Learn Japanese with Takuya Kimura (Howl’s Voice Actor): What Does “Nanika Verb-tai X ga Arimasu ka” Mean? – Ghibli Park (N2)

Takuya Kimura, who voiced Howl in the Studio Ghibli film “Howl’s Moving Castle,” visits Howl’s Castle at Ghibli Park. (For details on Ghibli Park, see Learn Japanese from Ghibli Park: What Does “Verb + te iru” Mean? – Commercial Scene (N4))

1. 木村拓哉: おっ。これあれじゃん。

• Interjection: “おっ (o)” is an interjection expressing sudden realization or light surprise (“Oh!”).
• Demonstrative Pronoun: “これ (kore)” is a demonstrative pronoun referring to an object right near the speaker (“this”).
• Demonstrative Pronoun: “あれ (are)” is a demonstrative pronoun referring to a shared piece of knowledge or an object distant from both speakers (“that thing”).
• Tag Question Contraction: “じゃん (jan)” is a casual conversational contraction of “じゃないか (ja nai ka)”, functioning as an informal sentence-ending tag question (“isn’t it?” / “right?”).

2. ジブリパークスタッフ: これ、衣裳部屋ですね。

• Compound Noun: “衣裳部屋 (ishōbeya)” combines “衣裳 (ishō – costume/wardrobe)” and “部屋 (heya – room)”.
• Copula & Consensus Particle: “ですね (desu ne)” attaches the polite copula “です (desu)” to the consensus-seeking particle “ね (ne – isn’t it? / right?)”, confirming a shared fact politely.

3. 木村拓哉: このマント、完全に、空中散歩するときのマントっすよね。

• Demonstrative Modifier: “この (kono)” is a demonstrative modifier pointing to the noun “マント (manto – cloak/cape)”.
• Adverb: “完全に (kanzen ni)” takes the Na-adjective “完全 (kanzen – perfect/complete)” with the adverbial particle “に (ni)”, acting as an adverb meaning “completely/totally”.
• Noun-Modifying Clause: “空中散歩するとき (kūchū sanpo suru toki)” combines the noun “空中散歩 (kūchū sanpo – walk in the air)”, the verb “する (suru – to do)”, and “とき (toki – time/when)”, creating a noun-modifying clause meaning “the time when taking a walk in the air”.
• Modifying Particle: “〜の (no)” connects the preceding clause to the noun “マント (manto)”.
• Colloquial Sentence Ending: “っすよね (ssu yo ne)” is a very casual, colloquial spoken contraction of “ですね (desu ne)” used widely in informal masculine speech to show casual politeness, combined with the emphatic particle “よ (yo)” and agreement particle “ね (ne)”.

4. ジブリパークのスタッフ: で、ここにある衣装は、あの、全部、ちゃんと着れるものとして、本物のものとして作られて……。何か着たい服とかありますか。いや、木村さんが、もし着たい服があればと。

• Conjunction Interjection: “で (de)” is a conjunction interjection used at the start of a sentence meaning “and so / moving on”.
• Location & Existence: “ここにある (koko ni aru)” places the location particle “に (ni)” after “ここ (koko – here)” with the existence verb “ある (aru – to be)”, modifying “衣装 (ishō – costumes)”.
• Topic Marker: “衣装は (ishō wa)” uses the topic marker particle “は (wa)”.
• Interjection: “あの (ano)” is a hesitation filler interjection (“um / well”).
• Adverbs & Potential Verb: “全部 (zenbu – all)” and “ちゃんと (chanto – properly/fully)” act as adverbs modifying the potential form verb “着れる (kireru – can wear / wearable)”, which drops “ら (ra)” from “着られる (kirareru)”.
• Compound Particle: “〜として (to shite)” combines the quote particle “と (to)” and the Te-form of “する (suru)”, creating the compound particle meaning “as / in the capacity of” (“as wearable things”, “as authentic items”).
• Passive Te-Form: “作られて (tsukurarete)” is the Te-form of the passive verb “作られる (tsukurareru – to be made)”, indicating a continuous or open-ended sentence clause.
• Grammar Pattern Structure: The sentence pattern “Interrogative word + か (ka) + Verb stem + たい (~tai) + Noun + が (ga) / とか (toka) + ありますか (arimasu ka)” is used to ask gently and open-endingly whether there is something specific the listener wants to do or have.
• Grammar Pattern Application: “何か着たい服とかありますか (nanika kitai fuku toka arimasu ka)” highlights this exact pattern. “何か (nanika – something/any)” modifies the noun phrase “着たい服 (kitai fuku – clothes one wants to wear)”, created by attaching the desire suffix “〜たい (~tai)” to the verb stem of “着る (kiru – to wear)”.
• Non-Exhaustive Listing Particle: The particle “とか (toka)” acts as a casual non-exhaustive listing marker (“such as / things like”), followed by “ありますか (arimasu ka – is there…?)” to politely ask “Is there any outfit you’d like to try on?”.
• Interjection: “いや (iya)” is an interjection used to mildly rephrase or soften one’s previous statement (“well / I mean”).
• Subject Marker: “木村さんが (Kimura-san ga)” marks the subject with particle “が (ga)”.
• Conditional Adverb & Quote Particle: “もし (moshi)” is an adverb introducing a conditional hypothesis (“if”). “あればと (areba to)” attaches the conditional form “あれば (areba – if there is)” of “ある (aru)” to the quote particle “と (to)”, leaving the main verb (“I thought / I was wondering”) unstated, which softens the invitation in polite Japanese modality.

Fill in the blanks ( ) to complete the natural conversation.

A: 夏休みは、（ ）行きたいとろこがありますか。
B: ハワイへ行きたいです。

1: なにか

2: どこか

3: いつか