MovieChat Forums > Stranger: Mukô hadan (2009) Discussion > The title

The title

posted 15 years ago by Suzume-san
7 replies | jump to latest

Can anyone help me, a very early-stages learner of Japanese, with what Sutorejia: Mukô hadan actually means? Is 'Sutorejia' a voicing of 'Stranger'? And the rest? Hard work with a dictionary gets me no further than 'Muko' - without the circumflex - meaning 'Bridegroom', which I can't think is relevant; 'hadan' isn't in the dictionary at all. What's more, the kana on the flyer I have here say ga-ta-me-ni, then a kanji that I can't read - what does this mean? Baffled!

[–] UberNoodle 15 years ago

You will have to use the Kanji. Go to the Wikipedia site and reference the Kanji from there. Just looking for Japanese words with the same sound will just make trouble for you. There are too many words with the same sound in Japanese.

[–] Suzume-san 15 years ago

Thanks, Kil Killion; so I'm discovering! Maybe I'll ask my sensei. I have a similar problem with Gohatto, which nobody seems to be able to translate. Learning Japanese is like mental aerobics, keeps my brain exercised, not to mention aching.

[–] jadow81 14 years ago

Since the questions were asked more than a year ago, by now you may already got some of the answers.
But in case you haven't....

Is 'Sutorejia' a voicing of 'Stranger'?

Yes, it's "stranger."
However, here it's spelled unusually.
When ordinary Japanese writes the word with katanaka today, we don't use this spelling. This looks (purposely) obsolete.

And the rest?

"Mukôhadan" is a kind of 'invented' combination of words that you can't find in dictionary,
somewhat like "Earthsea", "Stardate", etc.

"Mukôhadan" consists of 4 kanji characters:

Mu: no, null, non-
as prefix, it negates what follows it.
Its function is like English prefixes 'un-', 'non-', 'i-' etc.

Kô: God, emperor, supreme
While you can find 'God' and some other meanings in dictionary,
I believe many Japanese (especially younger ones) don't know such.
'Emperor' is the first thing coming to mind of ordinary Japanese when we see this kanji character.

Ha: blade

Dan: story, tale, ballad.
The usage of this kanji is almost limited to the titles of fictions, as it's very 'literary'.

When you put them all together, it's something like "The Tale of No Emperor's Sword(s)"

Before the actual film, they made a 3-minute pilot film which is titled only
"Mukoh-Hadan" (spelled this way on the screen).
According to the making-of documentary in Japanese BD,
this title was the first thing the director decided, even when nothing was conceived
other than it would be a sword action story set in sengoku period.

The pilot film and some trailers include the phrases like
"the time was sengoku - the age/world without king/ruler"
in a few different wording.

Taking that into consideration, the title might be
"The Tale of the Sword(s) in the World Without King"

the kana on the flyer I have here say ga-ta-me-ni, then a kanji that I can't read - what does this mean?

I believe it's a portion of the tag line "Ta ga tame ni kirunoka."
which can be seen at the left side of this wallpaper http://www.stranja.jp/wallpaper/stranger1_1024.jpg
It's roughly translated to "Kill for whom?"
Perhaps it refers to Nameless's doubt that came into his mind
when he's ordered to execute a woman and her child, and haunts him afterwards.

Don't forget these are just my opinions. Other Japanese might interpret them differently.

[–] Suzume-san 14 years ago

Jadow-sensei, once again you answer all my questions and more; thank you so much. That's fascinating. So 'No Emperor' = 'Warring States'? that makes perfectly good sense.

I find kanji very difficult, even the pathetic few I have learned, because each one has so many possible readings. But very interesting, too.

[–] jadow81 14 years ago

So 'No Emperor' = 'Warring States'?

That's MY interpretation.
The problem is Japanese don't describe sengoku as "age without Emperor"
simply because Japan had Emperor at the time, though he didn't have political ruling power.

So I suspect 'Mukoh' came from some Chinese classic or proverb that I don't know.
(Do you have any Chinese friend?)
Otherwise it's likely the director's invention.

I want to stress 'Mukoh' is NOT a familiar expression to ordinary Japanese, to say the least.
Actually, I have NEVER seen this expression anywhere else.
Before I saw the movie I could only had a vague idea what it meant.

Even after I saw the movie I thought it meant "the tale of no emperor's sword",
and it referred to that blond swordmaster, who was supposed to serve the Chinese Emperor
but actually working for himself.
(After I saw the making-of etc. I came to think this interpretation was wrong.)

BTW.....

I find kanji very difficult

I know. Many foreigners give up when they know how many kanji they have to learn.
(Japanese children learn 1006 kanji in 6 years in elementary school: http://e.z-abc.com/?eid=169091)
But kanji is often difficult for Japanese too. Former Japanese PM Asô was frequently criticized for his wrong reading. ;)

Just in case you don't know, I think this website http://tangorin.com/
can be helpful for foreginers looking for the meanings of kanji explained in English.
For example, if you put 'ran' in kanji search box, it leads you to http://tangorin.com/kanji/ran

Of course it's not a perfect dictionary.
Explanations are often too simple.
Some kanji can not be found by its reading.
(For example, it has 'koh' in 'Mukoh-Hadan' as kô http://tangorin.com/kanji/%E7%9A%87
but it cannot be found when you search kô)
But IMO it's a good free online dictionary overall.

[–] Suzume-san 14 years ago

Wow, Jadow, that's brilliant, what a useful site! I will use it constantly and recommend it to all my classmates. Thanks again.

[–] erwin-zito 9 years ago

I know it's been 6 years already, but I think "The Tale of No Emperor's Sword" refers to Nanashi, as his sword is not working for any Emperor (anymore), not even for himself,
as he feels he has lost his way.
At the end of the day, his Sword/He fights against many foes to protect a defenseless kid and his dog, being hunted for a wicked and insane purpose.

This is the only reason making him consider drawing his sword again, after vowing to never draw it again (for commiting a crime he cannot forgive himself for) and in a decisive moment, as Kotaro's life is in danger, he finally draws the sword -after all those years- without holding back.