Bothersome to try new things with 億劫

Kanji Explanation: Aeons and calamity with 劫

At dusk, Hanae takes the bus to the grocery store to buy ingredients for dinner. There she encounters Hiroto, doing the same on his way home from work. Hiroto says he rode his motorcycle today and can give Hanae a lift home. She refuses, as she’s never ridden on a motorcycle before.

はなえ:: 「この年(とし)になると新(あたら)しいことって、億劫(おっくう)なんだよ…」; “At my age, trying new things is such a hassle…”; Literal: “When you get to this age, new things are bothersome...”

Key Points

1億劫(おっくう) = feeling too much bother to do something

Here 億劫(おっくう) describes Hanae’s reluctance before trying something unfamiliar, not physical difficulty or impossibility.
It has a feeling of “I just don’t feel up to dealing with that.”

2新(あたら)しいことって marks “new things” as the topic

って is a casual topic marker here, close to 新(あたら)しいことは.
Hanae is not talking about one specific new thing only; she is generalizing about unfamiliar experiences at her age.

3この年(とし)になると = “when you get to this age”

〜になると sets a condition or stage: once someone reaches this age, the following tendency becomes true.
この年(とし) refers to Hanae’s own current age or life stage, which makes the line self-deprecating rather than a rule about everyone.

4億劫(おっくう)なんだよ gives the reason as a personal explanation

なんだ presents the feeling as an explanatory realization: “it’s that it feels like a hassle.”
よ adds a conversational, gently emphatic tone, as if Hanae is justifying why she is refusing the motorcycle ride.

Bothersome to try new things with 億劫

Key Points

See Also