Japanese names of characters from “Food wars! Shokugeki no soma”

Image by: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 5 Ep 3 ©Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki/ Shueisha, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Committee 5

What is the story?

Food wars! Shokugeki no Soma is a manga series written by Tsukuda Yuto and illustrated by Shun Saeki. Teenager Soma loves cooking and entertaining people with his creative dishes. His dream was to one day work at his father’s restaurant ‘YUKIHIRA’ as a head chef, however, Soma’s father decided to close down his shop to take a job overseas and enroll Soma into the prestigious cooking school Totsuki culinary academy. Graduating Totsuki culinary academy is what all junior chefs hope yet its graduation rate is as extremely low as 1%. The story follows Soma’s journey through his cooking school life filled with excitement and delicious food!

Image by: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma comic 1 ©Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki/ Shueisha

What is the Japanese title of Food wars! Shokugeki no Soma?

The Japanese title is the same, Shokugeki no Soma, but without the phrase ‘Food wars’. ‘Shokugeki’ is a word used in the series which means a cooking duel between the students of Totsuki culinary academy.

Image by: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Jump official website ©Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki/ Shueisha

What are the meanings behind the characters’ names?

In Japanese culture, names have significant meanings that 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 the future master chefs!

Soma Yukihira (幸平 創真, Yukihira Sōma)

Image by: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 5 Ep 3 ©Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki/ Shueisha, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Committee 5

Soma, the main character of the series is a passionate young chef who grew up watching his father cooking and hopes to be like him one day. ‘Yuki’(幸) means fortune, ‘Hira’(平) means flat, ‘So’(創) means creation, and ‘Ma’(真) is the truth.

Erina Nakiri (薙切 えりな, Nakiri Erina)

Image by: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 2 Ep 15 ©Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki/ Shueisha, Totsuki academy movie researchers

Born into the renowned Nakiri family, Erina is a spoilt child who looks down at almost everyone. Not only her background but her ability to taste any ingredients accurately (the God-tongue) is also one of the facts that makes her notable. ‘Na’(薙) is to slash something, ‘Kiri’(切) means to cut, and Erina is written in Hiragana, however, there are plenty of ways to write her name in kanji. Check out how to write Erina.

Satoshi Isshiki (一色 慧, Isshiki Satoshi)

Image by: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 4 Ep 8 ©Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki/ Shueisha, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Committee 4

Satoshi, an easy-going but somehow mysterious 2nd grader who stays at the school dormitory. ‘I’(一) is one, ‘Shiki’(色) means color, and ‘Satoshi’(慧) means Agile.

Akira Hayama (葉山 アキラ, Hayama Akira)

Image by: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 1 Ep 24 ©Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki/ Shueisha, Totsuki academy movie researchers

Akira is a confident and talented 1st grader at the Totsuki culinary academy. He has an excellent sense of smell and is a master of spices. ‘Ha’(葉) is a leaf, ‘Yama’(山) is a mountain, and his name is written in Katakana. This is a common Japanese name and there are many ways to write Akira.

Rindo Kobayashi (小林 竜胆, Kobayashi Rindō)

Image by: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 4 Ep 10 ©Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki/ Shueisha, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Committee 4

Rindo is a successful 90th Generation Totsuki Academy alumna who is curious about all ingredients in the globe. She will not hesitate to taste anything and is not scared to use unusual ingredients in her dishes. ‘Ko’(小) means small, ‘Bayashi’(林) means woods. ‘Rin’(竜) is a dragon, and ‘Do’(胆) is the liver but when you read the two kanji together it becomes ‘Rindou’(竜胆) which is a bellflower.

Interesting lines and phrases – Learning Japanese!

Here are some useful phrases from Food wars! Shokugeki no Soma that will help you along with your Japanese studies!

Image by: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma comic 1 Ep 1 ©Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki/ Shueisha

EN/ ‘Dig in!’
JP/「おあがりよ！Oagariyo!」

This is Soma’s signature phrase when he serves a dish. It is a polite way to say ‘help yourself’. You can also use ‘召し上がれ Meshiagare’ or ‘食べてください Tabete kudasai’.

Image by: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma comic 1 Ep 1 ©Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki/ Shueisha

EN/ ‘Happy to serve’
JP/「御粗末Osomatsu 」

Another one of Soma’s signature phrases. This is a short form of the phrase ‘Osomatsu sama deshita’(お粗末様でした) which is a common phrase used when you cook for someone and It means thank you for eating. Modesty is one of the important cultural etiquettes in Japan and is expressed in many ways. The word ‘Somatsu’(粗末) itself means poor quality, so this phrase is actually a humble expression to make the person feel comfortable and let them know it was not a big deal.