JIKKU-RI じっくり
Meanings
Describes doing something calmly, carefully, and thoroughly while deliberately taking enough time.
Examples
Take your time and look closely at the plant.
時間をかけて植物をじっくりと見る。
You don’t have to decide now. Go home and think it over carefully.
今決めなくてもいい。家に帰ってからじっくり考えてくれ。
Let the onion soup simmer slowly and thoroughly.
オニオンスープをじっくりと煮込む。
If you have an objection, I’ll sit here and hear you out properly.
反論があるならじっくり聞いてあげようじゃないか。
Dogmatic Opinion
JIKKU-RI means spending time on something while also concentrating on it.
Often, before beginning, the person already understands that this is something worth approaching slowly and carefully—that rushing would be a mistake. There is therefore usually a sense of deliberate intention. Problems, future plans, and cooking are typical examples.
It is less likely to describe becoming absorbed in something and only afterward noticing that hours have passed. With JIKKU-RI, taking the time is often part of the plan from the beginning.
That sense of deliberate focus can even make the word slightly intimidating in the wrong context. Compare “Tomorrow is my day off, so I’ll play with you TAPPURI” with “I’ll play with you JIKKU-RI.” TAPPURI sounds as though you will get lots of time and many kinds of play. JIKKU-RI can sound as though someone intends to subject you to a long, concentrated session of “play” that is starting to resemble torture.
So JIKKU-RI is not simply “slowly.” It often means settling in because the matter deserves time and full attention.
Proximate Expression
ponder
take one’s time
Steadily
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
Take one’s time, carefully, thoroughly, at length, and think something through are useful. “じっくり考える” is think it over carefully or take time to think it through. “じっくり煮込む” is simmer slowly and thoroughly. The key nuance is deliberate, sustained attention rather than mere slowness.
