On Sunday December 9th, 34 manga fans came to the Japan Foundation for a workshop to learn new kinds of  Japanese language by reading and watching the internationally-acclaimed manga, Bleach. 

The Japan Foundation’s Chief Language Advisor, Dr Seiji Fukushima, introduced different styles of speech for several different types of manga characters before teaching attendees specific phrases and speech patterns for two of Bleach’s main characters, Ichigo and Ruika. Attendees then had the chance to read some of the manga and ask questions about the author’s use of Japanese, which was often very different to the Japanese traditionally taught in classrooms! One of the attendees, Stuart Eynon, said that he enjoyed “learning colloquialisms and how Japanese can actually be used in real life” while another participant, James Moore, liked “practising yarou speech” (speaking like a gangster).

All attendees went home with a copy of the original Japanese version of Bleach, and a deeper understanding of the Japanese used in anime and manga.