Gintama (銀魂)
ヅラじゃない、桂だ
Zura ja nai, Katsura da
“It's not Zura, it's Katsura!”
— Kotaro Katsura
Answer both practice questions correctly to complete this line.
Not yetThe scene
Katsura Kotaro is a dead-serious revolutionary — and Gintoki insists on calling him 'Zura'. Every single time, completely deadpan, Katsura corrects the record. The gag runs from his early appearances (anime episode 5) through hundreds of episodes without ever once working. English-speaking fans quote it in romaji, too: 'Zura janai, Katsura da.'
Word by word
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ヅラ | zura | 'wig' — slangy clipped form of かつら (katsura, wig); also Gintoki's nickname for Katsura |
| じゃない | ja nai | 'is not' — the casual spoken negative (short for ではない, dewa nai) |
| 桂 | Katsura | Katsura — his surname. Written with the kanji for the katsura tree, and pronounced exactly like 'wig' |
| だ | da | the plain copula: 'is / it IS...' — the assertive full stop of plain speech |
Grammar notes
じゃない: the everyday 'is not'
ではない is the textbook negative, but in speech では squishes into じゃ: じゃない. Pair it with だ and you get Japanese's everyday correction pattern: Xじゃない、Yだ — 'Not X. Y!' You will use this constantly: 学生じゃない、社会人だ ('I'm not a student — I work for a living').
The pun that powers the gag
桂 (Katsura, his name) and かつら (wig) sound alike, and his long, glossy hair does not help his case. ヅラ is that nickname clipped down even further. Katsura's tragedy: the correction itself has become the catchphrase.
Can you say this in real life?
The correction pattern is genuinely useful — keep the shape and insert your own name. じゃない is casual, for friends; with strangers or at work, soften it to じゃありません or ではありません. Shouting the full line gets the laugh of recognition anywhere Gintama fans gather.
Practice
Q1. What is Katsura correcting?
Q2. 「これは私の＿＿、弟のだ」 (This isn't mine — it's my little brother's)
Read & Watch Gintama
The best way to enjoy this line in the wild is to meet it in the original work. Official places to read and watch Gintama will be listed here.
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