Hey everyone, I’m a Japanese learner, and somewhat a novice. I used to watch a ton of dubbed anime before I started learning Japanese. I’m noticed that there are some words and names that are Japanese words. I was hoping to make a list of words like this, and put them into my Anki deck, as already knowing the words makes it a lot easier for me to remember them.
For example,
しのび = ninja
らせん = spiral/helix (from Naruto’s rasengan.)
If anyone has any other ones that they know of, it would be really appreciated if you could post them. Thanks a lot!
5 comments
…No, shinobi (忍び) is shinobi. Ninja (忍者) is ninja. While they do mean the same thing, they are still separate terms that were loaned as is into English.
Also, the らせん in rasengan more accurately means ‘helix’, while the ‘gan’ is ‘丸’ which means sphere/spherical. Thus 螺旋丸, ‘helix sphere’. Not as catchy in English, which is probably why they kept it in Japanese.
(Side note; ‘spiral staircase’ in English is a bit of misnomer. Spiral staircases are helixes, not spirals. They just look like spirals when seen from above. This is a big part of why the difference is misunderstood)
くのいち= female shinobi
さくら= cherry blossom
らいきり= lightning blade (also known as chidori)
かげ= shadow
-火影
-水影
-土影
-雷影
-風影
All equal fire’s shadow, water’s shadow, earth’s shadow, thunder’s shadow, and wind’s shadow respectively
That shouldn’t be too hard… if it’s not English it’s probably Japanese.
I haven’t watched a dubbed anime for a second so let me think…
しこん as in the Shikon Jewel, is 4 spirit.
四: し: 4
魂: コン: spirit (onyomi)
なると is a fish cake with a swirl pattern in the center.
死神: しにがみ: death god.
It’s a lot of nouns…
*Yu-Gi-Oh!* has some.
The title *Yu-Gi-Oh!* is a corruption of *yuugi-ou* means “game king” (*yuugi* is “game”; *ou* is “king”)
The pharaoh called *Yami* means “Dark” (shortened from his Japanese name Yami Yuugi)
*Yami* (the field magic card) also means “dark”
*Umi* (another field magic card) means “sea”
*Kame* (which I think we see on Grandpa’s game shop) means “turtle”
*Kaiba* might be a play on “seahorse” (*kai* is “sea”, *ba* is “horse”)
I think *Mokuba* means “wood horse”
*Jurai gumo* (the monster) means “land mine spider”
*Suijin* and *Kazejin* mean “water god” and “wind god” (*sui* is “water”, *kaze* is “wind”, *jin* is *shin* as in the word shinto which is the same kanji as *kami* “god”. *Shintou* is the “way of the gods”)
*Kairyuu-Shin* means “sea dragon god”.
Power of Kaishin (magic card) – *Kaishin* means “sea god”
The monster *Ryu-Kishin* sounds Japanese but I have no idea what it means. First part looks like *ryuu* “dragon” but the card has nothing to do with dragons.
The *Hitotsume Giant* means “One-eyed Giant” (from *hitotsu* “one” and *me* “eye”)
*Ryuuran* means “dragon egg”
*Jiken bakudan* means “time bomb” or something
*Ushi-oni* means “ox demon”
*Hi no tama* (magic card) means “fireball”
*Oo-kazi* (magic card) means “big fire”
*Raigeki* (magic card) means “lightning strike”
​
Interesting thing is, some of these names are Japanese only in the dub. (e.g. In the original Japanese version, Kaishin is “Poseidon” in katakana, Ryu-Kishin is “Gargoyle” in katakana, Hitostume Giant is “Cyclops” in katakana, etc.)
It’s a good idea to look up these kind of words early, it really did help me early on. I even put many in a list in my dictionary app.
みそ、からあげ、じゅうどう、からて、じゅじゅつ、つなみ、からおけ、ゆかた、かみかぜ、うめぼし、だいこん、たたみ、せんぱい、きびだんご、しょうぐん、しょうぎ、ぎんが、ひらがな、かたかな、はいく、やきにく、やきそば、あまざけ、とりい、おりがみ、どげざ、しんとう、みこ、こたつ、まんじゅう、ぶっかけ、かぶき、らくご、かるた、ふじょし、じゃんけん、ひなまつり、まんがか、やいば、にんじゅつ、しゃみせん、しんかんせん、ふとん、くんよみ、おんよみ、どうじょう、せっぷく、はらきり、はなふだ、しりとり、ぼんさい、げいしゃ、まいこ、おんせん、てんぷら、べんとう、さしみ、かぐら、たこやき、せいゆう、えもじ、ようかい、おにぎり、なっとう、とうふ、しんせんぐみ、かっぱ、しゅりけん、すうどく、かんぱい、ろうにん、えんか