One of Stan Sakai's biggest problems when at conventions is when people come up to him and ask "Is that pronounced 'Yoo-saji'?" or "Who is this 'Tomo Amy' I keep hearing about?". Okay, it may not be such a big problem, but it can be embarrassing at times when you want to be able to pronounce an Usagi Yojimbo character's name, but come up a bit short or get tounge-tied. That's why we've developed this pronunciation guide for many of the characters and terms used in Usagi Yojimbo. These are, of course, mainly English pronunciations of Japanese names/words, so beware!

BASIC PRONUNCIATION

"gi" (as in Usagi).........."gee" ('gee' as in 'geese') Does not make a "J" sound!
"-ai" (as in "sai", "kai", "dai", "rai"..............."-igh" (as in "sigh") -- sounds identical to "eye"

CHARACTER NAMES

Miyamoto Usagi.........."mee-yah-MOE-toe oo-SAH-gee" ('gee' as in 'geese')
Tomoe Ame..............."toe-MOE-eh AH-meh"
Gennosuke..............."gen-NOS-keh"
Noriyuki................"no-ree-YOU-kee"
Zato Ino................"ZAH-toe EE-no"
Mariko.................."MA-ree-ko"
Kenichi................."Keh-NEE-chee"
Jotaro.................."joe-TAH-roe"
Katsuichi Sensei........"kah-tsoo-EE-chee SEN-seh" (soft 't')
Mifune.................."mee-FOO-neh"
Kazumi.................."kah-ZOO-mee"
Tsuruichi..............."tsoo-roo-EE-chee" (very soft 't')
Hikiji.................."hee-KEE-jee"
Shingen................."SHEEN-gen"
Hebi...................."HEH-bi"
Chizu..................."CHEE-zoo"
Kitsune................."keet-SU-neh"
Jei....................."JAY"
Gunichi................."goon-EE-chee"
Mataichi................"mah-TIGH-chee"
Torame.................."TOE-rah-meh"
Tamakuro................"tah-mah-KOO-roe"
Oyaneko................."oh-yah-NEH-koh"
Yagi...................."YAH-gee"
Gorogoro................"GOH-roh-GOH-roh"
Shubo..................."SHOO-boh"
Hatsu..................."HAH-tsoo" (soft 't')
Inukai (Stray Dog)......"ee-NOO-kigh"
Fujii..................."foo-JEE"
Inazuma................."ee-nah-ZOO-mah"
Nakamura Koji..........."nah-kah-MOO-rah KOH-jee"

CLAN NAMES

Neko...................."NEH-koe"
Mogura.................."moh-GOO-rah"
Geishu.................."GEH-shoo"
Komori.................."koe-MOE-ree"

WEAPONRY

Katana.................."kah-TAH-nah"
Wakizashi..............."wah-kee-ZAH-shee"
Shuriken................"shoo-REE-ken"
Bokken.................."BOE-ken"

OTHER NAMES

Shinobi................."shee-NOH-bee"
Tokage.................."toe-KAH-geh"
Samurai................."SAH-moo-righ"
Ronin..................."roh-NEEN"
Daimyo.................."DIGH-myoh" (soft 'm')
Shogun.................."SHOH-goon" (soft "goon", almost like "gun")
Yojimbo................."yoh-JEEM-boh"