mason – friability

Friability is the measure of how friable an object is – meaning how readily it breaks into crumbly pieces or powder. The Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary links the root of these words to that of friction, which clearly lines this concept up with 摩損 [マソン] (also written 磨損) as defined in デジタル大辞泉 via Kotobank.jp, connecting it to the property of friability through friction (“摩擦によって減る”).

As a measure to describe pharmaceutical tablets, 摩損度 and friability are equivalents in pharmacopeias. 日本薬局方 and the U.S. Pharmacopeia define these terms as “摩損度の測定は、錠剤の硬度など他の物理的強度の測定を補足するもの” (p. 1598) and a “measurement of tablet friability supplements other physical strength measurements, such as tablet crushing strength” (p. 3046), respectively, and an English translation of the Japanese Pharmacopeia uses the exact same sentence as the U.S. version.

bishou (na) dameeji – microdamage

Here are two examples, one from Japanese and one from English, discussing microdamage accumulation in bones.

From the post “アレンドロネート長期使用が大腿骨骨折に関与？” on the 井蛙内科開業医／診療録 blog:

ビスホスホネートは骨代謝を抑制するため、骨の中に微小なダメージの蓄積を引き起こす可能性はあるが、ビスホスホネート使用者の骨に微小損傷の蓄積が見られるという報告はなかった。

(In addition to 微小なダメージ, 微小ダメージ is also used in the same context.)

Compare this to the first sentence of the abstract for the article “Low bone mineral density is associated with bone microdamage accumulation in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis” on the Bone journal site:

Marked suppression of bone turnover by bisphosphonates is associated with increased bone microdamage accumulation in animal models.

(Micro-damage is also used.)

According to “Microcracks in the alveolar bone following orthodontic tooth movement: a morphological and morphometric study” in the European Journal of Orthodontics (vol. 26, no. 5), “Microdamage in bone was first described by Frost (1960) and is the epiphenomenon of fatigue, creep or other accumulative mechanical process that permanently alter the microstructure (Martin, 2003).” According to the Wikipedia article “Microdamage in bone,” one cause of microdamage in bone is the “various loads to which bones are subjected during normal daily activity.”

Canyoneering, Canyoning and Kyanioningu

Canyoneering—in the US—and canyoning in the rest of the English-speaking world is an outdoors activity in which participants climb, hike, swim and otherwise navigate canyons.

As noted in the Wikipedia article, this activity is used most often to refer to technical (i.e., difficult and requiring special skills) activities within a canyon such as rappelling (US)—abseiling (UK)—and technical jumps.

The Japanese term キャニオニング, however, does not seem to fit this definition exactly. It is a river sport according to the Japanese Wikipedia article: “キャニオニング（Canyoning）とは、フランス発祥のキャニオン（渓谷）で遊ぶリバー・スポーツである。”

Indeed, if you look at Google Images for キャニオニング, what you mainly see is people sliding down streams and rivers, sometimes alone and other times in human trains. Here are some examples:

• Happy Raft – image
• Minakami blog – image

In contrast, such images show up hardly at all if you search on canyoneering. Instead, you see images of people rappelling down cliff faces or waterfalls in canyons.

But search for canyoning (again, the non-US version of canyoneering), and you see a mix of the two.

Like so many words from English, it seems that キャニオニング has taken on a character distinctly Japanese, something like a fuzzy faux ami. The Wikipedia article does note that the sport originated in France, and searching for images of canyonisme reveals a mix of photos similar to the mix found with (non-US) canyoning.

Perhaps it is best to keep in mind terms such as waterfall sliding and river sliding. While not as common as canyoneering/canyoning, they may be more accurate in many cases.

tsugiki – grafting

Grafting is the joining of two plants, such as the base of one for its hardy roots and the upper part of another for its fruit or flowers.

Grafting is called 接ぎ木 (つぎき) in Japanese. The base plant, called the stock or root stock/rootstock, is 台木 (だいき) in Japanese, and the upper plant known as the scion is called 穂木 (ほぎ) in Japanese.

The point of union between the two is known as the joint, graft bud or graft union, called the 接着部 (せっちゃくぶ) in Japanese.

See Anatomy of a Fruit Tree and How to Plant a Plum Tree for brief descriptions of grafted plants with photos and graphics. See also 接木苗用台木製造装置, a patent with a diagram of a grafted plant.

shuntei – momentary dip

The word 瞬低 (しゅんてい), short for 瞬時電圧低下 (しゅんじ でんあつ ていか), is a momentary dip in voltage or momentary drop in voltage.

tanesen – till

In addition to the standard meanings given by dictionaries, the word 種銭 (たねせん) refers to the amount of money in the cash register before the start of the day (and at the end of the day, after the cash proceeds are removed), such as at a retail store. The 種銭 is used to make change for customers and the amount of the 種銭 is deducted from the total cash at the end of the day to find the cash proceeds.

In English, this is called the till, a word also meaning cash register.

Races in Ball Bearings

In the construction of a ball bearing are two races. The inner race is known in Japanese as 内輪 (ないりん) and the outer race as 外輪 (がいりん).

Also, the part that holds the balls is known as the ball bearing cage or 保持器 (ほじき).

See “How Yo-Yos Work” and “Ball Bearing” for diagrams showing the construction of a ball bearing.

Injection Routes

There are a number of injection or infusion methods used to deliver medicine to the body. Here is a partial list. Watch out in particular for intradermal injection 皮内注射 and subcutaneous injection 皮下注射, which are often confused in translation.

Blood Vessels – 血管 (けっかん)

• intra-arterial (or intraarterial) injection –  動脈内注射 (どうみゃくない ちゅうしゃ),
• intravenous injection – 静脈内注射 (じょうみゃくない ちゅうしゃ) or 静注 (じょうちゅう) for short

Bones – 骨 (ほね)

• intrafemoral injection – 大腿骨内注射 (だいたい こつない ちゅうしゃ) or 大腿内注射 (だいたいない ちゅうしゃ) – not well attested on the Internet
• intraosseous injection – 骨内注射 (こつない ちゅうしゃ),
• intratibial injection – 脛骨内注射 (けいこつない ちゅうしゃ)

Ears – 耳 (みみ)

• auricular injection – 耳内注射 (じない ちゅうしゃ),
• intratympanic injection – 中耳内注射 (ちゅうじない ちゅうしゃ)

Eyes – 目・眼 (め)

• intraocular injection – 眼内注射 (がんない ちゅうしゃ)
• periocular injection (and perhaps periorbital injection) – 眼周囲注射 (がんしゅうい ちゅうしゃ)

Heart – 心臓 (しんぞう)

• cadiac injection – 心臓注射 (しんぞう ちゅうしゃ),
• intracardiac injection – 心臓内注射 (しんぞうない ちゅうしゃ)

Muscles – 筋肉 (きんにく)

• intramuscular injection – 筋肉内注射 (きんにくない ちゅうしゃ)

Nose – 鼻 (はな)

• intranasal injection – 鼻腔内注射 (びこうない ちゅうしゃ), 鼻内注射 (びない ちゅうしゃ)

Skin – 皮膚 (ひふ)

• intradermal injection (also intracutaneous injection) – 皮内注射 (ひない ちゅうしゃ),
• percutanous injection – 経皮注射 (けいひ ちゅうしゃ),
• subcutaneous injection – 皮下注射 (ひか ちゅうしゃ)

Tongue – 舌 (した)

• sublingual injection – 舌下注射 (ぜっか ちゅうしゃ)

Other – その他 (そのた)

• hemorrhoid injection – 痔核注射 (じかく ちゅうしゃ),
• intrathecal injection – 脊髄腔内注射 (せきずいこうない　ちゅうしゃ),
• intraperitoneal injection – 腹腔内注射 (ふくくう ちゅうしゃ)

We will be adding to this list as we come across new terms.

me-ni yasashii

目に優しい is a general idiom meaning easy on the eyes.

PWM

PWM is an abbreviation used in Japanese and English for pulse width modulation. The Japanese term for pulse width modulation is パルス幅変調.