Family relations - Part 2

This post will be a continuation of the previous post about Family relations.

In my opinion, the most fun to watch in One Piece is when Ace, Sabo, and Luffy were still children, 子供 or こども (kodomo).  They are really mischievous, resulting in many funny moments, while there are many touching scenes as well.  One of the most memorable scenes is when Ace stole a bottle of alcohol, 酒 or  さけ (sake) from Dadan.  Ace realized that the three of them may set out to sea separately at different times and they may not be on the same ship or belong to the same crew of pirates.  But if the three of them exchange cups of alcohol, regardless of where they are, they are still brothers, 兄弟 or きょうだい (kyoudai). 

Ace learning manners

As the older brother, 兄 or あに (ani) of Luffy, Ace even tries to learn the proper way to greet people, as he wants to thank Shanks for what he had done for his younger brother, 弟 or おとうと (otouto).  兄貴 or  あにき (aniki) is an informal way to address an older brother and it is also used when addressing a person who is considered one’s senior.  When addressing one’s own older brother, お兄さん or おにいさん (oniisan) is usually used.  It is also shortened to just兄さん (niisan) or 兄ちゃん (niichan)‎.  These can also be used to refer and address a young adult male who is not one’s own brother.

For female siblings, an older sister is referred to as 姉 or あね (ane) and a younger sister is 妹 or いもうと (imouto).  Sisters in Japanese is 姉妹 or しまい (shimai).  When addressing their older sisters, Japanese people usually call them お姉さん or おねえさん (oneesan) and it can be shortened to 姉さん (neesan) or 姉ちゃん (neechan) as well.  Similar to older brother, these can also be used when addressing or referring to a young adult female who is not one’s own sister.

To recap:

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
子供	こども	Kodomo	Children
酒	さけ	Sake	Alcohol
兄弟	きょうだい	Kyoudai	Brothers, Siblings
兄	あに	Ani	Older brother
弟	おとうと	Otouto	Younger brother
お兄さん	おにいさん	Oniisan	Addressing an older brother or young adult male
兄貴	あにき	Aniki	Informal way to address
姉妹	しまい	Shimai	Sisters
姉	あね	Ane	Older sister
妹	いもうと	Imouto	Younger sister
お姉さん	おねえさん	Oneesan	Addressing an older sister or young adult female
兄さん (niisan) & 兄ちゃん (niichan)‎			Friendly or familiar form of address
姉さん  (neesan) & 姉ちゃん (neechan)			Friendly or familiar form of address

Have a great day.

Family relations - Part 1

One of my favorite and funniest scene in One Piece is when Garp, Luffy’s grandfather told him he actually met his father in Loguetown.  Luffy was actually surprised that he actually had a father?!!

In the video, Sanji said that Luffy’s grandfather is a big shot, 偉いさん or えらいさん (eraisan). Grandfather is お爺さん or おじいさん (ojiisan) when referring to someone else’s grandfather, while referring to one’s own grandfather is 祖父 or そふ (sofu).  However, お爺さん can be used when addressing one’s own grandfather.  Though when Luffy and his brothers are still young, they always called and referred Garp as じじ (jiji), which actually means old geezer (please don’t use じじ to address an older man).  お爺さん can also be used to refer to any male senior citizens.  While talking about grandfather, we might as well know that grandmother is お婆さん or おばあさん (obaasan) and 祖母 or そぼ (sobo), and the usage is similar to that of grandfather.  A grandchild is 孫 or まご (mago).

Monkey D. Dragon, Luffy's father

Luffy’s father was revealed to be the notorious revolutionary, 革命 or かくめい (kakumei), Monkey D. Dragon, who is infamously well-known among everybody except for Luffy himself.  When referring to someone else’s father, お父さん or おとうさん (otousan) is used, while referring to one’s own father, 父 or ちち (chichi) is used, while お父さん is also used when addressing one’s own father.  Similarly お母さん or おかあさん (okaasan) is used to refer to someone's mother or when addressing one's own mother, while 母 or はは (haha) for reference to one's own mother.  A son is 息子 or むすこ (musuko) or sometimes shortened to just こ (ko) when speaking informally, while a daughter is 娘 or むすめ (musume).

To summarize:

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
お爺さん	おじいさん	Ojisan	When referring to someone’s grandfather or when addressing one’s own grandfather
お婆さん	おばあさん	Obasan	When referring to someone’s grandmother or when addressing one’s own grandmother
お父さん	おとうさん	Otousan	When referring to someone’s father or when addressing one’s own father
お母さん	おかあさん	Okaasan	When referring to someone’s mother or when addressing one’s own mother
祖父	そふ	Sofu	When referring to own grandfather
祖母	そぼ	Sobo	When referring to own grandmother
父	ちち	Chichi	When referring to own father
母	はは	Haha	When referring to own mother
孫	まご	Mago	Grandchild
息子	むすこ	Musuko	Son
娘	むすめ	Musume	Daughter
	じじ	Jiji	Old geezer
偉いさん	えらいさん	Eraisan	Big shot
革命	かくめい	Kakumei	Revolution

Hope you learn Japanese well while enjoying the show.

About foods - Part 2

Continuing from the previous post, it will still be about food and eating.

One Piece, Toriko, and Dragon Ball collaboration

I got to know the manga and anime, Toriko, from One Piece, as they had a few collaboration episodes.  Toriko’s story take place in the Gourmet Era, where almost everything is about food.  Toriko is a well-known Gourmet Hunter or 美食屋 (bishoku-ya), whose job is to find and acquire high-level ingredients.  Toriko is a known Glutton as well, and he can always be seen eating in the show.

The glutton, Toriko enjoying Galala crocodile meat

From the word 美食屋,  美食 or びしょく(bishoku) means gourmet or delicious food.  Probably everyone knows that before eating, Japanese people will say 頂きます or いただきます (itadakimasu), which means I will eat or let’s eat.  It is polite to say 頂きます (itadakimasu) before eating.

There’s many ways to express that the food tastes good.  美味しい or おいしい (oishii) is the most commonly heard and used, which means delicious or tasty.  旨い or うまい (umai) is always used with the same meaning.  結構 or けっこう(kekkou), when used as an adjective can also be used to describe the food as splendid, wonderful or delicious.  

Other words that can also be used are like 素晴らしい, 凄い, and 素敵.  These three are actually synonyms.  素晴らしい or すばらしい (subarashii) means wonderful, magnificent, or splendid.  凄い or すごい (sugoi) means amazing and fantastic.  素敵 or すてき (suteki), also have similar meaning of lovely or wonderful.  These three can also be used to describe many other things, not only food.

After finish eating, say ご馳走様でした.  ご馳走様でした or  ごちそうさまでした (go-chisou-sama deshita), which could mean “it was a great feast, it was a wonderful meal, or it was delicious.”  It is a Japanese etiquette to say this phrase after eating.

Before eating

頂きます                                            いただきます (itadakimasu)        

I will eat, let’s eat

Tasty, delicious

美味しい                                            おいしい (oishii)

旨い                                                     うまい (umai)

結構                                                     けっこう(kekkou)

Wonderful, amazing, lovely

素晴らしい                                       すばらしい (subarashii)

凄い                                                    すごい (sugoi)

素敵                                                    すてき (suteki)

After finish eating

ご馳走様でした                             ごちそうさまでした (go-chisou-sama deshita) 

It was a great feast, it was a wonderful meal, or it was delicious

Enjoy your food!

About foods - Part 1

People who watch the anime One Piece will surely notice that the some of the characters eat a lot.  There are some useful words that can we learn from the gluttons in the show.

Luffy eating at Alabasta

In One Piece, we can always see Luffy shouting or calling out to Sanji for food.  He always says 飯 or めし (meshi), which is an informal way of saying meals or food.  The more polite way would be ご飯 or ごはん (gohan).  When I watch videos of interviews with Japanese people, they tend to use ご飯 instead of  飯.  When ご is used as a prefix, it can be a honorifics prefix, so unless speaking with close friends, we should probably use ご飯 to describe meals or food.  

朝 or あさ (asa) means morning, so adding 朝 to the either two would make it 朝ご飯 (asagohan) and 朝飯 (asameshi), which means breakfast.  昼 or ひる (hiru) means noon, and adding it will make the compound means lunch.  夕 or ゆう (yuu) means evening, so dinner will be 夕飯  (yuumeshi) but 夕食 or ゆうしょく (yuushoku) is the other proper way to describe dinner instead of 夕ご飯 (yuugohan).

From the video, we can hear Luffy saying 腹減った or はらへった (harahetta), which means I’m hungry.  腹減ったis usually used by men.  お腹が空いた orおなかがすいた (onakagasuita) can be used by both men and women, but is more commonly used by women.

Luffy also said: “肉, 肉, 野菜退け” (niku, niku, yasainoke), which means meat, meat, remove the vegetables.  Luffy can always be heard saying 肉 or にく (niku) over and over again, as he loves to eat meat and will not be very satisfied eating vegetables, 野菜 or やさい (yasai).  退ける or のける (nokeru) means to remove or to take away.  Though Sanji seems to favor making dishes with seafood, 魚介類 or ぎょかいるい (gyokairui).

From the glutton, we can learn:

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
飯	めし	Meshi	Meals, food
ご飯	ごはん	Gohan	Meals, food  (polite)
朝	あさ	Asa	Morning
昼	ひる	Hiru	Noon
夕	ゆう	Yuu	Evening
腹減った	はらへった	Harahetta	I’m Hungry (Masculine)
お腹が空いた	おなかがすいた	onakagasuita	I’m Hungry
肉	にく	Niku	Meat
野菜	やさい	Yasai	Vegetables
魚介類	ぎょかいるい	Gyokairui	Seafood
退ける	のける	Nokeru	To remove, to take away
朝ご飯 (asagohan), 朝飯 (asameshi)			Breakfast
昼ご飯 (hirugohan), 昼飯 (hirumeshi)			Lunch
夕ご飯 (yuumeshi), 夕食 (yuushoku)			Dinner

Have a nice meal.