Otaku USA Magazine
May 9 Recognized as Goku Day in Japan

In Japanese, there are several ways to say each numeral, which is a pain in the butt for Japanese learners but fun for making abbreviations and puns. This wordplay often manifests itself in the creation of silly holidays, like 4/18 as “yoi ha no hi” (Good Teeth Day) or 3/9 as “san kyuu no hi” (Thank You Day).

Now the Japan Anniversary Association has added a new day to the register: 5/9, or “Goku Day,” celebrating the one and only Son Goku from Dragon Ball.

On hand to celebrate the day was none other than Goku’s longtime voice actress, Masako Nozawa, who revealed at the event, among other things, that she originally hated voice acting, and that Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama knew Nozawa was the one to play Goku immediately after hearing her voice.

Of course, May 9 is behind us now, but that gives us a year to start planning for Goku Day 2016. Let’s get practicing those kamehamehas.

Source: ANN


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Matt Schley

Matt Schley (rhymes with "guy") lives in Tokyo, and has been OUSA's "man in Japan" since 2012. He's also written about anime and Japanese film for the Japan Times, Screen Daily and more.

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