Frequently Used Terms

These are some of the more common Japanese words that you're likely to encounter on the net. If you will notice the honorifics aren't covered here, because I will include them in a lesson later on. Some of these words will allso be discussed in greater detail in further lessons. As allways, if you have any comments or suggestions, email me.

Kaitou Ace

Anime: a common abbreviation of the Japanese term for animation. In Japan it is used to refer to all animation, while in other countries it is generally used to refer to Japanese animation

Arigatou: Thank you (Domo arigato gozaimasu = Thank you very much)

Baka: stupid, fool

Bishoujo: beautiful/pretty girl (shoujo = girl)

Chibi: a short person, kid, diminutive

Demo: but

Doko (ni): where?

Domo: very much

Ecchi: mildly hentai (see below), risqué

Eigo: English

Fuku: clothes, uniform i.e.: Sailor fuku

Gomen(nasai): sorry

Hai: yes

Henshin: transformation

Hentai: sexually perverted, a pervert

Hiragana: one of the Japanese phonetic alphabets, used for native words.

Iie: no

Ja ne: bye (colloquial)

Juban Number 10 (Ju=10 Ban=number is the district where the senshi live, hence the many puns on the number 10 appearing throughout the series)

Kanji: Chinese characters as used in Japanese, with different meanings/pronunciations

Katakana: one of the Japanese phonetic alphabets, mainly used for borrowed words.

Kawaii: cute

Konnichiwa: good day, hello

Kowai: scared, afraid / scary

Kudasai: Please (Ocha Kudasai = Tea please)

Manga: Japanese comics (same situation as with anime)

Minna: everyone

Nani: what?

Ne: added to the end of a sentence to say "isn't it?" or "am I right?"

Ohayo: Good morning (Ohayo gozaimasu is a more polite way of saying it)

Onegai: Please, when making a request

Otaku: The literal meaning of the word is a polite form of "you", but colloquially the word took on the meaning of a (very) obsessed fan in Japanese. In other languages however it has become a popular way of calling yourself an anime fan.

Otou-san: father

Owari: the end/finale

Piku: to shake, or to tremble, also the common anime face fault

Romaji: The English alphabet, when used to transliterate (romanize) the original Japanese words. (all of the Japanese terms on this page are written in Romaji)

Senpai: elder / upperclassman (can be used as a honorific: i.e. Kunou-senpai)

Senshi: warrior or soldier

Seiyuu: A voice actor/actress

Sayonara: good bye

Sugoi: cool, amazing

Sumimasen: Excuse me / I'm sorry (differs from the American "Excuse me" as it is used when interrupting a conversation, rather than when bumping into somebody)

Tomodachi: friend