In this section you'll find explanations of the Japanese words which usually appear in Detective Conan manga and anime! Since I'm not Japanese, there might be mistakes, if you spot any please e-mail me! I've just made some corrections, thanks to Yako for telling me the mistakes!


1) What does "Meitantei Conan" stand for?

"Meitantei Conan" is the Japanese title for "Detective Conan". "Meitantei" is the Japanese word for "Great Detective", "Mei" = "Famous", "Tantei" = "Detective", pronounce it as "Mei-tan-tei"

2) Calling people's names

# Why do we call Conan "Conan-Kun"?

Japanese people like to call each other's name follow by a word, because it is a form of respect and it is polite, for instance in this case "kun". We call somebody who is young (usually boys) "kun" e.g. Genta-Kun, also, "kun" can be used by superiors to people under them e.g. Doctor Agasa calls Ai "Ai-Kun"

# Conan calls Ran "Ran-Ne-Chan", Shinichi "Shinichi-Ni-Chan"!

To call somebody who is older than you we use "Ne-Chan" for female (means "older syster") and "Ni-Chan" for male (older brother). Note that "Ne-Chan" can also mean "miss", e.g. Hattori calls Ran "Ne-Chan"

# Conan calls Ayumi "Ayumi Chan"!

"Chan" is used for young women and close friends, for instance Ran can be called "Ran chan", Ai "Ai Chan" (note that doctor Agasa calls her "Ai Kun")etc.

# When do you call somebody "San"?

"San" is like "Mr", "Miss" or "Mrs" in English, it is polite to use "San", we put "San" after one's surname, for instance "Haibara San"

3) Calling people

# How do Ran and Conan call Mouri Kogoro?

Ran calls him "Otousan" which is indeed the Japanese word for "Father", Conan calls him "Ojisan" which means "Oncle"

# How about Ran calling her mother or Conan calling a woman?

Mother in Japanese is "Okasan" and to say "Auntie" or "Old Lady", we say "Obasan" (do you notice that all these words have a "San" end?)

# How do people call Conan if they don't know his name?

Most people simply call him "Boya" which is apparently the English word "boy"

4) First name and surname

In Japanese (as well as in Chinese) people call one's surname before the first name, for instance in English we say "Conan Edogawa", but in Japanese it should written and said as "Edogawa Conan", in this case "Edogawa" is the surname and we say that before "Conan". So, sometimes you may get confused

5) Shinichi's favourite phrase

I think each Conan fan knows his favourite phrase, but do you actually know what "there is always only one truth" is in Japanese? Conan likes to point with his forefinger and say: "shinjitsu wa itsumo hitotsu"! You can try to say it yourself! Shinjitsu=Truth; Itsumo=Always; Hitotsu=One

6) I'm a detective...

When people (usually the criminals) ask Conan who he is, he always says: "Edogawa Conan, tantei sa", which means obviously: "I'm Edogawa Conan, a detective"

7) I'm a highschool detective...

In the beginning of all movies, Shinichi presents himself: "Ore wa koukou-sei tantei Kudo Shinichi", which means: "I'm a highschool detective Kudo Shinichi". Koukou-sei=highschool student

8) "Shonen Tantei Dan"

This is how we call the Detective Boys in Japanese, meaning: Junior Detective League. Shonen=Junior; Dan=League