Fire Emblem Three Houses is FILLED with advanced Japanese phrases and vocabulary. The game is entirely voiced, and you can replay any dialog you want as long as you don’t leave the dialog sequence. The Nintendo Switch is region free, and many (not all) games, including Fire Emblem, have the full Japanese text and audio available in the U.S. release of the game. No need to import from Japan! This is an amazing resource for gamers who are learning Japanese. Here’s my latest grab!

時は一刻を争います…頼みましたよ。

Japanese: 一刻を争います

Hiragana: いっこくをあらそいます

Romaji: ikkoku wo arasoimasu

The key phrase I want to highlight here is 一刻を争います, or 一刻を争うas you’ll see it written if you look it up. The definition given on kotobank.jp is「 わずかな時間も無駄にできない。急を要する。」which roughly translates into, “We cannot even waste the smallest amount of time. We must hurry.”

一刻 means a short moment of time, like an instant, or sometimes it’s translated as a minute.

The verb 争います means to compete or contest, and you’ll probably recognize the kanji from the word 戦争 sensou which means “war.”

I tweeted this as well! Check my Twitter account @Japannewbie for more occasional Japanese language tidbits from games.