Toge Inumaki is a Jujutsushi from the popular Anime, Jujutsu Kaisen. His vocabulary is quite unique, so I’m going to dig into it, today!
Limited vocabulary because of curse
Since Toge Inumaki (狗巻 棘 いぬまき とげ) was born as a descendant of Jugonshi (呪言師 じゅごんし, cursed speech user) family, Jugon (呪言 じゅごん, cursed speech) he uses is a technique to amplifies the power and compulsion of words (If he said “Die” to someone, they would die.). For safety, he limits his own vocabulary in his daily life and he only speaks the words of filling of Onigiri (おにぎり, rice balls) like Shake, Okaka, Ikura….
Do these words he uses mean certain impression?
Only 2 words obviously have certain meaning for him: Shake (Salmon) means positive impression (Yes), and Okaka (Bonito flake) means negative (No) according to the author Gege Akutami sensei.
However, he seems he uses other words just randomly and it’s not clear why he only uses the words of onigiri fillings.
Explanation of the foods
Onigiri (rice ball) is popular food in Japan. It’s extremely easy to cook. You just cook rice, put a little bit of salt on it, make it into a ball and that’s it. You can just eat the rice ball it self, or you can also put any food you like inside it. Toge’s vocab is:
Shake (しゃけ) Grilled salted salmon
Okaka (おかか) Katsuo buhi seasoned with Soy sauce and sweet sake, etc.
Katsuo bushi (鰹節 かつおぶし) is a flake of boiled and dried bonito. If you want know more about katsu bushi, see https://www.ninben.jp/katsuo/ (It’s in English).
Konbu (昆布 こんぶ) Seaweed usually seasoned with soy sauce, sweet sake, sugar, etc.
Takana (高菜 たかな) Pickled mustard leaf usually stir-fried and seasoned with soy sauce sugar, sweet sake, etc.
Tsuna, (ツナ つな) Tsunamayo (ツナマヨ つなまよ) Tuna and Mayo
Ikura (いくら) Salmon roe usually seasoned with soy sauce
Mentaiko (明太子 めんたいこ) Spicy cod roe Here’s more info about Mentaiko (in English)
Sujiko (筋子 すじこ) Salmon roe usually salted. Compared to Ikura, sujiko are immature and still in egg membranes.
Shio Musubi (塩むすび しおむすび) A rice ball without any filling. You only add some salt in rice.
Ranking of onigiri fillings in Japan
According to the research (Jul. 26th 2020 to Jan. 19th 2021) of J Town Net in Japan, popular onigiri fillings are,
No.1 Shake (Salmon)
No.2 Mentaiko (Spicy cod roe)
No.3 Umeboshi (Pickled plum)
No.4 Tsunamayo (Tuna and Mayo)
No.5 Konbu (Seaweed)
No.6 Yakitarako (Roasted cod roe)
No.7 Others
No.8 Okaka (Bonito flakes)
No.9 Takana (Mustard learf)
No. 10 Yakiniku (Grilled meat)
Most of the fillings in the ranking are in Toge’s vocab, but No.4 Umeboshi. Maybe he doesn’t like it. By the way, Toge’s favorite filling is Tsunamayo.
Other vocabs besides onigiri fillings
Ugokuna (動くな うごくな) Don’t move.
Hazero (爆ぜろ はぜろ) Explode.
Nejirero (捻じれろ ねじれろ) Be twisted.
Tsuburero (潰れろ つぶれろ) Collapse.
Ochiro (堕ちろ おちろ) Fall.
Nemure (眠れ ねむれ) Sleep.
Nigero (逃げろ にげろ) Run away.
Tomare (止まれ とまれ) Stop.
Buttobe (ぶっとべ) Blow away.
In a battle, Toge speaks cursed words to attack opponents. He can force them to act just like what he says. When Megumi Fushiguro and Aoi Todo got into fight, Toge said “Don’t move” (動くな ugokuna) and stopped their fight. However, stronger words he speaks, more recoil he gets, and moreover, these words could come back to himself. The cursed speech also hurt his throat, so he brings a throat spray with him.
By the way, when he stopped Megumi and Todo’s fight (Anime Episode 8), His “Ikebo (イケボ いけぼ)” got trending on twitter. Ikebo is a slang word means cool voice or sexy voice.
※Ikebo = Ikemen + boisu
Ikemen (イケメン いけめん, means good looking) + Boisu (ボイス boisu, voice)