Goroawase

Here is a chart of examples of Japanese word play “goroawase”, which are usually derived from number substitutes for sounds, and act as abbreviations useful in texting or (in the distant past) pagers, or as mnemonic devices for learners. You’ll find them in everyday life once you know what to look for. 4649!

GOROAWASE NIHONGO FURIGANA ROMAJI ENGLISH MEMO
15 x 15 = 225 イチゴイチゴに、ニコッ いちごいちごににこっ ichigoichigoni, niko Grinning at the strawberries. From children’s school notes.
33414 寂しいよ さみしいよ Samishiiyo I’m lonely. Used in texting and pagers.
11 x 11 = 121 いいいい、人に人 いいいい、ひとにひと iiii, hitonihito good, good, person to person From children’s school notes.
11 x 11 = 121 いいいい、人に人 いいいい、ひとにひと iiii, hitonihito Good, good, person to person. From children’s school notes.
12 x 12 = 144 胃に胃に石よ いにいにいしよ iniini, ishiyo From stomach to stomach, a rock. From children’s school notes.
13 x 13 = 169 いざいざ、一郎君 いざいざいちろうくん izaiza, ichiroukun In a pinch, Ichirou. From children’s school notes.
14 x 14 = 196 いよいよ、一苦労 いよいよいくろう iyoiyo, hitokurou Finally, a difficulty. From children’s school notes.
16 x 16 = 256 色々煮込む いろいろにこむ iroiro, nikomu Stew various things. From children’s school notes.
17 x 17 = 289 いいないいな、二泊 いいないいなにはく iinaiina, nihaku That’s great, that’s cool, two nights! From children’s school notes.
18 x 18 = 324 いやいや、ミニよ いやいやみによ iyaiya, miniyo No, no, it’s mini. From children’s school notes.
19 x 19 = 361 行く行く、寒いとこ いくいくあさむいとこ ikuiku, samuitoko Let’s go, let’s go, to a cold place. From children’s school notes.
物でねーと、せっかくのプレゼントも有り難くない。 物でねーと、せっかくのプレゼントも有り難くない。 ものでねーと、せっかくのぷれぜんともありがたくない Mono de neeto, sekkaku no purezento mo arigatakunai. If not a physical thing, even if you give me a present I’m not happy. Mnemonic to remember the OSI model. Mono (physical) de (data) nee (network), to (t(o)ransport), sekkaku no (session), purezento (presentation), arigatakunai (application). 物理層 データリンク層 ネットワーク層 トランスポート層 セッション層 プレゼンテーション層 アプリケーション層.
0906 遅れる おくれる Okureru I’ll be late. Used in texting to say you’ll be late.
3.14159265 産医師異国に向こう さんいしいこくにむこ Sanishi ikokuni mukou Obstetrician goes to a foreign land. Mnenomic goroawase students use to remember the first few digits of the constant pi, π.
893 ヤクザ やくざ Yakuza Yakuza Mnemonic goroawase for the “Japanese mob”.
0840 お早う おはよう Ohayou Good Morning For IM or texting, mostly.
0340 お寿司◯ おすしまる osushi maru I love sushi! License plate. The person must really love sushi!
8888 ハハハハ はははは hahahaha Ha ha ha ha! License plate. Laughter, or lucky Chinese New Year?!
6480 虫歯ゼロ むしばぜろ Mushiba zero No Cavities! Seen as the phone number on some dentist signs.
9182 キューティーハーニー きゅーてぃーはーにー Kyuutii haanii Cutie Honey License plate. The driver either likes the anime Cutie Honey, or is a cutie honey.
3315 さー、さー、行こう！ さーさーいこう Saa, saa ikou! Say, let’s go! License plate goroawase, encouraging people to drive, I guess.
4155 よい、ゴーゴー よいごうごう Yoi, gou gou Ready, go, go! Exhortation to “go! go!” for a license plate.
3923 さんきゅう日産 さんきゅうにっさん sankyuu nissan Thank you, Nissan Nissan lovers, unite!
4946 よく読む よくよむ yokuyomu Read a lot, oft-read “4946” or yokuyomu (often read), is used in toll free phone numbers for newspapers and magazines. Nikkei even has it in their website - http://www.nikkei4946.com/.
4649 宜しく よろしく Yoroshiku Be kind to me “4649” or yoroshiku is used when you are asking someone to do something. This uses both readings of the numeral 4, ‘yon’ and ‘shi’.
1192 良い国 いいくに iikuni Good Country “1192” or iikuni, is the year the Kamakura bakufu government was established, with the idea of making a good country (ii kuni) .
39 さんきゅう さんきゅう sankyuu Thank you “39” is used in texting or IM chat, as a quick way to say thank you.
103 登山 とざん tozan Mountain climbing “103” or Oct 3rd is “Mountain Climbing Day”.
1101 イトイ いとい itoi The “Itoi” of “Itoi Shinbun” If you know Hobonichi techo notebooks you’ll recognize their website as https://www.1101.com, which has a goroawase for Itoi Shinbun or newspaper.
104 鰯 いわし Iwashi Sardine “104” or Oct 4th is “Sardine day”.

Nihongo Number Substitutions

The following chart will serve as a key to the goroawase in the above table, showing the possible homophones for numbers in Japanese. Some of them are a bit of a stretch, so one could imagine a situation where the creator of the number play would have to explain how to pronounce it, were it not immediately apparent.

NUMBER KUNYOMI ROMAJI ONYOMI ROMAJI ENGLISH TRANSLITERATION ROMAJI KUNYOMI NIHONGO ONYOMI NIHONGO ENGLISH TRANSLITERATION NIHONGO
0 maru, ma, wa rei, re o, zero, ze まる、ま、わ れい、れ オウ、ゼロ、ゼ
1 hitotsu, hito, hi ichi, i wan ひとつ、ひと、ひ いち、い ワン
2 futatsu, fu, futa ni, ji tsu, tsū, tū ふたつ、ふた、ふ に、じ ツ、ツー、トゥー
3 mitsu, mi san, sa, za su, surī みつ、み さん、さ、ざ ス、スリー
4 yon, yo, yotsu shi fō, ho よん、よ、よつ し フォ、ホ
5 itsutsu, itsu, i go, ko faibu, faivu いつつ、いつ、い ご、こ ファイブ、ファイヴ
6 mutsu, mu roku, ro shikkusu むつ、む ろく、ろ シックス
7 nana, nanatsu, na shichi sebun, sevun ななつ、なな、な しち セブン、セヴン
8 yatsu, ya hachi, ha, ba eito やつ、や はち、は、ば エート
9 kokonotsu, ko kyu, ku nain ここのつ、こ きゅう、く ナイン
10 tō, to ju, ji ten とお、と じゅう、じ テン