DeDeDeDe Translation Notes

DeDeDeDe Translation Notes
--------------------------

To find notes for a specific chapter, Ctr + F -> Chapter # where # is the number of the chapter you want. If your browser doesn't support Ctrl + F, use its search function, often under Edit -> Find.

The name of the series is usually written "Dead Dead Demon's Dededededestruction", and the common
abbreviation seems to be "DeDeDeDe".

Names
---
Kadode (門出) means "setting out", "departing", or "starting a new life" in Japanese.
Isofura Bonjirou (イソフラ　ボン次郎) is actually the word isoflavone split up, i.e. Isofla Vonjirou, jirou being a common part of male first names in Japan. See Solanin for another example of Asano using a chemical name in his works.
Hujin (歩仁) seems like an intentional alternate spelling of 不仁 (hujin), meaning "heartlessness" or "inhumanity". They both share the same reading and only differ in the first kanji. The author has used both "Hujin" and "Fujin" as the English name for it, so it's not clear what the proper spelling is at this point. Taken at face value and using the meanings of the kanji that comprise it, it means "walking benevolence" or "walking compassion".
Chokujin's (直仁) first kanji has the meaning of "straight" or "direct", so "direct benevolence".
Futaba (ふたば) can mean "bud", "sprout", or "two leaves", and is often a reference to something young or the beginning of something. It's also the name of a popular Japanese online image board.
Makoto (マコト) can mean "truth", "honesty", etc.

Chapter 1
---

pgs.1-3: Isobeyan is a parody of the classic manga Doraemon.
pgs.1-3: The girl's shirt says "Metallica".
pg.12: Entrance exams are a big deal in Japan and determine what university you can go to, so it's not
that unreasonable for the teacher to tell them it's okay to skip class.
pg.13: Kiho is using the Japanese equivalent of "normalfag" - someone who lives a satisfying normal life.
pg.30: The sign in the bottom says "Teppei Okonomiyaki", okonomiyaki being a popular dish made with cabbage and other ingredients
grilled on a flat grill. Teppei isn't a chain of restaurants that I know of, but it's a common name because it alludes to the flat grill that okonomiyaki is cooked on.

Chapter 2
---

pg.1: Pretty Cure (PreCure) is a popular kids show in Japan aimed at little girls.
pg.14: The message board on this page and others in this series are references to 2ch, a text-only discussion board
popular in Japan.
pg.14: The title of the posts literally means "Space War", but the same title was used for the Japanese translation
of H.G. Wells classic book "The War of the Worlds". Pick whichever you like better.
pg.18: The top panel of this page is a reference to a series of commercials that were popular around
the time that the tsunami hit Japan in 2011. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsRm78ZSOgc
It's a commercial emphasizing the importance of being polite and properly greeting each other that resonated strongly with a lot of
people after the earthquake/tsunami.
pg.19: In Japan it's common to dry your clothes outdoors, so it's not that crazy for people to be upset that the sun is blocked from them.

Chapter 3
---

pg.14: Royal Post is a reference to the popular chain of family restaurants called Royal Host.

Chapter 5
---

pg.7: The thing Kadode is messing around with is a tool that supposedly helps the skin.

Chapter 6
---

pgs.2-3: Ontan is signalling to Kadode those words. Kadode isn't saying she hates her teacher.
pg.17: Ontan is referencing Yahoo Chiebukuro ("Yahoo Bag of Wisdom", or in America: "Yahoo Answers"), a fairly popular site for asking random questions that you want the answer to.

Chapter 7
---

pg.6: Hiroshi says he posts "ghost photography" - usually pictures where it looks like a ghost or spirit is in the background.

Chapter 9
---

pg.2: The name for the glasses is a play on words in Japanese. They're called sukeruton glasses, which sounds
like "skeleton" when spoken aloud. "Sukeru" means "to be transparent" or "to show through".
pg.2: Debeko's shirt says, "Kula Shaker".
pg.6: Hiroshi says the same thing ("Welcome to...this crazy time...") twice, once in English, and once in Japanese.

Chapter 10
---

pg.4: KAWAII is spelled out with letters here instead of kanji/hiragana, so that's why I didn't translate it to "cute".
pg.4: Ontan actually suggests searching for tsuchinoko (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuchinoko), a mythical snake-like creature. I changed it to "mythical creatures" because it gets the message across without making everyone look up what a tsuchinoko is.
pg.5: It is possible to make it into college without taking entrance exams, and it usually happens by receiving a recommendation letter. It's implied in this chapter that both Kiho and her boyfriend have received recommendation letters.
pg.6: I just took a guess at the band name. The correct spelling could be Mothmans instead. For those who are curious, the Japanese says, "Mosumanzu".
pg.16: The word Kohiruimaki uses here is "niwaka", which holds a negative connotation and indicates someone who became a fan of something once it became popular and doesn't take it seriously.

Chapter 11
---

pg.1: This page is a reference to the game Dragon Quest (called Dragon Warrior in America).
pg.2: Kansai is the region somewhat west/southwest of Tokyo, and it's where the cities Kyoto and Osaka are located. A very long time ago, Kyoto used to be the capital of Japan, and the Kansai region is the second most populated behind the Kanto region where Tokyo is located. As such, I'm sure you can see how it would be the next place someone might move to if something happened to Tokyo.
pg.10: Kiho actually asks for access to the "drink bar" here, which is basically a spot in restaurants where you can pour/get your own drinks and make them however you like. They're like the self-serve drink areas you find inside places like McDonald's in America.

Chapter 12
---

pg.6: Walk Boy is a reference to the Sony Walkman.
pg.7: All of the references on this page and in this chapter are direct references to the Sony corporation.
pg.8: The cat-like robot is a reference to Sony's AIBO pet robot dog.
pg.9: AIBO is an abbreviation for Artificial Intelligence Robot, but also means "partner" in Japanese. tomoDutch is spelled "tomodacchi", which is close to "tomodachi", which means "friend" in Japanese.
pg.12: The phrase Miura uses here isn't "loner", but "benjomeshi", which is slang for someone who eats lunch in the bathroom because they don't have any friends.
pg.17: Section 51 is an obvious reference to Area 51, where the American government supposedly researched alien spacecraft.

Chapter 13
---

pg.3: Japan doesn't have a congress; it's called the Diet, and does have a lot of similarities to America's congress. I changed it to congress in the translation to avoid confusion.
pg.6: Christmas doesn't have the same traditions and connotations in Japan as it does in the west. It's pretty much solely a commercial holiday, and Christmas Eve has traditionally become a night that lovers spend together going on dates and other stuff.
pg.12: The title of the BL manga here is "I'm a Vampire!!".

Chapter 14
---

pg.16: It looks like I was wrong in my translation of "A Lines". Takabatake's shirt shows it to be "A Rays", likely a reference to radiation (gamma rays, etc.). I chose "lines" because when the word was first used, it shows Ontan with what look like lines crossing the sky in the background.

Chapter 15
---

pg.3: The word used by the guy here and Ontan near the end of the chapter is イケめん(ikemen), meaning a good-looking man, handsome guy, etc.
pg.4: The "lol" and "btw" are intentional here.

Chapter 16
---

pg.13: Hiroshi actually says, "let's all get into a 轟 shape and go to sleep" instead of "let's all huddle together". The joke being
that in the kanji there's one part bigger than the other two parts.

Chapter 17
---

pg.2: Isobeyaki is a dish typically consisting of grilled/cooked mochi wrapped in seaweed.
This is another Doraemon reference. Doraemon's favorite snack is dorayaki, so it's
only natural that Isobeyan's favorite snack is isobeyaki.
pg.2: The Japanese name for the frog is "Tono-sama Funzorigaeru". Tono-sama is a common
way to refer to a feudal lord. Funzorigaeru is a play on words and is a combination
of the word funzorikaeru, which means "to be arrogant", and kaeru, the word for frog.
Kaeru often takes the form gaeru when in compound words.

Chapter 18
---

pg.1: The term Kadode uses to refer to her mother here has an implication that there may be some ulterior
motive beyond just doing her civic duty.
pg.7: The game the guy is playing is likely a reference to the mobile game "Puzzle & Dragons", an extremely
popular game in Japan.

Chapter 19
---

pg.1: JK is an abbreviation of "joshi kousei"(女子高生), meaning a female high school student.
pg.1: Both in the chapter with Kohiruimaki and in this one they use the term "裏垢"(ura aka), slang for
"ura account", meaning an online account (usually on social media) that is more secretive and where you can speak your mind or post things you might not post on your normal account. For example, you would have one account that everyone knows and can see, and then you
would have your "secret account" or "ura account" which you only allow certain people to see. That way your classmates/co-workers/family won't see your anti-semitic rants or nude photos.
pg.2: This is an obvious reference/copy of the Yodobashi Camera store in Shinjuku.
real-life version: http://view-tokyo.sakura.ne.jp/town/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/DSC03929.jpg

Chapter 20
---

pg.5: Ontan's making a joke here playing off the word "makeinu" (負け犬) which has the meaning of "loser" and has the word for dog in it. Kadode and her are "loser dogs", so Ontan calls the cat a "winner cat" as a play on words.
pg.7-8: As far as I know, the terms here are the author's creations and nothing more. For the basis behind the words, think of "hawks" and "doves" when talking about political stances towards war and you can see how animals can be used to represent these concepts. The octopus term used is ネトタコ, which I believe is a combination of the word for octopus (タコ) with the word used for people with far right wing beliefs (ネトウヨ). The squid term used is ブサイカ, which I believe is a combination of the word for squid (イカ) with the word "busaiku"(不細工) which has connotations of something being poor quality, lame, etc. There is a stereotype of tuna fish being inactive/just laying still, so it's easy to see why it was used to describe people apathetic to politics.

Chapter 21
---

pg.1: "Toto Bus Tour" may be a joke on Asano's part. Toto is a company that produces bathtubs
and other bathroom products. Bath and bus are both spelled the same way in Japanese - バス.
To top it all off, the real-life Toto company does do tours of their products and facilities -
a Toto Bath Tour, which is spelled the same way in Japanese as "Toto Bus Tour".
pg.2: The French guy's shirt says "Damunga", a rearrangement of the letters/characters used for "Gundam".
pg.2: I probably should have covered this a long time ago, but if you haven't noticed,
a lot of the news topics and issues covered in this manga are taken straight from
real-life news stories in Japan. For instance, the yen has been weak in 2015 and Tokyo
is scheduled to host the summer Olypmics in 2020.
pg.4: I'm not 100% sure on this, but my best guess is the shrine shown in the first
panel of this page is Asakusa Shrine, an extremely popular tourist destination in Tokyo.

Chapter 22
---

pg.3: The short French guy's shirt says "Goosefish Liver".
pg.11: The sale sign here is poking fun at the drastic rise in the sales tax recently
in Japan. I'm just writing this off the top of my head, but the sales tax used to
be about 5% or so, was raised to 8% just recently, and is set to rise to 10% soon.

Chapter 23
---

pg.4: Ontan actually says she has some nice feather/down futons she wants to introduce them
to, and her classmate remarks that it stinks of multi-level marketing. I changed it to knives
to reference Cutco, since there aren't any multi-level marketing schemes selling futons outside
of Japan that I know of.

Chapter 24
---

Isobeyan pg.4 (pg.162 of Volume 3): The frog's name here is another play on words. The
Japanese name is "Ama Ama Amagaeru". "Amagaeru" is the word for tree frog, but it's left
in katakana here as a way to play on the word for "sweet" - "amai", or "ama" here.

Chapter 25
---

pg.1: Kids in Japan are typically given homework to complete during their summer break.
pgs.1-3: Present day Debeko's shirt says "Noon", and the shirt Debeko from a month ago is
wearing says "Kula Shaker", the same shirt she was wearing in the Volume 2 Isobeyan chapter.
pg.3: Debeko says "primitive times" here, not "stone age". My bad. I was a little too liberal with the translation.
pg.9: The student group SHIP here is a reference to the real-life student group "SEALD"
(Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy). They mostly stage protests and
try to oppose some of the recent laws passed regarding Japan's use of military power and other
things.

Chapter 27
---

pg.2: The line about arts and crafts is a play on words. The word for arts and crafts room is zukoushitsu (図工室),
and the kid plays off that by saying it's zukou (ズコー), which is slang for the verb zukkokeru (ずっこける) - to fall down,
to do something stupid, etc.. Basically, he's making fun of how pathetic the teacher is acting.
pg.4: I'm pretty sure it was explained in an earlier chapter, but the reason the kids are calling Kadode "demon"
is because you get "demon" if you reverse the characters in her name or read them backwards.
pg.17: Here he says "Spo-cha" instead of rec center. Spo-cha is where you pay a fee and you can play
a bunch of different sports and games (not video games or board games, but other stuff). Mostly something to
do with family, friends, or on a date, and not something serious. Here's a commercial to give you a better
idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ie_HldAyBo

Chapter 28
---

pg.10: The Isobeyan movie they're talking about is a reference to the Doraemon movie "Nobita and the Castle of the
Undersea Devil" (ドラえもん のび太の海底鬼岩城). I got a little hasty in my translation, and a better name for the
Isobeyan movie would be something like "The Underground Castle of Demons" or "The Subterranean Castle of Evil".
pg.14: The SHIP protest here is modeled off of the the SEALDs protests that have been happening
with some regularity in real world Japan. In order to give you an idea of what they look and sound like, take a look at
these following videos. This first one is just a general anti-war protest happening outside the Diet building:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-cTh3cdAe4 . Note the signs saying "No War" and "Don't Destroy Article 9".
This second video is just a TV show that watched the Diet building with video cameras for 72 hours, but it has a couple
parts with footage of protests, one at around 5 minutes in, and the other about 15 minutes in, and you can even
see a megaphone with SEALDs on it if you pay close attention at 15:40. The protest starting around the 15 minute
mark is a great reference to compare to the protest in this chapter: http://goo.gl/CHpXbv

Chapter 29
---

pg.3: Ai says that she wants oolong tea in a "polytank" here. Basically, a plastic container for carrying liquid.
If you've ever seen a plastic gas can, it's similar to that. I changed it to "cooler" because I've never seen
"polytank" widely used in English ever. Here's a picture for reference: http://gaku-sha.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/plastic-tank.jpg
pg.4-5: The t-shirt the guy is wearing says "Anaconda Club".

Chapter 30
----

pg.8: The shirt Kadode is holding says "shuriken" and the shirt behind her says "samurai".

Chapter 31
----

For extra notes on this chapter, see: http://pastebin.com/5JeJkpu3
pg.10: The things the alien is holding up are packages of instant noodles.
pg.11: Throughout the chapter there are signs for "Heiwajima Station" that the aliens are seen heading towards.
"Heiwajima" means "peaceful island".
pg.13: The "hair" decoration the alien has here says "Traffic Safety", going along with the theme of the aliens
wearing random stuff that they likely picked up around the city.
pg.19: The last line here is one that has been repeated by various characters throughout the story. I've kept the line
as "The Earth is fucked" because Asano used that line for the title page of chapter 5 and it seems to fit the meaning
fairly well.

Chapter 32
----

pg.12: Ontan's watching a stream on her phone here and the text on the screen is comments by people watching
it. Common to see on video sites like NicoNico Douga.

Chapter 33
----

pg.2: Debeko here says she's been told she has eyes like Furukawa Miki, a mouth like CHARA, and a nose like Natalie Portman. Furukawa Miki and CHARA were big stars back in the 90s, so Isobeyan remarks that Debeko's relative is obsessed with/stuck in the 90s.
pg.2: The face thing here is called 福笑い (fukuawarai), and is like a mix between pin the tail on the donkey and Mr. Potato Head. You lay out a paper with the face's outline on it, blindfold someone, and hand them the parts to place on the face, usually resulting in ridiculous results.
pg.2: Debeko's shirt here says "Ken Ishii", a DJ and techno musician.
pg.6: While these kind of scandals happen all the time, Asano was most likely inspired by the ベッキー (Beckie) scandal that erupted in January 2016 and was in the news for months and months afterwards. Beckie, a popular actor and singer, was caught engaging in an affair with the singer for ゲスの極み乙女, with chat logs leaked showing them talking about him divorcing his wife and then making their relationship official.
pg.8: The "Nagoya Plan" is what the guy in Ch.29 was talking about where they build weapons in Nagoya and then use them in Tokyo to show them off, which will theoretically encourage and increase sales of the weapons and help boost the Japanese economy.

Chapter 35
----

pg.10: The 20% sales tax on this sign is poking fun at the real life sales tax increase to 10% (from 5%) in Japan.

Chapter 36
----

pg.11: The one guy here says he's going to buy a bat with spikes on it, to which his friend replies that that will mean he's on the "Hyahah!" side, a reference to the roaming gangs in Fist of the North Star who would yell "Hyahah!" when they were up to their various acts of pillaging, violence, etc.

Chapter 37
----

pg.1: Cool Japan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_Japan  (covers more detail and explains it better than me trying to summarize it)
pg.1: While it may seem comical to have some goofy idol promote the land self-defense forces, similar things have happened in real life. A good example recently was a DVD covering the history of tanks in the land SDF which had audio commentary by a character from the anime Girls und Panzer.
pg.2: The naming for the Hujin / Fujin has been inconsistent throughout the story. When it was first introduced, it was clearly labeled "Hujin" on the side, but in recent chapters it has been labeled "Fujin".
pg.3: This is a reference to the old game "Space Invaders".
pg.6: "LINK" is a reference to the popular LINE app, which allows people to chat and send messages to each other through either a data connection or WiFi on their phones. It's one of the most popular apps in Japan, but the more popular equivalent in America would probably be WhatsApp.
pg.10: More Doraemon references. "Here and There Window" refers to Doraemon's "Anywhere Door". "Bubble Glider" refers to the "Bamboo Copter".
pg.15: What he says here is not a rhyme, but a senryuu (川柳), which is a type of haiku that deals with more everyday things (as opposed to how normal haikus are typically more literary/artistic in nature) and often have humorous or vulgar tones to them. I changed it in the translation because I valued getting the message across rather than trying to preserve the 5-7-5 syllable scheme.

Chapter 38
----

pg.1: On 2ch a lot of boards have their own special generic name for anonymous posters. For example, on this page the name is　"振り返れば名無し", which would roughly translate to something like "turn around and there's anonymous" or "when I turned around, there was anonymous". Often the name has some relation to the content of the board, but mostly they're just silly jokes. Unfortunately, 4chan and a lot of other English boards don't have anything special, so we're stuck with plain "Anonymous".
pg.1: The kid talking about Beelzebub is referencing the popular mobile game Puzzle and Dragons. Like a lot of mobile games, you can do better or get better stuff if you pay money, and this is the 3rd or 4th time that Asano has poked fun at it in DeDeDeDe.
pg.1: Since Ooba is using an old phone from Kadode, he likely doesn't have data or even voice, so the only way he contact Kadode and Ontan is through the LINK (see pg.6 note from ch.37) app using wifi. That's why he and those other kids are standing around outside the building - to take advantage of free wifi.
pg.7: After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and the resulting meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear reactor, there was a lot of panic about radiation throughout Japan. People were worried about contaminated food, water, etc., and more than a few people bought geiger counters to test for radiation. The "A Counter" here is DeDeDeDe's equivalent to that.

Chapter 41
----

pg.1: The name in Japanese for the gadget is ステルス紙隠し (stealth kamikakushi), which is a play on words with 神隠し (kamikakushi) which means "mysteriously disappearing". The kanji in it is replaced with the one for paper in the gadget name, which makes it look like "paper hider" or "paper disappearer".
pg.1: Debeko's shirt says "Primal Scream".
pg.9: I'm assuming the "F Umbrella" is a reference to the term "nuclear umbrella". It's a "terrible joke" because in the real world, Japan is protected by the U.S.'s nuclear umbrella, but in DeDeDeDe, the roles would be reversed and the U.S. would be protected by Japan's F umbrella.
pg.16: Akita is in the northwest of Japan, and a fair ways off from Tokyo.
pg.19: The shirt says "ninja".

Chapter 42
----

pg.6: Ginshama breaking up is a reference to the famous idol group SMAP breaking up in real life. They are/were one of the most successful idol groups ever, and are basically a household name in Japan, so them breaking up is big news. SMAP initially said they were going to disband back in early 2016 or so, supposedly due to inner discord at their talent agency. They backpedaled for a while, but as 2016 drew to a close, they announced their break up officially.
pg.15: Watarase says their trip to Europe starts in mid-August, indicating that despite him acting like it's all not a big deal, he's still worried that all the rumors might be right. This was in the translation, but it didn't make it into the final scanlation for whatever reason.
pg.18: The last line by Ontan goes, "And so the legend of the mental health super bitch began unbeknownst to all". Saying "mental health" like that is just a way to say someone is crazy, and the English word "bitch" typically has the connotation of a loose woman/sexually aggressive woman.

Chapter 43
----

pg.1: The site shown on this page is what is called a "matome site", which are sites that pull info/ posts from other sites and collect them in one place and summarize them or pick out the most interesting stuff. Usually the source they're pulling from is 2chan. For example, on this page, this site has gathered together all the information/posts made by Ooba earlier in the series on the occult board of DeDeDeDe's equivalent of 2chan.
pg.7: Here the man says that the cost of firing the Hujin is about the cost of a rice ball.
pg.12: SHIELD, the real world equivalent of SHIP here, disbanded back late summer 2016 without accomplishing any of their policy objectives.
pg.13: I put "use" for the line by the AI here, but the nuance is more along the lines of "interact with", "perceive", etc. So something like, "what's important is how you perceive me".
pg.14: Declining population is a real problem that modern Japan faces, and easing immigration restrictions is one idea by some to help alleviate the problem.
pg.16: America has military bases in Japan, and if America were to pull its troops and aircraft out, it would put Japan in a more precarious situation against its neighbors, since Japan doesn't have a full-fledged army like America and many other countries do. However, in the DeDeDeDe world, Japan has a stronger SDF and the Hujin, so they don't have to worry about America's protection.
pg.17: The various divisions of the Japanese defense forces have been known at times to use advertising like the poster on this page. For example, the land defense force put out a video narrated by one of the characters from the anime Girls und Panzer.

Chapter 45
----

pg.1: In the real world, there have been countless territorial disputes in the East China Sea between Japan and China. Many of these incidents have involved transport ships or even fishing ships, so this incident in DeDeDeDe is taken directly from the news headlines basically.
pg.10: The guy's shirt here says, "(small text on top)Amazing (large text in middle) Big Snake

Chapter 46
----

pg.16: see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberator_(gun)

Chapter 49
----

pg.2: Debeko's shirt says "Autechre"
pg.3: The literal translation here is "translation ring" (翻訳指輪 - honyaku yubiwa), which rhymes with engagement ring (婚約指輪 - konkyaku yubiwa) in Japanese.
pg.3: Giroppon is a stand-in/made-up name referencing Roppongi in Tokyo, an area known for having a lot of foreigners.
pg.11: Miyatomo references Shigeru Miyamoto, Ojima references Hideo Kojima, and Omoto references Katsuhiro Otomo.

Chapter 50
----

pg.6 and pg.10: Kadode has a second social media account referred to both in her profile name and by Ontan as a メンヘラ account, meaning an account she's using to let loose about her issues. Somewhat equivalent to the people in western countries who talk about how depressed and suicidal they are on social media, even if it's often in jest.
pg.8, panel 2: Like in previous chapters, D&D is a reference to Call of Duty, specifically the release of Call of Duty: WWII.

Chapter 52
----

pg.5, panel 2: See translation note for pg.17 of chapter 65. Aomori prefecture is known for its forests, which is likely why she talks about the "sleepless forest".

Chapter 57
----

pg.1, left margin: The title of this Isobeyan chapter is ぶっきらスティック (bukkira sutikku), which is a play on the word ぶっきらぼう (bukkirabou), which means "curt", "blunt", etc. The word stick in Japanese is spelled ぼう (bou), which was replaced with the
borrowed word スティック (sutikku) - stick - for the title.
pg.3, panel 2: "Yello Mello" is a reference to the soda "Mello Yello".
pg.4, panel 4: "DOMUU" is likely a reference to the manga "DOMU" by Katsuhiro Otomo.
pg.13: These panels share similarities to scenes from the movie "Interstellar".

Chapter 59
----

pg.8: Some of the stuffed animals in the background on this page are characters from one of Asano Inio's other works - Heroes (Yuusha-tachi).
pg.11, panel 5: This is a reference to Hanazawa Kengo, a manga artist who is close friends with Asano.

Chapter 64
----

pg.10, panel 2: This is a reference to prime minister Shinzo Abe. Most likely, given the time period this chapter is set in, it is referring to the scandal that the agricultural minister caused during Abe's first term as prime minister.

Chapter 65
----

pg.1, panel 1: Debeko's shirt says "Jamiroquai".
pg.1, panel 4: This panel is a reference to the game "Super Mario Bros."
pg.1, left margin: The title of this Isobeyan chapter is "もしもシネマ" (moshimo shinema), which is a play on the phrase "もしもし" (moshi moshi) - a greeting you typically use when answering the phone - combined with the word "cinema", where the first three characters (もしも - moshimo) also hold the meaning of "if", resulting in a meaning of something like "What-if Cinema".
pg.2, panel 6: This has been mentioned before in previous chapters, but the Japanese here refers to Debeko using a 2nd/secret social media account to post cutting pictures and solicit for sex partners. People often create a second social media account to post things they wouldn't on their normal accounts, whether it be weird fandom stuff, or, as in the case of some of the characters in this manga, to let loose about their problems (or mental health (メンヘラ) issues).
pg.9, panel 2: Another reference/jab at prime minister Shinzo Abe.
pg.17, panel 4: Apples are a big industry in Aomori prefecture, which is likely why she chose to call herself an apple princess. It's not uncommon for aspiring idols to get their start in local events and use their home towns/prefectures as a way to help themselves stand out amongst the competition and show a sense of local pride.


---------------
Further Reading
---------------

Older manga
	Throughout DeDeDeDe are occasional references to older manga series that Asano likely read when he was younger. Most of the works referenced are considered classics in Japan and would be obvious to many Japanese manga readers. Isobeyan is an obvious parody of one of the most famous manga series in Japan: Doraemon. However, there are little references to other series as well, such as to other works by Fujiko Fujio. DeDeDeDe's art style also takes some inspiration from Shigeru Mizuki's style, especially the facial expressions.

	See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeru_Mizuki
	     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujiko_F._Fujio
	     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doraemon

2ch
	Peppered throughout DeDeDeDe are references to 2chan culture. From overt references like Ooba posting on a board that looks a lot like 2ch, to smaller stuff like Kadode and Ontan using slang popularized by 2ch. Many of these references are hard to translate directly, because even though the English speaking world has 4chan, many of the memes and much of the culture is different. Asano is also not shy about using net slang typically used by young people online.
	The squid and octopus stuff you see in DeDeDeDe was also likely influenced by 2ch culture, where it's common for posters to refer to people and groups with differing ideologies and beliefs with creative derogatory slang.

2011 Tohoku Earthquake
	Based on the imagery and depiction of the alien "invasion", it's clear that Asano used the 2011 earthquake
as inspiration. See the translation note for chapter 2, page 18 for a good example. In addition, the "black mist" -
the A Rays - shown throughout the story has slight parallels with the Fukushima reactor meltdown that occurred as
a result of the tsunami. Check the Wikipedia article for a more detailed explanation of all that happened:

	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami

Japanese Militarization
	Following World War 2 and the new Japanese constitution created under American occupation, Japan became
a peaceful nation and was forbidden from wars of aggression (see: Article 9 of the Japanese constitution). That's
the major reason the Japanese military is called the Self-Defense Forces rather than an army, navy, etc. Since
the very beginning there have been many who have argued for a stronger military and the rewriting of the constitution
to change/get rid of Article 9.
	Mostly only minor changes have occurred over the years, but the return of Shinzou Abe as prime minister
in 2012 has led to some drastic waves in Japanese politics. Japan still restricts itself from engaging in wars
of aggression, but laws have been passed in the past few years that allow for greater action by the Self-Defense
Forces worldwide. Many have viewed these laws as unconstitutional and fear that Japan will get wrapped up in wars
and military actions.
	I don't want to go on and on about all this, but I think you should be able to see now how Asano takes
things happening in Japan right now and uses them as inspiration for the story and events of DeDeDeDe. Fears of militarization, left wing and right wing groups arguing back and forth, a prime minister and government using a time of crisis as a way to push through controversial legislation, and so on. For more detailed explanations, take a look at these articles:

	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinzou_Abe#Defense_and_security_policy

	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Japanese_military_legislation

Student Protests
	In response to the events described above, many people have risen up in protest of the government's actions.
While protests have a long history in Japan, one of the more interesting recent events is young students, many
still in high school, also joining the protests and forming their own groups to organize and push for action.
SEALDs is one such group, and the group SHIP in DeDeDeDe is directly modeled off of them. As of late 2016, SEALDs
has disbanded without accomplishing any of their goals. See the translation note for chapter 28 and the following:

	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEALDs

2020 Olympics
	While not a huge plot point, the Japan in DeDeDeDe is gearing up for the Olympics just as the real world
Japan is doing the same, so it deserves a brief mention.

	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Summer_Olympics


For alternative or additional sources in English, try searching for these topics at places like The Japan Times (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/), past NHK English broadcasts, Google, Youtube, etc.


-----------
If you have any questions, concerns, or corrections you can contact me at my twitter: https://twitter.com/SevenFacedBird