Slam Dunk finished in the manga magazine in 1996, and Japanese people have been quoting it ever since — at school sports days, in office meetings, on the side of the court. The 2022 film The First Slam Dunk brought a whole new generation of fans to Takehiko Inoue’s basketball story, and many of them now want to hear the lines the way Japanese fans do. I teach Japanese, and below are ten of the best-loved Slam Dunk quotes in Japanese, in the original Japanese, with rōmaji, a translation, the character who says each one, and the grammar underneath — plus an honest note on which lines you can actually say to a real person.
Can-you-use-it legend: ◎ = safe in real conversation · △ = fine in anime, odd in life · ✗ = don’t say this to a person.
Slam Dunk quotes in Japanese
| Japanese | Rōmaji | English | Use it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| あきらめたらそこで試合終了ですよ…？ (安西先生 Coach Anzai) | Akirametara soko de shiai shūryō desu yo…? | If you give up, the game is over right there…? | ◎ Perfect as it is |
| 安西先生…！！ バスケがしたいです…… (三井寿 Mitsui) | Anzai-sensei…!! Basuke ga shitai desu…… | Coach Anzai…!! I want to play basketball… | ◎ Swap in your teacher’s name |
| 左手はそえるだけ… (桜木花道 Sakuragi) | Hidarite wa soeru dake… | The left hand just rests there… | ◎ Real shooting tip |
| 天才ですから (桜木花道 Sakuragi) | Tensai desu kara | Because I’m a genius | △ Only as a joke |
| オヤジの栄光時代はいつだよ…全日本の時か？ 俺は……俺は今なんだよ!! (桜木花道 Sakuragi) | Oyaji no eikō jidai wa itsu da yo… Zen-Nihon no toki ka? Ore wa…… ore wa ima nan da yo!! | Old man, your glory days — the national team, right? For me… for me, it’s now!! | △ オヤジ is rough |
| 大好きです 今度は嘘じゃないっす (桜木花道 Sakuragi) | Daisuki desu. Kondo wa uso ja nai ssu | I love it. This time it’s not a lie | ◎ Use じゃないです |
| まだあわてるような時間じゃない (仙道彰 Sendoh) | Mada awateru yō na jikan ja nai | It’s not time to panic yet | ◎ Great with friends |
| リバウンドを制する者は試合を制す (赤木剛憲 Akagi) | Ribaundo o seisuru mono wa shiai o seisu | Whoever rules the rebounds rules the game | △ Proverb style |
| おう オレは三井 あきらめの悪い男… (三井寿 Mitsui) | Ō, ore wa Mitsui. Akirame no warui otoko… | Yeah. I’m Mitsui, the guy who never knows how to give up… | △ Swap オレ for 私 |
| 「負けたことがある」というのが いつか大きな財産になる (堂本監督 Coach Dōmoto) | “Maketa koto ga aru” to iu no ga itsuka ōkina zaisan ni naru | The experience of losing will one day become a great treasure | ◎ Kind and wise |
Want to go from quoting anime to actually talking with friends in Japan?
TOMODACHI JAPAN is an online Japanese school for children growing up outside Japan. They talk with peers their own age in Japan every day, taught by teachers working at Japanese schools, in small classes of 8.
🎁 Register and we’ll email you our School Guide (PDF, in English) straight away. You’ll also be first to hear about tuition, scholarships and opening dates.
Free · takes about 30 seconds
The grammar underneath each line
あきらめたらそこで試合終了ですよ — one line, two politeness levels
This is probably the most quoted sentence in all of Japanese sports manga. Coach Anzai says it twice. The first time is in a flashback: a middle-school Mitsui is about to give up in a tournament game, and Anzai tells him 最後まで…希望を捨てちゃいかん あきらめたらそこで試合終了だよ. Years later, in the Inter-High game against Sannō, with Shohoku far behind, he says almost the same thing to Sakuragi — but this time it ends in ですよ…？ That small change is a lesson in itself:
| Piece | Full form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| あきらめたら | あきらめる → あきらめた → あきらめたら | if / once you give up — the たら conditional |
| そこで | そこ + で | right there, at that point |
| 試合終了 | 試合 + 終了 | game over (the referee’s word) |
| だよ | plain だ + よ | to young Mitsui: warm, like a grandfather |
| ですよ…？ | polite です + よ + rising tone | to Sakuragi: gentle, almost a question |
| 捨てちゃいかん | 捨てては + いかん (= いけない) | you mustn’t throw away |
Teacher’s note: たら is the most useful “if” in spoken Japanese. Take the past form and add ら: 雨が降ったら (“if it rains”), 宿題が終わったら遊ぼう (“let’s play once homework is done”). Anzai’s polite ですよ is something you can copy word for word — it is kind, calm, and suits anyone from a classmate to a teacher. It is also why Japanese people love the line: a coach who stays polite to a hot-headed teenager, even in a crisis.
バスケがしたいです — the たい form and why it takes が
Mitsui was a star player who quit after an injury and turned into a delinquent. He comes back to wreck the gym, sees Coach Anzai, falls to his knees and cries 安西先生…！！ バスケがしたいです…… It is one of the best short sentences a beginner can learn. Take the verb stem of する (shi) and add たい, “want to”: したい. Add です and it is polite.
Notice the particle. With たい, the thing you want is often marked with が instead of を: バスケがしたい, 水が飲みたい (“I want to drink water”). Both が and を are correct, but が makes the wish feel stronger, which is exactly the feeling in Mitsui’s voice. バスケ itself is a clipped loanword: バスケットボール shortened to its first three sounds, the way Japanese also say スマホ for smartphone. And he calls his coach 安西先生 — the family name plus 先生, never his first name.
左手はそえるだけ — だけ, “only, just”
In the last seconds against Sannō, after pages with no dialogue at all, Sakuragi whispers 左手はそえるだけ… before the final shot. そえる (添える) means “to place alongside, to add as support.” Put だけ after a verb and it means “do nothing more than this”: the right hand shoots, the left hand only rests there. That is genuinely how a jump shot is taught.
だけ works after verbs and nouns alike: 見るだけ (“just looking” — handy in any shop in Japan), 一つだけ (“only one”), 日本語だけで話そう (“let’s talk only in Japanese”). A child can use this pattern the same day they learn it.
天才ですから — ending a sentence on から
The very last line of the manga: Sakuragi is in rehabilitation for his back, a nurse praises him, and he answers 天才ですから. から means “because,” and normally a result follows it. Here the result is left unsaid — “(I can do it) because I’m a genius.” Japanese speakers leave out the obvious half of a sentence all the time, and 〜ですから on its own sounds confident and a little cheeky.
Said about yourself, it only works as a joke among friends. The pattern, though, is everyday: まだ子どもですから (“he’s still a kid, after all”), 初めてですから (“it’s my first time, so…”).
俺は今なんだよ — なんだ after a noun
Injured during the Sannō game, Sakuragi begs Coach Anzai to let him go back on court. Anzai once played for Japan’s national team, and Sakuragi says your glory days are in the past — mine are now. Fans voted it Sakuragi’s number-one line. オヤジ is a rough, affectionate word for an older man (or your own dad); from a student to a teacher it is shockingly casual, which is very Sakuragi.
The grammar to keep is 今なんだ. After a noun, the explaining ending んだ needs な in front of it: 今なんだ, 学生なんだ, 好きなんだ. It adds weight — “it’s now, you see.” Also note 全日本の時, “the time of the all-Japan team”: noun + の + 時 is how you say “back in…”: 小学生の時 (“back in primary school”). Japanese quote sites print this line with 俺 in kanji or オレ in katakana; it is the same word.
まだあわてるような時間じゃない — まだ with a negative
Ryōnan’s ace Sendoh says this to calm his teammates as Shohoku pulls ahead. まだ plus a negative means “not yet”: まだ食べていない (“I haven’t eaten yet”). ような describes a kind of thing: あわてるような時間 is “the sort of time in which you panic.” Put together, “it isn’t that kind of time yet.”
This is the most reusable line in the series. Japanese students say it before exams and players say it at half-time, usually with a grin because everyone recognises it.
「負けたことがある」というのが — たことがある, “have ever”
Sannō’s coach Dōmoto says this to his players after their loss. 負けた (past of 負ける, “to lose”) + ことがある means “have lost before.” It is the standard experience pattern: 日本に行ったことがある (“I’ve been to Japan”), 寿司を食べたことがありますか (“have you ever eaten sushi?”). というの turns the whole quoted phrase into one noun — “the fact that you lost” — so it can be the subject of the sentence. It is a gentle, adult way to comfort someone, and you can say it to anyone.
Is Slam Dunk good for learning Japanese?
Better than most anime. The setting is an ordinary Japanese high school, so you hear school words, club life and the 先輩–後輩 relationship all through the story. Coach Anzai speaks gentle, polite Japanese, which is rare in sports anime and worth copying. The players are another matter: Sakuragi calls people ゴリ and オヤジ, says 天才 about himself, and ends sentences with the sporty っす. A child who copies Sakuragi word for word will sound cheeky at best.
So keep the pattern and change the clothes: 嘘じゃないっす becomes 嘘じゃないです, オレは三井 becomes 私は〇〇です, and Anzai’s あきらめたら…ですよ can stay exactly as it is. Reading Slam Dunk dialogue in Japanese teaches you the patterns; learning which version fits which person happens fastest with friends your own age — a teammate’s reaction tells you in one second what a quote list never will.
Keep going with the same method: if you like volleyball as much as basketball, our Haikyuu quotes in Japanese guide covers another club-sports story full of 先輩 and 後輩, and Blue Lock quotes in Japanese shows a far more ego-driven voice on the football pitch. Why Mitsui says 安西先生 and never just “Anzai” is explained in Japanese honorifics in anime. If you are starting from zero, our guide to learning Japanese with anime sets out a weekly routine, and our tuition page explains how live classes with Japanese friends work.
FAQ
What is Slam Dunk’s most famous quote in Japanese?
あきらめたらそこで試合終了ですよ…？ (Akirametara soko de shiai shūryō desu yo…?) — “If you give up, the game is over right there.” Coach Anzai says it to Sakuragi during the Sannō game, echoing what he told Mitsui years earlier. In Japan it is used far beyond basketball, for exams, jobs and anything hard.
What does “hidarite wa soeru dake” mean?
左手はそえるだけ means “the left hand just rests there” — the shooting hand does the work and the guide hand only supports the ball. Sakuragi practised this shot 20,000 times in training camp, and he murmurs it before the final shot of the Sannō game.
Why do the players call their coach 安西先生?
先生 (sensei) is the title for teachers, coaches and doctors, attached to the family name. In Japan students almost never call a teacher by name alone, so 安西先生 is exactly what a real Japanese student would say. It is also the respectful way for your child to address their own Japanese teacher.
Is The First Slam Dunk a good place to start?
Yes. The 2022 film retells the Sannō game through the eyes of point guard Ryōta Miyagi, so several lines in this list appear in it. Watch it once for the story, and a second time with Japanese subtitles and pause on the lines you recognise.
My child loves Slam Dunk. How do they practise with real Japanese speakers?
Tomodachi Japan is an online Japanese school for children living outside Japan, taught by Japanese school teachers in small classes of eight, with classmates their own age in Japan. Parents don’t need to speak Japanese — we guide you in English. The free school guide below has the timetable, tuition and scholarship details.
