頭が固い

Compound of 頭(あたま) (atama, “head”) + が (ga, “subjective particle”) + 固(かた)い (katai, “hard, firm”). Literally, “head is hard”.

• (Tokyo) あたまが・かたい [àtámáꜜ gà kàtáí] (Odaka + Heiban – [3]-[0])

• IPA^(key): [a̠ta̠ma̠ ɡa̠ ka̠ta̠i]

頭(あたま)が固(かた)い • (atama ga katai) 

1. hard-headed, stubborn, obstinate
   • 1992, Orihara Ichi, Nanatsu no hitsugi: Misshitsu satsujin ga ōsugiru [Seven coffins: Treasury of locked-room murder mysteries], page 8:

     どうして、俺(おれ)は頭(あたま)が固(かた)いのだろう。

     Dōshite, ore wa atama ga katai no darō.

     I wonder, why am I so stubborn?

   • 2012 February 16, castle [username], “reply: Chūkōnen wa atama ga katakunaru”, in Hatena‎^[1]:

     仮(かり)にその中(ちゅう)高(こう)年(ねん)の方(かた)が頭(あたま)が固(かた)かったとして、ご本(ほん)人(にん)の思(し)考(こう)に柔(じゅう)軟(なん)性(せい)を欠(か)けているケースなのか、その職(しょく)場(ば)なり人(にん)間(げん)関(かん)係(けい)なり全(ぜん)体(たい)で上(うえ)の人(ひと)が下(した)に無(ぶ)事(じ)理(り)意(い)を強(し)いている力(ちから)関(かん)係(けい)で回(まわ)らざるを得(え)なくなっているケースなのかでも、随(ずい)分(ぶん)と意(い)味(み)合(あ)いが変(か)わってくるように思(おも)います。

     Karini sono chūkōnen no kata ga atama ga katakatta to shite, gohonnin no shikō ni jūnansei o kaketeiru kēsu na no ka, sono shokuba nari ningen kankei nari zentai de ue no hito ga shita ni bujiri i o shīteiru chikara kankei de mawarazaru o enakunatteiru kēsu na no ka de mo, zuibun to imi ai ga kawattekuru yō ni omoimasu.

     Even if that middle-aged person were hard headed, the case depends on whether that individual lacks flexibility in their thinking, or if all relationships in the workplace are hierarchical so that superiors forcibly dictate to inferiors what is right, which has strong implications for changing ways of thinking.

   • 2020 February 6, “Naze toshi o toru to atama ga katakunaru no ka? [Why do people become stubborn as they get older?]”, in Ten minittsu TV‎^[2]:

     しかし、脳(のう)研(けん)究(きゅう)者(しゃ)の池(いけ)谷(がや)裕(ゆう)二(じ)氏(し)は「脳(のう)は経(けい)年(ねん)劣(れっ)化(か)しない」と断(だん)言(げん)し、脳(のう)内(ない)科(か)医(い)の加(か)藤(とう)俊(しゅん)徳(とく)氏(し)も「脳(のう)は人(にん)間(げん)の中(なか)でも一(いち)番(ばん)寿(じゅ)命(みょう)が長(なが)い器(き)官(かん)」「鍛(きた)え続(つづ)ければ、脳(のう)は120(ひゃくにじゅう)歳(さい)まで生(い)きる力(ちから)を持(も)っています」述(の)べているように、「頭(あたま)＝(イコール)脳(のう)」ととらえて考(かんが)えてみると、「年(とし)を取(と)る」と「頭(あたま)が固(かた)くなる」を安(あん)易(い)に結(むす)びつけることは、本(ほん)質(しつ)を見(み)誤(あやま)ることにつながりかねないようです。

     Shikashi, nō kenkyūsha no Ikegaya Yūji-shi wa “nō wa keinen rekka shinai” to dangen shi, nō naikai no Katō Shuntoku-shi mo “nō wa ningen no naka de mo ichiban jumyō ga nagai kikan” “kitae tsuzukereba, nō wa hyakunijū-sai made ikiru chikara o motteimasu” nobeteiru yō ni, “atama ikōru nō” to toraete kangaete miru to, “toshi o toru” to “atama ga katakunaru” o an'i ni musubi tsukeru koto wa, honshitsu o miayamaru koto ni tsunagari kanenai yō desu.

     But brain researcher Yūji Ikegaya states, “Brains do not deteriorate over time,” and neurologist Shuntoku Katō explains, “The brain is the longest-lived organ in the body,” and “with continuous training, the brain can remain vigorous to age 120,” so to imagine that ‘head equals brain’, casually linking ‘growing older’ and ‘growing obstinate’, risks misunderstanding the concept at work here.

• →? English: concrete-head (calque)