Ninja Gaiden

Location: Kaihin Makuhari, Japan

 The Ninja Gaiden series started as early as 1988.

忍者外伝のシリーズは1988年から始まりました。

ninja gaiden no shiri^zu ha 1988 nen kara hajimarimashita

How to say start in Japanese

We will discuss two words 始める　hajimaru and 始まる hajimeru, both means start.

However, usage is different depending on the meaning.

始める hajimeru is an action of someone to start something.

始まる hajimaru have no info of who started it, but only emphasize that it started.

Take below conversation:

Tanaka is late for a meeting. He doesn`t know who started the meeting, so he asked his colleague.

同僚：遅いですね。会議は始まりましたよ。
douryou : osoi desune . kaigi ha hajimari mashitayo .

田中：すみません、電車は遅れるものですから。でも、会議は12時の始まる予定じゃないですか。誰が早く始めましたか。
tanaka : sumimasen , densha ha okure rumonodesukara . demo , kaigi ha 12 tokino hajima ru yotei janaidesuka . darega hayaku hajime mashitaka .

同僚：中村部長が始めましたよ。だから、しょうがいないね。
douryou : nakamura buchou ga hajime mashitayo . dakara , shougainaine .

Colleague:  You are late. The meeting has started.

Tanaka: Sorry, the train was late. But I thought the meeting was supposed to start at 12 o`clock. Who started it early?

Colleague: It is Mr Nakamura, the Division Manager. There is nothing we can do about it.