How to Write the Real Name of Totoro in Japanese

One of the questions we get fairly often from customers - particularly those learning Japanese or buying for someone who is - is how Totoro's name actually looks when written in Japanese. The answer involves one of the three writing systems Japan uses, and once you understand the logic behind the choice, it tells you something real about the character's origins.

The name itself: トトロ

In Japanese, Totoro is written as トトロ. Three characters, three syllables: ト (to), ト (to), ロ (ro). The characters are from the katakana syllabary - one of three scripts used in Japanese writing alongside hiragana and kanji.

Each katakana character represents a sound rather than a meaning, which distinguishes the script from kanji (where each character carries semantic weight). This makes katakana efficient for foreign loanwords, onomatopoeia, and names for things that don't have Japanese-language equivalents - including fictional creatures from someone's imagination.

Why katakana specifically?

The choice of script is not arbitrary. In the film, the young girl Mei gives the forest spirit its name by mispronouncing (or simplifying) the Japanese word for "troll" - tororu (トロル) - which her older sister Satsuki had been reading about in a picture book. What comes out of Mei's mouth is "Totoro," and the spirit seems to accept this as its name, or at least as the name it's prepared to respond to.

What this tells us about the character

The word "troll" is a foreign import into Japanese - a Scandinavian word that entered Japanese vocabulary through European fairy tales. So Totoro's name is a child's phonetic approximation of a borrowed foreign word for a category of creature (supernatural forest being) that has rough equivalents in both Western and Japanese traditions. The katakana script reflects this layered foreign origin. Totoro is simultaneously familiar and other - which is exactly the quality the character has in the film.

On all officially licensed merchandise, the character's name appears as トトロ. This is partly a branding standard and partly a cultural precision: Ghibli's licensing team is meticulous about maintaining the integrity of character names across products. If you see an item with the name written differently, that's a signal worth noting.

A few more Ghibli names in katakana

For anyone learning Japanese who wants a practical exercise, Ghibli character names are useful starting points for katakana reading. Here are some to practice:

• トトロ - Totoro
• キキ - Kiki (Kiki's Delivery Service)
• ポニョ - Ponyo (Ponyo)
• カオナシ - Kaonashi, meaning No-Face (Spirited Away)
• ハウル - Howl (Howl's Moving Castle)

These names appear on officially licensed products, making it possible to practice reading while examining real items - which is a more engaging way to learn than flashcards alone.

Where you'll see トトロ on our products

Every item in our Totoro plush collection carries official licensing, which means the character name and imagery meet Studio Ghibli's own standards. The same applies across our full Ghibli range - from stationery to figurines to the Totoro Seiko Alba watch, which features トトロ on the dial in the official character styling. For anyone building a collection or buying as a gift, officially licensed items are the only ones that carry this level of detail and consistency.