ด้วยการอ่าน Note นี้ให้จบครับ

“Gambaru”

The Japanese people believe that one should make the sincerest effort as possible, and the outcome of that effort is secondary. For Japanese, the effort can be evaluated and admired on its own merit.

The word “Gambaru” is frequently used by Japanese to express the spirit of effort to each other. I believe that this word or similar word/phase is used in Japan more than any other country in the world. Next, I will give some examples how Japanese use this word in their daily life and daily conversion.

(1) On a school examination day, almost 100% of Japanese will say to their friends “Gambatte” or “Do your best”. If I try to think about the same situation in Thailand, probably half of Thai will say “Good luck” rather than “Do your best”. I found that it’s more natural & relaxing for Thai to say “Good luck” rather than to say a serious phase like “Do your best”.

(2) In Japan, when children need to start their homework at home, the mom will say “Gambattene” to encourage them to finish the homework before doing other things.

(3) On an occasion of Olympics game, the Japan Prime minister will officially say to their sport representatives “Gambatte kudasai” to encourage them to get Gold medals for the country.

(4) On a wedding day, most of brides and bridegrooms will promise to their parents & special guests that they will “gambarimasu” for their couple life.

From examples above, no matter it is a big stuff like Olympics game or a small stuff like doing homework, Japanese will repeatedly convey this Gambaru word to emphasize and express their effort spirit to each other. This is proven that the “Gambaru” spirit is deeply existing in most of Japanese heart.

Next I would like to share with you examples of Japanese Gambaru Spirit, which our Thai people can perceive.

After World war II, Japanese reconstructed their completely ruined country to become a powerful economic nation. People believe that “Gambaru – The Japanese spirit of patience and determination” contributed a lot to the Japanese successful story.

Another example on a Japanese TV Show – TV champion. Many of my friends asked me whether it is real or fake. From my experience in Japan, I believe that it is real. For example : A case of Ramen chef competition, the competitors will put a lot of effort finding the best ingredient in order to cook their best taste of ramen. Water must come from this mountain as it is so pure. Pork must come from this farm and pigs from this farm eat only beer & special food in order to make the meat very soft and tasteful. One may think that it is only ramen cooking but for Japanese, they value whatever they are doing and have a strong willingness to do the best.

My last example, it’s quite interesting that the power of Japanese effort is not limited to only Japanese people but also extending to a Japanese chimpanzee and dog. You all may know them well. They are Pang Kun & James Kun. Pang Kun always put a lot of effort to accomplish a difficult task assigned by Miyazawa san like shopping at Supermarket, taking a photo, cooking. It is a big fun to see an incredible chimpanzee’s talent but in fact there are a lot of Gambaru spirits in this show, which Japanese people really admire.

In conclusion, I would say Japanese spirit of Gambaru does differentiate Japanese from other country people. Gamburu spirit makes Japanese feel good about their efforts and makes them have a lot of power to continue until they become successful.

Learning good things about the Japanese Spirit of Gambaru today, I would like to encourage everyone to always keep “Gambaru” spirit in your heart and give this “Gambaru” power to your colleagues, friends, and your family. From now we will never ask for “Luck” or “Jathukamramathep” anymore.

Thank you.

Entry Filed under: รอบตัวเรา. Tags: Japanese.