Detective stuffs

Detective Conan, 名探偵コナン (meitantei konan) is still one of the very popular anime until today, it is also one of my favorite.  The story is about a high school detective, Kudo Shinichi, 工藤 新一 (kudou shinichi), who shrunk into a child after being forced to swallow a poison, APTX 4869 by an agent of the Black Organization.  However, only his body is shrunk as he still retained his intelligence, personality, and memories.  He now lives with the private Detective, Mouri Kogoro, 毛利 小五郎 (mouri kogorou) and his daughter Ran, 蘭 (ran), who is Shinichi’s childhood friend and love interest.  Using a new identity that goes by the name Edogawa Conan, 江戸川 コナン (edogawa konan), he now seek to find out more about the Black Organization in hope to reverse his shrunken state and at the same time, he solved many cases using Detective Mouri’s name, making the Detective more famous and reputable as time goes by.  After more than 800 episodes of the anime, one will become familiar with some of the detectives terms that are always used in the show. 

Conan always put Detective Kogoro to sleep with a tranquilizer dart and speak with his voice-changing bowtie.

It always starts with an incident or case, 事件 or じけん (jiken), either a murder case, 殺人事件 orさつじんじけん (satsujin), kidnapping, 誘拐 or ゆうかい (yuukai), robbery, 強盗 or ごうとう (goutou), and so on.  

The parties involved are usually the suspects, 容疑者 or ようぎしゃ (yougisha), victims, 被害者 or ひがいしゃ (higaisha), and witnesses, 証人 or しょうにん (shounin), while the police, 警察 or  けいさつ (keisatsu) and detective, 探偵 or たんてい (tantei) investigate them.  

Usually, when discovering a victim, Conan will instruct someone to contact the police and ambulance, 救急車 or きゅうきゅうしゃ (kyuukyuusha), and in cases of arson, 放火 or  ほうか, houka) and fire, 火事 or  かじ (kaji), the fire department, 消防 or  しょうぼう (shoubou).

It's a bank robbery, huh?

In a murder case, there are usually a murder weapon, 凶器 or きょうき (kyouki).  The investigators sometimes consider the possibility of suicide, 自殺 orじさつ (jisatsu) and accident, 事故 orじこ (jiko) as well.  The criminal, 犯人 orはんにん (hannin) will always try to establish a fake alibi, アリバイ (aribai), but Conan usually looks for evidence, 証拠 or しょうこ (shouko) to prove their guilt.  

In kidnapping cases, the kidnappers always ask for a ransom, 身代金 or みのしろきん (minoshirokin) for the release of the hostage, 人質 or ひとじち (hitojichi).

Kidnappers always want ransom in exchange for the release of the hostage.

One famous character in the anime is Kaitou Kid, 怪盗キッド (kaitou kiddo).  He is a master thief, 泥棒 orどろぼう (dorobou), who becomes the rival of Conan and eventually, almost like a friend and ally.  

The Master Thief, Kaitou Kid.

Kanji	Hiragana/Katakana	Romaji	English
事件	じけん	Jiken	Incident, case
殺人事件	さつじんじけん	Satsujin jiken	Murder case
誘拐	ゆうかい	Yuukai	Kidnapping
強盗	ごうとう	Goutou	Robbery
容疑者	ようぎしゃ	Yougisha	Suspect
被害者	ひがいしゃ	Higaisha	Victim
証人	しょうにん	Shounin	Witness
警察	けいさつ	Keisatsu	Police
探偵	たんてい	Tantei	Detective
救急車	きゅうきゅうしゃ	Kyuukyuusha	Ambulance
放火	ほうか	Houka	Arson
火事	かじ	Kaji	Fire
消防	しょうぼう	Shoubou	Fire Department
凶器	きょうき	Kyouki	Murder Weapon
犯人	はんにん	Hannin	Criminal
自殺	じさつ	Jisatsu	Suicide
事故	じこ	Jiko	Accident
	アリバイ	Aribai	Alibi
証拠	しょうこ	Shouko	Evidence
身代金	みのしろきん	Minoshirokin	Ransom
人質	ひとじち	Hitojichi	Hostage
泥棒	どろぼう	Dorobou	Thief

Hope that you can notice these words when watching Detective Conan or other detective shows.  

More Colors

In the previous post, we learned six colors in the Japanese language from Kamen Rider OOO.

Kanji	Hiragana/Katakana	Romaji	English
色	いろ	Iro	Colors
緑	みどり	Midori	Green
黄	き	Ki	Yellow
灰色	はいいろ	Haiiro	Grey
青	あお	Ao	Blue
赤	あか	Aka	Red
紫	むらさき	Murasaki	Purple

Red-Haired Shanks

However, there are more colors to know.  I find that characters in One Piece have hair that helps me learn and remember the colors.  First, is Red-Haired Shanks, 赤髪のシャンクス (akaigami no shankusu).  I also learn that 髪 or かみ (kami) also mean hair on the head.  かみ can mean many things actually, but the three most used meanings would be God, 神, paper 紙, and hair 髪.

Whitebeard and Marco

And there is Whitebeard, 白ひげ (shirohige).  We will know that white is 白 or しろ (shiro) and ひげ here is translated as beard, although it is actually Whitebeard’s mustache that is white.  ひげ however, can mean mustache, beard, whiskers, or sideburns.

Blackbeard

Brownbeard

There are two more “beard” characters, the big villain, Blackbeard, 黒ひげ (kurohige) and the less famous Brownbeard, 茶ひげ (chahige).  Since ひげ (hige) is facial hairs, 黒 or くろ(kuro) is black while 茶 or ちゃ (cha) means brown.    茶 or ちゃ (cha) can mean tea as well.

Straw Hat Pirates

Some of the crew members of the Straw Hat Pirates have colored hair.  Nami’s hair color is orange, オレンジ色 (orenjiiro), Zoro’s hair is green, 緑 or みどり (midori), and Sanji’s hair is blonde, ブロンド (burondo).  

Akumu Chan

There’s a Japanese Drama that Keiko Kitagawa (北川景子) acted in, titled My Little Nightmare, 悪夢ちゃん (akumuchan).  After the drama ended, a movie was released and the main soundtrack was a song by the Japanese female idol group Momoiro Clover Z, ももいろクローバーZ (momoiro kurouba z).   The name of this group help me learn and remember the word for pink, 桃色 or ももいろ (momoiro).  I also learn that 悪夢 or あくむ (akumu) mean nightmare.

Momoiro Clover Z

Kanji	Hiragana/Katakana	Romaji	English
白	しろ	Shiro	White
黒	くろ	Kuro	Black
茶	ちゃ	Cha	Brown
	オレンジ色	Orenjiiro	Orange
青	ブロンド	Burondo	Blonde
桃色	ももいろ	Momoiro	Pink

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
髪	かみ	Kami	Hair
神	かみ	Kami	God
紙	かみ	Kami	Paper
	ひげ	Hige	Mustache, beard, whiskers, sideburns
茶	ちゃ	Cha	Tea
悪夢	あくむ	Akumu	Nightmare

This post covers most of the important colors and also some other words.  Happy learning.