Japanese names of characters from “Dr. Stone”

What is the story?

Dr. Stone is a story written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Boichi. It is about a science freak named Senku and his friends trying to save humanity which had suddenly turned into stone by a mysterious light. Not a single bird was left behind, on that day all the humans became stone statues and time passed. Thousands of years later Senku broke out of his stone shell and found himself all alone surrounded by nature. The cities and technology had all disappeared, It was as if Senku was transported back in time to the Stone Age. He finds others that have also broken out of their shells and together they work to solve the mystery of how they had turned into stone. Genius Senku uses all his knowledge and recreates the world’s greatest inventions to restore the world to how it once was. Eventually, he succeeds to create a solution to de-petrify humans and decides to save everyone. However, there were, of course, those who thought differently….

Image by: Dr. Stone Comic 4 ©Riichiro Inagaki, Boichi ©Shueisha Inc

What is the Japanese title of Dr. Stone?

Since the words ‘Dr.’ and ‘Stone’ are both English the Japanese title is written in katakana as ‘ドクターストーン’(Dokutā Sutōn.) In Japanese, you use Katakana if it is a word from a foreign language. That is why the Japanese title of ‘Dr. Stone’ is written in Katakana.

Image by: Dr. Stone Comic 2 ©Riichiro Inagaki, Boichi ©Shueisha Inc

What are the meanings behind the characters’ names?

In Japanese culture, names have significant meanings which are supposed to represent you as a person. Names can be expressed in hiragana, katakana and kanji. Let’s find out the meanings of some names of characters in Dr. Stone.

Senku Ishigami (石神 千空, Ishigami Senkū)

Image by: Dr. Stone official website ©Riichiro Inagaki, Boichi ©Shueisha Inc ©Komestudio

Senku is the main character of this manga series and is a genius. He excels in science and is the brain of the team but unfortunately, he is very weak. ‘Sen’(千) means a thousand and ‘Ku’(空) means sky which is can also be read as ‘Sora’. This kanji can also be used to write ‘Kara’ which means empty. ‘Ishi’(石) means stone and ‘Gami’(神) or ‘Kami’ means god.

Taiju Oki (大木 大樹, Ōki Taiju)

Image by: Dr. Stone Comic 1 Ep1 ©Riichiro Inagaki, Boichi ©Shueisha Inc

Taiju is Senku’s best friend and is the exact opposite of him. While Senku is the brain of the team Taiju is the muscle because he is physical and strong! ‘Tai’(大) means big and ‘Ju’(樹) means tree. On the other hand, ‘O’(大) means big and ‘Ki’(木) means tree. As you can see both his first and last name mean the same thing. It just sounds different because kanji have more than one sound. Now you know two ways to say big and tree!

Yuzuriha Ogawa (小川 杠, Ogawa Yuzuriha)

Image by: Dr. Stone Comic 1 Ep1 ©Riichiro Inagaki, Boichi ©Shueisha Inc

Yuzuriha is a friend of Senku and Taiju who hopes to go back to her normal life. She is very kind and serves as a spy for Senku in Tsukasa’s army. ‘Yuzuriha’(杠) is written with a very rare kanji. It means Daphniphyllum, or a more common name ‘False Daphne’ which is a small tree. ‘O’(小) means small and ‘Gawa’(川) means river.

Tsukasa Shishio (獅子王 司, Shishiō Tsukasa)

Image by: Dr. Stone Comic 1 Ep4 ©Riichiro Inagaki, Boichi ©Shueisha Inc

Tsukasa is super strong and was known as ‘The Strongest High School Primate’. He goes against Senku because he believes that they should recreate the world with only young ones and leave out the old corrupt people. ‘Tsukasa’(司) means to rule, ‘Shishi’(獅子) means lion and ‘O’(王) means king.

Interesting lines and phrases – Learning Japanese!

Here are some useful phrases from Dr. Stone which will help you along with your Japanese studies!

Image by: Dr. Stone Comic3 Ep17 ©Riichiro Inagaki, Boichi ©Shueisha Inc

EN/ ‘It’s simple. Rules are rules.’
JP/「シンプルなShinpuru na話をしている。Hanashi wo shiteiruルールはrūru wa ルールだ。rūru da」

Two English words are used here ‘simple’ and ‘rules’. There are many foreign words used in Japan and it is normally written in Katakana. ‘Hanashi’ means story or talk. ‘Kinro’ over here is a strict guard who never fails to do his duty. You call a stubborn person ‘Ishi Atama’ which means stone-headed and he is definitely this for sure!

Image by: Dr. Stone Comic1 Ep1 ©Riichiro Inagaki, Boichi ©Shueisha Inc

EN/ ‘I can’t move!’
‘Help me’
‘I can’t see! I can’t hear! I don’t feel anything…’
JP/「動けない！Ugokenai!」
「助けてTasukete」
「見えない！Mienai聞こえない！Kikoenai! 何も感じない・・・Nanimo kanjinai...」

Here are good examples of phrases for emergency use. The word ‘Nai’ means don’t have or also used to deny.

Move = Ugoku / Can’t move = Ugokenai
See = Miru / Can’t see = Mienai
Hear = Kiku / Can’t hear = Kikoenai
Feel = Kanjiru / Can’t feel = Kanjinai

Most importantly, to ask for help you say ‘Tasukete!’
If you are in a tough situation never be afraid to shout for help! On the other hand, if someone else is in trouble try your best to help them!