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When watching taiga dramas, I have noticed that people often talk about themselves in the third person. Also, they say kono before their name.

Example, "kono Musashi will fight them".

I'm a beginner in Japanese. It's that normal? Would I use my name like that if I was speaking to someone in Japan? Also, why use kono before the name?

Thank for any input!

jogloran
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Bob G
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1 Answers1

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In Japanese, it's perfectly fine to use この/そんな/あの/etc to modify 私/武蔵/etc., but it has a certain nuance.

  • こんな私: a person like me (lit. "such I")
  • この俺: a person like me / even I / me here / no one else but me
  • この武蔵: I, Musashi / This person Musashi

See this question for other possible translations.

In your example, saying この武蔵 probably implies this person is special in some way or another. For example, he may be the head of the group who rarely fights with people.

naruto
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