Japanese with Manga
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Skilled clock maker with 職人

Vocabulary Explanation: Skilled artisan with 職人

Manga panel from 名探偵コナン showing example of Skilled clock maker with 職人.
名探偵コナン » Volume 17 » Page 118

Having received a letter requesting help solving a mystery, Kogoro finds himself in a house filled with animal designs everywhere, including the doors, the chairs, and the plates. His attention turns to the clocks covering the walls.

小五郎(こごろう):
「しかし動物(どうぶつ)もさることながら、時計(とけい)もたくさんありますなー．．．」
“But aside from the animals, there are also a lot of clocks, huh...”
男(おとこ):
「当(あ)たり前(まえ)ですよ．．．　祖父(そふ)は時計(とけい)職人(しょくにん)だったんですから．．．」
“Of course there are... Grandfather was a clock maker, after all...”

Key Points

  1. 時計(とけい)職人(しょくにん) = “clockmaker” / “clock artisan”

    • Here 職人(しょくにん) means a skilled craftsperson, not just someone with a job; it emphasizes trained hands-on workmanship.

    • With 時計(とけい) in front, 時計(とけい)職人(しょくにん) becomes a craftsperson who makes or works on clocks, which is why maker fits in the translation.

  2. Compound noun pattern: 時計(とけい) + 職人(しょくにん)

    • There is no particle between the two nouns; 時計(とけい) directly specifies what kind of artisan he was.

    • This same pattern is very common in Japanese: [thing] + [person/role] → a person who works with that thing.

  3. だったんですから = explanatory reason

    • だった is the past form of です / だ, and んです adds an explanatory tone: you see / the reason is that….

    • から gives the reason, so 祖父(そふ)は時計(とけい)職人(しょくにん)だったんですから means it’s because Grandfather was a clockmaker.

    • In context, he is explaining why the house has so many clocks.

  4. 当(あ)たり前(まえ)ですよ = “Of course”

    • This replies directly to Kogoro’s observation about all the clocks and treats it as something completely expected.

    • The polite ですよ adds a lightly emphatic, matter-of-fact tone: Of course there are.

See Also