Originally published at: The Japanese of Jinteki - StimHack
Discuss the latest StimHack guest article by thopol here.
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Just awesome. Don’t think it needs more discussion 
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“Hiro is just a common name. This one might be a reference to the protagonist of my favorite cyberpunk book, Snow Crash by Neil Stevenson.”
I see what you did there…
But seriously, great article.
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It’s great. What about rest of jinteki cards?
Great article! Just one comment:
The ‘teki’ of Jinteki is commonly used as an adjectivization method (aka making a noun an adjective). E.g. Nihon means Japan. Nihonteki means Japan-like.
That means that the Jin of Jinteki means human, and the teki of Jinteki means “-like”, making Jinteki “human-like”. Even more fitting a description for a company that makes clones.
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Hokusai Grid - is a reference to katushika hokusai who was a famous artist in japan in the 17th and 18th century. his wood block paintings are very famous - the tidal wave is probably the most well known and he is considered the inspiration for modern day japanese comic books.
zaibatsu loyalty - refers to family run monopolies dating back to imperial japan. they were all “restructured” by the US after WW II but a couple still hold massive influence in japan and across the world. Mitsubishi is the one that comes to mind. in america mitsubishi is really only know for cars but in japan there are mitsubishi banks and mitsubishi heavy industries.
tsurugi - is a sword.
when the card was first spoiled i actually misread it as “tsujigiri” which translates to crossroads killing. basically if you were a samurai and got a new sword you would go test it out on anyone unfortunate enough to be walking by. this isnt a card yet but im hoping it eventually will be 
shinobi - ninja
bonsai tree - the bonsai tree is actually a very good symbol for jinteki. bonsai trees are created from pieces or samples large trees and cultivating them to be aesthetically pleasing to the practitioner much like jinteki does with its clones so there is a double meaning on caprice’s art as she is a clone pruning a bonsai.
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So it’s mu-sheen no sheen and ko-ma-ee-nu. I’ll do my best.
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This is a great article, and nice change of pace – I usually just admire the strategy posts from afar.
One thing to add: I think the Tenma Line might be referring to the “heavenly horse”, which is a mythical creature analogous to the Pegasus in the West (it can also be found in Chinese folklore). This would be fitting for a line of aircar/hoverbike delivery drivers basically engineered to speed safely.
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I agree, seems more fitting with the character of Ken “Express” Tenma.
It’s probably written with 天馬 (天 “sky”, 馬 “horse”), rather than with 天魔 (魔 “demon”).
Also, the himitsu-bako (秘密 “secret” 箱 “box”) is an old japanese puzzle game: https://icdsy652.securesites.net/~icds6978/yosegi.net/shop/catalog/images/hianima.gif
Great new Jinteki card: “When you pronounce card X wrong, you take one brain damage”
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Was a very nice read, thanks a lot.
It was really nice to read. It is nice to understand those reference.
Regarding the Jinteki name, in Strange Flesh (an android novel), Noise explains to Tallie Perrault something about it (which confirms what is written in the article but adds a layer to it).
“Ever wonder why Jinteki isn’t called ‘Jinteku’? I did.”
“Uh. No. Not–”
“Most people think it’s just a phonetic Japanese imitation of ‘gene tech.’ And they do that, of course, but if they’d just adapted the sounds it would have been ‘Jinteku.’ That’s how those adaptations work.”
“Oh.”
“But if you fudge the first character in the name slightly and give it a Chinese reading, you get ‘human,’ and then ‘teki’ basically comes across as ‘like.’ Human-like.”
Tallie blinked slowly. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be saying.
“But what’s entertaining is that if you use different characters for the ‘teki’ part of the name they mean ‘enemy.’ Human-like or human-enemy, depending on how you read their name. Amusing, isn’t it? I’m surprised Human First hasn’t picked up on it.”
– from “Strange Flesh”, by Mel Odom
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Just a nitpick - Strange Flesh isn’t by Mel Odom. He wrote The Identity Trilogy (Golem, Mimic, Rebel). Strange Flesh is by Matthew Farrer.
The reason I’m even mentioning this is because of all the Android novels I read so far, Strange Flesh was comparatively the weakest. It had some very good ideas, but had pacing issues. Odom’s work is by comparison much better woven together (then again, he has a lot more room to work with, since it’s a trilogy and all).
And yes, the segment where Tallie meets Noise is probably the best-written chapter of the book