Juju Sanpo is a short story added to each end of Jujutsu Kaisen anime episodes. The story is based on the illustration “Juju Sanpo” drawn by the author Gege Akutami sensei in the comic books. Each story is very short but very funny, and you can get a glimpse of the daily life in the Jujutsu world. However, some stories might be a little bit difficult to understand since they are based on the Japanese lifestyle. Here are 10 tips to enjoy Juju Sanpo to the fullest!
1 Rippa Zushi serves sushi on the Shinkansen.
Season 1, Episode 3
There is a chain sushi restaurant called “Kappa Zushi (かっぱ寿司 かっぱずし)” in Japan (Kappa is an imaginary animal like unicorns). At the restaurant, you order at your table and your dishes will be sent on a little Shinkansen-like carrier to your table. I think the Rippa zushi in Juju Sanpo parodied the Kappa zushi.
2 Satoru Gojo is playing go.
Season 1, Episode 6
What Gojo was doing at the beginning is playing go (碁 ご), a Japanese board game like checkers. I think he was playing go because it was the same pronunciation as “go” in English since the title of this episode was “Satoru Gojo’s go go Gojo”.
3 The cursed spirits are playing soccer.
Season 1, Episode 7
This is obviously a parody of the classic anime “Captain Tsubasa” which made a big hit in Japan around 1980’s. In Captain Tsubasa, characters call each other with “kun”. “Kun (君 くん)” is a term of respect you attach to your male friend’s name when you address them. Mahito and Geto called each other in this episode, “Mahito kun” and “Geto kun”. Also, “Overhead Shoot” Mahito made was one of special shoots in Tsubasa.
4 It’s a parody of EVANGELION and they are talking about Momijigari.
Season1, Episode 11
This episode is a parody of the big hit anime “NEON GENESIS EVANGELION”. It imitated a preview of next episode in EVANGELION. This is just a parody, so, of course, the next episode was not about Momijgari.
Even though “momiji (紅葉 もみじ)” means Japanese maple trees and “kari or gari (狩り かりor がり) means “to hunt” in Japanese, it doesn’t mean that you go out for hunting trees. “Momijigari (紅葉狩り もみじがり) is to get in touch with nature to enjoy the color of leaves in fall. And the fish on the screen for a second was Sanma (秋刀魚 さんま). It is also seasonal, and it tastes really good in fall.
5 The cursed spirits are playing Kurohige.
Season1, Episode 12
What the cute little cursed spirits were playing with was a toy called “Kurohige Kikiippatsu (黒ひげ危機一髪 くろひげ ききいっぱつ); you can call just Kurohige. Kurohige is a long-selling toy by TOMY COMPANY,LTD. since 1975. The total sales have reached about 15 million units over 47 countries by 2020 (source: Wikipedia). You use the little barrel with many holes in it and tiny knives and usually play with a couple of friends. You put a tiny knife in any hole of the barrel in turn. One of the holes is a trigger and if you choose the one, a small pirate pops out of the barrel and it means you lose.
6 The Jujutsu tech students are eating nabe.
Season 1, Episode 13
The Students in the Tokyo Jujutsu tech school were eating a dish called Nabe together. Nabe is a popular dish usually enjoyed in winter. If you want to know more about Nabe, you can read my article about it:
7 Takada chan is drinking a glass of sake in masu.
Season 1, Episode 14
This is a way of drinking sake called “Morikoboshi (盛りこぼし もりこぼし). Sake sellers used to use a glass to measure the amount of sake, but the glassful of sake didn’t enough for 18ml (they used to use a unit called “go (合 ごう) instead in of litter; 1 go is 180ml), so they put a glass inside a “masu (枡 ます), small wooden box and they spill sake into the masu purposely to adjust the amount. Today, you can see Morikoboshi in Japanese bar restaurants. If you order a glass of sake and they serve you Morikoboshi, the amount spilled in a masu is free!
8 Oppappi means Ocean Pacific Peace.
Season 1, Episode 14
When Yuji came back to the Jujutsu tech (He once died and came back to life, but his revival was hidden for 2 months by Satoru Gojo on purpose), he tried to surprise his classmates. The surprise was like this: he hid in a container and came out saying “Oppappi!!”. “Oppappi (おっぱっぴー) is a coined word by Yoshio Kojima (小島よしお こじまよしお), a Japanese comedian. He uses the word the end of his gag talks. According to him, Oppappi stands for Ocean Pacific Peace. By the way, Yuji’s surprise didn’t work at all and made Nobara Kugisaki mad at him!
9 Momo Nishimiya said eating a cup noodle in the middle of the night makes your stomach feel heavy in the next day.
Season 1, Episode 17
It sure does. I also calculated the calories with milk. The calories of a Cup noodle seafood is 340kcal and those of 160ml milk is 110kcal. It is said the around 200 kcal is ok as a snack per day. So, there is no doubt that eating a cup noodle in the middle of the night is too much, Kasumi!
10 The lady saved by Yuji, Megumi and Nobara offered them “Gyoza teishoku”.
Season1 Episode 22
“Teishoku (定食 ていしょく)” is a set meal you can order at Japanese restaurants. For example, if you order a gyoza (dumpling) teishoku, a plate of gyoza usually comes out with rice, soup, and some side meals. In this episode, what on the plate above the rice bowl is za-sai (ザーサイ), Szechuan pickles. I don’t know about Chinese dumpling recipe, but, in Japan, you usually use minced pork, Chinese chive and cabbage for gyoza. This is why Yuji, Nobara and Megumi looked complicated when they left the lady’s restaurant.
