To the utter dismay of my family in the US, Rei and I could not escape the allure of Asia.

So yeah... We moved to Thailand again. We're living in Chiang Mai, and it's awesome.

↓　Just look at this papaya tree!　↓

Anyways, I was reading an email this morning from the editor I work with in Tokyo, and it had this sentence:

時差ボケは少しは収まった^^？
じさボケ　は　すこし　は　おさまった^^？
Is your jet lag any better?
Literally: "jet lag + は + a little bit + settled / lessened?"

I showed Rei that sentence, and she said, shouldn't the kanji be 治まる (おさまる), not 収まる (おさまる)?

Don't ask me, yo.

But yeah, this is one of those wonderful words in Japanese that has different kanji for only slightly varying meanings, causing poor students like us all kinds of confusion. It doesn't help that this word has a ridiculous number of translations in English, either.

Here are some dictionary entries:

収まる
おさまる
to be in one's place to be installed; to settle into; to be delivered; to be obtained; to be paid; to be settled; to be sorted out; to lessen (e.g. of storms, pain)

治まる
おさまる
to be at peace; to clamp down; to lessen (storm, terror, anger)

In other news (we have lots of news today), I got a wisdom tooth pulled today.

I was going to get the procedure done when I was in San Diego, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay the exorbitant medical fees. So instead I waited until we got to Thailand, then got a Thai dentist who studied in the US to do it for much, much less.

Yay! Or, not yay, because my mouth is swollen, and I'm taking painkillers, and I probably shouldn't be writing Japanese lessons.

So I ask Rei, is it all right for me to swallow all of this blood? And she was like, I don't know. And then she said this well-timed sentence:

そのうち治まるよ。
そのうち　おさまる　よ。
It (=the bleeding) will go down naturally.
Literally: "eventually / sooner or later + lessen + よ."

Nice.

Oh, so... lesson stuff.

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Here's how I divide the kanji:

- Use 治まる when "lessening" or "dying down" is a type of healing.

- Use 収まる when the "lessening" or "dying down" it's not a type of healing.

Make sense? Yeah, me neither. Luckily no one cares if you mess up kanji.

But just in case, here are some examples...

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収まる ＝ lessen; die down

嵐がなかなか収まらない。
あらし　が　なかなか　おさまらない。
This storm just won't die down.
Literally: "storm + が + just won't / by no means + won't die down."

水を飲んだら空腹が収まった。
みず　を　のんだら　くうふく　が　おさまった。
Drinking water made me feel less hungry.
Literally: "water + を + when drank + hunger + が + died down."

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治まる＝ lessen; die down... with a nuance of healing

頭痛が治まる薬をください。
ずつう　が　おさまる　くすり　を　ください。
I'd like some medicine to help with headaches, please.
Literally: "headache + が + die down + medicine + を + please."

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収まる ＝ [too many things to translate]

Now for the super-advanced usages.

Honestly, I have not been using this verb in sentences like these, but I think maybe it's time I started...

ランチが500円で収まった。
ランチ　が　ごひゃく　えん　で　おさまった。
I got my lunch for 500 yen.
Literally: "lunch + が + 500 yen + で + settled."

このスーツケース、クローゼットに収まるかな？
この　スーツケース、 クローゼット　に　おさまる　かな？
Do you think this suitcase will fit in the closet?
Literally: "this + suitcase, + closet + に + settle into + かな？"

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Hope I didn't confuse you too much. I'm gonna go drink a smoothie or something. ^_^