Moro and his connection to Tochigi Prefecture

If you take a deeper look at possible name puns from the Galactic Patrol Prisoner arc, you'll find some interesting connections to Toyotaro's local area in Japan...

I made a little thread about the name puns on Twitter like a few years ago as well as post on the Kanzenshuu forum, since it's not really known information (mostly unconfirmed, just putting things together which make sense). So, in the December 2013 VJUMP issue we learned not only about Toyotarou's birthday (May 17, 1978), but also that he is from Tochigi Prefecture (about 2 hours by train from Tokyo).



Why is that important? Well, many name puns of Moro and his henchmen seemingly have a connection Toyotaro's local area Tochigi, which is very interesting, since the Galactic Patrol Prisoner arc was seemingly "Toyotaro's own arc" (with Toriyama rather in a more consulting position).

First, the most obvious:
Moro and Saganbo
Both "Moro" and "Saganbo" refer to shark meat in local Tochigi dialect. Maybe also worth to note that Tochigi has no connection to the sea, so they get the meat from the fishing in Miyagi Prefecture.

Miza, Iwaza and Kikaza (the three girls who later fuse)
Their names refer to the "three wise monkeys" (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil) - which originates from a carving in the famous Tosho-gu shrine in Nikko, which is a famous touristic place in Tochigi Prefecture.

OG-73i
I actually had no clue about this one, but Toyotaro revealed the meaning on Threads post in February 2024.The strawberry type "Tochi-Aika" from Tochigi Prefecture was previously known as "i37号" - and if you spell it backwards it becomes "OG73i". That's the only pun Toyotaro actually confirmed.
It also builds a connection Seven-Three's creator "Goichi", which appears to be a pun on "Ichigo" (strawberry).

Shimorekka (the one which looks a bit similar to Beelzebub from "Sandland"):
Probably based on "Shimotsukare" (しもつかれ), which is a dish in the Northern Kanto area and mainly served in Tochigi. It's made of salmon head, vegetables, soybeans, abura-age (or deep fried tofu skins) and sake kasu (酒粕, literally rice pulp from fermented sake).

Yunba (the bear-looking one)
The name is likely based on "Yuba", which is a food made from the tofu skin that forms of soy milk when it gets heated.
Which is again, famous in Tochigi and seemingly especially in Nikko.

Zauyogi (the guy who fought with Yamcha)
Of course, on the first look, his name is just based on Gyoza, which you get all around Japan. However, if you ask Japanese people for famous Gyoza regions you often hear the city "Utsunomiya" in Tochigi Prefecture. There's even an annual Gyoza festival and a Gyoza street.

For the other characters, some have a slight, but seemingly a way lower connection to Tochigi:

Yuzun is based on Yuzu (a citrus fruit), probably to fit the name puns of Zarbon's race. There was also a character called Yuzu in the game Geikishin Freeza with the same pun source. Yuzu is also harvested in Tochigi, much like in many other regions of Japan, so I wouldn't go as far as calling it a Tochigi-based pun, but the connection is still there though.

Bikkura Quoitur comes from びっくらこいた, which is "I'm surprised" in Hokkaido dialect, but seemingly also used elsewhere in North East Japan. Maybe a stretch to connect this one for Tochigi as well.

Quite an interesting move from Toyotaro to build a connection to his local prefecture in a Dragon Ball story (seemingly for the most part) created by him.