Japanese Jokes

Field work is for wild rabbits. 農作業は野うさぎ用 Well, it’s the...

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 03:22:00 -0500

Field work is for wild rabbits.
農作業は野うさぎ用

Well, it’s the new year, so I decided it was about time to add something festive to this blog. It’s the year of the rabbit, and Japanese shops are having a field day with cute bunnies everywhere. In the spirit, I present a quick joke to celebrate this illustrious turning of the year.

The Japanese word for rabbit - usagi (ウサギ) is not one which lends itself easily to the dajyare style. However, we must endeavor with what we have. By combining the word nousagyou for farming, or more accurately farm-work (農作業) with the word for rabbit mentioned above and the a splendid little suffix which denotes who the work/item is for (用 - you) we come up with this little ditty. Happy and joyous new year to all!

Looks like yoda. ヨーダのようだ And, with this post, I have begun what...

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 22:20:00 -0400

Looks like yoda.
ヨーダのようだ

And, with this post, I have begun what I originally intended with this blog. To use the simple, and some may say somewhat silly, platform of Japanese word-play to showcase artists through uniting them under a single puntastic theme.

The Joke: In Japanese, the phrase ~no you (〜のよう）is used to express similarity. It is very similar to saying something is “like” something else in English - a resemblance. Adding on the informal closure to a sentence da (だ) instead of desu (です), and the word takes on a resemblance of it’s own - that of everyone’s favorite Jedi sensei.

When pressed for information, the elusive Shex provided only the following information:

将来の夢は鹿に乗ってクマと戦うこと

“My future dream is to ride on a deer, and fight a bear.”

Interesting, to say the least. Be sure to check out more of his music and view his amazing flickr series.

Food Ticket Corruption. お食事券の汚職事件 This is another original and,...

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 00:55:28 -0400

Food Ticket Corruption.
お食事券の汚職事件

This is another original and, again, another which takes a lot of effort for the pun to present itself. Most likely as the word for food ticket rarely has the honorific ”o” sound placed at the beginning. Many people seem to be thrown by the fact that the image says the word “ramen” on the tickets, which is somewhat of a red herring.

The futon was blown away. 布団が吹っ飛んだ Ask any kindergartner or...

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 00:28:53 -0400

The futon was blown away.
布団が吹っ飛んだ

Ask any kindergartner or aging salaryman to tell you a joke and chances are he will muster up this little chestnut without too much delay. The word futon, already embraced into the lingo-sphere of our humble western language, can be converted with much ease into the word for something being blown away - all it takes is a simple short pause as represented by the “small tsu” character.

Let’s try together shall we? Try the word futon (rhymes with crouton -perhaps a chance for a nice American joke). Now, try pausing momentarily after the fu - fu.. ton - and add the suffix for past tense verbs - “da”. Ah, comedy magic in the making.

He is about to drink brains 脳みそ飲みそう Perhaps a little obscure,...

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 00:11:00 -0400

He is about to drink brains
脳みそ飲みそう

Perhaps a little obscure, here is a wonderful Japanese joke of my own devising. Because it is a little ‘strange’, it often takes people a while to cotton on to what the play on words is. Also, the two words Noumiso (脳みそ - brains) and Nomisou (飲みそう - almost drinking) are slightly different in their pronunciation.

This can lead to a delightful situation where the Guesser is actually saying what is essentially the correct answer - yet not actually realizing it! Hilarity ensues.

Do you need a dolphin? イルカはいるか？ Another classic and surely one...

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:09:50 -0400

Do you need a dolphin?
イルカはいるか？

Another classic and surely one which is easier for native speakers of the language to decipher. The word for dolphin (iruka) and the word for “do you need ~” (iru) are used here to great pun-tastic effect.

It should be noted that this particular example relies on a slight informality in the language - adding the questioning “ka” on the end without altering the verb from its plain form should only be done with acquaintances and not in a formal situation. Unless, of course, you wish to impress your boss with your Japanese Joking skills.

The cat is in bed with a fever. 猫が寝込んだ Perhaps the 2nd most well...

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:17:00 -0400

The cat is in bed with a fever.
猫が寝込んだ

Perhaps the 2nd most well known pun in Japanese. Guaranteed to bring a pained look and a sigh from all but the youngest of audiences.

The word for cat (neko), and a word which literally means to be “tucked-in-tight” or simply to stay in bed (nekomu) are the sources for this side splitter. Be careful not to laugh too hard and end up bedridden yourself!

A container for lemons レモンの入れもん Despite its slightly psychedelic...

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:11:00 -0400

A container for lemons
レモンの入れもん

Despite its slightly psychedelic depiction, this is in fact a very well known groan-inducing pun, a “dad joke” of the highest order.

It stems from a colloquial shortening of the Japanese word for “thing” (mono -> mon). The word for “container” or “holder” therefore becomes “iremon” rather than “iremono”, to combine delightfully with the Katakana reading of the western word for lemon.

Those turtle’s cameras. 亀らのカメラ So this is one of the first...

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:47:00 -0400

Those turtle’s cameras.
亀らのカメラ

So this is one of the first pictures I drew which started off this idea. The hilarious pun stems from an abuse of the pluralization used for people (-ra), applied to the word for turtles (kame).

Put them together and you have a word which sounds very much like the photographic instrument the 3 fellows here are holding.