Some Japanese words are complicated to use, but easy to understand. Others are simple to use but have complicated contexts. In this post, we’ll look at one of the latter, the word 黒人 (kokujin). What does the word 黒人 (kokujin) mean in Japanese? The word 黒人 (kokujin) means a person with black skin. It …
Japanese
Anyone who’s a fan of animation is probably a fan of Studio Ghibli films, and anyone who’s a fan of Studio Ghibli films has heard the name “Princess Mononoke.” It’s one of the most popular animated films of all time. Heck, it’s one of the few Japanese animated films that Roger Ebert truly loved. But …
Expressions like “Oh my god!” might seem universal, but actually they’re tied to culturally specific things we often take for granted. The use of “God,” for example, assumes that everyone ascribes to a monotheistic religion like Christianity. In Japan, that’s certainly not the case. A 2015 survey from Statista found that only 1.5% of the …
We’ve got another one for all the anime and j-drama fans out there in this article. And, even better, it’s also a reasonably common word in real life. But if you watch anime or J-dramas even occasionally then you definitely have heard the word we’re covering: masaka. Almost always said with a dramatic thousand-yard-stare off-camera, …
We’re going to tackle boku-no in this article and come to understand it through and through. To do this we’ll learn a little vocabulary, a little grammar, and a little history. Step one: Let’s give the simple, straight-forward answer. What does boku-no mean? Boku means “me” or “I.” No is a particle indicating possession …
We’ve talked a little bit about waifus in the past, those fictional, female objects of affection so beloved by the otaku crowd. Well, now it’s time to take a look at the other side of waifus. You guessed it: husbandos! First, our overview… What is a husbando? A husbando is to males what waifus …
Let’s talk omae today. This is a contentious and often misunderstood word in Japanese. Is it rude? Offensive? Friendly? Intimate? Just something said in anime and dramas? This word shares good company with other pronouns in Japanese. They’re hard to truly grok, and so, today, instead of overwhelming you with a discussion of a ton …
Let’s talk about the rather niche topic of “Talk no Jutsu,” which comes out of the English speaking community of fans around the anime Naruto. To anyone even passingly familiar with the phrase it’s just a simple, somewhat silly meme. But I’m going to take it seriously here, discussing the word as it’s understood in …
Let’s investigate the expression sugoi dekai in this article, finding out what it means and where it comes from. For those who just want a straight answer, however… What does “sugoi dekai” mean? Sugoi dekai means “amazingly huge,” and could also mean something is “amazingly good,” although this second meaning seems to be less …