Fun with Japanese: The Language of Food

If you thought this was a lot of food,
you haven't watched Dragon Ball Z.

It's the holiday season, there's lots of parties and plenty of fun to go around between Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the other varied winter holidays that show up around this time of year. It's a time of family gatherings and rubbing elbows with beloved family members as well as the more annoying ones. So what is one thing such parties all have in common? You guessed it, food, and is there ever a lot of it. With all the healthy eaters that anime is famous for it would be inconceivable to think that it's not on the minds of many anime characters, in many cases, often, and in such cases they will let you know about it. Goku and his friends from Dragon Ball pictured left are probably some of the more famous examples of hungry characters, but there are plenty of others that they'll have to share the menu with if everyone's going to be happy. With this in mind, it's time for a taste of five common Japanese phrases you will hear in anime, this time having to do with edibles, and their consumption. So pull up a chair, get out your chopsticks, and prepare to dig in.

Zelgadis: Can't you shut up for just a few minutes?

お腹が空いた。
おなかがすいた。
Onaka ga suita.

Whenever a character wants to let another character know that they are hungry, this is a common phrase that they use. Some of the more bratty or childish ones might act really dramatic about it, running around in circles, or appearing cartoonishly emaciated. You will see antics like this especially in shows where you have characters with very low tolerance for hunger, such as Lina Inverse from the TV series Slayers. Often with characters with such a low tolerance, it will be at critical points where their abilities might turn the tide of a situation, if only they were just at full strength...   either that, or it's just a major annoyance to the characters who are actually capable of some semblance of maturity, like poor Zelgadis (on the left). Things couldn't get any worse for him right now. He's on the run from an evil sorcerer who basically turned him into a rock man and could attack them at any moment, and all this girl can seem to do is complain about not being fed!

Conan: Is it a murder if I annoy you to death?

食べたい！
たべたい！
Tabetai!

When there's something someone wants to eat, or they just want to use an alternative for "Onaka ga suita," this is what they'll often use. In anime you'll see it more often as a way for a bratty little kid (or kid at heart) to try and wear down his or her elders into getting them a food they enjoy. FYI, it's a rendering of the verb taberu, which is "to eat" and there are many other ways of rendering it to mean many different things, such as tabenasai (please eat) or tabechatta (someone regrettably ate the object of the sentence this verb was attached to). As you can see here, Shinichi/Conan from Detective Conan is trying to take advantage of his outward appearance  and this verb to pretend to be a spoiled brat and hopefully convince his "chaperones" to take him home because he's actually concerned about one of them. His love interest in fact.

Misato: Come on Shinji, show your thanks
for the bento packagers who gave us this meal.

戴きます。
いただきます。
Itadakimasu.

Most times you will hear this phrase at the beginning of a meal when everyone at the table is ready to start. Respect is very important in Japanese culture, even when the meal is a collection of bento boxes from the nearest convenience store and the folks who put the grub together are a long ways away. Misato is the first to use this phrase in the famous scene in Neon Genesis Evangelion where she welcomes Shinji into her home and they throw a little celebration. Translated as "Let's Eat!" in the English dub, Misato spouts off this thankful phrase right before chugging down a pint of beer and displaying her loud personality by giving Shinji a lecture about being finicky (much to his shock.) It's probably one of the funnier scenes in the show.

Sakura: As much of the sweet stuff as we eat,
the dentist must really love me!

美味しい！
おいしい！
Oishii!

When a Japanese speaker has just consumed something tasty, they will often say this to express their appreciation. It is often translated as delicious and is an adjective that in magical girl animes that often involve things like candy and sweets, you will hear without fail. (Although just about any anime with a penchant for cavity-inducing sweetness is also susceptible to its use.) One such anime is Cardcaptor Sakura. Here, Tomoyo's mother just handed her some cake, but it happens so often (involving strawberry shortcake a lot of the time) that it sometimes feels like you can't go two episodes without hearing it.

Kiko: Wow, that pile of bowls could rival one of Naruto's!

ご馳走様。
ごちそうさま。
Gochisousama.

At the end of a meal, when the table's done creaking and the ramen bowls are emptied, it is a matter of politeness to once again thank your host for the meal you've just consumed and the hard work they have put into making it. This is the phrase most Japanese speakers will use, and whenever food is involved, and the end of a meal is shown, it will usually be heard. Hei, the main character from Darker than Black is a very well mannered assassin. He's Chinese, and even he knows this is the proper way to thank the chef from your favorite ramen shop, although leaving piles of empty bowls can also show that you enjoyed your meal, I suppose, after all, if you ate a lot, you apparently enjoyed it, right? Even so, for most of us with normal sized stomachs, the verbal way is probably better.

And there you have it. I hope you've enjoyed this little sortie into the world of linguistics. Until next time, keep listening, you never know what interesting phrases you'll pick up.

Images taken from "Cardcaptor Sakura", "Darker than Black", "Detective Conan", "Dragon Ball", "Neon Genesis Evangelion", and "Slayers".

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