Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteiru – Episode 1

Nao’s mother was a Japanese sweets maker who moved into Kougetsu An as one of the chefs. Nao quickly became friends with the son of the house, until one day, the master of the house dies and the son accuses her mother of being the murderer…

Translation Notes/Trivia

  • Kougetsu An means “moonlight cabin”.
  • “Tsubaki” means camellia in Japanese. This is why there’s so many motif involving camellia.
  • Spoiler: In the tea party scene, Nao shows that she’s awkward because she can’t properly use the correct polite form while introducing herself. (This portion is left untranslated because it’s hard to translate levels of politeness in English)
  • Mayu and her fiance’s family are “iemoto” or a family with long history of Japanese arts. Usually the family develops a particular style, and it becomes the (last name)-style of art school. (For example, a school of martial arts). In this case, they are both serious about their tea ceremony so I assume their family specializes in tea ceremony.
  • Kagome kagome is a nursery rhyme about preys and predators.
  • Japanese phrases introduced:
    • “The high mountain is only as valuable as its source.” This is much closer to the English idiom, you can’t judge a book by its cover. The mountain may appear high and mighty, but the inside may not be.
    • “After seeing the cherry bloom leaves, I return home to salt the fish.” (Original haiku by Hosomi Ayako) As Nao previous explained, not everyone appreciates the mundane things like cherry blossom leaves. So this person came home from appreciating the cherry blossom leaves, and then decided to salt the fish or live a very ordinary life. I think it’s only here because it ties in with the leaf motif, and he is calling her ordinary.
  • Japanese sweets introduced: (Some of them may not sound very appetizing when described!)
    • Youkan is like a red bean jelly, but more thick and less watery.
    • Monaka is name of any sweets where red bean is sandwiched between two rice crackers. The rice cracker is hollow, light, and airy but very subtle in flavor.
    • Usuzumi Cherry Blossom is a single very famous cherry blossom tree that’s so old it’s supported by multiple support beams. It’s located in Gifu.
    • Hanaikada are any sweets that symbolize flower petals flowing down a river.
    • Natane literally means the seed of a canola plant but it’s just named after the shape and has nothing to do with the plant.

Watch Online

Mirror

Download

Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteru EP01 [EN][Blitz].mp4
(1280×720| 0:51:34 | 484MB)

35 replies to “Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteiru – Episode 1

  1. This was a very interesting initial episode. And, thanks so much for all of the notes. I must admit not being too enamored by Japanese sweets, based on my visits to the Isetan sweets department. That said, I did buy some taiyaki last year at a small shop in Nihonbashi after enjoying the running gag in the Shinzanmono series. They were quite good!

    1. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of Japanese sweets myself 🙂 They’re good in small quantities but too much and they all start tasting the same. They seem to focus more on looks and meanings than variations in taste… But I hope to learn more about it from this drama!

      1. I found the stories explaining the motivation for making the specific sweets fascinating. And they are extremely attractive.

  2. What’s better than fast subs? The fact that you explain notes and trivia of Japanese culture for non Japanese audiences.

  3. I’m very thankful that You translated this Dorama, I’ve wanted to watch it very much. And thank you for all the information. I hope you have a nice week.

  4. I really like your website. You have a good choice of selection for every piece of doramas that it’s always interesting to come here. Thumbs up for good work!

  5. This story is so interesting! It’s my first time watching a japanese drama and luckily found this site. Loved your site! It’s so convenient and the effort in making it do so is just *chef’s kiss*. Just loved it to bits. Guess im gonna start watching dramas in here!

  6. I haven’t said proper thank you. But, I kept coming back to your site for watching Watadou. So, I should say earlier… thank you so much for your hard work!

Leave a Reply

close-alt close collapse comment ellipsis expand gallery heart lock menu next pinned previous reply search share star