The Japanese The Japanese Don't Know

The Japanese The Japanese Don't Know
日本人の知らない日本語 (Nihonjin No Shiranai Nihongo)
Manga
Written by	Takayuki Tomita and Umino Nagiko
Published by	Media Factory
Original run	2009 – present
Volumes	4
Television drama
Written by	Yoshihiro Izumi
Network	Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation
Original run	7/15/2010 – 9/30/2010
Episodes	12

The Japanese The Japanese Don't Know (日本人の知らない日本語) or Nihonjin No Shiranai Nihongo is a collection of stories (in the form of comics) about a Japanese teacher and her students written by Takayuki Tomita and Umino Nagiko. It discusses the background of Japanese words and speech. There have been four paperback volumes as of August, 2013. It has also spawned a live action drama which aired on Yomiuri TV.

Summary

In the collection of stories, a Japanese teacher and her students deal with questions about the Japanese language, and origins of certain words and speech forms that natives to Japanese, themselves don't know.

Characters

Teacher Haruko

This Japanese teacher struggles every day with rustic and maniac questions, also faced with unpredictable behavior from the students.

Hebizo

He [Hebizo] is the original comic writer. Mainly describes the events on the Japanese outside of the Japanese school.

Jack

His Japanese is better than the general level of Japanese. He is a serious person who has come to learn and has a good level even without going to another Japanese school. However, under the influence of a dictionary that has, heavy use of old Japanese.

Elaine

She is a Swedish-born woman. Also of likes the movie Marie and on good terms.

Marie

From France. But she is an upper class graduate.

Loui

A teenager from France with a cool personality. Likes Japan cartoons (or anime) and behaves like a geek.

Michael

An assertive American youth.

Diana

A woman from Russia.

Ou

Gluttonous Chinese man. Was born in Guangdong Province, rich and has come to Japan.

Kaku

A Chinese man. His attitude is arrogant.

Chou

A Chinese man of serious personality.

Kim

A Japanese man.

Ran

Vietnamese woman. She likes 100 yen shops a lot. She is normally off guard in the goodness of Japan's security.

Maria

Italian woman. Knows how to write a few Chinese characters.

Ali

A millionaire of the Arab youth.

Antonio

A cheerful Italian. She likes the goodness of the state of the automatic vending machine in the streets of Japan, and also impressed by the "virtue of modesty" of the Japanese.

Kimuaneototo

Is from Korea.

Clara

A German woman. Draws self-portraits but has changed to Japanese manga-style, also an enthusiast storyteller. She is also a mutual friend of the two authors.

Steve

From America.

Ricardo

South American, country-born youth.

Kou

A Chinese women.

Katori (Catherine) teacher

Naruko teacher's colleague teacher. she is a pure Japanese. She comes from a traditional Japanese beer brewing family. Her name is Katori but she is often called Catherine by her colleagues for an unknown reason.

A number of people have appeared In addition to this.

Book Information

Volume 1 publication date February 20, 2009 ISBN 978-4-8401-2673-1^[1]

Volume 2 publication date February 19, 2010 ISBN 978-4-8401-3194-0^[2]

Volume 3 publication date March 2012 9 ISBN 978-4-8401-4354-7^[3]

Volume 4 publication date August 2, 2013 ISBN 978-4-8401-5268-6^[4]

Outside of Japan, it has been published in the Korean language from the original source material in the Republic of Korea. In addition, it has also been published in Traditional Chinese in the Republic of China.

TV Drama

From July 15, 2010 until September 30, every Thursday night the drama The Japanese The Japanese Don't Know aired on Yomiuri TV ( every Thursday from 23:58 till 24:38 ).

While the drama version is based of the original comics, the main character Haruko has been involved in more problems with the teachers and students, since it is a drama.

Synopsis

Haruko Kano (Riisa Naka) meets an old high school teacher who suggests that that Haruko would make a good Japanese language teacher & offers to help her get a job at a public school. However, he asks that Haruko works at a private school for three months before working at a public school. He gives her a textbook book which is for elementary school students.

However, when Haruko shows up on her first day as a Japanese language teacher she discovers that the school is for foreign students learning Japanese. Her students ask her questions about her own (Japanese) language that makes Haruko realize that she doesn't even fully understand her native language.^[5]

Characters

The characters of the T.V drama.

Regular characters

Teachers

This is a list of the teachers at Light Literature Institute

Kano Haruko - Riisa Naka

23-year-old. Wanted to be a high school teacher but became a Japanese teacher by mistake.

Taiyou Shibuya - Munetaka Aoki

26-year-old. Has been a Japanese history teacher for two years.

Miyuki Katori - Natsuki Harada

25-year-old. Japanese teacher for three years. Sometimes referred to as "Catherine teacher".

Kuniko Akimoto - Mayumi Asaka

60-year-old. Principal of the "Light Literature Institute" (Haruko's workplace)..

Kazuki Takasu - Ikeda Narushi

42-year-old. Japanese teacher history 10 years.

Students

This is a list of all the students at Light Literature Institute

Paul - Cyrus Nozomu Cessna

25-year-old. From England. Aspires to become a fisherman in Japan. Cheerful and luck-pusher.

Jack Powell - Blake Crawford

45-year-old. From America.

Elaine - Camilla

20-year-old. From Sweden. Likes ninjas, loves the Bushido.

Kimu Urara - ZOE

20-year-old. From China.

Diana - Olga Alex

22-year-old. From Russia.

Bob - Mayo Akintoie

24-years-old. From America. Came to Japan to own a noodle shop, but has been working a part-time job in a noodle shop.

Luca - Sebastiano Serafini

19 years old. From Italy. Wannabe animator, anime otaku.

Marie - Dasha

52-year-old. From France. Gentle personality.

Ou

21 years old. From China. Curious personality. He is has an unrequited love to Diana. Good at cooking.

References

1. Tomita, Takayuki (2009-01-01). Nihonjin no shiranai Nihongo. 東京: Media Factory. ISBN 9784840126731.
2. Factory, Media (2010-01-01). Nihonjin no shiranai Nihongo II (in Japanese). 東京: Media Factory. ISBN 9784840131940.
3. Nagiko, Umino (2012-01-01). Nihonjin No Shiranai Nihongo 3 (in Japanese). 東京: book. ISBN 9784840143547.
4. Nihonjin No Shiranai Nihongo 4 (in Japanese). 東京: Media Factory. 2009-01-01. ISBN 9784840152686.
5. http://asianwiki.com/Nihonjin_no_Shiranai_Nihongo