Kakekotoba (掛詞) or "pivot words" are an early form of Japanese wordplay used in
waka poetry, wherein some words represent two homonyms. The presence of multiple meanings within these words allowed poets to impart more meaning into fewer words.[1]
Goroawase
Goroawase (語呂合わせ, "phonetic matching") is an especially common form of Japanese wordplay, wherein
homophonous words are associated with a given series of letters, numbers or symbols, in order to associate a new meaning with that series. The new words can be used to express a
superstition about certain letters or numbers. More commonly, however, goroawase is used as a
mnemonic technique, especially in the memorization of numbers such as dates in history, scientific
constants and
phone numbers.[2]
Numeric substitution
Every digit has a set of possible phonetic values, due to the variety of valid Japanese kanji readings (
kun'yomi and
on'yomi) and
English-origin pronunciations for numbers in Japanese. Often, readings are created by taking the standard reading and retaining only the first syllable (for example, roku becomes ro). Goroawase substitutions are well known as mnemonics, notably in the selection of memorable
telephone numbers used by companies and the memorization of numbers such as years in the study of history.
Mnemonics are formed by selecting a suitable reading for a given number; the tables below list the most common readings, though other readings are also possible. Variants of readings may be produced through
consonant voicing (via a
dakuten or handakuten) or
gemination (via a
sokuon),
vowel lengthening (via a
chōonpu), or the insertion of the nasal
moran (ん).
16 can be read as "hi-ro",
Hiro being a common Japanese given name. 16 is also a common age for anime and manga
protagonists[citation needed] (i.e.,
heroes).
26 can be read as "fu-ro" (風呂), meaning "bath".
Public baths in Japan have reduced entry fees on the 26th day of every month.[4]
29 can be read as "ni-ku" (肉), meaning "
meat".
Restaurants and
grocery stores have special offers on the 29th day of every month.
39 can be read as "san-kyū", referring to "thank you" in English.
44 can be read as "yo-yo" and is thus a common slang term in the international competitive
yo-yo community, which has a strong Japanese presence.
109 can be read as "tō-kyū". The
109 department store in
Shibuya,
Tokyo is often read as "ichi-maru-kyū", but the number 109 was selected as the alternative reading "tō-kyū" is a reference to
Tokyu Corporation, the group that owns the building.
428 can be read as "shi-bu-ya", referring to the
Shibuya area of
Tokyo.
526 can be read as "ko-ji-ro" in reference to
Sasaki Kojiro, a samurai from the Edo period.
634 can be read as "mu-sa-shi". The
Tokyo Skytree's height was intentionally set at 634 meters so it would sound like
Musashi Province, an old name for the area in which the building stands.[5]
801 can be read as "ya-o-i" or
yaoi, a genre of homoerotic manga typically aimed at women.
893 can be read as "ya-ku-za" (やくざ) or "
yakuza".[6] It is traditionally a bad omen for a student to receive this candidate number for an
exam.[citation needed]
4649 can be read as "yo-ro-shi-ku" (よろしく), meaning "best regards".
As mnemonics
1492, the year of
European discovery of America, can be read as "i-yo-ku-ni" and appended with "ga mieta" to form the phrase "Alright! I can see land!" (いいよ!国が見えた!). Additionally, "i-yo-ku-ni" itself could simply be interpreted as "alright, country" (いいよ、国). The alternative reading "i-shi-ku-ni" is not typically associated with a particular meaning, but is used to memorize the year.
23564, the length of a
sidereal day (23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds), can be read as "ni-san-go-ro-shi", which sounds similar to "nii-san koroshi" (兄さん殺し) or in English, "
killing one's older brother".
3.14159265, the first nine digits of
pi, can be read as "san-i-shi-i-ko-ku-ni-mu-kou" (産医師異国に向こう), meaning "an obstetrician faces towards a foreign country".
42.19, the length of a
marathon course in kilometres, can be read as "shi-ni-i-ku" (死に行く), meaning "to go to die".
In
Taiko no Tatsujin, a rhythm game, there is a song called 万戈イム一一ノ十 (成仏2000, Joubutsu 2000) where the lyrics "trois sept cinq six quatre" (3-7-5-6-4 in French) is sung multiple times. (37564 is 皆殺し meaning massacre).
25 can be read as "ni-ko", referring to the character Nico Yazawa from Love Live! School Idol Project, who wears wristband with that number. Cotaro Yazawa, Nico's brother also wear shirt with that number.
25252 can be read as "ni-ko-ni-ko-ni", referring to Nico's catchphrase "Nico Nico Ni".
4869 can be read as "shi-ya-ro-ku" (しやろく); when "ya" is
written small, it becomes "sharoku" (しゃろく), which resembles "
Sherlock" (シャーロック, Shārokku). This number is
Conan Edogawa's phone
PIN and the name of an experimental drug in Case Closed.
5, read as "go", can refer to the board game
go. In both the manga
Hikaru no Go and its anime series adaptation, the go-playing protagonist Hikaru Shindo often wears T-shirts with the number 5 on the front.
56 can be read as "go-mu", meaning "
rubber" (ゴム, gomu), referring to One Piece protagonist
Monkey D. Luffy's elastic abilities.
59 can be read as "go-ku" and is sometimes used in reference to
Goku from Dragon Ball.
819 can be read as "ha-i-kyū" (排球), meaning
volleyball. The community around the anime series Haikyu!! considers 19 August (8/19) to be "Haikyu!! Day".
86239 can be read as "hachi-roku-ni-san-kyū", and was used in Initial D as the number on the license plate of a
Toyota 86. It translates to "thank you,
eight-six".
89 years can be read as "ya-ku-sai". This is homophonous with the Japanese word for "calamity" (厄災 yakusai), being a fitting age for the JoJolion character Satoru Akefu, who has a calamity related ability.
913 can be read as "ka-i-sa", as in Kamen Rider Kaixa, hence it being the transformation activation code.
An anagram of this is 193, read as "i-ku-sa" (as in Kamen Rider IXA), which serves as the code to activate Rising Mode.
29 can be read as "ni-ka" which is the name of a sun god in one piece, and it represents the power of the protagonist
Music
10969 can be read as "wan-ō-ku-ro-ku", used by the rock band
One Ok Rock.
345 can be read as "mi-yo-ko", used by Miyoko Nakamura, the bass player of the rock band
Ling Tosite Sigure.
524-773 can be read as "ko-ni-shi na-na-mi" and is part of the self-introduction of
Hinatazaka46 member Nanami Konishi.[10]
610 can be read as "ro-ten" or "rotten", and is often used on merchandise of the rock band
ROTTENGRAFFTY.
712 can be read as "na-i-fu" (i.e.
knife), and is used in the
Shonen Knife album 712.
75, read as "na-ko", is used by
Nako Yabuki in her
Instagram and Twitter handles.
96 can be read as "ku-ro" meaning "black", as in 96猫 ("kuroneko"; "black cat"). 96猫 is a popular Japanese singer who
covers songs on Niconico, and provides the singing voice of Tsukimi Eiko in Ya Boy Kongming!.
910 can be read as "kyū-tō", used by the Jpop group
C-ute. On June 29th 2013 the group received an official certification from the Japan Anniversary Council making September 10th (9/10), known as "°C-uteの日" ("°C-ute no Hi"; "°C-ute's Day"), a national day.[11]
2424 can be read as Puyo Puyo. This numerical correspondence has been used and referenced ever since the series' debut, and has also been used in various teasers for some of the games. The series celebrated its 24th anniversary in 2015.
283 can be read as "tsu-ba-sa" (翼), meaning "
wing". This is used for the name of the 283 Production agency in THE iDOLM@STER: Shiny Colors.
315 can be read as "sa-i-kō" (最高), meaning "highest", "supreme", or "ultimate". This is used as the name for 315 Production in The Idolmaster SideM, where the idols under the label use "saikō" as a rallying chant.[12][13]
346 can be read as "mi-shi-ro", meaning "beautiful castle". This is used for the name of 346 Production in
THE iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls.
51 can be read as "go-ichi". These two numbers are the latter part of "SUDA51", the alias of
Goichi Suda.
573 can be read as "ko-na-mi" and is often used by
Konami; for example, it is used in Konami telephone numbers and as a high score in Konami games, as well as in promotional materials and sometimes as a character name.[clarification needed]
616 can be read as "ro-i-ro", referring to lowiro, the developer and publisher of the rhythm game Arcaea.
765 can be read as "na-mu-ko" or
Namco. Derivatives of this number can be found in dozens of Namco-produced video games. It was also the central studio of The Idolmaster and its sequels.
After merging with
Bandai, their goroawase number became 876 (ba-na-mu); the handle of
Bandai Namco Games' Japanese
Twitter account is "@bnei876".[14]
86 can be read as "ha-ru" or HAL.
HAL Laboratory often puts this number somewhere in the video games it creates as parts of secrets and
easter eggs, most notably in the
Kirby series.
In Pokémon Sword and Shield, all Gym Leaders and some extra characters have a three-digit jersey number that relates to their name, role, or typing they specialize in. For example, Opal has the jersey number 910, which can be read as "kyu-to" or cute, relating to her specialization in Fairy-type Pokémon.
Other
15 can be read as "ichi-go" and is commonly used to refer to
strawberries ("ichigo"). It can also mean "strawberry face", a term used to describe equipping the front end of a
Nissan Silvia (S15) onto another
S-chassis car.[15]
230 can be read as "fu-mi-o", the given name of the Japanese prime minister
Fumio Kishida. He uses this number in his twitter handle "kishida230".
2434 can be read as "ni-ji-san-ji", which refers to the
virtual YouTuber agency
Nijisanji. Some Japanese members of the company use this number in their Twitter handles.
2525 can be read as "ni-ko-ni-ko" (ニコニコ) and refers to
Niconico, a Japanese
online video platform. Its "mylists", which function similarly to lists of
bookmarks, are limited to 25 per user.
262 can be read as "ji-mu-ni", referring to the
Suzuki Jimny sports utility vehicle.
386 can be read as "su-ba-ru". Japanese automaker
Subaru uses 386 in its parts numbers.
563 can be read as "ko-ro-san" (ころさん); amounts of 563 yen are commonly donated to virtual YouTuber Inugami Korone of
Hololive Production, who is sometimes referred to as "Koro-san".
Hololive founder Motoaki "YAGOO" Tanigo's nickname is occasionally represented with the number 85 ("ya-go") or 850 ("ya-go-ō").[16]
69 can be read as "ro-ki", as in Hi69 ("Hiroki"), one of the
ring names of professional wrestler
Hiroki Tanabe.
^"Goroawase: Japanese Numbers Wordplay". Tofugu. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2019. The idea is that you can basically use any of these sounds associated with any of these letters to create mnemonics to help someone to remember a phone number.