Club Team Slogan Banners in “Haikyu!!” Part 2

01/07/2021Posted inJapanese Kanji BlogNo Comments
I wrote about the meaning of the club team banners in "Haikyu!!" once before. The banners of the main teams represent who they are very well. Let's recap what we learned:  Club Team Slogan Banners in “Haikyu!!” For example, the rival teams Karasuno and Nekoma have the similar banners. Now I received extra pictures of banners in "Haikyu!!" from a follower! Let's check it out! I'm wondering what these banners mean in English. OMG, there are so many! Σ(･ω･ﾉ)ﾉ！ OK, let me explain one by one...! By the way, they look like a part of the background, so we can't tell about those 7 specific teams. 一事専念 一事専念(ichijisennen) means "Focus…

Meanings of Kanji in “Haikyu!!” Nekoma High School

11/20/2020Posted inJapanese Kanji Blog1 Comment
In the popular volleyball anime show "Haikyu!!", Nekoma High School is one of the biggest rival team of the main team Karasuno High. The characters of team Nekoma are likened to cats, just as members of team Karasuno are likened to crows. Because neko(ねこ / ネコ / 猫) means a cat, and karasu(からす / カラス / 烏) means a crow in Japanese. But, wait a minute. We don't see any "猫" on Nekoma's jerseys and there is the kanji 音駒 instead. What is "音駒"? What Does the Kanji on Nekoma's Jersey Say? Well, the answer is very simple. 音駒 says "Nekoma"! There is no 猫 in it but still. The…

Secret of Kanji Names in Haikyu!!

08/08/2020Posted inJapanese Kanji Blog2 Comments
In Japanese Anime shows, manga, or books, Kanji names often contain some information to explain the characters. But those things get usually lost in translation. Today I share what Japanese people can notice about 2 sets of duo in "Haikyu!!". Hinata Shoyo and Kageyama Tobio Hinata Shouyou(Shoyo)日向 翔陽 and Kageyama Tobio 影山 飛雄 are the main characters of Haikyu!!. Many people will think "These two are in contrast." when they watch this show...and YES they are! Hinata's family name "日向" means "Sunny Place". On the other hand, Kageyama is "影山", which means "Shadow Mountain". I can imagine the happy bright sunlight and the dark side of the mountain together. lol…

The Meaning of the Japanese Kanji on the Haikyu!! Sweatshirt

11/27/2019Posted inJapanese Kanji BlogNo Comments
My favorite volleyball anime show "Haikyu!!" is now available on Netflix! And I got a question about the symbol in the show. I found this symbol on the "Haikyu!!" sweatshirt. What does it mean? Thank you for your question! (*´▽｀*)☆ That's is from the team banner of Karasuno high school! The Meanings of Karasuno's Team Slogan In Japan, sport teams often own this kind of banner to cheer the team. Usually, volleyball teams hang those banners on the fence of the second floor in the gymnasium, which almost all schools have. I see "烏野高校男子バレーボール部OB会" in the bottom right corner. That means, team graduates donated this banner. The banner says 飛べ(tobe).…

The Meanings of Nishinoya’s Kanji T-Shirts in “Haikyu!!”

10/03/2017Posted inJapanese Kanji Blog
Hey, somebody is really into Kanji T-Shirts. Nishinoya, the little libero guy for the popular volley ball animation "Haikyu!!", loves Kanji T-Shirts! I found at least 4  times he was wearing one and all of them are "4 character idiomatic compounds" that most Japanese people know the meaning of. Let's see them one by one! Haikyu!! Nishinoya's Kanji T-Shirt #1 一騎当千 "一騎当千(ikki-tousen)" means that "the one warrior is as strong as 1000 warriors". Yeah, Nishinoya has confidence! Haikyu!! Nishinoya's Kanji T-Shirt #2 一刀両断 "一刀両断(ittou-ryoudan)" means that "cutting it in two with one blow". This looks like expressing Nisinoya's manly personality. Haikyu!! Nishinoya's Kanji T-Shirt #3 大器晩成 "大器晩成(taiki-bansei)" says "the big bowl would…

Club Team Slogan Banners in “Haikyu!!”

09/10/2017Posted inJapanese Kanji Blog
I've talked about the Japanese culture of banners for sport teams last time. So, I think I should talk about my favorite volleyball show "Haikyu!!". Karasuno High School Boy's Volleyball Team Banner Main team's slogan banner is so simple! It's "飛べ(tobe)". It means "Fly!". Needless to say, human beings can't fly(飛ぶ: tobu). We can only jump(跳ぶ: tobu). However, I guess they chose that kanji and the color black on purpose because they are Karasuno(烏野: Crow-Field) High School.  Crows can fly and they are black! Aoba-Jousai High School Boy's Volleyball Team Banner The banner of Aoba-Jousai says "コートを制す(kouto-wo-seisu)". That means "Rule the (Volleyball) Court". This team's key player is the setter,…

Japanese Kanji Culture: The Secret of the Title “Haikyu!!”

08/25/2017Posted inJapanese Kanji Blog
I am a "Haikyu!!" fan! It's a Japanese animation about a high school volleyball team. Let's talk about some kanji stuff that I noticed. What is the Japanese Kanji Word "Haikyu"? The title of this show is after the word "排球(haikyuu)" and it's Japanese name of volleyball.  But basically NOBODY calls volleyball "haikyuu". We call volleyball "バレーボール(bare-bo-ru)". Did you notice the word "バレーボール" is not kanji? It is Japanese Katakana. In Japan we use the katakana script like this to adopt the word from foreign language and pronounce it as close as possible. However, some schools have a culture where they write everything in kanji. In that case, kanji version…