我々の組は高齢化が進んで、若手が足りない。
Our gang has an aging problem; we don’t have enough young blood.

So what’s the deal with 〜化する? It’s all about transformation, ya dig? It’s the verb you use when something changes, becomes something else, or you make it into something else. Think of it like the “-ify,” “-ize,” or “-ification” in English. It’s how you take a regular-ass noun and turn it into an action. You’re not just talkin’ about a thing; you’re talkin’ about the process of it becoming that thing. It’s how you turn a situation from “all good” to “it’s complicated.”
Check it. Imagine you got a basic, busted-ass 1994 Honda Civic. That’s your plain noun, like 単純 (tanjun – simple). It just sits there, doin’ nothin’.

Now, you hand it over to the crew. They drop in a V8, add a candy paint job, and put a whole sound system in the trunk. The car went through a process. It became something new, something fly. That whole transformation? That’s 単純化する (tanjun-ka suru – to simplify it) or in this case, a カスタム化 (kasutamu-ka – customization). The car’s whole identity changed. That’s what 〜化する does. It’s the grammar for a major glow-up.

Here’s the cheat sheet on how you build this thing.
| Noun | Add 化 | English Meaning |
| 映画 (eiga – movie) | 映画化 (eiga-ka) | Cinematization (the process of making a movie) |
| 国際 (kokusai – international) | 国際化 (kokusai-ka) | Internationalization |
| 機械 (kikai – machine) | 機械化 (kikai-ka) | Mechanization |
| 悪 (aku – evil/bad) | 悪化 (akka) | Worsening / Deterioration |
It’s dead simple, no cap. You take a noun, usually one of them fancy kango words (words from Chinese), and you just slap 化 (ka) on the end. Bam. Now you got a new noun that means “the process of becoming X.” To make it a verb, you add する (suru), which you can then conjugate any way you want—past tense, negative, whatever. It’s like adding custom spinners to your word; you can make it do anything.

Aight, here are some dispatches from the block so you can see how it’s used for real.
偽札作りのプロセスを完全に自動化した。
We completely automated the counterfeit money-making process.
俺たちのビジネスも、そろそろ国際化しないとな。
It’s about time our business went international.
このビジネスを合法化するには、弁護士が必要だ。
We need a lawyer to legalize this business.
昔ながらのやり方はもう古い。すべて機械化するぞ。
The old-school ways are outdated. We’re gonna mechanize everything.
新しい盗聴器は、かなり小型化されている。
The new listening device has been significantly miniaturized.
ボスの娘は留学して、すっかりアメリカ化した。
The boss’s daughter studied abroad and became completely Americanized.
証拠をすべてデジタル化して、サーバーに隠した。
I digitized all the evidence and hid it on a server.
この町の西側は、急速に都市化している。
The west side of this town is rapidly urbanizing.
情報が多すぎるから、ちょっと単純化してくれ。
There’s too much information, simplify it for me a bit.
敵のチームとの問題が深刻化する前に解決しろ。
Handle the problem with the rival crew before it gets serious.

Here’s the new vocabulary you gotta peep for this lesson.
偽札
(にせさつ) This is that funny money you use when you tryna pull a fast one.
そろそろ
(そろそろ) It’s about that time we get this show on the road, you feel me?
昔ながらの
(むかしながらの) That’s that old-school flavor, the way cats used to do it back in the day.
盗聴器
(とうちょうき) The feds be plantin’ this little bug to peep game on your whole operation.
留学する
(りゅうがくする) You bounce to another country to get your knowledge up.
急速に
(きゅうそくに) Things be blowin’ up real quick, like goin’ from zero to a hundred overnight.
解決する
(かいけつする) You handle your business and dead that problem for good.
Aight, that’s the 4-1-1 for today. Study up, practice, and don’t get caught lackin’. Keep your grammar tight and your hustle strong.


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