Pronouns in Japanese

Everyone knows that in Japanese, the pronoun for “I” is “watashi”, right?

Well, it’s not so simple. 

Japanese is quite complex, and a very contextual language. There is an idea that the subject of a sentence is assumed rather than outright said. In English, this is considered bad grammar.

Went to the store, bought a pink sweater wanted.

In Japanese, this is perfectly natural because “I” is implied. If I used I, it would look like this:

私はお店に行って、欲しかったピンクのセーターを買いました

And without I

お店に行って、欲しかったピンクのセーターを買いました

Both of these are perfectly acceptable and grammatically correct. 

But this is just scratching the surface. There are so many pronouns in the Japanese language that it is ridiculous. 

Source: https://legendsoflocalization.com/personal-pronouns-in-japanese/

ALL of these are acceptable to use, to varying degrees. But you can see that English is limited to a single one: I. There is a loss of meaning when you translate from Japanese to English, because “I” does not capture all the nuances of the Japanese pronouns that are present. You cannot blame localizers for having a hard time or making choices in localization when something like this exists.

I don’t intend to go over all the pronouns that exist. Legends of Localization (the link above) does a very good job of that already. Instead, I want to go over the pronouns that are present in the Zelda series (that I know of), to give you a sense of some of their meanings and how they have been used. I am also showing you what they are so you can identify them later when I start to prove my point. 

Watashi/Watakushi (私)

According to Legends of Localization:

Watashi can be considered the default and most neutral version of “I” or “me” in Japanese. In formal situations or when being generally polite, watashi can be used by just about anyone. In informal situations, watashi leans a tad toward the feminine side.

Note that Watashi and Watakushi uses the same kanji. Watakushi is more formal:

Watakushi is a more formal version of watashi, and is common in both everyday Japanese and in entertainment Japanese.

Watakushi is usually used to express greater politeness and formality than watashi. It gets used all the time during political speeches, press conferences, business deals, and other things of that nature.

In entertainment, using watakushi outside of formal situations can lend a character a “prim and proper” feeling, or the sense of being very cultured. In some cases, this can be used to make a character sound snobby too.

Princess Zelda uses this pronoun a lot across the series. 

We can see LBW Zelda is using watakushi here. 

While 私 is used, is it impossible to say which pronunciation is being used here. 

Young Zelda in OoT does not use the kanji for her pronoun, unlike her adult version here, but she uses “watashi”.

Boku (僕 or ぼく)

Boku is another common pronoun:

Boku is an informal, masculine pronoun for “I/me”. It doesn’t carry a strong, sharp sense of manliness, though. Instead, it gives off a slightly softer masculine vibe that’s hard to describe with one word.

Boku can also give off the sense of boyish-ness, gentleness, timidness, decency, and/or being spoiled, among other things.

Note that girls can sometimes use boku too – doing so generally gives them a “tomboy” feeling.

In other words, while “watashi” is generally neutral but slightly feminine leaning, “boku” is masculine that is boyish. 

Sheik (who is Princess Zelda in disguise), uses this pronoun, likely to sell the masculine image she was trying to go for. 

Gulley, a young boy, is the perfect choice for “boku”. 

Ore (俺 or おれ)

Per the Legends of Localization:

Ore is another common male pronoun in Japanese. It projects a much stronger, harsher, and manlier feeling than boku. As such, it’s considered a bit crude, and isn’t fit for formal situations or when trying to be polite.

Ore can lend a person a sense of masculinity, strength, confidence, being in charge, and/or vulgarness. Among close friends and family, ore can instead indicate familiarity.

Ore is primarily a male pronoun, but female characters use it on occasion too. Usually this makes them sound tough, manly, and intimidating:

These two characters are touch, masculine men. Not really much more to say here.

Washi (ワシ or わし )

Old people in Japanese entertainment often use washi to refer to themselves. It’s usually used by old men, but not always. Washi is extremely common in Japanese entertainment, but not as common in everyday Japanese.

In other words, you will rarely hear this pronoun out in the wild but it’s common for old timers in media.

The Great Deku Tree uses “washi”.

These characters are older, and “washi” helps give that impression. 

Ora (おら or オラ)

Ora tends to give off a feeling that someone is from certain rural regions of Japan or that someone is from a remote area in general. Related to this, ora can also give off a strong “country bumpkin” vibe. Ora mostly appears in entertainment these days.

We see the Goron from OoT using here, being a country bumpkin from the mountains. 

Oira (おいら)

Oira feels a little less “country bumpkin” than ora. Oira appears quite often in entertainment, but not very often in everyday Japanese anymore.

In modern Japanese entertainment, oira can still be used to lend characters a rural vibe, but more often than not, oira is associated with lovable rascals, rambunctious youngsters, friendly mascots, and other characters of that sort.

Apparently Skull Kid in MM also uses “oira”.

Warawa (わらわ)

Warawa is almost exclusive to Japanese entertainment now, and is usually used by powerful female rulers or noblewomen. This pronoun indicates that a woman considers herself far above everyone else, so it often also carries a condescending vibe.

Ruto is talking here, a spoiled and haughty Princess of the Zora. Very... fitting.

Yo (余)

The personal pronoun yo is mostly an entertainment-only thing today. It’s sort of like an old-timey watashi and is usually used by members of royalty or people of high rank.

Yo is often associated with the old samurai times, especially with feudal lords and warriors of high standing.

Atai (アタイ)

Atai isn’t used much in everyday Japanese these days, but it’s pretty common to see it in Japanese entertainment. Atai is generally used by female characters with rough, brash attitudes. It also gives them a “you don’t wanna mess with me” vibe.

Wai (わい)

Wai is a regional, mostly male personal pronoun associated with the Kansai area of Japan, which includes Osaka. Characters who use wai often also use wate, and vice-versa.

Apparently, the Fisherman from OoT uses wai, but I did not find a screenshot.

Ware/Warera (われ/われら)

Ware is a personal pronoun that’s seen in old, literary texts. It also pops up from time to time in certain Japanese dialects. It’s a bit unique in that it can mean both “me” and “you” in these dialects, depending on how it’s used. You’re more likely to see ware used in entertainment, though.

Fictional characters who use ware tend to be old or feel like they’re from old samurai times. Ware can also lend things an “ancient and imposing” feeling, so it’s often used by ancient, powerful beings as well.

We see that Impa uses it in BotW, because she is quite old. Interestingly enough, the Triforce uses this phrase in OoS/OoA, but uses the plural “warera” version instead. In LttP, the Triforce uses the singular “watashi” instead. Just a fun little tidbit there. The uses of ware and warera give Impa and the Triforce a sense that they are very ancient and powerful. 

Boku-chin (ボクちん)

Boku-chin is a variation of boku. It occasionally appears in entertainment, and only rarely in modern, everyday Japanese. Boku-chin lends the speaker a sort of giddy, childish vibe.

Nekkid!

Unique Pronouns!

There are so many pronouns. Legend of Localization points out that this Goron uses “wazu”, something they had never seen before (me as well). 

Wait a minute... you went through all these but isn’t something missing?

Don’t worry, I’m not trying to trick you. I have a purpose here. 

Before I talk about the elephant in the room, I want to address the screenshots that have been shown in the “whistleblowing” posts about how big bad NoA removed first person POV from the Quest Logs. 

13か所の想い出の地を巡り ゼルダ姫の想いを受け取った

想い出の中のゼルダ姫はいつも一生懸命だった

一刻も早くゼルダ姫を救い出して彼女の美第をもう一度この目で見たい

If you take a quick glance, you will notice that there are absolutely no personal pronouns whatsoever. Like I discussed before, this is completely natural and normal in Japanese. It could be “you” or “I”, but at the end of the day, the point of view has not been announced through any pronouns at all. Furthermore, there is no concrete context on what the POV should be either. 

Ok, but let’s play a little game. Let us translate the text directly without localization. Then, let us input the pronouns “I” and “You” into where English would have them. Let’s see what happens. 

Visited 13 places of memories and received the feelings of Princess Zelda.

Princess Zelda in the memories was always working hard....

Want to rescue Princess Zelda as soon as possible and see her beauty again with own eyes.

With I:

I visited the 13 places of memories and received the feelings of Princess Zelda.

Princess Zelda in my memories was always working hard....

I want to rescue Princess Zelda as soon as possible and see her beauty again with my own eyes.

Now with You:

You visited the 13 places of memories and received the feelings of Princess Zelda.

Princess Zelda in you memories was always working hard....

You want to rescue Princess Zelda as soon as possible and see her beauty again with your own eyes.

Without looking at the official English translation, what is the difference?

NOTHING. There is no difference. It all means the same thing. YOU are Link. So YOU, as Link, want to see Princess Zelda’s beauty again. You get the same impression REGARDLESS of first or second person (and yes, it’s in second person, not third person like others claim for whatever reason). 

The only thing you can complain about here is that the last line removed the part about wanting to see Zelda’s beauty again. BUT the idea that you want to rescue her as quickly as possible remains intact. 

Let’s check out another one:

過酷だった剣の試練を乗り越え

マスターソードの力を余さず使いこなせる肉体と精神力を手に入れた きっとゼルダ姫も成長を祝福してくれているだろう

Once again you will notice there are no personal pronouns at all. Let’s play the same game as before:

Overcame the harsh trials of the sword.

Have the physical and mental strength to use the full power of the Master Sword.

Princess Zelda would have congratulated on growth, right?

Now with I:

I overcame the harsh trials of the sword.

I have the physical and mental strength to use the full power of the Master Sword.

I’m sure Princess Zelda would have congratulated me on my growth.

Now with You:

You overcame the harsh trials of the sword.

You have the physical and mental strength to use the full power of the Master Sword.

You’re sure Princess Zelda would have congratulated you on your growth.

What’s the difference? NOTHING. You (Link) overcame the trials and gained strength! I’m SURE Zelda would have been very happy with your growth. 

Not only that, but the NoA version captured that very well with little changes, so wtf is the issue?! 

For funsies I decided to insert the last line into two separate translators to see what they spit out, and each one implied two different lines.

If you put the line into DeepL, it says “I'm sure Princess Zelda would have congratulated you on your growth.”.

But if you slip it into Google Translate, you get “I'm sure Princess Zelda is also celebrating her growth.”

Do you see how a single line can have different perspectives in Japanese without context or pronouns?!

Ok, last one before we get to the elephant in the room:

灼熱の試練に耐えたおかげで古代の祠が姿を現した

・・・

・・・ あ カペータのオトコの句の枠はないゴロ? ちょっとざんねんゴロ・・・

The original tumblr post is claiming that Link’s sense of humor by trying to speak like the Gorons is lost, because the English didn’t copy the “goro” ( ゴロ ) sound in the last two sentences. 

And while this is true, NoA didn’t use “goro” in this particular part here, this is still overall dishonest because the lines still poke fun at how the Gorons speak, despite the fact they don’t use  ゴロ at all. 

To emphasis my point, we will play that game again:

An ancient shrine has emerged thanks to the endurance of the scorching trials.

....

... Ah, there is no room for Kabetta’s man phrase, goro? Little disappointing, goro. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An ancient shrine has emerged thanks to the endurance of the scorching trials.

...

.... Ah, there is no room for Kabetta’s man phrase, goro? I’m a little disappointed, goro. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An ancient shrine has emerged thanks to the endurance of the scorching trials. ...

.... Ah, there is no room for Kabetta’s man phrase, goro? You’re a little disappointed, goro. 

And yes, the English version did, in fact, change this for some bloody reason, but the “playful” attitude from Link in the NoA version is still there by 1. asking if that was all and 2. Using “brother” in the place of “goro”.

Because while the Gorons in English use “goro”, they also use “brother” all the time.

The concept is still the same despite the language that is being mimicked has changed. 

To say that it’s entirely gone is being dishonest. 

Jibun (自分 or じぶん)

Now we have reached the elephant in the room. The one that blows this whole thing apart. Jibun.

Now, what is jibun? Let’s let Legend of Localization take it away again:

The Japanese word jibun usually means “self”, “myself”, “yourself”, “himself”, “herself”, and so on. But jibun is often used as a first-person pronoun too, in both the real world and in entertainment.

Jibun places a clear distinction between the speaker and the listener, so in the real world, someone might use it when talking to a visitor, an instructor, a potential business partner, etc.

Jibun is also heavily associated with organizations that emphasize rank, discipline, and regulations. As such, jibun is commonly used in Japanese entertainment by:

People who are in the military People who are in the police force People who are involved in athletics

This word does, in fact, appear at least once in the Quest Log in this quest:

So that’s it, right? We have a person pronoun in use!

No. No, not at all. It’s not that simple. 

Jibun has been used several times in the series, and its usage and its translation varies.

Take this line for instance, from OoT:

見た目は　ネズミのお人形。 自分で走る　新型バクダン。

This line translates as:

It looks like a mouse doll. A new type of bomb that runs on its own.

Here is another, said by a Sheikah Stone in OoT:

　チュウゴロンは 　自分のサイズを　考えなかったので 　店が　すごく　きゅうくつらしい

Translation:

Medigoron did not think about his size. His store is very cramped.

Another!

ダークリンク 　　自分自身に打ち勝つのよ！！

Translation!

Dark Link

You must conquer yourself!!

Hey, let’s keep going!

２０ルピーの　お面なのに 　１０ルピーしか　くれなかった！！ 　　　　　ソンした！ 　１０ルピーを　自分で　穴うめして 　　お面の代金　２０ルピーを　 　　お面屋に　納めに戻ろう。

In the official English translation, it was translated as this:

He just gave you 10 Rupees for this 20-Rupee mask! You lost money on that deal! Go back to the Mask Shop and pay 20 Rupees for the mask. The difference will have to come out of your own pocket.

This particular translation could have EASILY been “The difference will have to come out of my own pocket” but the translators chose “your” because it still works. 

The translators have been consistent with second person from the Japanese text, not in spite of BotW!

The only reason I can think of people being mad now instead of 20 years ago is because the changes they did make ruins their Zelda x Link ship.

And it’s not like the Japanese has ever made it clear when it’s supposed to be “You” or “I” in other situations. Let’s look at the famous line “I found a mirror”. 

Here, the translators made it come from Link’s first person view, but the Japanese is not as clear on POV.

テーブルノシタデ カガミヲミツケタゾ

Again, no pronouns. The entire sentence is written in Katagana. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Japanese, here is a quick rundown- there are essentially three “alphebets” in Japanese: hiragana, katagana, and kanji. Hiragana is used for native Japanese words and the like, but Katagana is usually used for foreign words. “Bread” in Japanese, for example, is “pan”, and is almost always written in katagana. 

But katagana can also be used for any word when the writer wants to emphasize something, like if the character is feeling a strong emotion. But it can be also used in other ways too.

In this case, the sentence is using EVERYTHING, including particles, in katagana. This is highly unusual. It should look like this:

テーブルの下 かがみをみつたぞ

You will notice “table” is still in katagana because “table” ( テーブル ) is a word of foreign origin. But the rest of it is in hiragana. This looks more natural. 

However, it is still very likely that it’s not Link’s point of view, because the entire Japanese uses katagana for everything.

This lady only speaking in katagana.

This sign is also in katagana. 

If everything is in katagana, then “I found a mirror under the table” may not be any more significant to POV than any other game. It may just mean that Japanese isn’t supposed to be this world’s language (this is kind of supported by how most Hylian text can be translated by the English alphabet, and that Zelda II’s menus are in English as well).

Now, other times Link has “found” something, the Japanese once again uses no pronouns, but the English opted for “You.”

Now let’s return to the BotW quest log that used “jibun”. 

伝説の退魔の剣マスターソードを手に入れた 心なしか剣自身も喜んでいるような気がする ・・・

ゼルダ姫は今もなお ハイラル城で厄災を抑えるため闘っている ・・・ 自分が心ず来てくれると信じて・・・!

今のカで破女を助けることが出来るだろうか・・・

Now you may be looking at 自分 and going  “AHA! Wait a minute! THIS one as  が next to it, making it a personal pronoun!” Well, I’m sorry to burst your bubble but that’s not true either. Here is an example sentence from this source here:

あの人は自分がかわいいだけなんだ。

That person(he/she) only care about themselves.

So, if we focus primarily on that section, let’s see what it can be translated to:

Even now, Princess Zelda is fighting to pin the Calamity down. Her heart believes you will come....

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even now, Princess Zelda is fighting to pin the Calamity down. Her heart believes I will come...

Any differences in perspective are minor at best. The same meanings are given, Link’s personality is mostly in tacked (and if they aren’t, it’s because the English actually changed the translation, not because they changed it from first person to second person)! Both of these translations are perfectly acceptable.

I also took the liberty to check the rest of the logs and wouldn’t you know it, there is only one other use of “jibun” in the entire thing (at least that I noticed). 

カカリコ村の長インパは 記億を失った自分に100年前に何があったのか そしてゼ儿タ姫に託された言葉 「四体の神獸を解放せよ」を教えてくれた・・・

これとシーカストーンは不完全な状態らしい ハテノ村の古代研究所で修理すれば これから進むべき道しるべになるかも知れない・・・

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakariko Village chief Impa relayed what you lost 100 years ago. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakariko Village chief Impa relayed what I lost 100 years ago.

In other words, the use of “jibun” is actually quite complicated. It a sense of “self”- whether inanimate or animate, and can be used in a number of ways. If you want to get mad at BotW for not using I, you will have to get mad at previously established games for doing the exact same thing. 

It’s also weird because if you look at the Quest Log (冒険手帳 in Japanese), it treats Link’s memories in the third person exclusively, as pointed out by this tumblr post:

As clear as day, it says “Zelda and Link” on the memory description. That means the entire Quest Log is not in Link’s perspective. 

Check out the post I linked as well: they bring up a few other things that I will not be doing on this post.

Summary

Now with all that said, the Japanese is definitely less formal sounding than the English is. The Japanese is sort of casual, even more personable. And the English absolutely cut out stuff that had no reason to be cut out whatsoever.

But to claim that it was all originally first person and NoA is evil so made it second person is just plain wrong. To claim that a lot of Link’s personality was lost because of the second person change is also wrong; however, claiming Link’s personality was lost because of the legit lines changes or removal is completely valid. 

The tumblr post I linked earlier also says they saw no pronouns used for Link. Legend of Localizations did not use Link in their “jibun” section despite using many Zelda characters, especially from BotW, for other sections (however, I found some myself they didn’t include either, so this is hardly conclusive). 

1

ゼルダ姫がアルバムに遺したという 12枚の写し絵 これらの地を巡れば ゼルダ姫との想い出が 蘇るかもしれない 残すところ あと12か所だ

2

残すところ あと11か所だ 一度 途中経過を カカリコ村のインパに 報告しにいこう

3

すべての写し絵の場所を探し出した！ カカリコ村のインパに報告しに行こう

4

最後の想い出の地は インパに屋敷に飾られている絵に描かれていた この場所にあるゼルダ姫の記憶とは…

5

迷いの森を抜けた コログの森に 厄災を討ち倒せるという 退魔の剣が眠っていた デクの樹と呼ばれる 巨大な老木が言うには その剣を手に入れようとする者は 剣自身に試されるのだという… 100年前は 自分が手にしていたそうだが はたして 今の自分に抜くことができるだろうか…

1

水の神獣 ヴァ・ルッタを鎮める手伝いを 依頼された ルッタを鎮める為には 多くの電気の矢が必要だ まずはそれを 手に入れられる場所を ゾーラの里の広場にいる 執政ムズリから聞き出そう

2

ムズリを説得しようとしたが 彼はハイリア人を認めようとしない ミファーの想い人であった事を 証明できれば 協力しれくれるらしい 手元には ミファーが作ってくれたゾーラの鎧が… これを使って 証明してみよう

3

ムズリから 雷獣山に行けば 多くの電気の矢を 集められる事を教わった ゾーラの鎧を着ることで出来るようになる滝登りを 使って ゾーラの里の火が死にある滝を登れば 雷獣山へは すぐに行ける まずは電気の矢を20本集めよう

4

電気の矢を20本集めた 東の貯水湖で待っているシドと合流しよう 東の貯水湖は 雷獣山のてっぺん 試しの岬の真下だ

5

東の貯水湖のシドと合流した 電気の矢で 電力を与えて 神獣 ヴァ・ルッタの背中の装置を起動しよう

6

背中の装置を起動し 神獣 ヴァ・ルッタの暴走を止める事ができた 次は神獣の中に入り 神獣を取り戻そう

7

神獣 ヴァ・ルッタを乗っ取っていた 水のカースガノンを倒した ミファーの神獣 ヴァ・ルッタは ラネール大水源の西に鎮座した ゾーラの里に戻り ドレファン王に報告しよう

8

カカリコ村に住むインパという人物が 自分の行くべき道を示してくれるのだという… 始まりの台地を降りて 東に向かい 双子山を越え 道沿いに北へ進めば その村が あるらしい 手がかりは シーカーストーンのマップの光点だ

カカリコ村の長 インパは 記憶を失った自分に 100年前に何があったのか そして ゼルダ姫に託された言葉 「四体の神獣を 解放せよ」を教えてくれた…