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I came across this phrase in a Haruki Murakami short story, and I was
wondering if this is just a literal translation of the English phrase?

I tried googling the Japanese phrase, but I could only find it as a Japanese
translation for the English phrase (such as here:
<http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/ej3/7427/m0u/%A5%BC%A5%C3%A5%AD%A1%BC%A5/>).
If it is in a 国語辞典, then I couldn't find it, but I'm also not really sure
where to look for phrases instead of single words...

* * *

  * If this is just a literal use of the English phrase, would a typical native Japanese speaker know what it means, where it came from, etc.?
  * Also, while I'm asking, is this something that Murakami does often? I've often read that Murakami writes "American Japanese" but I've never really understood what is meant by that.
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2012-06-06T12:34:23.927
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2012-06-07T03:14:42.893
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question
words translation etymology set-phrases
Does バラの寝床 come directly from the English expression "bed of roses"?
> I was wondering if this is just a literal translation of the English phrase?

If the [Wikipedia entry for "bed of
roses"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_of_roses) was correct in stating that
this phrase was coined by the English dramatist Christopher Marlowe, I assume
it would have had to originate from English. ~~If I am reading between the
lines of your question correctly, I do not believe Murakami would have been
the first to do this translation due to the sheer frequency of the phrase (see
my next answer).~~ (See update below.)

> would a typical native Japanese speaker know what it means, where it came
> from, etc.?

I cannot personally comment on this as a non-native speaker of Japanese.
~~However, a[search for the exact phrase in
Google](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E3%83%90%E3%83%A9%E3%81%AE%E5%AF%9D%E5%BA%8A%22)
and [for
薔薇{ばら}の寝床](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E8%96%94%E8%96%87%E3%81%AE%E5%AF%9D%E5%BA%8A%22)
yield a combined total of 281k results, suggesting to me that the phrase
appears frequently enough for everyday use.~~

**Update:** The method used above to answer this question is _completely_
unreliable! In reality, Google reports a combined total of only 145 hits for
these two searches. Unless I learn of another way to estimate the frequency
this phrase is used, I'm afraid I am unable to answer this question at my
current level of Japanese.

> Also, while I'm asking, is this something that Murakami does often? I've
> often read that Murakami writes "American Japanese" but I've never really
> understood what is meant by that.

My suspicion is that "American Japanese" may refer more to his style, rather
than his use of specific words and phrases (though using phrases of foreign
origin _may_ serve this stylistic purpose).

For example, in a [Publisher's Weekly
interview](http://gbctrans.com/eotw/pubweekly.html), Murakami stated:

> _You have to know that the writing in Japan for Japanese people is in a
> particular style, very stiff. If you are a Japanese novelist you have to
> write that way. It's kind of a society, a small society, critics and
> writers, called high literature. But I am different in my style, with a very
> American atmosphere._

His description of Japanese literature as "very stiff" and written "in a
particular style" suggests to me that he is trying to describe American
literature (and his own writing) as, by contrast, more relaxed and less-
constrained stylistically. Again, it is possible that the use of translated
phrases like "bed of roses" serves this purpose, but to say "American
Japanese" does seem to describe something larger than simply word choice.
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2012-06-06T16:10:39.517
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2012-06-06T18:35:51.130
2012-06-06T18:35:51.130
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answer
> If this is just a literal use of the English phrase, would a typical native
> Japanese speaker know what it means, where it came from, etc.?

Yes, it is a literal use of the English phrase. A typical native Japanese
speaker will not understand it unless they know the English phrase.

> Also, while I'm asking, is this something that Murakami does often? I've
> often read that Murakami writes "American Japanese" but I've never really
> understood what is meant by that.

I've read a couple of his books in Japanese, and I do feel that his Japanese
could be easily translated into English. The most important thing to
understand is that Japanese and English are very different and it is quite
uncommon to have a one to one correspondence between an English and Japanese
expression. However, probably due to being overseas for quite some time and
also because Murakami originally has always been interested in non-Japanese
literature, his writing style is very different from other Japanese writers.
For example, with respect to time, English tends to be very linear. However,
in Japanese literature, time is not as important as the event itself. Also,
the expressions used to describe things are very different. If you really want
to see some _insane_ Japanese literature, I recommend reading some works by
[[三島由紀夫]{みしまゆきお}](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_Mishima).
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answer