The screenshot from Super Mario RPG tells the whole story here! If you check the right corner of the fireplace in the room of Princess Peach (who at the time was still known as Princess Toadstool) you will find an item. In the Japanese version of the game it is called "XXX" but in the translated English copy it is termed "???" The MarioWiki has more details on this scene:
Toadstool's ??? is in between a blue chair and the fireplace in the back of Toadstool's room in the Mushroom Castle. If Mario finds it at the beginning of the game, Grandma rushes over to Mario and offers him a Mushroom if he'll mind his own business; however, this can only occur once, and before Toadstool joins the party. If they look at it after returning Toadstool to the kingdom, either Toadstool or Grandma (it is unspecified) tells Mario to return it. If Mario looks at the object after Toadstool joins Mario's party, the princess will scold the plumber, saying that he does not respect her personal, private belongings. Players cannot see the object on either occasion as Mario faces away from the player rather than towards them when he finds it.From a localization standpoint, this scene caught my attention because linguistically-speaking XXX is valid English. However, I wondered if this XXX was an example of waseieigo, a word that has English origins but differs in meaning when used in Japanese. As I am sure many people are aware, in English, XXX is typically used to refer to pornographic or explicit material. For example, the domain .xxx is used as a marker for pornographic Internet sites. But does the word hold the same meaning in Japanese? I scoured the Japanese internet for answers.
At first, all I came across were Japanese people enquiring about the meaning of the XXX foreigners write at the end of messages. I had forgotten about this use of XXX to signify kisses, but it wasn't the XXX I was looking for! I ended up at weblio.jp, one of the most popular Japanese dictionary sites. Curiously, it lacked an entry for "XXX" but did contain an entry for "X X." Seeing as the synonyms it offered included "**" and "○○", symbols that are also often extended, I think the Weblio entry is applicable." It offers the following English definition:
blankety-blank; bleep; used in place of sensitive word (often sexually related)
That third one is interesting! That meaning is similar to the English understanding of XXX, which would mean it is not a case of waseieigo! Interestingly, this XXX is not read in a way you would expect. I presumed it would be read as ekkusu ekkusu ekkusu (エックスエックスエックス), like any other katakana word. However, this is not the case! When using XXX as a way to mask a sensitive word, it is read as chomechomechome (ちょめちょめ ちょめ)! A Google Image search for this term supports the Weblio definition; most of the results are of sexaulised females. The picture below is from one of the search results. It originates from a blog on a men's magazine site posting about how women applying for a job there have to strip down to their bikinis for the final interview stage. Classy... (It must be noted though that the search results for XXX are far more extreme; it's all just hardcore pornography).
To return to the matter at hand, if the term XXX roughly carries the same meaning in Japanese and English, why was it changed to "???" when localised. Arguably, the question marks take away from the meaning of the Japanese by removing any hint of sexual connotations. However, I think that was the point! In the early nineties when this game was produced, Nintendo was extremely cautious about the content of its games. For example, in an article about JRPG censorship, Kotaku's Jason Schreier wrote:
Since the NES days, Nintendo and other big Japanese companies have been quick to stamp their big black bars on anything that might be considered offensive to American sensibilities: alcohol, religion, sex, octopus statues, whatever. And JRPGs have been the biggest victim of this misguided crusade.
It seems Super Mario RPG was just another JRPG that fell victim of this censorship. It is interesting to think how differently an American playing Super Mario RPG would visualise an item branded as "XXX" compared to "???" Considering that the item is found behind a fireplace, if I came across the text in the English version, I would've thought it might have been Peach's diary or even a special late-game weapon. However, when I came across this text in the Japanese version, I instantly presumed Mario had found Peach's underwear. I blame this on the sexual connotations of the word "XXX", and the fact that underwear theft is not an uncommon crime in Japan. Indeed, I once knew a girl who dried her undergarments by hanging them off the inner ring of a hanger (like the one pictured below), and then hanging a towel off the outer layer to protect her underclothing from being targeted. However, I am very aware that I could be alone in coming to the conclusion that Mario stole Peach's underwear!!! I would love to hear what other people imagine! Most of all, I wish I could contact the developer and found out what he pictured as this item!
UPDATE: I showed a Japanese friend this post, and she read the XXX as pekepekepeke (ペケペケぺけ)! One more way to read XXX in Japanese! I searched for this term in numerous Japanese dictionaries and they all aligned with the JMDICT definition of:
1) x-mark (used to indicate an incorrect answer in a test, etc.)
2) impossibility; futility; uselessness; —Usually written using kana alone.
Although these definitions aren't applicable to the game's usage of XXX to hide a word, it's hard to argue when a native speaker instinctively reads it in this way. In what is often the way when you learn a new word, I encountered it again the very same day! For a reason I cannot now recall, I was looking on YouTube for a video of the Japanese version of the catchy interview stage from Rhythm Heaven Fever. You know, the 'wubadubadub is that true?' one. I found the video (embedded below), and to my surprise, I realised that in Japanese the interviewer says, 'pekepekepeke desu ka' (ぺけぺけぺけですか). I had always presumed that pekepekepeke was a neologism just like wubadubadub!
In relation to the Super Mario RPG screenshot, my friend said she imagined Mario had found a treasure of some sort. I pressed her on why the chose to read XXX as pekepekepeke and not chomechomechome. She explained that because the text is from a Mario game, she presumed that the content would be aimed at children i.e. not contain any adult references. From my experience playing the Mario RPG games, I wouldn't completely agree with this statement. I think these games have at least a few possible adult moments that are subtle enough for older players to understand. There is a even a thread on the Gamespot forums devoted to discussing the sexual themes in Paper Mario 2.
Nevertheless, this addendum has shown that in Japanese the term XXX does not necessarily carry sexual connotations. However, this would definitely be the case if the English version of the game used this same trio of letters. I therefore think it is safe to say that translating XXX as ??? is the best solution because it preserves the multiple Japanese reading of XXX. It allows mature players to possible regard this text as hiding a more adult reference, and at the same time lets younger players come to a more innocent conclusion, Great work, Ted Woolsey!
Thanks for reading! If you have any thoughts or questions about this topic, please leave them in the comments :)
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