Zac Baran

There is a legendary jazz cafe/bar in Kyoto named Zac Baran. Up till now, it has never occurred to me that the name had some kind of meaning. However, in a favored 居酒屋 (izakaya) named Gohanya the other night, I asked Morisi one of the serving staff what she thought was the eatery's winning point.

"ざっくばらん," she said.

And "ooh!" thinks I, "It's an actual word!"

ざっくばらん means to be candid, frank, outspoken or straightforward. These are often held to be positive qualities in the Kansai area, though perhaps less so in Kyoto where a more typical Japanese reserve holds sway. Here's an example sentence from Jim Breen's dictionary:

ざっくばらんにすべきです。そうすれば彼らは君を仲間として扱うだろう。
ざっくばらんにすべきです。そうすればかれらはきみをなかまとしてあつかうだろう。
You should be frank, and they will treat you as a friend.

And you can find more examples at SPACEALC.