Talk:Jirōbō Ikkanzaka

Zanpakutou and "Kamaitachi" nickname
Minato asked me to check on this. The translation of Tsunzakigarasu as "splitting crow" is accurate. Here's the breakdown:

tsunzaki is the infinitive/gerund form (i.e. a verbal noun somewhat equilavent to verbal nouns in English ending in -ing, e.g. a killing--which can, of course, also be written a kill) of the verb tsunzaku "break, tear, pierce, split, burst (tr.)," thus "splitting" or "breaking" something. A form of this is used to describe cracks in gemstones, for example.

karasu (voiced to -garasu in this compound) is slightly trickier, as it is used at turns to mean both "crow" and "raven" (and so applied to both of the most prominent black-colored birds, and the kanji is even sometimes used in Chinese as another word for "black"). Exactly which was intended is unclear; perhaps "crow" is best, since it may be associated with scarecrows and crop-harvesting and, so, the scythe (Japanese kama) which is a part of Jiroubou's nickname Kamaitachi.

Speaking of which, I discovered while checking this that, in the raws, the kanji for this nickname of Kamaitachi (鎌鼬) lit. means "scythe weasel." Though the current modern usage of the word kamaitachi is given as "a cut caused by a whirlwind," this was apparently historically believed to be caused by a mythical animal which manifested in this whirlwind, hence the name. The typical Japanese kama resembles a scythe in its blade, though with a short sickle-like handle.

In summary, I would keep "Tsunzakigarasu" as meaning "splitting crow." I think the current article lacks its kanji, so here they are: 劈烏. I would suggest, also, that we give the kanji (as I wrote above) for this nickname of Kamaitachi, perhaps with a note on its current meaning (which is in keeping with the whirlwind-like form of Jiroubou's attacks) and its historical derivation ("kama weasel" or "scythe weasel"), just for information's sake. Let me know what you think. Adam Restling 06:16, December 9, 2009 (UTC)