Cultural Notes

These are some of the cultural notes mentioned throughout the Stars season,
broken up by episode.

167
Entrance Exams: as mentioned in the third and fourth season, the entrance exams are required to be taken by students to enter high school. In Rei's case, she had advanced due to the elevator system in her private school. This required only one exam upon entering the school, and therefore made her exempt from taking an exam
to continue her education.

Usagi marrying at 16: Usagi remarks that at 16, she will be able to marry Mamoru. In Japan, article 731-737
of their civic code requires the male partner to be 18 (Mamoru is in his 20's) and the female partner to be 16 years old. Also, those under the age of 20 (the legal age of adults) must have permission from the parents
to marry. School begins in April, so at that point, she was still 15 years old.

168
Haruka's reference to "The lives of the Space" was Fessenden's Tale- a science fiction short story
by Edmond Hamilton. This story was published in "Weird Tales", a magazine in 1937.

169
Ami is reading "Theory of Relativity" in class.

173
The Ring: Mamoru gave Usagi a promise ring, a pre-engagement ring.
Alice's small face: girls say Itsuki Alice has a small face. A small face is considered beautiful in Japan.

174
Minako meant to say: "Whenever they want to see one another the are connected"
rather than "Whenever they want to see one another the are strangled/stranded."
Kanji: Kanji is the Chinese writing characters. Students learn these for the entrance exams,
and is used in high school education.
Going Home Club: this is a pun of not belonging to any clubs and going straight home.
Yaten is also one of these people.

175
Voice Training: Usagi says: vowel or breast cleaning instead of voice training
O-baka-san: Iron Mouse calls Venus O-baka-san a formal way to call someone stupid in Japanese.
Onigiri: onigiri is a riceball.

176
NG: Sailor Director shouts this after being blasted by Sailor Star Fighter. NG is an abbreviation for
not good a scene cut when making movies or in theater.

177
Milky Way: Mr. Amanogawa's name mean's Milky Way (not the candybar ^_^)
Sensei: Sensei is translated as teacher in Japanese.
Mouse!: Chuu is the sound a mouse makes (hince why Iron Mouse says it each time she reveals)

178
Animal Control: Public Health Centers picks up stray animals (like the American version of Animal Control)
Flammable?: Trash and recyclables are separated based on how flammable it is.

Episode 180
Mr. Underwear?!: Usagi calls Mr. Garyan Mr. Garapan which means "brightly colored underwear"!

Episode 181
Mouse's doom music: the music played while Iron Mouse fearfully reaches the phone is
Chopin's Piano Sonata no.2 Op.35 3rd movement (or the Funeral March)

182
Mmmm..octupus: Sudako is vinegar soaked octupus piecies, eaten as a snack.
Eat Crow!: Karasuma(Lead Crow's alias) literally means crow

184
Can't teach an old dog...: 'Nuka ni Kuga' is an old expression that suggests that no one
can change their behavior even if their told many times.
How big is this room?: A room in a traditional Japanese home is measured by
how many Tatami Mat sizes it is. 21 mat sizes is considered large for a home.

186
A family company: zaibastu is a family owned conglomerate business.
"Don't say": Another bad blunder by Minako. Seiya said "could it be?.." but Minako heard "big eyebrows"

187
Sports festival: a sports festival or undou-kai (like an American field day)is an event
that takes place in the fall. All students participate in a sport and it is mixed,
with individual and team sports.

189
Here kitty: Nyanko means cat

193
Cultural Festival: The cultural festival, or bunkasai is also held in the fall, where each homeroom comes up with a different event to share with the rest of the school, such as in Usagi's class, where they had a coffeehouse. There are some more traditional events, such as playing Japanese instrument or dancing.

Copyrights

Sailor Starlights Copyright Naoko Takeuchi

Layout By Moonstar

Editing by BettyAnn