Secret of Katakuri’s Move: Japanese Culture in “One Piece”

11/11/2018Posted inJapanese Kanji Blog
I love mochi! Some people call it "Rice Cake" and it's basically smashed sweet sticky rice. Mochi is a common food in Japan and there are many traditional mochi sweets and mochi dishes. By the way, why am I talking about mochi? Because I got an interesting question from a follower. Why did Katakuri put an orange on Mirror Mochi? Katakuri is a certain type of starch that Japanese people use for cooking. And also Katakuri is the name of Anime character for One Piece! Obviously the author named him after the starch. Well, thank you so much for the question!! ...It doesn't seem to be a question about Japanese…

One Piece Ep.504: Ace’s Kanji Shirts Meanings

03/29/2018Posted inJapanese Kanji Blog
Finally, I’ll talk about Ep.504 of One Piece! This is the last one of the series! Let's learn about the meanings of the Japanese Kanji Shirts which young Ace were wearing in the show. If you missed the first article about "Ace's Kanji Shirt" series, you can jump to it from this link.  One Piece Ep.496: Ace’s Kanji Shirts Meanings One Piece Ep.504: Ace’s Kanji Shirt #1 Ace’s Kanji Shirt #1 in episode 504 is "光線(kousen/kosen/kohsen)". The first kanji "光" means "Light" and the second one means "Line". So, this idiom gets translated into English like "Ray", "Light Ray" or "Beam". Light? Beam? ...Is it only me now that Kizaru(Borsalino)…

One Piece Ep.499, 500 and 503: Ace’s Kanji Shirts Meanings

03/12/2018Posted inJapanese Kanji Blog
Today, I’ll talk about Ace's Japanese kanji shirts in One Piece again! Young Ace was big fan of kanji shirts but he was not wearing them much between episode 498 and 503. However, I found 3 shirts at least. I've already talked about the shirts and their meanings in episode 496 and 497. If you missed them, you can start from the first article linked below!  One Piece Ep.496: Ace’s Kanji Shirts Meanings One Piece Ep.499: Ace’s Kanji Shirt The kanji shirt I found in episode 499 is this pink tank. It says "狩人 (karyuudo/karyudo/kariudo)" which means "Hunter"! ...Look at the huge tiger behind the kids. He can wear this…

One Piece Ep.497: Ace’s Kanji Shirts Meanings

02/19/2018Posted inJapanese Kanji Blog
Today, I’ll talk about Ep.497 of One Piece! Young Ace seems to be in the Japanese Kanji Shirts almost everyday. If you missed the first article about "Ace's Kanji Shirt" series, you can jump to it from this link.  One Piece Ep.496: Ace’s Kanji Shirts Meanings One Piece Ep.497: Ace’s Kanji Shirt #1 Ace’s Kanji Shirt #1 in episode 497 is this orange tank. It was very hard to see whole image of the calligraphy in the show but if you are a Japanese kanji expert, you might notice that was "勝訴(shouso/shoso/syouso/syoso)". The word "勝訴" means "winning a lawsuit". Yeah, I've seen a guy running out from a courthouse with…

One Piece Ep.496: Ace’s Kanji Shirts Meanings

01/23/2018Posted inJapanese Kanji Blog
After the war at the naval headquarter, there was a kind of long interval to tell childhood of Ace, Sabo and Luffy. And we learned so much about those BROTHERs and Luffy's hometown. In those episodes, I noticed that Ace was wearing Kanji Shirts constantly. Do you know any meanings of them? One Piece Ep.496: Ace's Kanji Shirt #1 The first kanji shirt that I noticed was this one "爆撃". This kanji idiom means "Bombing". I have no idea how he got the shirt but he seems to have a lot of kanji shirts, so it must be his taste. The 爆撃(Bombing) shirt may represent his anger and momentum. Young Ace…

Former 3 Navy Generals’ Funny Mottos in “One Piece”

08/20/2017Posted inJapanese Kanji Blog
In the popular Japanese animation "One Piece", have you ever notice that there is a sign on the wall behind the desk in each naval officer's room? Former 3 Navy Generals' Motto of Justice Their is a motto of justice for each one that explains his or her character a lot. Here are some examples. Aokiji(青雉): だらけきった正義（darakekitta seigi: Totally Lazy Justice） Kizaru(黄猿): どっちつかずの正義（docchitsukazuno seigi: Indecisive Justice） Akainu(赤犬): 徹底的な正義（tetteitekina seigi: Thorough Justice) Aokiji's motto of justice used to be "燃え上がる正義(moeagaru seigi: Burning Up Justice)" but he started questioning what is right justice, when he lost his best friend. Then he reached his new motto. Former 3 Navy Generals Name and "Momotaro"…

Navy Doctors Wearing Japanese Kanji Coats in “One Piece”

08/08/2017Posted inJapanese Kanji Blog
I watch One Piece! I don't have a big passion anymore (but I still watch every week) .... Because somehow almost all characters that I love, DIED...!! I miss you "White beard" Shiro Hige!!! By the way, the author of One Piece uses a lot of kanjis in his work for extra jokes. So, possibly some of you noticed them and you were wondering about the meanings. Japanese Kanji Jokes in the Navy Hospital How about this one? After the big war, Coby was in the navy hospital and he was suffering by his own super power "haki". At that moment we see so many Japanese kanji coats in the…