Student: This is a souvenir from Kyoto. (seito: kore, kiyouto’ryokou no omiyage desu.) Teacher: Thank you. How was your trip? (sennsei: arigatou. ryokou dou datta?) Student: The maigo was pretty. (seito: maigo ga kirei deshita.) Teacher: Maigo? Don’t you mean maiko (trainee geisha)? (seito: maigo? maiko deshou?) Student: You’re right. I made a mistake with the dots on the character for “ko.” (seito: sou desu. ko no tenn ha machigai desu ne.) Teacher: You don’t have to worry about such trifling details when studying a language. (sennsei: gogaku’gakushuu ha komakai tenn ha ki ni shinakute ii no yo.) Student: I was also moved by the kinkakushi. (seito: kinnkakushi nimo kannndou shimashita.) Teacher: It’s Kinkakuji, isn’t it? You should care more about trifling details in Japanese. (seito: sore kinnkakuji ne. nihonngo ha komakai tenn mo ki ni subeki dawa ne.) Manga Explanation: Scene 1. “ha” (read as wa) is usually added after the subject (ryokou), but is commonly omitted in conversation. “dou datta?” is a casual expression for “ikaga deshita ka.” Yatsuhashi is a Japanese confection that is a famous Kyoto souvenir. Scene 2. The difference between “maiko” and “maigo” is whether the syllable for “ko” (こ) has dots attached to it or not. Scene 3. “kono tenn” is a pun that refers to both the two dots beside a character and “in this regard.” “Komakai tenn” is another pun meaning both “a trifling detail” and the two dots beside a character. Scene 4. Kinkakushi is a hooded cover of a Japanese toilet. As there are fewer Japanese style toilets these days, many young people are unfamiliar with this term. Kinkakuji is a famous temple in Kyoto.