"Goku"

Takuy · Post by **Takuy** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:57 pm

Someone told me this

..goku are a kind of thong-like white underwear men wear when they go into hot springs...it looks more tied around you than actually worn and it's not as loose in-front like a fundoshi.

I responded with what I thought Goku meant; and what's on every website

Goku means aware of emptiness (The 'Go' syllable means enlightenment, and the 'Ku' syllable means Sky or Emptiness)

he then said...

Goku can mean many things, toriyama made it mean that to go with the theme of underwear-named characters.

The absolute rigid way to look at it is songoku which is from the chinese journey to the west story...which would make it mean "monkey king"...but that's obviously not it .

Is he correct?
Was 'Goku' originally ment to be a pun on underwear?

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:02 am

I did not know it could mean an article of clothing.

There's actually an even different meaning in the Saiyuki manga as to the name Goku. Its explained in that series as meaning "he who can perceive that which cannot be seen by the eye.".

Amigo Ten · Post by **Amigo Ten** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:03 am

Son Goku is the Japanese pronunciation/spelling (not spelling exactly, because that's English, but you get what I mean) of Son Wukong, the Monkey King in Journey to the West, which early DB was based on/was a parody of.

NS2Goku · Post by **NS2Goku** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:13 am

Amigo Ten wrote:Son Goku is the Japanese pronunciation/spelling (not spelling exactly, because that's English, but you get what I mean) of Son Wukong, the Monkey King in Journey to the West, which early DB was based on/was a parody of.

Pretty much this.
Hence the name of the very first manga chapter, "Bloomers and the Monkey King".

YouTube · Post by **Hujio** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:03 am

NS2Goku wrote:Hence the name of the very first manga chapter, "Bloomers and the Monkey King".

Well that's only because Viz used a literal translation of the chapter title, which is odd, because they didn't use literal translations for really any other chapters in the series.

NS2Goku · Post by **NS2Goku** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:26 am

Hujio wrote: Well that's only because Viz used a literal translation of the chapter title, which is odd, because they didn't use literal translations for really any other chapters in the series.

Oh.
Never mind then :X

Metalwario64 · Post by **Metalwario64** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:26 am

But what about Akuma/Gouki's super combo move, the Shun Goku Satsu?

What does that have to do with underwear? Does Akuma/Gouki secretly suffocate you with a pair of underwear or something?:lol:

DragonBalllKaiHD · Post by **DragonBalllKaiHD** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:34 am

Suffocate with a pair of underwear is an effective way to pass out someone.

Amigo Ten · Post by **Amigo Ten** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:46 am

I think "Goku" is used as a sound effect in the manga quite a bit too, for "gulp" or something similar. Obviously it'd be written differently though.

alakazam^ · Post by **alakazam^** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 2:10 am

Remember that Goku's name is written as "Gokuu" in kana, so that may be what your friend is misunderstanding.

I'm fairly sure he wasn't supposed to be a pun on underwear

Olivier Hague · Post by **Olivier Hague** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 2:29 am

Takuy wrote:
..goku are a kind of thong-like white underwear men wear when they go into hot springs...it looks more tied around you than actually worn and it's not as loose in-front like a fundoshi.

I really don't see what that person is referring to...
(then again, I'm not exactly a fundoshi-like underwear expert)

Post by **Herms** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 2:45 am

Amigo Ten wrote:I think "Goku" is used as a sound effect in the manga quite a bit too, for "gulp" or something similar. Obviously it'd be written differently though.

Yeah, goku or goku-goku is the Japanese sound effect fo gulping. But it doesn't have the long "u" sound like Goku's name does.

Anyway, this guy is totally wrong. Toriyama says in DB Forever that Goku's name is simply taken from the name of the monkey king from Journey to the West. The name roughly translates to "aware of vacuity". I kind find any information on a kind of underwear called "goku" or "gokuu" (the closest thing I found is gokui, prison clothes), but if there is, then it's just a coincidence.

Terra-jin · Post by **Terra-jin** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 5:16 am

Herms wrote:Toriyama says in DB Forever that Goku's name is simply taken from the name of the monkey king from Journey to the West. The name roughly translates to "aware of vacuity".

Is there a meaning to his name (of the original Sun Wukong, I mean)? Aware of vacuity sounds really cool and mysterious so I wonder if that has to do with his character traits or the story in general.

Also, in the Bardock special, when Grandpa Gohan names Goku, he briefly looks up at the sky and then decides to call him Goku. So this would imply that Goku's name is more aimed at "the sky" than at "emptiness" / "vacuity".

He who understands the sky. A really beautiful name for someone who loves the sky, by the way

obiwan23s · Post by **obiwan23s** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 5:46 am

He's named after the monkey king from Journey to the West. End of story. Your friend is likely on crack, but pity he didn't buy enough to share with the whole class.

Post by **VegettoEX** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:49 am

Terra-jin wrote:Is there a meaning to his name (of the original Sun Wukong, I mean)? Aware of vacuity sounds really cool and mysterious so I wonder if that has to do with his character traits or the story in general.

Julian, in a section of the site we should revisit to finish some stuff up wrote:Son Gokū is a name directly borrowed from the Chinese tale Xi you ji (Journey to the West, known as Saiyūki in Japan). Sun Wukong (read as "Son Gokū" in Japanese) is the name of the main character, also referred to as the "Handsome Monkey King" (美猴王 Meihouwang or Bikō-ō), "Pilgrim" (行者 Xingzhe or Gyōja) and the "Great Sage, Equal to Heaven" (齊天大聖 Qitian Dasheng or Seiten Taisei). It should come as no surprise, then, that the Son Goku of DB bears more than just his name: he also shares many physical (and to a lesser extent, personality) characteristics with the Monkey King of legend.

The origin of the name "Sun Wukong" itself is detailed early on in Journey to the West: The Monkey King had come to the cave of Patriarch Subhuti (須菩提祖師 Xuputi Zushi or Shubodai Soshi) to be taught the secret of immortality, but when the Master asked the Monkey his name, he was shocked to find that the visitor had none. Thus, he took it upon himself to give a name to the Monkey King. For a surname, he wanted to play upon the first character in 猢猻 husun (a kind of monkey). When the "animal" radical (犬 in modified form ) is removed from it, however, the components that remain are 古 gu, meaning "old", and 月 yue, meaning "moon" (but figuratively "woman")*. Since an old woman cannot bear children, Subhuti settles on "Sun". When the "animal" radical of this character is dropped, the components left are 子 zi, meaning "boy", and 系 xi, meaning "lineage" (but figuratively "baby")*. As this accorded well with the "Doctrine of the Baby" in Subhuti's view, the Monkey King gained the surname 孫 Sun, meaning "descendant".

* Subhuti's explanations for these characters are kind of bogus from an etymological point of view, since most Chinese characters (including these ones) aren't put together that way; still, characters were still interpreted in this manner, and his explanations are useful for showing the origins of Goku's surname in the context of Journey to the West.

Upon hearing this, the Monkey King rejoiced, but requested that the Patriarch also give him a personal name to call him by. Subhuti answered that he used 12 different characters to call his disciples, according to their division, and that the Monkey King belonged to the 10th division, of 悟 wu ("aware"). Thus, the Patriarch named him 悟空 Wukong, meaning "aware of insubstantiality". (This is a Taoist concept, similar to the Buddhist doctrine of Shunyata, literally "emptiness" or "insubstantiality." It expresses the idea that nothing in the world exists by itself, or has its own independent substance; rather, everything is interconnected.)

Of course, if the kanji explanation went over your head, you could just say that the name belongs to the Monkey King in Journey to the West, and still be right. I just find the above more interesting. ^^;

Toriyama-sensei's thoughts: "I took this name wholesale from Journey to the West. This is because I originally intended to make him an actual monkey." (Dragonball FOREVER, 2004, p.158)

Post by **Herms** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:18 am

And to add onto that, 悟 is the kanji used to write the Buddhist term satori, and 空 is the kanji used both for emptiness as well as the sky (so Terra-jin’s idea could work).

Tanooki Kuribo · Post by **Tanooki Kuribo** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:54 am

Hey, does it also mean to gulp something down, cause....

Post by **Herms** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:12 am

Tanooki Kuribo wrote:Hey, does it also mean to gulp something down, cause.... :shock:

I already covered that above:

Yeah, goku or goku-goku is the Japanese sound effect fo gulping. But it doesn't have the long "u" sound like Goku's name does.

The Tori-bot · Post by **The Tori-bot** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:29 am

It's also worth noting that the underwear puns are contained only within Bulma's family.

The Time Traveller · Post by **The Time Traveller** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 11:26 am

You can hear the gulping goku in anime sometimes, it sounds like Gokk if I remember correctly.

Oh yeah, you hear it in those Kirin adverts on Japanese TV too.

Kanzenshuu

"Goku"

"Goku"

Re: "Goku"