Japanese with Manga

No time to return to headquarters with 本部

Kanji Explanation: Sections and departments with 部

Manga panel from ARIA The MASTERPIECE showing example of No time to return to headquarters with 本部.
ARIA The MASTERPIECE » Volume 3 » Page 286

Akari encounters Woody while he’s out on a delivery run. He stopped to show off for some kids, but in the process, he seems to have lost his city map, and he has a terrible sense of direction. Akari asks if he has the delivery addresses, which he says he does.

ウッディー:
「でも　本部(ほんぶ)まで地図(ちず)を取(と)りに戻(もど)る時間(じかん)がないのだぁ！」
“But I don't have time to go back to headquarters to get a map!!”
Literal: “But there is no time to return as far as headquarters to get the map!!”

Key Points

1本部(ほんぶ) = headquarters
  • 本部(ほんぶ) uses 部 in the sense of an organizational division or office.
  • In this scene it means the company’s central base, so “headquarters” fits naturally.
2まで marks the destination
  • 本部(ほんぶ)まで means “as far as headquarters” or more naturally here “to headquarters”.
  • The line is about physically going back there to retrieve the map.
3地図(ちず)を取(と)りに戻(もど)る = go back to get the map
  • 〜に戻(もど)る here expresses returning for the purpose of getting something.
  • The fuller idea is “return to headquarters in order to pick up the map”.

Vocabulary

(Headquarters)

本部(ほんぶ) refers to the central location or governing body within an organization or group. It denotes the top-level base or department responsible for issuing instructions and overseeing operations.

See Also

  • External: Marking the direct object with を
ARIA The MASTERPIECE © its respective creators. It is used here for educational commentary.