はい、みなさん、こんにちは！今日も元気に、日本語の勉強頑張りましょう！Today, we will look at a phrase from Demons Slayer [Kimetsu No Yaiba (鬼滅の刃)]. The movie Demon Slayer Mugen Train as well as the anime series became massive hits in Japan. As a result, I’m sure many of you started reading Demon Slayer manga! In this blog post, we will look at how the characters are actually saying in Japanese when they perform Water Breathing Forms.
Water Breathing First Form
Firstly, there are many breathing forms in Damon Slayers and you can express them as:
[Element] の 呼吸
[Element] no kokyū
The word for water is 水 (みず). Therefore, Water Breathing is
水の呼吸
mizu no kokyū
Secondly, the characters express each form by combining:
[Number] の 型
[Number] no kata
Lastly, the meaning of this kanji 型 (かた) is ‘model’ or ‘form’.
Why do they use old kanji for numbers?
Many of you would know how to count in Japanese, and noticed that in Demon Slayer manga, they use more complex kanji characters for each form such as 壱ノ型, 弍ノ型, 参ノ型 instead of using regular kanji numbers (for example, 一, 二, 三 etc.)
These complex kanji numbers are called 大字 (だいじ), and they use this in very formal and official settings to avoid people maliciously changing numbers by adding additional strokes. 大字 are much more complex compared to regular number kanji. For example, in a business setting, you may receive a bill that says 「二万円」. However, would it be possible that the original number was actually 「一万円」and they added one stroke in an attempt to trick you? In order to avoid this, they simply use rather complicated kanji. By using these kanji, the manga adds a bit of formality and vintage feeling to each form.
First Form: Water Surface Slash
Earlier, we learned how to say Water Breathing and First Form. Now, Water Surface Slash in Japanese is
水面斬り
minamo giri
The meaning of each kanji character is
水 (みず): Water
面 (めん): Surface
斬ります: to slash
The meaning of 水 and 面 combined is hence ‘water surface’, and the pronunciation is either すいめん or みなも (this one is a bit old fashioned). 斬（き）ります is the same pronunciation as 切（き）ります. 切ります simply refers to ‘cut’. On the other hand, 斬ります refers to ‘cut with a katana or slash someone to death’. Water Surface Slash first appeared when Tanjiro faced the Hand Demon in Final Selection, whose name in Japanese is 手鬼（ておに）, literally translates to ‘hand demon’.
In summary, today we covered how to say Water Breathing First Form in Japanese! You can learn more about Japanese phrase by following my twitter account.
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