Haikyu!!
I went out to eat with my Japanese colleagues. We all love food (like most Japanese), and it’s so nice when no one has any diet or allergy restrictions. We talked (quite loudly), laughed a lot, and I especially enjoyed the subtle Japanese way of 思いやり (omoiyari – thoughtfulness, compassion). When I mentioned that I watch the anime ハイキュー！！ (Haikyū!!) with my son, we realized most of us didn’t actually know what “Haikyū” means.
排球 (haikyū) is the formal kanji term for "volleyball." 排 (hai) means "striking/arranging" the ball (like volleying over the net), and 球 (kyū) is "ball." Many modern sports came from the West, but during nationalist periods like WWII, English terms were "Japanized" with kanji compounds describing the action or equipment.
籠球 (rōkyū) – basketball: “basket + ball”
蹴球 (shūkyū) – soccer/football: “kick + ball”
庭球 (teikyū) – tennis: “court/garden + ball”
卓球 (takkyū) – table tennis: “table + ball”
羽球 (ukyū) – badminton: “feather + ball”
塁球 (ruikyū) – softball: “base + ball”
And even more creative ones:
水球 (suikyū) – water polo: “water + ball”
氷球 (hyōkyū) – ice hockey: “ice + ball”
鎧球 (gai kyū) – American football: “armor + ball”
洋弓 (yōkyū) – archery: “Western + bow”
十柱戯 (jitchūgi) – bowling: “ten-pin + game”
Baseball is a special case: 野球 (yakyū) – “field ball” – became widely known from the Meiji era, when baseball was introduced and promoted as a modern, Western sport that Japan embraced early on. The term stuck so strongly that even today, 野球 feels more natural than “bēsubōru” in many contexts.
Looking for a cool slogan or design for your team t-shirt? Use these Japanese names!
