Originally published at: The Japanese of Jinteki 2.0 - StimHack
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This was a really fascinating read, thanks for posting!
I have nothing to offer on this other than the likely-irrelevant observation that the Jewish name “Ben” means “son of”, sort of like a prefix. These days it’s mostly used as a shortening of the name Benjamin, which means “son of the right hand”. If the authors were intending to mean “son of Musashi” then I don’t know why they wouldn’t use the corresponding Japanese instead (assuming such a naming convention exists). Perhaps it’s an effort to emphasize the more globalized and mixed-race nature of the world of Android (though Jinteki has thus far been rendered as more thoroughly Japanese up to this point). Or maybe they just thought the name Ben was a cool name. I would agree with that evaluation. 
I thought it was just some kind of reference to The Force Awakens. 
Kitsune art being a naked female depicts ancient folklores about japanese foxes having human forms, with their number of tails representing their wisdom and age, up to nine. It continues on quite deeply.
The real question is how the author didn’t know that Kitsune as female figures are a common media representation of the cultural depiction. This can be seen across media of all platforms, notably video games, because what cultural figures aren’t best represented with cute anime grills.
I was thinking this, too, actually. Ben is the Obi-Wan’s name when in hiding, so maybe this dude is also in hiding and it’s just a fun easter egg? shrug
Awesome article though, thank you!
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So does this mean ronin is rightly pronounced ro-neen?
Yeah. To be honest i’ve never heard anyone say it, but it is definitely a short ee sound. Same with ninja. I wouldn’t worry about gaijin pronunciation on stuff that Western nerds know better than normal Japanese people.
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For Hokusai Grid, my first impression was “north-west” rather than the artist.
Kakugo is mental preparedness, determination or resolution. So readiness is not incorrect, but it might not adequately convey the state of being ready (or not) to go through with or endure something.
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That’s some great insight. I think your note about kakugo is valuable. I’ll amend the article with it.
I didn’t think of Hokusai like that, but that’s obviously one way to spell it. The problem with that assessment is that there isn’t a north-west in Japan. I think it’s more likely that they mean the artist but I appreciate you bringing it up.