Welcome to the Nihongo Lesson feature. We strive to give you useful manga-based Japanese language tips and maybe even a glimpse into the translation process. This week’s lesson will focus on a specific plot point in Gakkyu Hotei: School Judgment. This series has a lot of the mysteries and clues hidden behind the Japanese language. One of the cases was even solvable with a high enough knowledge of kanji!

MOMOTARO (ももたろう)

When it comes to character names, Gakkyu Hotei borrows heavily from the famous Japanese fairy tale Momotaro. In the original tale, a baby boy is discovered inside of a giant peach and raised by an elderly couple. They name him MOMOTARO, which basically means “peach boy.” Momotaro eventually grows up to be a strong young man and goes on a wild adventure to defeat the demons of Onigashima Island. So what does this have to do with Gakkyu Hotei? Well, the ultimate punishment in the series is being sent to Onigashima Elementary School! And this location appears to be pivotal to the plot. In chapter 1 we see some interesting words written on a blackboard there. It is hard to make out, but it appears to say...

Dog — Abaku Inugami
Monkey — Kotaro Sarutobi
Pheasant — [???]

INU (いぬ) SARU (さる) KIJI (きじ)

INU, SARU, KIJI means “dog, monkey, pheasant,” and they are the three animal helpers who aid Momotaro in his fight against the demons. The dog and the monkey do not get along too well though...just like Abaku and Kotaro in Gakkyu Hotei! In this week’s chapter, we see the blackboard again but with a little bit more info. This time the name MOMOTARO is shown. This is merely my personal guess, but perhaps the class was casting for a school play version of Momotaro when the blood classroom session happened? What are your theories?

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