Japanese Hobby

Japanese with Anime: July 2017

Japanese with Anime: July 2017

joshi 助詞, and that might sound weird to people who just started learning Japanese. After all, what are particles? Are there particles in English or something like it? And how do the particles work? Th…

31 Mar 2018

Japanese with Anime: June 2017

Japanese with Anime: June 2017

ha は is sometimes pronounced wa. This is even there's already another hiragana specifically for the syllable wa わ. So how can you tell if は is pronounced wa or ha in a phrase? Is there even a way? Is…

31 Mar 2018

Japanese with Anime: May 2017

Japanese with Anime: May 2017

ahoge before. It refers to those hairs that don't behave and spring up from the head of characters. They usually look like a banana or a crescent moon. But what does the word ahoge means in Japanese? …

31 Mar 2018

Japanese with Anime: April 2017

Japanese with Anime: April 2017

kana in the Japanese hiragana can be easy to confuse sometimes. There's mi み, ro ろ and ru る, and they all look like 3's, but luckily it stops there, right? Except when you encounter the rare wi ゐ and …

31 Mar 2018

Japanese with Anime: March 2017

Japanese with Anime: March 2017

ma マ, but it's always next to kanji, so it's a kanji, right? Anyway, it makes you wonder: "what is 々 and why does it have so many readings? What does it mean?" If you have been reading Japanese for …

30 Mar 2018

Japanese with Anime: February 2017

Japanese with Anime: February 2017

masu ます or mashita ました, and that might make you wonder: what does masu means? What does mashita means? Why all these words end like that? You have ever watched anime you might have noticed that there …

29 Mar 2018

Japanese with Anime: January 2017

Japanese with Anime: January 2017

Gyakuten Saiban 逆転裁判, also known as Ace Attorney, where the lawyer Naruhodo Ryuuichi 成歩堂龍一, a.k.a. Phoenix Wright goes around lawyering miraculously. Since this is really fun game with a lot of Japane…

28 Mar 2018

Japanese with Anime: December 2016

Japanese with Anime: December 2016

Say you like manga and anime, things made in Japan, in Japanese. One day you feel a calling: you got to learn Japanese, because you love this stuff, and this stuff is in Japanese. Not knowing Japanes…

27 Mar 2018

Kochira, Sochira, Achira, Dochira こちら, そちら, あちら, どちら

<div>chira ちら, they are: kochira こちら, sochira そちら, achira あちら and dochira どちら. Amongst these, dochira is the most common, while the words are often spoken in dialogues, but what do they really mean? 
 
<a></a><a></a> 
<ul>
<li>kochira こちら This side. My side. This way.</li>
<li>sochira そちら That side. Your side. That way.</li>
<li>achira あちら That side over there. His side. That way over there.</li>
<li>dochira どちら What side? Whose side? What way?</li>
</ul>

 

These words can be used either to represent people, sides, or directions. Like other pronouns in Japanese, sochira is used to what's close to you and to who you're talking to, while achira is used for what's far from both. 
<h2>
Usage Examples</h2>
Let's see some examples to have a better idea:
<ul>
<li>kochira de nantoka suru こちらで何とかする We'll do it somehow. We'll fix it somehow. (this means that you, sochira, shouldn't worry about it as we, this side, will manage)</li>
<li>kochira e douzo こちらへどうぞ Come here. Come to us.</li>
<li>kochira ni mukatte kuru! こちらに向かってくる！ (the enemy, monster, whatever) is coming at us!</li>
<li>sochira wa dou desu ka? そちらはどうですか？ How are things there? (here we're talking about your side, the side of the listener)</li>
<li>achira wa watashi no tomodachi desu あちらは私の友達です Those are my friends. (those, on that side, over there, are my friends)</li>
<li>dochira-sama desu ka? どちら様ですか Who are you?</li>
<li>okane to shiawase dochira ga hoshii desu ka? お金と幸せどちらが欲しいですか？ Money or happiness, which do you want?</li>
</ul>

 
<a></a>chira pronouns put emphasis on direction and side while the nata pronouns put emphasis on the person. One big different, for example, is that sochira can be used for "you guys" as a group, while sonata and anata can only refer to one person.These meanings may look similar to the pronouns <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/konata-sonata-anata-donata-meaning.html">konata, sonata, anata and donata</a> because, in fact, they are similar, however, thepronouns put emphasis on direction and side while thepronouns put emphasis on the person. One big different, for example, is thatcan be used for "you guys" as a group, whileandcan only refer to one person.
 
<a></a>These words are also more formal variants of <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/kocchi-socchi-acchi-docchi-meaning.html">kocchi, socchi, acchi and docchi</a> , which are more frequently used in anime.
In the Japanese language, there are four pronouns ending inちら, they are:こちら,そちら,あちら andどちら. Amongst these,is the most common, while the words are often spoken in dialogues, but what do they really mean? <a name="more"></a> Just like other <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/kosoado-kotoba-pronouns.html">kosoado pronouns</a> , we can divide these words and their meaning like this:</div>

Kochira, Sochira, Achira, Dochira こちら, そちら, あちら, どちら

chira ちら, they are: kochira こちら, sochira そちら, achira あちら and dochira どちら. Amongst these, dochira is the most common, while the words are often spoken in dialogues, but what do they really mean? kochir…

27 Mar 2018

Japanese with Anime: November 2016

Japanese with Anime: November 2016

kakkoii かっこいい, or if you like separating things, kakko ii カッコ良い. And let's not forget about its antonym, kakkowarui かっこわるい, or kakko warui カッコ悪い. These two words often have a number of different trans…

27 Mar 2018

Japanese with Anime: October 2016

Japanese with Anime: October 2016

hito 人, the sword nin 人 and the word jin 人 all have the same kanji in Japanese but different, related meanings? If you didn't know that, now you do. But do you know what their meanings and differences…

27 Mar 2018

Bakuretsu! Bakuhatsu! EXPLOSION!!!

<div>KonoSuba このすば (if not you should) you might have noticed the character Megumin chants her "explosion" magic with a certain peculiar word: bakuretsu 爆裂. However, there's the more common bakuhatsu 爆発 which also means "explosion." So what's the difference between bakuhatsu and bakuretsu in Japanese? 
 
<a></a> 
 
A bakuhatsu 爆発 is just an explosion. The expanding ball of fire and smoke, or even something of smaller scale. It's what bombs do, they "cause explosions", bakuhatsu suru 爆発する, it's what fireworks do, they explode, but nobody says "fireworks cause explosions" unless they are talking about an accident that exploded a building or something. 
 
A bakuretsu 爆裂, on the other hand, is when something explodes and is torn apart or broken apart because of it. Well, of course a bomb is going to bakuretsu if it bakuhatsu's, but it's supposed to, so nobody says the bomb bakuretsu shita 爆裂した. A better example would be someone's castle, which didn't explode by itself, but was torn apart by an explosion. 
 
 
Now if you ask me why Megumin says bakuretsu and not bakuhatsu in KonoSuba, despite the fact she literally creates explosions, that would be because (according to herself) Bakuretsu Mahou 爆裂魔法 is the strongest type of bakuhatsu-kei 爆発系, "explosion-related," magic in that world. It's just a cooler word, like saying "explosion magic" is tier 1 magic and "detonation magic" is tier 2 magic. Similar meaning, different power levels. 
 
Here are some other related words: 
<ul>
<li>sakuretsu 炸裂 Burst apart. (balloons)</li>
<li>bakudan 爆弾 Bomb. Explosive.</li>
<li>bakuha 爆破 Destructive explosion. Destroy by exploding. (buildings)</li>
<li>bakugou 爆轟 Detonation. (an explosion strong enough to cause shock waves) (namesake of a character in Boku no Hero Academia)</li>
<li>shougekiha 衝撃波 Shock wave.</li>
</ul>

If you've been watchingこのすば (if not you should) you might have noticed the character Megumin chants her "explosion" magic with a certain peculiar word:爆裂. However, there's the more common爆発 which also means "explosion." So what's the difference betweenandin Japanese? <a name="more"></a> It's actually very simple.爆発 is just an explosion. The expanding ball of fire and smoke, or even something of smaller scale. It's what bombs do, they "cause explosions",爆発する, it's what fireworks do, they explode, but nobody says "fireworks cause explosions" unless they are talking about an accident that exploded a building or something.爆裂, on the other hand, is when something explodes andor broken apart because of it. Well, of course a bomb is going toif it's, but it's supposed to, so nobody says the bomb爆裂した. A better example would be someone's castle, which didn't explode by itself, but was torn apart by an explosion.Now if you ask me why Megumin saysand notin, despite the fact she literally creates explosions, that would be because (according to herself)爆裂魔法 is the strongest type of爆発系, "explosion-related," magic in that world. It's just a cooler word, like saying "explosion magic" is tier 1 magic and "detonation magic" is tier 2 magic. Similar meaning, different power levels.Here are some other related words:</div>

Bakuretsu! Bakuhatsu! EXPLOSION!!!

KonoSuba このすば (if not you should) you might have noticed the character Megumin chants her "explosion" magic with a certain peculiar word: bakuretsu 爆裂. However, there's the more common bakuhatsu 爆発 wh…

26 Mar 2018

御～ Honorific Prefix - O~, Go~, お～, ご～

<div><a></a>o お or go ご. The <a></a><a></a> 
 
<a name="more"></a><h2 id="prefix-o-or-go">
御 is O or Go?</h2>
The honorific prefix can be either o お or go ご, and it's normally written with hiragana. It may be written with kanji, as 御, but that rarely happens. 
 
For example, oniisan お兄さん, "brother," has the honorific prefix, but it's rarely written oniisan 御兄さん, with the 御 kanji. Likewise, the expression gokurou ご苦労, "thanks for your work," is usually written like that, not as gokurou 御苦労. They can be written with the kanji, but that doesn't happen as frequently. 
 
So both o and go prefixes are the same thing, even though one is o and the other one is go. It's the same 御 honorific prefix. 
<h3>
Prefixes Are Pre-Established</h3>

Note that, for most words, you can't just use o or go however you want. They either get the o prefix or the go prefix. You can't change it.

 

For example, you can't say goniisan ご兄さん, that doesn't exist. It's always oniisan お兄さん. Likewise, gokurou is always gokurou, it's never okurou お苦労. That's already established, you can't change it.
<h3>
Which Words Get Which Prefix?</h3>
There's a simple rule you can follow to tell if a word will get the o prefix or the go prefix as its honorific prefix: if the word is read with , including or , then it's the o prefix. On the other hand, if it's , then it's read with go. 
 
Of course, there are exceptions, and even cases where a word can actually be prefixed with either and nobody will bat an eye. But the general rule is that. 
 
Also, in some rare cases it's read other ways, too, like on おん or gyo ぎょ. 
<h2 id="honorific-function">
Function</h2>
The nature of the o, go honorific prefix and its function kind of varies, from meaningless to meaningful. It's important to know this because the honorific prefix can be added to basically any word in the Japanese language for great effect, but it commonly has little effect or no effect at all. 
 
That's to say: in some cases, the honorific matters. But in other cases it doesn't matter. And being able to tell when it matters and when it doesn't matter is kind of important. 
<h3>
Honorific Language</h3>

The primary use of the honorific prefix is in, of course, "honorific language," keigo 敬語.

 

The basic idea of keigo is expressing respect to whom you're talking to or about. There's varying degrees of this, but normally, in the business world, talking to your boss, clients, interviewing people, talking to strangers, etc. a minimum level of keigo, decorum, is to be expected.
<h3>
Kazoku Example</h3>
To understand it better, a common example: the word kazoku 家族, which means "family." 
 
If you're talking about somebody's family and you want to show a minimum of respect, you'd better say gokazoku ご家族 instead, which would mean "[your] honorable family" or "[his] honorable family" or "somebody's honorable family." 
 
So every time you want to talk about somebody's family in honorific speech, you add in the go for some honorable spice. 
 
Note that it's possible to use the word kazoku in honorific speech, only so long as you aren't talking about anybody's family. That's pretty unlikely to happen since you'd expect to be talking about somebody's family if you're talking about a family at all. Only, maybe, if you're talking about families in general, or what is "a family," then the word kazoku alone would be alright, otherwise it's gokazoku. 
 
An exception is when you're talking about your own family. In Japanese, it's generally considered pompous, not to say cocky, stupid, snobby, arrogant, imbecile, disgusting, repugnant, and other bad words, to use honorifics toward yourself. You use honorifics toward other people, not toward yourself. So your family is just a kazoku, but other families are gokazoku. 
<h3>
HONORIFIC... ALL THE THINGS!!!1</h3>
So now we know when we can put an honorific in a word and when we shouldn't, but which words can we honorific? The answer is: basically all of them. 
 
For example, a "worry," shinpai 心配, becomes "thy honorable woe," goshinpai ご心配, Or even the "hair of the head," kami 髪, becomes "thy honorable tresses," ogushi 御髪. Exaggeration aside, that's pretty much the gist of it. 
<ul>
<li>kakka, gomerei wo! 閣下、ご命令を！ 
Your Excellency, [please give] your orders! 
(if you watch an space opera with space-battleships space-battling like Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu there's no way you won't come across this phrase.)</li>
<li>okuchi ni au ka douka お口に合うかどうか 
Whether or not it'll suit your palate. </li>
<li>mottainai okotoba 勿体ないお言葉 
Your words are more than I deserve. 
(expression of gratitude when someone says something in favor of someone else.)</li>
</ul>
 
Okay, fine, you can't add the honorific prefix to all of the words. For example, you don't add it to katakana words, such as "coffee," coohii コーヒー, but you can add it to most words. 
<h3>
HONORIFIC VERBS TOO!!!</h3>
You can even honorific verbs. In this case a certain juggling of words happen. For example, au 合う means "to meet." In order to add the honorific, the phrase becomes: o-ai ni naru お会いになる, which means "to meet" all the same, but more literally "to have become meet." 
 
Japanese respectful language likes to avoid using words directly with people of higher status. So you don't "meet him," that's preposterous! More like, "a meeting with him happened," and you were involved. 
 
Even something like o-tsukare-ni-narimashita お疲れになりました means "the tiring became," as if tiredness was a thing of its own, and may be used instead of the much simpler tsukareta 疲れた, "tired." 
<h4>
Sonkeigo vs. Kenjougo</h4>
The above was sonkeigo 尊敬語, which you use when you want to make somebody appear of higher status. There's also the counterpart, kenjougo 謙譲語, which you use when you want to make yourself appear of lower status. 
 
It's the difference between saying "you rock" and "compare to you, I suck." Or, also, "your drawing looks good," or "damn, I wish I could draw as well as you." Ultimately the effect is the same but the essence is different. 
<h4>
Kenjougo Verb</h4>
When a verb becomes kenjougo it gets a shimasu します instead of ni naru になる added to it. For example: matsu 待つ means "to wait," but say you're a butler to some ojousama, then you'd say o-machi-shimasu お待ちします instead. 
 
Perhaps the most common case of this is the verb negau 願う, "to request," "to ask," "to beg," which becomes o-negai-shimasu お願いします. 
<h4>
Whose Honorific Is It?</h4>
Now this is rather problematic because it can be confusing at times. For example: houkoku 報告 means "report." If you're "reporting," houkoku'ng, then you're reporting your report. And, obviously, you're reporting your report to your superiors. It's unlikely that your boss would have to report something to you. What you gonna do if he doesn't report to you? Fire him? You can't! 
 
So it sounds weird that gohoukoku ご報告 is such a common phrase. If you're always reporting to your superiors, it's just your houkoku, unlikely to be their gohoukoku. 
 
What happens here is kenjougo: when you use a verb that has some sort of contact with someone you should use honorific language with, you gotta say o-verb-shimasu, remember? So go-houkoku-shimasu ご報告します in this case, since your report ends up going into their ears or eyes or something. 
 
An extreme case of this would be the phrase: 
<ul>
<li>go-shitsumon-sasete-itadaki-masu ご質問させていただきます. 
Lemme ask u sum stuff.</li>
</ul>
 
The reason this phrase is confusing, is because shitsumon 質問 means "question." So, normally, you'd expect that goshitsumon ご質問 means "your question", because I can't use the honorific toward my own stuff, so it must be somebody else's question. 
 
But shitsumon-suru 質問する is a verb, means "to ask." Therefore go-shitsumon-suru ご質問する also means "to ask," but in kenjougo, which means I'm asking something to someone whom I express respect toward. 
 
And then turning that suru into sasete-itadaku just makes it more polite by saying something like "if you'd let me, I'll do it." And then the masu suffix for that extra layer of creamy politeness: go-shitsumon-sasete-idataki-masu, meaning: *ahem* "excuse me, please, could you just let me ask questions for a moment, I'd love to may be able to use this opportunity to know about stuff and things in your honorable, venerable, majestic, grandiose, fantastic presence, if possible and I'm not intruding and taking too much of your super-important, extremely precious, honorable time, alright, thank you very much, many gratitude, it's an honor to be asking you." 
<h4>
Set-Phrases</h4>

Besides that, there are even certain set phrases that are like alternative ways of saying something, but in keigo.
 
One kenjougo set phrase easy to notice is o-me ni kakaru お目にかかる, which also means "to meet, someone, specially for the first time. In this phrase, the o prefix goes before "eye," me 目. What this phrase literally says is that there were these shiny, higher-status, special "eyes," and then you kakaru'd them with your filthy lower-peasant-status presence. And this is a phrase you'd use to say you met your boss or manager. 
 
Another one is goran ni naru ご覧になる, which means "to see," just like miru 見る. 
<h3>
HONORIFIC THE WHOLE DAMN PHRASE!!!1</h3>
So we can honorific a lot of things, but how much can we honorific at once? 
 
Well, it's possible to have not a single noun, but multiple nouns with the honorific prefix in a single phrase. And the more there are the sillier it looks. Imagine someone saying "thy majesty, thy noble words and honorable actions have caused thy powerful guard great worry for thy delicate safety." It's just full of qualifiers everywhere. 
<h4>
No, don't. Have common sense.</h4>
So, do people just spam the F key the honorific prefix to pay respects? No. It's used more moderately. You don't honorific everything just because you can. Sure, there are occasions, more official occasions, where a more honorific language is expected, but normally this doesn't happen. 
 
There are words that you always honorific, there are words you might honorific, and words you'd think nobody cares if you don't honorific so you just don't. It really depends. 
<h4>
In Anime Life</h4>
In anime, honorific-prefix-bombing usually indicates a character has become unhealthily infatuated with someone of higher position. Like, to levels. 
 
Of course, when this happens the speech is only one of the factors. It's pretty obvious from how they get enraged about everyone who doesn't show the utmost respect in The Great One's presence, or how they follow every order like their word is absolute, etc. 
<h3>
Pretty Speech</h3>
In some cases the honorific prefix may be used to make the word prettier, softer, and perhaps cuter, in a sense, than it really is. This is called bikago 美化語, literally "beautification-language." 
 
This happens for example in words related to food. Like niku 肉, "meat," and yasai 野菜, "vegetables." Since they aren't really anybody's meat or vegetables, they're just, well, meat and vegetables, you don't really need to lower or raise anybody's status here, but words like oniku お肉 and oyasai お野菜 exist... why? 
 
It's really just that. It's more fine this way. Like, more refined. Finer. 
 
It's the same principle that led people to somehow make "his mistress" mean what it means. It isn't for the lack of a better word, it's for the lack of a finer word. Sometimes people feel saying niku without the honorific sounds bad, rough, something a ruffian-pirate would say, so they put the honorific in there and it gets instantly classier: oniku. 
 
(maybe kenjougo works the same way: your houkoku is so low-status you need to attach a go- to it in order for it to be honorable/pretty enough to be done.) 
<h3>
Words That Just Have Honorific</h3>
There are some words that just have the honorific prefix and that's it and there's no changing that. Such words are pretty much always said with the honorific. It isn't about honorific speech, or sonkeigo or kenjougo, or speaking pretty, bikago, or whatever. It's just how they're said. 
 
For example: gohan 御飯. This means, of course, "FOOD!!!1" And it's always like that, gohan. You don't see anybody eating han's, they eat gohan only. They're gohanivores, 
 
And this is kind of weird because it has the honorific, but there's nothing honorific about it. And you can't make it honorific by adding the honorific prefix because... it already has the honorific prefix. So you can't say, for example, gogohan 御御飯, that doesn't exist. But you can't say just han 飯 either, because nobody would know what that's supposed to mean. 
<h3>
Honorable People</h3>
Words regarding family members, like okaasan お母さん, "mother," otousan お父さん, "father, " oniisan お兄さん, "brother," etc. usually have the honorific prefix. In some cases they don't, but they usually do. 
 
Likewise, okyakusama お客様 usually has the honorific prefix to refer to "clients" as people. In some cases you see kyaku 客 without it, but it's usually okyaku お客. 
<h3>
Gestures</h3>
Words related to manners, like orei お礼, "thanks," ojigi お辞儀, "bowing," gomen ご免, "sorry," pretty much always have the honorific prefix. 
<h3>
Historic Stuff</h3>
In some cases the situation is a bit complex. For example, taku 宅 means "house," so otaku お宅 means "your house" or "somebody's house," etc. But then that word became a slang: <a></a>otaku slang is always otaku, never just taku as it once were. 
 
(there's also a theory that something similar happened with <a></a>ohara-ippai お腹一杯, "to fill one's stomach," because, you know, milk does come from those things. But it's an old word and nobody is quite sure where it really came from.) 
 
Another case is omae 御前, meaning <a></a>mae 前, of someone of high status, because referring to such person directly was disrespectful. Like how we say "stand before you" in English, we stand in your front. But that was centuries ago, nowadays it's just stuck and nobody really remembers or cares how it was used. 
<h2 id="examples-and-vocabulary">
Examples & Vocabulary</h2>
The following are examples of words containing the prefix. 
 
Note that you can attach the prefix to pretty much every word, but some words more frequently have the prefix attached to them, in particular, some of the following come words tagged as common in the <a></a> 
<h3>
Words Starting With o in Japanese</h3>
An easy way to tell if the reading is kun'yomi is the presence of , the kana after the kanji. 
<ul>
<li>onajimi お馴染み 
Familiar. 
(not to be confused with osananajimi 幼馴染, "a girl that can't become the main-character's girlfriend in anime," I mean, "childhood friend.")</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>omamori お守り 
"Protection." Charm, amulet, etc.</li>
<li>onigiri お握り 
"Grasp." Rice-ball made from literally grasping on rice.</li>
<li>okawari お代わり 
Second helping of food. "Replacement."</li>
<li>oshaberi御お喋り 
Talking. Chatting.</li>
<li>omairi お参り 
"To go" visit a shrine, temple, or other place of worship.</li>
<li>okaeri お帰り 
[Your] return (home).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>okaeshi お返し 
Return (of something.) Payback. 
(in anime, specially used when a school gang counter-attacks after being attacked.)</li>
<li>ohanashi お話し 
Story.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>oshirase お知らせ 
Notice. A notice, of something.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>omake お負け 
Free stuff you get with a purchase. Bonus! Extras! 
(wait, is it really "free" if you have to pay for something anyway?)</li>
<li>obake お化け 
Monster. Ghost. 
(specially those that "transform," bakeru 化ける, into something else.)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>otagai お互い 
Us both. They both.</li>
<li>otsukai お使い 
Errand. Use. 
Someone who goes on an errand. Can be used for an errand. 
Familiar of a witch, etc. (tsukaima 使い魔)</li>
<li>otetsudai お手伝い 
Help. 
Helper. Someone who... helps. 
(from tetsudau 手伝う, "to help," "to give a hand.")</li>
<li>otearai お手洗い 
Lavatory.</li>
<li>oshimai お仕舞い 
The end. 
(oshimai da!!!)</li>
</ul>
<h4>
No Okurigana</h4>
Of course, it's not always you have the okurigana to help you. 
<ul>
<li>omae お前 
You.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>otoshidama お年玉 
Gift given by new year. 
(in anime, usually money given to characters by their parents.)</li>
</ul>

 
WARNING: the following are <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/ateji-meaning.html">ateji</a>, do not try to make sense of them.: the following are, do not try to make sense of them.<ul>
<li>omiyage お土産 Souvenir.</li>
<li>oshare お洒落 
Stylish. Well-dressed. Looking good.</li>
<li>okazu お菜 
Side-dish. Accompaniment (various contexts.) 
(this written with the kanji for veggies!) 
Masturbation material. (slang, but yes, really. They have a word for that.)</li>
</ul>
<h4>
Exceptions</h4>
Of course, there are exceptions. Sometimes a word isn't kun'yomi but starts with o 御 anyway. 
<ul>
<li>ocha お茶 
Tea.</li>
<li>okashi お菓子 
Snacks.</li>
<li>obentou お弁当 
Boxed lunch.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Words Starting With go in Japanese</h3>
Words that are read with go 御 are fewer and less common, but they do show up often. With on'yomi there's rarely okurigana or something to hint, so you're kinda on your own there. 
<ul>
<li>gozaru ご座る 
gozaimasu ご座います 
To be.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>gohan ご飯 
Meal.</li>
<li>goran ご覧 
To see. To view.</li>
<li>gozonji ご存知 
[As] you know. 
Someone you know.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Other Readings</h3>
Examples of other readings for the honorific prefix: 
<ul>
<li>onsha 御社 
Your company.</li>
<li>gyoen 御苑 
Imperial garden.</li>
</ul>

 

Note that sometimes the kanji isn't a honorific prefix. For example, the word seigyo 制御, meaning "control," has the gyo at the end of the word instead.
<h3>
Polite People Doing Polite Things</h3>
A number of polite expressions, gestures, etc. feature the honorific prefix. 
<ul>
<li>gomen ご免 
gomennasai ご免なさい 
Sorry. "Excuse [me]."</li>
<li>gomenkudasai ご免下さい 
Please forgive [me.] Please excuse [me.] 
Let me intrude. (used when going into people's homes.)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>oyasumi お休み 
Good night. "Your rest.</li>
<li>oyasuminasai お休みなさい 
Go sleep! Good night.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>goaisatsu ご挨拶 
Greeting.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>gokurou ご苦労 
gokurousama ご苦労様 
Good jaaaab. *clap clap clap* 
Thank you for your work.</li>
<li>gochisou ご馳走 
gochisousama ご馳走様 
Thanks for the meal.</li>
<li>otsukare お疲れ 
otsukaresama お疲れ様 
"You tired." Thanks for your work.</li>
<li>okagede お陰で 
okagesamade お陰様で 
Thanks to you. Thanks to that. 
It's your fault this happened, b-baka!. >: (</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>ohayou おはよう 
ohayou gozaimasu おはようございます 
Good morning.</li>
<li>omedetou おめでとう 
omedetou gozaimasu おめでとうございます 
Congratulations!</li>
<li>omimai お見舞い 
Visiting someone who's sick. (in the hospital or bed.)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>orei お礼 
Thanks (which are given.) Gratitude.</li>
<li>ojigi お辞儀 
Bowing. (Japanese gesture.)</li>
<li>oiwai お祝い 
Congratulation.</li>
<li>oseji お世辞 
Compliment.</li>
<li>owabi お詫び 
Apology.</li>
<li>onegai お願い 
Request.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Pointing at People Isn't Polite Enough</h3>
Frequently, when referring to people by adjectives, a combination of honorific prefix and honorific suffix is used, turning it into a o___san pattern. 
<ul>
<li>okyakusan お客さん 
Client.</li>
<li>omawarisan お巡りさん 
Policeman. Policewoman.</li>
<li>oishasan お医者さん 
Doctor.</li>
<li>otousan お父さん 
Father.</li>
<li>ojousan お嬢さん 
Daughter. 
(in anime, an ojousan is usually a rich girl because it's an honorific'd word used toward other people's daughters, implying it's a daughter of someone of high status.)</li>
</ul>
 
Strangely, okusan 奥さん, "wife," never gets the prefix, maybe because it already starts with o? 
 
The prefix go may also be used this way. 
<ul>
<li>goshujinsama ご主人様 
Your husband. (lord of the house.) 
Master. (of a maid, servant, slave, etc. frequent in anime) 
Customer. (in a maid café, where they're treated like masters.)</li>
</ul>
 
An example of prefix without suffix: 
<ul>
<li>gokazoku ご家族 
Your family.</li>
<li>otaku お宅 
Your home. You household. Your family.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Possessions & Body Parts</h3>
The honorific prefix sometimes comes before people's possessions, like money, for example: 
<ul>
<li>okane お金 
Money.</li>
<li>otsuri お釣り 
[Your] change. (coins, etc.)</li>
</ul>
 
The honorific prefix is also seen in body parts: 
<ul>
<li>onaka お腹 
Stomach.</li>
<li>odeko お凸 
Forehead.</li>
<li>oshiri お尻 
Butt.</li>
</ul>

 

And in the following colloquial/vulgar/derogatory slangs:
<ul>
<li>~pai ~ぱい (as a suffix only) 
oppai おっぱい 
Breasts.</li>
<li>chinchin ちんちん 
ochinchin おちんちん 
chinko ちんこ 
ochinko おちんこ 
chinpo ちんぽ 
ochinpo おちんぽ 
Penis.</li>
<li>manko まんこ 
omanko おまんこ 
Vagina.</li>
</ul>

 

Note: the o of oppai おっぱい may or may not be the honorific because the origin of the word is unclear.
<h2>
References</h2>
 

One of the first things you notice when learning Japanese are the <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/kun-san-chan-sama-meaning.html">honorific suffixes, like san, chan and kun</a> , but there's another type of honorific too: the honorific prefixお orご. The <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/kanji-for-word.html">kanji for both these words</a> would be 御, but it's <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/words-written-without-kanji.html">usually not written with kanji</a> . In this post I'll explain its usage.The honorific prefix can be eitherお orご, and it's normally written with. It may be written with, as 御, but that rarely happens.For example,お兄さん, "brother," has the honorific prefix, but it's rarely written御兄さん, with the 御. Likewise, the expressionご苦労, "thanks for your work," is usually written like that, not as御苦労. They can be written with the, but that doesn't happen as frequently.So bothandprefixes are the same thing, even though one isand the other one is. It's the same 御 honorific prefix.There's a simple rule you can follow to tell if a word will get theprefix or theprefix as its honorific prefix: if the word is read with, includingor, then it's theprefix. On the other hand, if it's, then it's read withOf course, there are exceptions, and even cases where a word can actually be prefixed with either and nobody will bat an eye. But the general rule is that.Also, in some rare cases it's read other ways, too, likeおん orぎょ.The nature of thehonorific prefix and its function kind of varies, from meaningless to meaningful. It's important to know this because the honorific prefix can be added to basically any word in the Japanese language for, but it commonly hasorat all.That's to say: in some cases, the honorific matters. But in other cases it doesn't matter. And being able to tell when it matters and when it doesn't matter is kind of important.To understand it better, a common example: the word家族, which means "family."If you're talking about somebody's family and you want to show a minimum of respect, you'd better sayご家族 instead, which would mean "[your]family" or "[his]family" or "somebody'sfamily."So every time you want to talk about somebody's family in honorific speech, you add in thefor some honorable spice.Note that it's possible to use the wordin honorific speech, only so long as you aren't talking about anybody's family. That's pretty unlikely to happen since you'd expect to be talking aboutfamily if you're talking about a family at all. Only, maybe, if you're talking about families in general, or what is "a family," then the wordalone would be alright, otherwise it'sAn exception is when you're talking about your own family. In Japanese, it's generally considered pompous, not to say cocky, stupid, snobby, arrogant, imbecile, disgusting, repugnant, and other bad words, to use honorifics toward yourself. You use honorifics toward other people, not toward yourself. So your family is just a, but other families areSo now we know when we can put an honorific in a word and when we shouldn't, but which words can we honorific? The answer is: basically all of them.For example, a "worry,"心配, becomes "thy honorable woe,"ご心配, Or even the "hair of the head,"髪, becomes "thy honorable tresses,"御髪. Exaggeration aside, that's pretty much the gist of it.Okay, fine, you can't add the honorific prefix to all of the words. For example, you don't add it towords, such as "coffee,"コーヒー, but you can add it to most words.You can even honorific verbs. In this case a certain juggling of words happen. For example,合う means "to meet." In order to add the honorific, the phrase becomes:お会いになる, which means "to meet" all the same, but more literally "to have become meet."Japanese respectful language likes to avoid using words directly with people of higher status. So you don't "meet him," that's preposterous! More like, "a meeting with him happened," and you were involved.Even something likeお疲れになりました means "the tiring became," as if tiredness was a thing of its own, and may be used instead of the much simpler疲れた, "tired."The above was尊敬語, which you use when you want to make somebody appear of higher status. There's also the counterpart,謙譲語, which you use when you want to make yourself appear of lower status.It's the difference between saying "you rock" and "compare to you, I suck." Or, also, "your drawing looks good," or "damn, I wish I could draw as well as you." Ultimately the effect is the same but the essence is different.When a verb becomesit gets aします instead ofになる added to it. For example:待つ means "to wait," but say you're a butler to some, then you'd sayお待ちします instead.Perhaps the most common case of this is the verb願う, "to request," "to ask," "to beg," which becomesお願いします.Now this is rather problematic because it can be confusing at times. For example:報告 means "report." If you're "reporting,"'ng, then you're reportingreport. And, obviously, you're reporting your report to your superiors. It's unlikely that your boss would have to report something to you. What you gonna do if he doesn't report to you? Fire him? You can't!So it sounds weird thatご報告 is such a common phrase. If you're always reporting to your superiors, it's just your, unlikely to be theirWhat happens here is: when you use a verb that has some sort of contact with someone you should use honorific language with, you gotta sayverb, remember? Soご報告します in this case, since your report ends up going into their ears or eyes or something.An extreme case of this would be the phrase:The reason this phrase is confusing, is because質問 means "question." So, normally, you'd expect thatご質問 means "your question", because I can't use the honorific toward my own stuff, so it must be somebody else's question.But質問する is a verb, means "to ask." Thereforeご質問する also means "to ask," but in, which means I'm asking something to someone whom I express respect toward.And then turning thatintojust makes it more polite by saying something like "if you'd let me, I'll do it." And then thesuffix for that extra layer of creamy politeness:, meaning: *ahem* "excuse me, please, could you just let me ask questions for a moment, I'd love to may be able to use this opportunity to know about stuff and things in your honorable, venerable, majestic, grandiose, fantastic presence, if possible and I'm not intruding and taking too much of your super-important, extremely precious, honorable time, alright, thank you very much, many gratitude, it's an honor to be asking you."Oneset phrase easy to notice isお目にかかる, which also means "to meet, someone, specially for the first time. In this phrase, theprefix goes before "eye,"目. What this phrase literally says is that there were these shiny, higher-status, special "eyes," and then you'd them with your filthy lower-peasant-status presence. And this is a phrase you'd use to say you met your boss or manager.Another one isご覧になる, which means "to see," just like見る.So we can honorific a lot of things, but how much can we honorific at once?Well, it's possible to have not a single noun, but multiple nouns with the honorific prefix in a single phrase. And the more there are the sillier it looks. Imagine someone saying "thy, thywords andactions have caused thyguard great worry for thysafety." It's just full of qualifiers everywhere.So, do people just spamthe honorific prefix to pay respects? No. It's used more moderately. You don't honorific everything just because you can. Sure, there are occasions, more official occasions, where a more honorific language is expected, but normally this doesn't happen.There are words that you always honorific, there are words you might honorific, and words you'd think nobody cares if you don't honorific so you just don't. It really depends.In anime, honorific-prefix-bombing usually indicates a character has become unhealthily infatuated with someone of higher position. Like, tolevels.Of course, when this happens the speech is only one of the factors. It's pretty obvious from how they get enraged about everyone who doesn't show the utmost respect in The Great One's presence, or how they follow every order like their word is absolute, etc.In some cases the honorific prefix may be used to make the word prettier, softer, and perhaps cuter, in a sense, than it really is. This is called美化語, literally "beautification-language."This happens for example in words related to food. Like肉, "meat," and野菜, "vegetables." Since they aren't really anybody's meat or vegetables, they're just, well, meat and vegetables, you don't really need to lower or raise anybody's status here, but words likeお肉 andお野菜 exist... why?It's really just that. It's morethis way. Like, moreIt's the same principle that led people to somehow make "his mistress" mean what it means. It isn't for the lack of a better word, it's for the lack of a finer word. Sometimes people feel sayingwithout the honorific sounds bad, rough, something a ruffian-pirate would say, so they put the honorific in there and it gets instantly classier:(maybeworks the same way: youris so low-status you need to attach ato it in order for it to be honorable/pretty enough to be done.)There are some words that just have the honorific prefix and that's it and there's no changing that. Such words are pretty muchsaid with the honorific. It isn't about honorific speech, oror, or speaking pretty,, or whatever. It's just how they're said.For example:御飯. This means, of course, "FOOD!!!1" And it's always like that,. You don't see anybody eating's, they eatonly. They'reivores,And this is kind of weird because it has the honorific, but there's nothing honorific about it. And you can't make it honorific by adding the honorific prefix because... it already has the honorific prefix. So you can't say, for example,御御飯, that doesn't exist. But you can't say just飯 either, because nobody would know what that's supposed to mean.Words regarding family members, likeお母さん, "mother,"お父さん, "father, "お兄さん, "brother," etc.have the honorific prefix. In some cases they don't, but they usually do.Likewise,お客様 usually has the honorific prefix to refer to "clients" as people. In some cases you see客 without it, but it's usuallyお客.Words related to manners, likeお礼, "thanks,"お辞儀, "bowing,"ご免, "sorry," pretty much always have the honorific prefix.In some cases the situation is a bit complex. For example,宅 means "house," soお宅 means "your house" or "somebody's house," etc. But then that word became a slang: <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/otaku-otome-meaning.html">otaku オタク</a> which refers to somebody very deep into their hobby. And then thisslang is, never justas it once were.(there's also a theory that something similar happened with <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/oppai-meaning.html">oppai おっぱい</a> , claiming it came fromお腹一杯, "to fill one's stomach," because, you know, milk does come from those things. But it's an old word and nobody is quite sure where it really came from.)Another case is御前, meaning <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/08/anata-omae-kimi-kisama-meaning.html">"you" in Japanese</a> . It used to be that the term was supposed to refer to the "front,"前, of someone of high status, because referring to such person directly was disrespectful. Like how we say "standyou" in English, we stand in your. But that was centuries ago, nowadays it's just stuck and nobody really remembers or cares how it was used.The following are examples of words containing the prefix.Note that you can attach the prefix to pretty much every word, but some words more frequently have the prefix attached to them, in particular, some of the following come words tagged as common in the <a href="http://www.edrdg.org/jmdict/j_jmdict.html">JMDict</a> Japanese-dictionary project.An easy way to tell if the reading isis the presence of, theafter theOf course, it's not always you have theto help you.Of course, there are exceptions. Sometimes a word isn'tbut starts with御 anyway.Words that are read with御 are fewer and less common, but they do show up often. With on'yomi there's rarelyor something to hint, so you're kinda on your own there.Examples of other readings for the honorific prefix:A number of polite expressions, gestures, etc. feature the honorific prefix.Frequently, when referring to people by adjectives, a combination of honorific prefix and honorific suffix is used, turning it into apattern.Strangely,奥さん, "wife," never gets the prefix, maybe because it already starts withThe prefixmay also be used this way.An example of prefix without suffix:The honorific prefix sometimes comes before people's possessions, like money, for example:The honorific prefix is also seen in body parts:</div>

御～ Honorific Prefix - O~, Go~, お～, ご～

o お or go ご. The 御 is O or Go? The honorific prefix can be either o お or go ご, and it's normally written with hiragana. It may be written with kanji, as 御, but that rarely happens. For example, oni…

26 Mar 2018

Japanese with Anime: September 2016

Japanese with Anime: September 2016

ojisan, ojiisan, obasan and obaasan. Yep. Four words. Both ojisan and ojiisan and obasan and obaasan are different words. They aren't the same word at all, they just sound very alike. So you might h…

26 Mar 2018

San, Chan, Kun, Sama

<div> 
<h2 id="why-are-honorifics-used">
Why Are Honorifics Used</h2>
Turns out this is a matter of Japanese culture rather than the Japanese language. 
 
In Japan, using honorifics with people's names is sort of a big deal. It's an extremely normal thing to do, so everyone does it all the time, which, in turn, means that not doing it is considered sort of rude. 
 
Think about it. If everyone started calling everyone else "sir" or "madam" out of politeness, you wouldn't find it surprisingly polite anymore when someone called you "sir." Instead, you would find it rude when someone did not call you "sir," because it would imply that rude bastard doesn't consider you worth of the everyday courtesy. 
<h2 id="difference-between-honorifics">
Difference Between Honorifics</h2>

Each different honorific has a different meaning, obviously. They state the sort of relationship between the speaker and who he's referring to, and this treatment isn't reciprocal. It's not identical both ways.

 

What it means, for example, is that if I call someone X-san and someone else Y-san, that doesn't mean they call me me-san. It also doesn't mean that X-san and Y-san call each other that. X-san could call Y-san Y-chan, Y-san could call X-san X-kun, etc. It entirely depends on what they consider themselves to be in relation to who they are talking about.
<h2 id="sama">
Sama 様</h2>
sama 様 which is the most extreme. In anime and fiction, it's used to talk about someone who is superior to you. However, by doing that, you're also saying you're inferior to them. You're humbling yourself while glorifying who you're talking about. 
 
In normal cases the suffix sama is used when naturally humble characters speak about naturally glorified characters. Like servants, butlers or maids talking about their masters who are from rich families full of cash and gold, etc. 
 
It's also used as a suffix in many actual words, some of which can sound like you're sucking up to somebody. For example: 
<ul>
<li>otou-sama お父様 Father.</li>
<li>onii-sama お兄様 <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/oniichan-oneechan-otouto-imouto-meaning.html">Older brother.</a></li>
<li>okyaku-sama お客様 Customer. Visitor.</li>
<li>kami-sama 神様 God.</li>
</ul>

 

Another thing to note is that  in some cases, a formal, respectful version of a given phrase includes the honorific for added humbleness. Note the difference:
<ul>
<li>dare ka omae? 誰かお前？ Who are you? (no respect)</li>
<li>dochira-sama desu ka? どちら様ですか Who are you? (ok respect) (note: <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/kochira-sochira-achira-dochira-meaning.html">dochira</a> is a rather tricky word)</li>
</ul>

 
In anime without reaç servants and masters it can be as a joke, sarcastically, to mean a character is being too bossy and ordering people around, acting like some sort of king: 
<ul>
<li>Hai hai, X-sama はいはいX様 Right away, your highness X.</li>
</ul>

 

(manga readers: don't mistake sama 様 with you 様 which means "[something] like [something]")
First off, let's start with the honorific様 which is the most extreme. In anime and fiction, it's used to talk about someone who isto you. However, by doing that, you're also saying you'reto them. You're humbling yourself while glorifying who you're talking about.In normal cases the suffixis used when naturally humble characters speak about naturally glorified characters. Like servants, butlers or maids talking about their masters who are from rich families full of cash and gold, etc.It's also used as a suffix in many actual words, some of which can sound like you're sucking up to somebody. For example:In anime without reaç servants and masters it can be as a joke, sarcastically, to mean a character is being too bossy and ordering people around, acting like some sort of king:<h2 id="san">
San さん</h2>
san さん, which is the most common and generic of all honorifics. In real life this is used to talk to anybody. It's neutral, so using it means nothing, which means using any other honorific will mean something. 
 
You can interpret it as a light version of sama 様, actually. Because sama 様 sounds too heavy, too respectful, too formal, it can't be used in everyday life. So, instead, san さん is used. 
<h3>
On Internet Usernames</h3>
An interesting note about the honorific san さん is that: because Japanese honorifics are so important, and not using the honorific san さん is kind of disrespectful, some websites will automatically add the san さん after a commenter or author's username. For example,  xX_NaRuTo360noSCOPE_Xx would become  xX_NaRuTo360noSCOPE_Xxさん. 
<h3>
San Juu</h3>
<a></a>san and the <a></a>san 三. It works like this:There's a certain pun used to joke about the <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/04/age-years-old-in-japanese.html">ages</a> of anime characters based on the honorificand the <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/japanese-numbers-ichi-ni-san.html">number</a> "three" in Japanese,三. It works like this:<ul>
<li>maria-san juu nana sai マリアさん１７歳 Maria-san, 17 years old. (10 + 7)</li>
<li>maria san juu nana sai マリアさんじゅうなな歳 Maria, 37 years old. (3 × 10 + 7)</li>
</ul>

 
(and yes, this refers to Maria from Hayate no Gotoku! ハヤテのごとく！)
<h2 id="chan">
Chan ちゃん</h2>
Next we have the honorificさん, which is the most common and generic of all honorifics. In real life this is used to talk to. It's neutral, so using it means nothing, which means using any other honorific will mean something.You can interpret it as a light version of様, actually. Because様 sounds too heavy, too respectful, too formal, it can't be used in everyday life. So, instead,さん is used.An interesting note about the honorificさん is that: because Japanese honorifics are so important, and not using the honorificさん is kind of disrespectful, some websites will automatically add theさん after a commenter or author's username. For example, xX_NaRuTo360noSCOPE_Xx would become xX_NaRuTo360noSCOPE_Xxさん.chan ちゃん, which is like a cute version of san さん. Imagine a small child trying to say san さん but saying chan ちゃん instead. Yeah, that sort of childish cute. 
 
This honorific is used for girl characters. Little girl characters. Girl "childhood friends", osananajimi 幼なじみ. Girlfriends. Cabaret girls. You get the point. I mean, a few of these are out of place, but the meaning is more or less the same. More or less. 
<h3>
Chan Means Cute</h3>
Basically, between children characters it's normal to use the chan ちゃん honorific. Adult characters, not so much. Mostly because it sounds embarrassing. 
 
It's like, as an adult character, you could call your daughter with chan, you could call <a></a>chan, you could call a TV mascot character with chan, you could call anything you find dear and cute with chan, but that means you're implicitly, if not explicitly and out loud, calling them "cute". 
 
Wile it's literally the same word, this "cute" thing can have vastly different implications. See: 
<ul>
<li>Where is your daddy and mommy, X-chan</li>
<li>Y-chan is the cutest girl in our class</li>
<li>Bring more beer, Z-chan cutie</li>
</ul>

 
You're calling all of these girls cute, but the meaning is definitely not the same.
<h2 id="kun">
Kun 君</h2>
Next we haveちゃん, which is like aversion ofさん. Imagine a small child trying to sayさん but sayingちゃん instead. Yeah, that sort of childish cute.This honorific is used for girl characters. Little girl characters. Girl "childhood friends",幼なじみ. Girlfriends. Cabaret girls. You get the point. I mean, a few of these are out of place, but the meaning is more or less the same. More or less.Basically, between children characters it's normal to use theちゃん honorific. Adult characters, not so much. Mostly because it sounds embarrassing.It's like, as an adult character, you could call your daughter with, you could call <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/animals-in-japanese-neko-inu-nezumi-kitsune-ookami.html#pets">pet cat or dog</a> with, you could call a TV mascot character with, you could call anything you find dear and cute with, but that means you're implicitly, if not explicitly and out loud, calling them "cute".Wile it's literally the same word, this "cute" thing can have vastly different implications. See:
Finally, the honorific kun 君, which is often used for boys like chan ちゃん is used for girls, but not exactly.

 
chan is used. Even for <a></a>chan ちゃん, and that's because kun has another use, too.What happens is that, indeed, it's used for boy characters in pretty much in every wayis used. Even for <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/animals-in-japanese-neko-inu-nezumi-kitsune-ookami.html#pets">pets</a> and TV mascots. And, also, it's an rather embarrassing word that isn't used as frequently amongst adult characters. However, not as much asちゃん, and that's becausehas another use, too.
 
The word kun 君 can be used for subordinates, students, employees, etc. People under you. In those cases gender doesn't matter. Often, in anime, female students are called with kun 君 by their teachers. And female employees can be called with kun 君 by their bosses and managers.

 

(manga readers: don't mistake kun 君 with kimi 君, which means "you")
<h2 id="yobisute">
Yobisute 呼び捨て</h2>
Now that we talked about the honorifics, let's talk about not using honorifics, or yobisute 呼び捨て. 
 
This yobisute thing is actually the verbs yobu 呼ぶ, "to call," and suteru 捨てる, "to throw away" joined together. Meaning to throw away the way you call someone one (the honorific) 
<ul>
<li>yobisute de ii 呼び捨てで良い [You] can call me without honorifics</li>
</ul>
 
By the way, "the way you call" someone is yobikata 呼び方. Since yobisute is kind of a disrespectful practice, in some anime that actually care about that you'll see a scene or another where a character says: 
<ul>
<li>chanto san wo tsukete ne ちゃんとさんを付けてね</li>
</ul>

 

Which's saying [you] should add the san suffix on [his] name when calling [him]. In some cases, that could be about the sama suffix instead, like with Mayoi-sama in Gyakuten Saiban 逆転裁判 (Ace Attorney). 
<h3>
Parents and Children</h3>


As I said above, kun and chan are used for boys and girls, children, and often called that by their own parents. However, as I also said, these honorifics become increasingly embarrassing with age. So, as it turns out, in real life, some parents will avoid using those honorifics with their children in public.

 

Though this has absolutely nothing to do with anime, I thought it could give you a better idea of the weight these little suffixes carry.
<h2 id="other-honorifics">
Other Honorifics</h2>
 
<h3 id="dono">
Dono 殿</h3>
This one shows up in very, very formal situations in anime and stories with samurais and stuff from that time, but that's about it. 
 
In real life Japan, it's only used in formal situations, business, letters and email. Not a word you would hear in the middle of the street. 
<h3>
Sensei 先生</h3>

This is used when talking to teachers or masters of a profession.

 

Often in school anime you'll see everyone calling the sensei 先生, the teacher, Tanaka-sensei 田中先生 or something. In Bakuman バクマン, Ashirogi Muto 亜城木 夢叶, who is a mangaka, not a teacher, is often called Ashirogi-sensei 亜城木先生 because of his mastery.

 
Basically any noun can be used as a suffix if it's the position someone holds or his profession. For example, if Tanaka is a detective, a keiji 刑事, he could be called Tanaka-keiji 田中刑事 just like you would call him "Detective Tanaka" in English. 
<h3>
Senpai 先輩 and Kouhai 後輩</h3>
In the case of <a></a> 
 Besides the four honorifics above, there are some other less common honorifics you can find around.This one shows up in very, very formal situations in anime and stories with samurais and stuff from that time, but that's about it.In real life Japan, it's only used in formal situations, business, letters and email. Not a word you would hear in the middle of the street.Basically any noun can be used as a suffix if it's the position someone holds or his profession. For example, if Tanaka is a detective, a刑事, he could be called田中刑事 just like you would call him "Detective Tanaka" in English.In the case of <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/08/senpai-kouhai-meaning.html">senpai 先輩 and kouhai 後輩</a> , this just means senior and junior respectively. Some people have misconceptions about their actual meaning, but it's really just senior and junior.Now that we talked about the honorifics, let's talk about not using honorifics, or呼び捨て.Thisthing is actually the verbs呼ぶ, "to call," and捨てる, "to throw away" joined together. Meaning to throw away the way you call someone one (the honorific)By the way, "the way you call" someone is呼び方. Sinceis kind of a disrespectful practice, in some anime that actually care about that you'll see a scene or another where a character says:Turns out this is a matter of Japanese culture rather than the Japanese language.In Japan, using honorifics with people's names is sort of a big deal. It's an extremely normal thing to do, so everyone does it all the time, which, in turn, means that not doing it is considered sort of rude.Think about it. If everyone started calling everyone else "sir" or "madam" out of politeness, you wouldn't find it surprisingly polite anymore when someone called you "sir." Instead, you would find it rude when someone did not call you "sir," because it would imply that rude bastard doesn't consider you worth of the everyday courtesy.</div>

San, Chan, Kun, Sama

Why Are Honorifics Used Turns out this is a matter of Japanese culture rather than the Japanese language. In Japan, using honorifics with people's names is sort of a big deal. It's an extremely norm…

25 Mar 2018

Japanese with Anime: August 2016

Japanese with Anime: August 2016

anime アニメ, right? Anime is the best. Truly the greatest of all modern arts. Both you and me know this. If you don't, then, well, I don't know what you're doing in this blog. Anime is good and all, but…

25 Mar 2018

Words Written Without Kanji in Japanese

Words Written Without Kanji in Japanese

Have you ever wondered what are the letters of the Japanese alphabet? Sure you've heard the stories, the legends? About how there are mo... …

24 Mar 2018

Japanese with Anime: July 2016

Japanese with Anime: July 2016

gessou 月相, for a reason or another. Like the full Moon, for example. Or the full Moon. The full Moon. And... the full Moon. And also, of course, the red, blood Moon. Anyway, this time I'll talk about …

24 Mar 2018

Lessons About The Japanese Writing System

Lessons About The Japanese Writing System

Writing System Basics Special Characters & Symbols Rare Kana Kanji Homonyms & Variations Script Choice Loaned Words The first thing you should get acquainted with if you are beginning to le…

24 Mar 2018

Common Anime Words Glossary

<div> 
 
<a></a> 
<h2>
A</h2>
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/08/ahegao-meaning-japanese.html">Ahegao アヘ顔</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/baka-aho-meaning.html">Aho アホ</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/05/ahoge-meaning.html">Ahoge アホ毛</a> 
 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/08/love-aishiteru-koisuru-suki-meaning.html">Ai 愛</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/koitsu-soitsu-aitsu-doitsu-meaning.html">Aitsu あいつ</a> 
 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/08/anata-omae-kimi-kisama-meaning.html">Anata 貴方</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/oniichan-oneechan-otouto-imouto-meaning.html">Ane 姉</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/oniichan-oneechan-otouto-imouto-meaning.html">Aneue 姉上</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/oniichan-oneechan-otouto-imouto-meaning.html">Ani 兄</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/oniichan-oneechan-otouto-imouto-meaning.html">Aniki 兄貴</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/08/anime-meaning.html">Anime アニメ</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/kono-sono-ano-dono-meaning.html">Ano あの</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/08/anata-omae-kimi-kisama-meaning.html">Anta あんた</a> 
 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/koko-soko-asoko-doko-meaning.html">Asoko あそこ</a> 
 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/kore-sore-are-dore-meaning.html">Are あれ</a> 
<h2>
B</h2>
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/baka-aho-meaning.html">Baka 馬鹿</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/bakana-meaning.html">Bakana! バカな！</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/09/bara-meaning.html">Bara 薔薇</a> 
 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/betsuni-meaning.html">Betsuni 別に</a> 
 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/bishounen-bishoujo-bijin-bijo-meaning.html">Bijin 美人</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/bishounen-bishoujo-bijin-bijo-meaning.html">Bijo 美女</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/bishounen-bishoujo-bijin-bijo-meaning.html">Bishounen 美少年</a> 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/bishounen-bishoujo-bijin-bijo-meaning.html">Bishoujo 美少女</a> 
 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/09/BL-meaning.html">Bl ビーエル</a> 
 
<a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/08/watashi-boku-ore-meaning.html">Boku 僕</a> 

In this blog I have explained the meanings of many Japanese words often used in manga and anime. I have explained so many words that in this post I'll just link all the words I have explained so you can learn them all at once! <a name="more"></a> This list is in alphabetical order. Some links are duplicated because there are posts that explain more than one word.</div>

Common Anime Words Glossary

A Ahegao アヘ顔 Aho アホ Ahoge アホ毛 Ai 愛 Aitsu あいつ Anata 貴方 Ane 姉 Aneue 姉上 Ani 兄 Aniki 兄貴 Anime アニメ Ano あの Anta あんた Asoko あそこ Are あれ B Baka 馬鹿 Bakana! バカな！ Bara 薔薇 Betsuni 別に Bijin 美人 Bijo 美女 Bishounen 美少年…

23 Mar 2018

Request Articles to Japanese with Anime

Request Articles to Japanese with Anime

Post a comment below with your request! Do you want to know the meaning of something in Japanese you saw in anime, manga or game but you don't know where to ask?Post a comment below with your request…

22 Mar 2018

Names of Colors in Japanese - Kuro, Shiro, Aka, Ao, Midori, Kiiro + Others

<div><h2>
Basic iromei 色名</h2>
Let's start with the basic names. Starting with the neutral colors," or musaishoku 無彩色. 
 

 
Now the "primary colors", genshoku 原色 
 
 
(related: <a></a> 
 
And finally, the "secondary colors", nijishoku 二次色(related: <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/03/masshiro-makkuro-makka-massao.html">masshiro 真っ白, makkuro 真っ黒, massao 真っ青 and makka 真っ赤</a> , words derived from some of the colors above)And finally, the "secondary colors",二次色 
 
If the text is too hard to remember, try this image instead. 
 
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-_ckWI2HWtuk9_h9nPqSGe78AfF_fqFW5l9E8nMvkaExSMaL97xJPCBLl6Mg8kT5plqpNjU9DLpvd00_fa2uM-YZKhZR3SNBPc4Vb_GEBAiD9jKpda8YKLeVGgVq_cBcXe3Mq8SkHJY/s1600/basic-japanese-colors.jpg"><img alt="The names of the basic colors in Japanese: aka, ao, kiiro, midori, murasaki, daidai-iro, kuro, haiiro and shiro." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-_ckWI2HWtuk9_h9nPqSGe78AfF_fqFW5l9E8nMvkaExSMaL97xJPCBLl6Mg8kT5plqpNjU9DLpvd00_fa2uM-YZKhZR3SNBPc4Vb_GEBAiD9jKpda8YKLeVGgVq_cBcXe3Mq8SkHJY/s1600/basic-japanese-colors.jpg" title="The 6 + 3 colors of the rainbow."></a> 
These colors are great and all, but they are not enough. Other common colors in Japanese include:If the text is too hard to remember, try this image instead.These colors are great and all, but they are not enough. Other common colors in Japanese include:<ul>
<li><a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/%E7%B4%BA-kon">kon'iro 紺色</a> Dark blue</li>
<li><a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/%E8%8C%B6%E8%89%B2-chairo">chairo 茶色</a> <a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/%E8%A4%90%E8%89%B2-kasshoku">kasshoku 褐色</a> Brown.</li>
<li><a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/%E6%A1%83%E8%89%B2-momoiro">momoiro 桃色</a> Pink.</li>
</ul>
 
Of course there are even more names, some a lot more obscure than these, but I won't spend the whole post translating the names of the colors from Japanese to English. If you want to look up a certain color in particular, check out the <a></a>Of course there are even more names, some a lot more obscure than these, but I won't spend the whole post translating the names of the colors from Japanese to English. If you want to look up a certain color in particular, check out the <a href="https://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/">list of names of colors in Japanese</a> . It has a few hundred names with the romaji and everything else.<h2>
Using Colors in Japanese</h2>

Now that you know some names for colors, the next question is: but how do we use this stuff?!

 

The answer is: it depends.
<h3>
Kiiro, Chairo</h3>

First off, some colors, which end in iro 色, may become i adjectives turning the iro into iroi 色い. This is the case of kiiro 黄色, "yellow," a noun, which becomes kiiroi 黄色い, "yellow," an adjective, and sometimes is shortened to just ki 黄.
<ul>
<li>kiiroi tori 黄色い鳥 Yellow bird.</li>
<li>tori no iro wa kiiro da! 鳥の色は黄色だ！ The color of the bird is yellow!</li>
<li>chairoi ocha 茶色いお茶 Brown tea.</li>
</ul>

 
But this isn't applicable to all colors.
<h3>
Aka, Ao, Kuro, Shiro</h3>

Some colors, like aka, ao, kuro and shiro can become akairo 赤色, aoiro 青色, kokushoku 黒色 and hakushoku 白色, all of them nouns. However, there is no such thing as akairoi 赤色い. You can't say that. They don't work the way kiiro 黄色 does.

 

For these colors, the adjective is a simple i suffix: akai, aoi, kuroi and shiroi. Examples:
<ul>
<li>kuroi neko ga me no akai, shiroi nezumi wo aoi sora ni nageta 黒い猫が目の赤い、白い鼠を青い空に投げた The black cat threw the red-eyed white mouse at the blue sky.</li>
</ul>

 
As you can see, in these colors we don't even need the iro 色 suffix. We just throw an i at it and we are done.

 

But this, too, isn't applicable to all colors.
<h3>
Midori, Murasaki</h3>

With midori 緑 and murasaki 紫, we can put the iro in them, midori-iro 緑色 and murasaki-iro 紫色, but we can't put an i in them. There is no such thing as midorii 緑い or murasakii 紫い in Japanese, not even midori-iroi 緑色い or murasaki-iroi 紫色い!

 

So what do we do? How can we say something is green or purple in Japanese when they don't have adjective forms?! Well, there's actually an universal solution.
<h3>
All Colors Are No Adjectives</h3>

All Japanese colors are no adjectives, which means you can use the no の particle with any of them, specially with the ones that are not i adjectives. For example:
<ul>
<li>midori no kuruma 緑の車 midoriiro no kuruma 緑色の車 The green car.</li>
</ul>

 
For those unfamiliar with the no の particle, it often indicates possession, but it can also be used with certain words, called no adjectives, to further describe a noun, or, even, in some more strange ways.

 

Anyway, this no particle is important because it can be used with any color. Any of them. Even those which have i adjective versions. For example:
<ul>
<li>ao no ekusoshisuto 青のエクソシスト Blue Exorcist</li>
<li>Darker than BLACK -kuro no keiyakusha-  -黒の契約者- Darker than BLACK -Black Contractor- (never translate titles)</li>
</ul>
<h2>
Types of Names of Colors in Japanese</h2>

Now that the grammar lesson is over, let's go back to the vocabulary.

 

There are, in the Japanese language, four distinctly different types of names for colors. These are:
<ol>
<li>Names of colors from colored things</li>
<li>Names of colors with forgotten origin</li>
<li>Names of colors from other names of colors</li>
<li>Names of colors from English names of colors</li>
</ol>

 
Unknown to you, we have already glanced at colors in the first two categories in this post.
<h3>
Colored Things and Their Colors</h3>

What happens is that all names for colors in Japanese have an origin somewhere. A root.

 

For example, daidaiiro 橙色, "orange," and momoiro 桃色, "pink," are actually colors of fruits, daidai 橙, "orange (the fruit)" and momo 桃, "peach."

 

The "color of the orange (fruit)," daidai no iro 橙の色, is "orange," daidaiiro 橙色. Get it?

 
<a></a>sumire すみれ is "violet," the flower.This kind of naming happens with as many things as it's possible to imagine. Sometimes it's identical to how it works in English. Like with <a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/%E3%81%99%E3%81%BF%E3%82%8C%E8%89%B2-sumireiro">sumireiro すみれ色</a> , which is "violet," the color, becauseすみれ is "violet," the flower.
 
<a></a>kin 金色 is "gold." A silver color is <a></a>gin 銀 is "silver". Something can even be said to be "rat-colored" in Japanese, or having <a></a>A "golden color" is <a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/%E9%87%91%E8%89%B2-kin-iro">kin'iro 金色</a> because金色 is "gold." A silver color is <a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/%E9%8A%80%E8%89%B2-gin-iro">gin'iro 銀色</a> because銀 is "silver". Something can even be said to be "rat-colored" in Japanese, or having <a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/%E9%BC%A0%E8%89%B2-nezumiiro">nezumiiro 鼠色</a> 
 

The point is, if it has iro 色 in it, it's the color of something, but not necessarily something that is present in the scene. You can say something is rat-colored without having a rat lying around for reference.
<h3>
Forgotten Colored Things</h3>

As with all things, they age. Names of colors are no different. The meanings the words were born with could have made sense in the past but they are so long forgotten they hardly make sense anymore.

 

One example is chairo 茶色, "brown," or very literally cha no iro 茶の色, "the color of tea." Now, for most people, tea is actually brown, or maybe I'm thinking of coffee, but the point is it's somewhat brown. For the Japanese, however, tea is green, because the most common tea is green tea.

 

So it's no wonder that the Japanese wtf at the fact that chairo isn't the color of their ocha, which is midori, by the way, just like you might wtf at the fact that murasaki, "purple," is actually a plant. The purple gromwell, from which a purple dye is made of, but most people don't even know that exists.

 

Even the color midori was originally a name for another thing, the "green" of the land. As in the grass and trees. Which are green. But so much time has passed nowadays it's easier to imagine the reverse, that you call the grass and trees green because they are midori, and not vice-versa.

 

The thing is, that with some names for colors, they are so old and ancient nobody remembers or cares what they used to mean anymore. But they did use to mean something at some point in history.
<h3>
Mix of Colors</h3>
<a></a>There is a large number of <a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/mixed-colors">names for colors in Japanese that are mixtures of other colors</a> . These are, of course, less used names, not basic colors, but they are common in text and might sound weird.
 
<a></a><a></a>This is because in English you'd say something like "blue-ish green blue" or "red-ish purple," but in Japanese there is no "ish" it's straight out <a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/%E9%9D%92%E7%B7%91%E8%89%B2-aomidoriiro">aomidori 青緑</a> and <a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/%E8%B5%A4%E7%B4%AB-akamurasaki">akamurasaki 赤紫</a> , which sounds like someone's being lazy with their grammar but are actually real words.
 

Some of these mixes are even kind of funny. My personal favorites are:
<h3>
English Colors</h3>

One last type of words for colors in Japanese, and a very common one in anime and manga, are actually the English ones. Yep. The English ones. Like red and blue, or...

Now, just in the unlikely case you can't remember hearing these words before, I'll give you a moment to recall about burakku buretto ブラックブレット (Black Bullet), the "orange" guy from Code Geass, the goddamn'd Power Rangers, burakku sutaa ブラック☆スター from Soul Eater, burakku and howaito from kekkai sensen 血界戦線 and a very, very, very long list of stands from JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken ジョジョの奇妙な冒険.

 
<a></a>But the question stands: why Japan, with such numerous and easy-to-remember names for colors that are very literally just the word for a thing plus the word for color in front of it, would deliberate <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/why-japanese-cant-english.html">loan words from English</a> to use as their colors? Don't they have enough names for colors already?!
 

The answer is, probably, because it looks cooler.

 

 

So maybe for a mix of these reasons very weird things can happen.

 

Even though these English / katakana colors are most commonly found in names of products, inside games and modern stuff like that, and not as common in speech or writing, that's not always the case.

 
<a></a>momoiro 桃色 and <a></a> 
 
This might be because there weren't many really "pink" things before globalization and modern coloring methods, which then popularize the "pink" color and word in Japan in form of products, paints and clothes. But I wouldn't know, I'm no historian.The word <a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/%E3%83%94%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AF-pinku">pinku ピンク</a> , for example, from the English "pink," is the most common way to say that color in Japanese. Being a word more common than桃色 and <a href="http://colors.japanesewithanime.com/japanese-colors/%E6%A1%9C%E8%89%B2-sakurairo">sakurairo 桜色</a> , which would be the pure Japanese names for pink.This might be because there weren't many really "pink" things before globalization and modern coloring methods, which then popularize the "pink" color and word in Japan in form of products, paints and clothes. But I wouldn't know, I'm no historian.
 
<a></a>Anyway, a fun consequence of this is that some people even end up <a href="https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q106527050">asking for a way to write pinku ピンク with kanji</a> . Which exemplifies they can't really think of a word in Japanese that's the same as the loaned word. Japanese is a strange language in this aspect!<ul>
</ul>
Let's start with the basic names. Starting with the neutral colors," or無彩色.</div>

Names of Colors in Japanese - Kuro, Shiro, Aka, Ao, Midori, Kiiro + Others

Basic iromei 色名 Let's start with the basic names. Starting with the neutral colors," or musaishoku 無彩色. Now the "primary colors", genshoku 原色 (related: And finally, the "secondary colors", niji…

21 Mar 2018

Jisho.org Kioku Extension - It Remembers Stuff

<div><a></a> 
 


 
<a name="more"></a><h2>
How to Install</h2>
<h3>
Chrome Users</h3>
<h3>
Firefox Users</h3>
<a></a>Get it here: <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/jisho-kioku/">https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/jisho-kioku/</a> <h3>
Opera & Other Chromium Browsers</h3>
Download jisho-kioku.crx from dropbox: <a></a><a></a>Download jisho-kioku.crx from dropbox: <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/x6lnys0fyn22581/jisho-kioku.crx?dl=0">https://www.dropbox.com/s/x6lnys0fyn22581/jisho-kioku.crx?dl=0</a> or from <a href="https://github.com/odraencoded/jisho-kioku">github</a> 
 

Go to menu -> settings -> extensions or something. (chrome://extensions)

 

Drag and drop jisho-kioku,crx into your extensions.

 

Ok through the forms.

 

Done. You're done!

 

The permissions required are storage and unlimitedStorage (so it doesn't hit the storage quota of 5MB one day). And also the ability to modify Jisho.org's pages. 
<h3>
Non-Chromium Browsers</h3>


Sorry, chromium-only. Are there even non-chromium browsers anymore that support extensions? Internet Explorer? I mean, Edge? Does that support extensions? Anyway, if you have coding knowledge you can probably port it to your weird browser because it only uses the chromium API to save and load data.
<h2>
Recently Picked Kanji</h2>

Kioku will remember which kanji you've picked from radical search and show them in green. The greener it is, the more recent. This helps find kanji from radical search if you are trying to find the same kanji a second or third time.

 

 

 

Besides tinting green Jisho.org normal results, Kioku also shows a similar set of results right below those. The difference is that Kioku's results only include kanji you have picked at least once and always shows the most recently picked first, not by stroke order.

 

When a radical isn't selected the most recently picked kanji are shown unfiltered. Clicking on the reset button in the radicals' list also forces Kioku to show the most recently picked.
<h2>
Filtering Radicals</h2>
<a></a>Not all radical have names, but some of them sort of do. Kioku comes with a filter box above <a href="https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/03/kanji-radicals-meaning.html">radicals</a> that can be used to quickly find a radical provided you know the name for it instead of trying to find that stupid damn thing for 10 minutes and feeling like a idiot.
 

If you don't know the names of the radicals which were used for this filter specifically, hovering the mouse pointer over a radical shows its name in the tooltip.

 

You can type hiragana, katakana or romaji in the box. 
 
Pressing enter automatically selects the first radical in the list, but you can type a number to filter by index. For example: if "te" shows 3 radicals and you want the second one, not the first, type "te2," then only the second one will be shown, and then you press enter.

 





 

 

Advanced and largely useless hints:
<ul>
<li>abc 
Matches radicals starting with "abc"</li>
<li>abc2 
Matches only the second radical starting with "abc"</li>
<li>=3 
Matches all radicals with 3 strokes.</li>
<li>=3=2 
Matches only the second radical with 3 strokes.</li>
<li>abc=3 
Matches all radicals with 3 strokes starting with "abc"</li>
<li>abc=3=2 
Matches only the second radical starting with "abc" with 3 strokes.</li>
<li>+ 
abc+ 
abc=3+ 
abc=3+2 
Hides unclickable radicals. (when one or more are already selected)</li>
</ul>
<h2>
Filtering Radicals by Kanji</h2>

It's also possible to show only the radicals of a given kanji. If you type a kanji in the filter box, the button "Query Kanji" will show up. Clicking this button will search Jisho.org in the background and fetch the radical data.

 

Pressing enter while the button is shown will *click* the button only if there are no radicals in the results. That is, if you type the hito 人 kanji, there's already a radical that's exactly that in Jisho, so it will select the 人 radical instead of querying. But if you type hibiku 響く then press enter, there's no 響 radical, so it will press the button instead.

 

 

 

Also note that normally clicking on a radical automatically clears the filter, but when a kanji parts are shown that doesn't happen. This is as intended: this way you can type a kanji and select multiple of its radicals without having to retype it every time.
<h2>
Recent Searches</h2>

The Searches link under the 記憶 menu shows the most recent things you've searched for. It records over 100 queries.

 


<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOU_IgTaXZroLEfJ8RQ4zdUQQGw1YPrvG2yHnANESNMhyphenhyphenm102zU_2WpswIjaakBQ6yJZ09LNOTrx_gQJXRWqgeyuFlwTE0MbE1yaGqP5CMgansIopZQ2ShK32WOGj654S9q-3vBB-3Uns/s1600/jisho-kioku-recent-searches.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOU_IgTaXZroLEfJ8RQ4zdUQQGw1YPrvG2yHnANESNMhyphenhyphenm102zU_2WpswIjaakBQ6yJZ09LNOTrx_gQJXRWqgeyuFlwTE0MbE1yaGqP5CMgansIopZQ2ShK32WOGj654S9q-3vBB-3Uns/s1600/jisho-kioku-recent-searches.png"></a>Update 0.3.1: You can click the remove link to remove a search you don't want to see for some reason. 
 
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjANN008uDJC2s6P-_jL7UyxQNQxDLUNOJPgkVVD1ZAPm6UHzRoKbf5KOW2qMYtqj_UyXaKteXWdDOyFEIqcPMLFOFWH1gl85tMJHcYul7MQtmM_mAmGRvTD_PHgYVcnjP0Q2ZkXrL7nNg/s1600/jisho-kioku-recent-searches-dropdown.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjANN008uDJC2s6P-_jL7UyxQNQxDLUNOJPgkVVD1ZAPm6UHzRoKbf5KOW2qMYtqj_UyXaKteXWdDOyFEIqcPMLFOFWH1gl85tMJHcYul7MQtmM_mAmGRvTD_PHgYVcnjP0Q2ZkXrL7nNg/s1600/jisho-kioku-recent-searches-dropdown.png"></a> 
The recent searches are also automatically added to the search box as a dropdown. Pressing the down key or clicking on that down arrow shows your recent searches without you having to navigate through the 記憶 menu. 
 : You can click the remove link to remove a search you don't want to see for some reason.The recent searches are also automatically added to the search box as a dropdown. Pressing the down key or clicking on that down arrow shows your recent searches without you having to navigate through the 記憶 menu.<h2>
Bookmarked Vocabulary</h2>

You can bookmark vocabulary by clicking the memorize link at the bottom of each word. This link may take a couple seconds to show up because extension scripts are the last thing loaded in a webpage, but it will show up one day maybe.

 



 



Kioku stores the term, its furigana and the meanings in your browser so you can review it later. You can find the stored terms under the bookmarks link under the 記憶 menu.

 

 

The forget link forgets the term. Unchecking the meaning checkbox will temporarily hide the meanings and will hide forget link. This is so you can copy-paste the terms without their meanings and without copying a bunch of "forget forget forget forget."

 

Also, the bookmarks are not ordered. And when you click on the memorize link it will say bookmarked, but when you reload the page it will say memorize again even though it's already memorized. This was deliberate so it wouldn't make every single page of the site load slower just to show whether something's already been bookmarked. On the plus side, bookmarking something already bookmarked does nothing bad, so there's that.

The Jisho Kioku is a Chrome extension that adds a number of features to the online Japanese-English dictionary <a href="http://jisho.org/">Jisho.org</a> . These features are: shows the last dozen kanji you've picked from radical search; lets you quickly filter radicals by their names; records the last hundred searches you've made; and lets you bookmark random vocabulary so you can review it later.</div>

Jisho.org Kioku Extension - It Remembers Stuff

How to Install Chrome Users Firefox Users Get it here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/jisho-kioku/ Opera & Other Chromium Browsers Download jisho-kioku.crx from dropbox: Download jis…

21 Mar 2018

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Japanese Hobby

Japanese with Anime: July 2017

Japanese with Anime: June 2017

Japanese with Anime: May 2017

Japanese with Anime: April 2017

Japanese with Anime: March 2017

Japanese with Anime: February 2017

Japanese with Anime: January 2017

Japanese with Anime: December 2016

Kochira, Sochira, Achira, Dochira こちら, そちら, あちら, どちら

Japanese with Anime: November 2016

Japanese with Anime: October 2016

Bakuretsu! Bakuhatsu! EXPLOSION!!!

御～ Honorific Prefix - O~, Go~, お～, ご～

Japanese with Anime: September 2016

San, Chan, Kun, Sama

Japanese with Anime: August 2016

Words Written Without Kanji in Japanese

Japanese with Anime: July 2016

Lessons About The Japanese Writing System

Common Anime Words Glossary

Request Articles to Japanese with Anime

Names of Colors in Japanese - Kuro, Shiro, Aka, Ao, Midori, Kiiro + Others

Jisho.org Kioku Extension - It Remembers Stuff

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This time content only, no furigana restrictions

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1. Learn Hiragana and Katakana

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2. Get a textbook. My favorite: Genki (second edition with a lovely MP3 CD)

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2. Get a textbook. My favorite:
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