Does the Ghost Umbrella say something in Japanese?

[LuchaSloth]

Honestly, I'm trying to figure this thing out. It has a very strange face on it, which appears to be crafted out of symbols. Do the symbols mean anything? Is there some deeper meaning to this umbrella that I am missing...or is quite simply just a strange face? I've never seen a ghost represented this way before. Lol.

 

[Serabee]

I think those are that Japanese text made to look like faces, like Japanese emojis, kind of. IDK if they tend to mean much, though. I think they're mainly decorative.

EDIT: Wait, I'm slightly confused... It looks like a henohenomoheji, which is what I was thinking of, but didn't get totally right. It's something usually doodled by Japanese schoolchildren- just a mix of hiragana characters that resemble a face. It's apparently (according to Wikipedia) commonly used for scarecrows and non-descript human faces... and sometimes teru teru bozu! Traditional dolls made as good luck charms. Seriously, click the link, and you'll get the umbrella. I think it's kind of lost in translation, though.

I swear, I've learned more about Japanese culture from video games than anything else

 

[melco]

Also in the Japanese version of the game, I think the item is called the teru teru bouzu umbrella (dolls to ward off rain)

 

[LuchaSloth]

Very interesting. Thanks for the info. I figured it was a localization thing...because, it really doesn't look like a ghost to me. Hahaha.

 

[MyLifeIsCake]

The only think I can think of is it's eyes look like the hiragana for の (no) and the nose looks like a reversed ま (ma), I don't know if it has cultural significance to it though.

edit: melco beat me to the punch on the meaning! I'm guessing they changed it's name to ghost as most western players would not understand what teru teru dolls are.

 

[saucySheep]

looks like Japan is just messing with the superstitious americans again

 

[Serabee]

Very interesting. Thanks for the info. I figured it was a localization thing...because, it really doesn't look like a ghost to me. Hahaha.

Yah, they're 100% based on teru teru bozu. But... those aren't really known outside of Japan, and they superficially resemble ghosts.

Just like kitsunes resemble foxes.
Tanuki resemble raccoons (despite also being real animals, raccoon dogs).
Baku resemble tapirs.
Kappa resemble turtles.
And so on. A LOT of Japanese things get localized into things that don't 100% fit.

Post automatically merged: Sep 2, 2020

The only think I can think of is it's eyes look like the hiragana for の (no) and the nose lookes like a revered ま (ma), I don't know if it has cultural significance to it though.

The more I look at it, the more I realize it's a henohenomoheji. You can see each shape if you look closely. Also, it's sometimes used on teru teru bozu.

Post automatically merged: Sep 2, 2020

Ta-da!​

 

[MyLifeIsCake]

The more I look at it, the more I realize it's a henohenomoheji. You can see each shape if you look closely. Also, it's sometimes used on teru teru bozu.

Ah, that is super interesting! Basically the equivalent of emoticons for Japanese kids.

When I took Japanese in high school we learned hiragana by looking at each symbol and making a little story or picture for it. It sounds strange but it really helped to learn the sounds of each one. I wonder if it is taught the same way to kids when they are first learning.

 

[WaileaNoRei]

Ah, that is super interesting! Basically the equivalent of emoticons for Japanese kids.

When I took Japanese in high school we learned hiragana by looking at each symbol and making a little story or picture for it. It sounds strange but it really helped to learn the sounds of each one. I wonder if it is taught the same way to kids when they are first learning.

Japan does use actual emoticons, and if you have ever seen them called emoji, that is a Japanese word.

the hehenomoheji is a little different, from an emoticon, though it is hard to explain why. I guess because it is not being used to add emotional meaning to anything. It’s more like a common doodle?

In terms of learning hiragana, Japanese school children are taught them more in the way children in the west are taught the alphabet. For second language learners past nursery school age it is a different learning process, because you are teaching it on top of the native language (prob there is a better way to say that). So it’s almost more like teaching them to translate the alphabet in their head into the Japanese syllabaries (I used to teach intro Japanese to college students)


I was curious and googled it, and in case you are curious too, Japanese children learn romaji - meaning our alphabet around 4th grade.

 

[Serabee]

Japan does use actual emoticons, and if you have ever seen them called emoji, that is a Japanese word.

the hehenomoheji is a little different, from an emoticon, though it is hard to explain why. I guess because it is not being used to add emotional meaning to anything. It’s more like a common doodle?

Yah, I was confused for some reason. It's more equivalent to the kinds of things popular for various schoolchildren to draw. When I was growing up there was a funky S everyone drew. Then we stopped, because someone said it was a gang or Satanic sign or something... IIRC, I've since read there's no consensus on how it originated, but it's just a cultural thing people doodle.

The only reason I remembered hehenomoheji is because I remember reading about Blanca- in Japanese games/art she's often depicted with the hehenomoheji face. But to people outside of Japan it's just a super weird face.

EDIT: This is the S. It's... sometimes known as the "middle-school S" so I think it's a pretty solid comparison

EDIT #2: I KNOW why I was confused! I was mentally combining the hehenomoheji with the goroawase I learned about from the latest Pokemon games! Where meanings are assigned to numbers based on similarities to in pronunciation or, I think sometimes, how something looks written out. That's why I was thinking it had some meaning, but the face is a totally different thing.

 

[WaileaNoRei]

Yah, I was confused for some reason. It's more equivalent to the kinds of things popular for various schoolchildren to draw. When I was growing up there was a funky S everyone drew. Then we stopped, because someone said it was a gang or Satanic sign or something... IIRC, I've since read there's no consensus on how it originated, but it's just a cultural thing people doodle.

The only reason I remembered hehenomoheji is because I remember reading about Blanca- in Japanese games/art she's often depicted with the hehenomoheji face. But to people outside of Japan it's just a super weird face.

EDIT: This is the S. It's... sometimes known as the "middle-school S" so I think it's a pretty solid comparison

EDIT #2: I KNOW why I was confused! I was mentally combining the hehenomoheji with the goroawase I learned about from the latest Pokemon games! Where meanings are assigned to numbers based on similarities to in pronunciation or, I think sometimes, how something looks written out. That's why I was thinking it had some meaning, but the face is a totally different thing.

yes! The stussy s!! That’s interesting about he origins, for some reason back in my middle school days I thought it was a brand symbol, no idea why.

and that’s really cool about the goroawase. I don’t know anything about it! Gonna have to do some internet research.

I love reading and talking about these little cultural things. You take your own so much for granted that it is always so fascinating to lear about other cultures’

Blanca...seems kind of terrifying...