I’ve seen a few of these shows, one of my ex-roommates liked the show, as does my youngest brother (who’s taken to wearing shirts that say du-ra-go-n-ba-ru Z on them in katakana letters.)
Why in the world are the words “Kame House” painted on the roof of Kame’s house? Aside from how generally stupid that would be anyways, which I can forgive in a show where the characters give a constant running narrative of their fighting moves in mid-battle, but isn’t this show done in Japanese and dubbed into English? So shouldn’t his eponymous rooftop be designated “Kame Otaku” (which I think is Japanese for house)? Why would he have an English word printed in our alphabet on his roof, in a Japanese show? Not to mention that “kame” is also spelled out in English letters rather than in Japanese syllable letters.
I can’t believe I’m going to admit to knowing this, but in Japan the “Turtle Hermit” Master Roshi is known as “Kame Sen’in” or “Turtle God,” I think.
The words “Kame’s House” are either in the original series in English, or it’s an early translator’s work and it stuck. My vote goes for the former.
The reason for this is an obscure, inside joke.
Kame is supposed to be a martial arts master, a sensei living in contemplation.
As such, he is supposed to discourage all but the truly worthy from becoming his students. Traditionally, this means living quietly, in seclusion, & practicing a lifestyle of self-denial & meditation, like a monk’s.
But Kame is anything but monastic in his outlook. He is a lewd, self-indulgent old coot, who lives well, in a comfort-filled house, & tries to feel up girls at all opportunities.
So, instead of living humbly, & seeking privacy & seclusion, he advertises.
I had a friend translate all the original books way back in the 80s when they were still coming out. The English, that particular one and many others, was there from the beginning.
Why? Cause English is so cool man! Toss it around when you can because it’s hip and it gives you that look that you want. That’s really what it is. I think their food industry does this a lot. You want to make your food product cool you give it an English name like Dew. Heh, Dew sounds so nice and cool let’s use it twice and call it Dew-Dew. Real Japanese food item. Or at least it was. That’s really all there is to it.
Kame Sen’nin doesn’t mean Turtle God.
Kame = Turtle
Sen = Senior
Nin = Person
Sen’nin = Master (as in master craftsmen or master martial artist)
So he’s the Turtle Master. Which is both a play off of Kamehameha (name was chosen by Toriyama-san’s wife cause she was readig about the Hawaian King Kamehameha) and his training technique of wearing shells to build muscle.