Understanding どうしたら


On the 100th anniversary of the first anime 東京国立近代美術館フィルムセンター said:

> **どうしたら** このアニメがこれから１００年残っていくか考えてほしいと思います  
>  ??? We want you think about how these anime will be here 100 years from
> now.

My translation is unnatural. I'm having trouble understanding how どうしたら works
in this sentence, and what it means. Normally when I see どうしたら it either goes
with いい or with a verb in potential form. I can't understand what 'how' is
referring to here.

Come to think of it, I'm not too sure about 残っていく either. 'to go on remaining'
= 'to survive' maybe?




First, let us pretend for a moment that the sentence is:

> 「 **こう** したら、このアニメはこれから１００年残{ねんのこ}っていくだろう。」

Do you feel comfortable with this sentence? It means:

> " **If one did this** , this anime would survive for the next 100 years."

What to do to make it survive a long time must have already been discussed in
the conversation, mustn't it? That is why you can say 「 **こう** したら」.

This is all about the famous こそあど. If you have a word starting with こ、そ or あ,
then a "what", "how", "where", etc. has already been mentioned or discussed in
concrete terms in the conversation. If it has **not** yet been discussed, and
you want to talk about it, that is when you use a **ど** ｰword. So, you have a
「 **どう** 」 this time.

Back to the original sentence..

> 「 **どうしたら** このアニメがこれから１００年残っていくか考{かんが}えてほしいと思{おも}います。」

「どうしたら」 is, of course, a conditional phrase, which is actually difficult to
translate by itself. It literally means " **If one did what** ". The sentence
is talking about "what to do" or "what should one do" to make the anime last
long. Are you following?

「どうしたら」 modifies 「残っていく」. ← Important " **what to do (so that) it will
survive** "

> "I can't understand what 'how' is referring to here."

This statement worries me somewhat. Forget " **how** "; That is just your
literal translation of 「どう」. Instead, you would need to get used to the highly
common collocation of 「 **どう + する** 」 to mean "do what", "what to do", etc.

「 **どう** しよう！」= " **What** should I do?"

「 **どう** したの？」 = " **What** happened?"

Those phrases should sound familiar to anyone who has been studying Japanese
over 6 months or so.

The reason that the sentence in question seems difficult to comprehend,
according to me, is the fact that it has not only a very long object but the
object contains within itself a mini-sentence consisting of a condition and
consequence. The object of the sentence is:

> 「どうしたらこのアニメがこれから１００年残っていくか​」

That is what the speaker/author wants you to think about。

> 「(Object) + （を） + 考えてほしいと思います。」

「を」 is not used, but it can be.

> "I would like you to think about (what should be done/what you should
> do/what to do) so that this anime continues to survive the next 100 years."




First, let us pretend for a moment that the sentence is:

> 「 **こう** したら、このアニメはこれから１００年残{ねんのこ}っていくだろう。」

Do you feel comfortable with this sentence? It means:

> " **If one did this** , this anime would survive for the next 100 years."

What to do to make it survive a long time must have already been discussed in
the conversation, mustn't it? That is why you can say 「 **こう** したら」.

This is all about the famous こそあど. If you have a word starting with こ、そ or あ,
then a "what", "how", "where", etc. has already been mentioned or discussed in
concrete terms in the conversation. If it has **not** yet been discussed, and
you want to talk about it, that is when you use a **ど** ｰword. So, you have a
「 **どう** 」 this time.

Back to the original sentence..

> 「 **どうしたら** このアニメがこれから１００年残っていくか考{かんが}えてほしいと思{おも}います。」

「どうしたら」 is, of course, a conditional phrase, which is actually difficult to
translate by itself. It literally means " **If one did what** ". The sentence
is talking about "what to do" or "what should one do" to make the anime last
long. Are you following?

「どうしたら」 modifies 「残っていく」. ← Important " **what to do (so that) it will
survive** "

> "I can't understand what 'how' is referring to here."

This statement worries me somewhat. Forget " **how** "; That is just your
literal translation of 「どう」. Instead, you would need to get used to the highly
common collocation of 「 **どう + する** 」 to mean "do what", "what to do", etc.

「 **どう** しよう！」= " **What** should I do?"

「 **どう** したの？」 = " **What** happened?"

Those phrases should sound familiar to anyone who has been studying Japanese
over 6 months or so.

The reason that the sentence in question seems difficult to comprehend,
according to me, is the fact that it has not only a very long object but the
object contains within itself a mini-sentence consisting of a condition and
consequence. The object of the sentence is:

> 「どうしたらこのアニメがこれから１００年残っていくか​」

That is what the speaker/author wants you to think about。

> 「(Object) + （を） + 考えてほしいと思います。」

「を」 is not used, but it can be.

> "I would like you to think about (what should be done/what you should
> do/what to do) so that this anime continues to survive the next 100 years."

