{"id":67098,"date":"2026-05-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=67098"},"modified":"2026-05-26T09:38:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T00:38:45","slug":"dragon-quests-iconic-weakest-weapon-exists-because-the-famicom-couldnt-display-kanji-according-to-yuji-horii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/dragon-quests-iconic-weakest-weapon-exists-because-the-famicom-couldnt-display-kanji-according-to-yuji-horii\/","title":{"rendered":"Dragon Quest\u2019s\u00a0iconic\u00a0weakest weapon\u00a0exists\u00a0because the\u00a0Famicom\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0display kanji,\u00a0according\u00a0to Yuji Horii\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First introduced in\u00a0Dragon Quest<\/strong>\u00a0II<\/strong>, the\u00a0humble\u00a0Cypress Stick is known as\u00a0a recurring weapon in the series and\u00a0is usually the weakest\u00a0option\u00a0available. It\u00a0has become quite iconic over the years, even\u00a0making a guest appearance in\u00a0NieR:\u00a0Automata\u00a0as an item that \u201ccan hardly be called a weapon, but somehow grants courage to its\u00a0user.\u201d\u00a0As pointed out by Japanese outlet MagMix<\/a>, since the\u00a0real life\u00a0Japanese cypress (hinoki) is known as a luxurious timber\u00a0that\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0typically convey weakness,\u00a0the phenomenon of the Cypress Stick is\u00a0somewhat unusual. However, series\u00a0creator Yuji Horii revealed it has more to do with\u00a0technical limitations and the workings of the Japanese language.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview quoted by MagMix, Horii explains that the limited storage capacity of Dragon Quest II\u2019s Famicom cartridge forced the developers to adapt. Since kanji characters (which convey both meaning and sound) were not yet supported at the time, all of the game\u2019s text, including the names of monsters, weapons, and items, had to be written in hiragana, which only conveys sound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cypress<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Japanese wooden swords are typically made of white oak or red oak, generally known as \u201ckashi\u201d (\u6a2b). But since Famicom cartridges did not support kanji, Horii said that simply writing “kashi no bo” (\u304b\u3057\u306e\u307c, “oak stick”) in hiragana would have make it sound too much like the Japanese word for snack (“okashi”). Shortening the word to its base hiragana form \u201c\u304b\u3057\u201d (kashi) wouldn’t have worked either, as people wouldn\u2019t know what it stood for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this end, the word “hinoki” (\u3072\u306e\u304d, meaning “Japanese cypress”) was chosen. While Japanese cypress is more often used in the construction of shrines and temples, the word can easily be understood when written in hiragana as it\u2019s distinct in sound and doesn\u2019t have any homonyms that can potentially create confusion. The original Japanese Dragon Quest games use the term \u201chinoki no bo\u201d\/\u3072\u306e\u304d\u306e\u307c\u3046, which prevents confusion and has since become an iconic recurring weapon in the franchise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: Dragon Quest 9 and 10 director says Yuji Horii taught him the important lesson that \u201cDragon Quest isn\u2019t about the scenario\u201d<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dragon Quest creator wants AI game characters to feel like real \u201cfriends,\u201d hopes DQ10 players will confide in Slimey chatbot<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to Dragon Quest series creator Yuji Horii, the humble Cypress Stick emerged from technical limitations of the Famicom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":67102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","autoblue_publish_document":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-67098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nDragon Quest\u2019s\u00a0iconic\u00a0weakest weapon\u00a0exists\u00a0because the\u00a0Famicom\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0display kanji,\u00a0according\u00a0to Yuji Horii\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to Dragon Quest series creator Yuji Horii, the humble Cypress Stick emerged from technical limitations of the Famicom.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/dragon-quests-iconic-weakest-weapon-exists-because-the-famicom-couldnt-display-kanji-according-to-yuji-horii\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dragon Quest\u2019s\u00a0iconic\u00a0weakest weapon\u00a0exists\u00a0because the\u00a0Famicom\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0display kanji,\u00a0according\u00a0to Yuji Horii\u00a0 - 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