Yoshimasa Ikeda’s beast works

Hello Galaxy Hoppers, Dragon Questers and fellow Pulp Freaks. I am a phone addicted underground writer and artist, who will present this article for you to enjoy. 

Yoshimasa Ikeda (池田宜政), known by his main aliases Yoichiro Minami and Nobumasa Ikeda, was born on the 20th-21st of January 1893. Before writing a smash hit called The Roaring Jungle for Kodansha’s Shōnen Club magazine, he began his career by making Domestically Japanese books and translating non-Japanese books for his original market of primary school children and a then-untapped market of what are now called preteen boys and girls. 

As a chauvinistic Jungle Hunting Fantasy story, The Roaring Jungle not only had follow ups but also spawned a line of loosely related books, which mainly focused on a rather questionable dude, always under the delusion of being a Great White Hunter (which is itself a messed up construct), capturing animals now familiar to Japanese audiences for filthy circuses and cramped zoos. 

The funny thing is that in the horrid 1930s of Japan, most of those animals were (and still sometimes are) known by their punny Sinitic derived Yokai names rather than by their current and more popular Wasei Eigo names. Even after WW2, Yokai names in both Kanji and Katakana forms are still used for some of the same animals to this day. 

From the middle of the Cold War onwards, even though the Yokai names for animals are still there to an extent, the current Japanese names in Wasei Eigo and other forms are also popular with young Japanese people who love to pepper their vocabulary with slangy words. 

Gorilla (ゴリラ) - Gori Ra has pretty much been kept as the definitive meaning of Gorilla, which was indirectly made possible due to the Japanese McArthur style Constitution’s launch at the end of 1947. 

Chimpanzee (チンパンジー) - Partly due to the international popularity of nature documentaries, Chin Panji has pretty much replaced the rather old fashioned Kuroshojo (meaning ‘black furred drunkard’) as the definitive Japanese meaning of the Vili and French-derived English word.  

Baboon (ヒヒ) - Unlike Chin Panji and Gori Ra, the three main spellings for the Sinitic derived Yokai name Hihi can still blend in, although the most commonly used one is the Katakana spelling for the former and the least commonly used being the Wasei Eigo derived Ba Bun (バブーン). 

Lion (ライオン) - Even though Raion as a word is now more commonly used in informal conversations than the Sinitic derived Yokai name Shishi, they can still complement each other. 

Leopard (ヒョウ) - Even though both spellings have the same meaning, the Katakana spelling for Hyo has become better known in conversations about wildlife. 

Elephant (ゾウ) - Unlike Hyo, the Katakana spelling is less often used than the Kanji spelling, although they can still blend in.

Rhinoceros (サイ) - Although the Kanji and Katakana spellings mean the same thing, but like Hyo, the Katakana spelling for Sai is more commonly used in informal conversations.  

Crocodile (クロコダイル) - As with Chin Panji, Kuroko Dairu has largely replaced the Sinitic derived Yokai name Wani in informal action-related conversations. There is also a somewhat lesser known Katakana spelling for Wani (ワニ), even though it’s not used as often as the former. 

Tiger (トラ) - Both Kanji and Katakana spellings of Tora can still blend in, even though one’s more commonly used than the other. 

Orangutan (オランウータン) - Oran Utan has long replaced the Sinitic derived Yokai name Shojo (meaning ‘drunkard’) as the definitive Japanese meaning of the Anglicised Indonesian and (Malaysian Standard) Malay word. 

Sun Bear (マレーグマ) - As with Oran Utan, Mareguma has genuinely replaced the antiquated word Gumaraiyu as the definitive Japanese meaning of Sun Bear. 

Jaguar (ジャガー) - Jyaga generally has replaced the old fashioned word Ame Rika No Hyo as the definitive meaning of the Guarani derived English word.