Japanese by Example
Learning through examples in manga

Craftman's efforts making glassware with 職人

Manga panel from ARIA The MASTERPIECE showing example of Craftman's efforts making glassware with 職人.
ARIA The MASTERPIECE » Volume 4 » Page 226

Akari picks up a box containing glassware items for her to transport. One of the employees from the shop making the glassware takes the box from her to place in her gondola. After he does this a second time, Akari says she can help carry the boxes, but he refuses.

職人(しょくにん):
「このガラス(たち)親方(マエストロ)精魂(せいこん)()めて(つく)った」
“These pieces of glass were made with the maestro's heart and soul poured into them.”
僕達(ぼくたち)職人(しょくにん)努力(どりょく)結晶(けっしょう)なんス」
“They're the crystallization of our craftsmen's efforts.”

結晶(けっしょう) can refer to crystallization, but also to the fruits (of one’s labor). He means the latter here, but the former works well in an English translation without losing the meaning.

Key Points

  1. 職人(しょくにん) = a skilled craftsperson who makes things by hand

    • In this scene, 職人(しょくにん) means trained artisans who carefully make the glassware, not just generic workers

    • It highlights skill, pride, and craftsmanship, which fits the speaker’s respect for how the pieces were made

  2. 僕達(ぼくたち)職人(しょくにん) = “we craftsmen / us artisans”

    • There is no extra particle between 僕達(ぼくたち) and 職人(しょくにん); the second noun identifies what kind of “we” he means

    • You can read 僕達(ぼくたち)職人(しょくにん)努力(どりょく) as “the efforts of us craftsmen

    • This kind of noun stacking is common in speech when the speaker is defining their group or role

  3. 努力(どりょく)結晶(けっしょう) = the fruits / crystallization of effort

    • Literally, 結晶(けっしょう) is a crystal or crystallization, but here it means the result that has taken shape from long effort

    • In context, he is saying these glass pieces are not ordinary products; they are the visible outcome of the artisans’ hard work

  4. なんス = casual spoken form of なんです

    • なんス is a colloquial contraction of なんです, common in casual masculine speech

    • It keeps the line friendly and conversational while still sounding earnest and emphatic