The Japanese Buzzword Museum

All exhibits

№ 051 moe A word for plants putting out new shoots, taken up to name a feeling toward drawn characters. Where it came from is still argued: a typing error, or a girl named Moe. 2000s № 050 tsundoku A pun about books bought and never opened, in print since the 1800s. English has no word of its own for the habit, so it borrowed this one. 2020s № 049 enjō The word for a building going up in flames, given to a post that has drawn a crowd of critics. Everything that follows — fuel, spread, extinguishing — stays inside the same fire. 2000s № 048 shabai A delinquents’ put-down from the 1980s, left for dead — dug up and worn again by kids who never met the first users. 2020s № 047 kōbun A dry grammar-class word — “sentence pattern” — became slang the moment a generation started collecting the way people talk, like specimens. 2020s № 046 chiru A borrowed English word for taking it easy — with which a busy generation gave a name to the unhurried mood itself. 2020s № 045 dopa-gaki “Dopamine brat”: what a generation raised on the endless scroll calls itself — and sometimes each other. Half confession, half jab. 2020s № 044 kaeru-ka genshō “Frog-ification”: a psychology term from a Grimm fairy tale, adopted by a generation — who changed its meaning almost completely on the way. 2020s № 043 kaiwai An old word for “neighborhood” that moved onto the internet — where the neighborhoods have no streets, only shared obsessions. 2020s № 042 oya-gacha “Parent gacha”: you cannot choose your parents, the way you cannot choose what a capsule machine dispenses. A toy metaphor that started a national argument. 2020s № 041 shika katan The highest praise in the language, built entirely out of a negation: “nothing wins except...” 2020s № 040 shiran kedo State your opinion firmly. Then add: “I don’t know, though.” The Kansai art of the instant disclaimer, adopted by the whole country. 2020s № 039 niowase “Letting the scent drift”: announcing a secret romance through two coffee cups in one photo. Saying nothing, and making sure everyone smells it. 2020s № 038 yōkya / inkya All of humanity, sorted into two kanji: sun-people and shade-people. Ancient Chinese philosophy, reborn as school-cafeteria taxonomy. 2020s № 037 numa “The swamp”: where a casual interest becomes a hobby, the hobby becomes a life, and your savings are never seen again. 2020s № 036 seichi junrei “Pilgrimage to sacred sites” — except the sacred sites are the real-world locations of anime scenes. The devotion is not entirely a joke. 2010s № 035 botchi A clipped word for being alone that slowly stopped being sad. It may descend from a word for a monk. 2010s № 034 chīto English “cheat” means fraud. Japanese チート means you’re so good it feels unfair — and it’s a compliment. 2010s № 033 tapiru “To tapioca”: a verb meaning “drink bubble tea,” born from a boom and buried with it. Lifespan of the word: roughly one boom. 2010s № 032 maunto o toru “Taking the mount” — a fighting term for the subtle art of establishing superiority over a friend, mid-conversation. 2010s № 031 kidoku surū Being left on read — but as a named social offense. Two characters on a screen, 既読, created a new way to hurt someone. 2010s № 030 bazuru English “buzz” plus a Japanese verb ending: to go suddenly, gloriously viral. The fate every word in this collection once had. 2010s № 029 garakē Japan’s flip phones were only given their name — “Galapagos phone” — after the smartphone arrived to replace them. Some things get named at their funeral. 2010s № 028 kuro-rekishi “Dark history”: a word from a giant-robot anime that now appears in newspapers. Most people who use it have no idea. 2000s