American Police Batsu 2017/18 – Part 2 Extended Translator’s Notes

Clippy is back, with more Extended Translator’s Notes, also known as Volume 2 of the Culturally Impaired Edition!

If you want more information on Japanese culture, language, etc that are referenced in the American Police Batsu, you’ve come to the right place. Hopefully I can answer any questions you may have regarding some of the specific references. If not, feel free to ask in the comments.

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Project X/Taguchi Tomorowo
Project X is an NHK documentary series that covers various accomplishments in Japan. The topics range from sports to science to social affairs and it’s a pretty famous and popular show. Taguchi Tomorowo is an actor, film director, and musician who has appeared in many different movies like Tetsuo, Kamen Rider The Next, Gantz, and more.

Cold Perm
Cold perms are also known as digital perms/design perms in Japan, which is a very popular way to make your hair a bit wavy or curly for some more flair. This kind of perm is typically popular with women, but it’s also done by men to look more trendy. Here in this scene, it seems Hosei got the front of his hair permed to look more cool and possibly hide the fact that his hair is getting thinner.

Razor Ramon Hard Gay
Hard Gay has appeared in High School Batsu back in 2005 and was incredibly popular in Japanese media around that time. His actual name is Masaki Sumitani and he is a comedian and retired professional wrestler. His wrestling career came to an end when he shattered his foot in 2009 and went into the comedy industry to support himself. Some say the Hard Gay name is actually a pun of “gay” with “gei”, the latter meaning comedy. It was discovered that he is actually not homosexual and that raised quite a bit of controversy because of his portrayal of gay men and using that flamboyant and gay personality for his own gain in the comedian world. Nowadays, he is a professional model.

Takakura Ken
Takakura Ken was a legendary actor who has won Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role 4 times, which is more than any other actor. He has even appeared in the American film, Black Rain, in 1989. He was also known for culturally bringing Japan and China closer for his acting contributions in Chinese films. Takakura Ken unfortunately died of lymphoma at the age of 83.

Tsukitei Hosei
In case you didn’t know, Hosei changed his last name from Yamasaki to Tsukitei due to him becoming a rakugo comedian in 2013. Traditionally in rakugo, you take on the name of your teacher/master. Hosei apprenticed under Tsukitei Happo, thus the name change and it may be the reason why Kobayashi Nenji couldn’t recognize his name. Hosei does do rakugo performances that are fairly easy to get tickets for if you ever visit Japan. Just to let you know though, rakugo is a very old and traditional storytelling technique that is difficult to understand and get into if you’re not familiar with that part of Japanese culture. If you want to learn more, there’s an anime called Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu that could probably explain and show you what rakugo is like way better than I could explain it.

APA Hotel
APA Hotel is a large hotel chain in Japan and is very well known for their great locations and affordable prices. It’s generally catered to business people and tourists and even though their rates are pretty cheap, they still have the amenities and services you’d expect from a pristine hotel. Personally, I’ve stayed at a couple of their hotspot locations like Dotonbori, Kabukicho, and more. It’s not anything nice like the Park Hyatt Hotel (from the movie Lost in Translation), but for budget travelers who aren’t so keen on hostels, APA Hotel is a great choice. Their Kabukicho hotel even has a great hot spring bath! However, one caveat is that they’re very well known for their denial of the Nanking Massacre and other war-related atrocities and puts publications of their right-wing political opinions in each of the hotel rooms. If this is something that bothers you, then APA Hotel is not the right accommodation for you.

Burdock Root
Burdock root is a root vegetable that is commonly used in Japanese traditional cuisine. They can be pretty ridiculously long if they’re not cut up and they are sometimes used as weapons in Japanese media for comedic effect. They have an earthy flavor with a hard, yet a little bit rubbery texture compared to most root vegetables and is often marinated and stewed until soft. I believe burdock root was actually used in episodes like the Yamasaki vs Moriman Battle, Police Batsu, etc, so she’s not that far off the mark.

Commercial Break
We actually felt bad for not catching this commercial break and tried to figure out what to do, whether to re-release the downloads without this commercial break or not. But it turns out we got a ton of positive feedback for slapping together subs for the commercials! Wasn’t expecting it at all, so we’re all glad you liked it. Maybe in the future, we’ll have an “Unpaid Sponsors Edition” of our subs with all the commercials, hah. Anyway, enjoy the 2018 Winter Olympics-focused tires, hot pot + beer, luxury beer, and mobile phone plan commercials. Thanks to our quality checkers, John Dread and Oolong for quickly doing this for motivational purposes.

Iwasaki Hiromi/Korokke
Iwasaki’s hit song, Cinderella Honeymoon, is actually incredibly popular due to the comedian, Korokke, using it consistently in his comic acts. Iwasaki has even been reported to say that when people hear the intro to Cinderella Honeymoon at her concerts, the audience would laugh due to Korokke’s imitation. She ceremoniously gifted the song to Korokke, which is said to have helped both of their careers. Check out Iwasaki Hiromi singing Cinderella Honeymoon and Korokke’s sped-up impression of Cinderella Honeymoon.

Mikawa Kenichi/Korokke
Mikawa Kenichi is a regular guest on the New Years Eve Kouhaku for his enka songs with incredibly elaborate and detailed costumes as he sings. He is openly gay and he presents himself as an effeminate elder sister kind of style. Here’s a video where Korokke is doing his impression and then gets pranked when the real Mikawa shows up.

Inn/Ryokan
Ryokan are a traditional Japanese style inn. Some unique features of a ryokan are traditional Japanese public baths, Japanese meals that are served in your room or in a dining hall, and sleeping in a Japanese pajama yukata on a futon. Although the context here is for a murder mystery, Japanese ryokans are fantastic places to stay in with great service, food, and a cool cultural experience, so if you go to Japan, I’d recommend staying at a ryokan for at least a part of your stay.

Detective Shows/Games
These kinds of detective shows and games are pretty common in Japan, although it generally follows the same cliched format. They’re pretty cheesy and it’s more about the drama of the involved characters than it is about the crime.

Nakamura Shunsuke
Don’t mistake him for the soccer star of the same name. This Nakamura Shunsuke is an actor and also used to be a model. He has appeared in several TV drama series. He voiced for the Japanese dubs of Band of Brothers as Albert Brithe.

Akimoto Naomi
Akimoto is a singer and actress. She was in the drama, Top Stewardess, which you may remember in Airport Batsu where they re-enacted that TV drama series with Chiaki and Shin-Onii.

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Whew, really gotta exercise those Googling muscles with this Culturally Impaired Edition of the Batsu!

Anyway, like before, if you have any additional questions or if you have more info about the notes here, feel free to leave a comment. Hope this was a fun learning experience!

[EDIT]: Thanks to fellow subbers Niji and solar for the corrections on Yamasaki vs Moriman and detective games.

Clippy, OUT!