The Japanese Buzzword Museum

All exhibits

№ 027 shibō furagu “Death flag”: a programming term for the moment a character seals their own fate — like showing a photo of their sweetheart in a war movie. 2000s № 026 chūnibyō “Eighth-grader syndrome”: the imaginary illness of pretending you have hidden powers and a dark past. Symptoms peak at fourteen. 2000s № 025 riajū A word for people whose offline life is going well — coined, of course, by people online. 2000s № 024 sōshoku-kei danshi “Herbivore men” — a zoological label for men with no appetite for the chase. Foreign newspapers loved it. 2000s № 023 konkatsu “Marriage hunting” — a word that admitted, out loud, that marriage no longer just happens. 2000s № 022 tsundere Cold on the outside, melting on the inside. A fan-made word for a character type — now teaching Japanese to the world. 2000s № 021 ikemen The standard word for a handsome man — with two origin stories fused into its last syllable, and nobody needs to choose. 2000s № 020 risutora English said “restructuring.” Japanese heard “you’re fired.” A euphemism that lost its disguise within a few years. 1990s № 019 purikura A photo-sticker machine’s brand name that became the word itself — and an early rehearsal for the selfie age. 1990s № 018 amurā Fans who dressed like the singer Namie Amuro, named with an English “-er” stuck onto her name. The suffix outlived the boom. 1990s № 017 kogyaru Tanned high-school girls who ruled 1990s Shibuya — and bent the Japanese language to their will. 1990s № 016 sankō The three things a husband was supposed to be: tall, educated, rich. A wish list from the age when Japan believed the money would never stop. 1980s № 015 hanakin “Flowery Friday” — the night Japan’s office workers celebrated their brand-new two-day weekend. The flower wilted with the economy. 1980s № 014 dasai The eternal opposite of “cool.” It has outlived every word for “cool” it was ever paired with. 1980s № 013 oshi A verb for “push” became a noun for the person you support. Then it became a way of life. 2020s № 012 pien The sound of a face about to cry — one syllable, and the emoji that never leaves its side. 2020s № 011 emo-i English “emotional” plus one Japanese letter — a word for feelings that have no name. 2010s № 010 kusa It means LOL. The reason involves grass growing across your screen. 2010s № 009 guguru Google, conjugated as a Japanese verb. The language has been doing this to foreign words for a century. 2000s № 008 sha-me A word for phone photos, born in the country that put cameras in phones before almost anyone else. 2000s № 007 cho-beri-ba One Japanese prefix stacked on two English words: “super very bad.” Schoolgirls built it; adults never caught up. 1990s № 006 asshii In the bubble years, a man with a car could be reduced to one body part: the legs. 1990s № 005 otaku The world knows this word now. It began as a strangely polite way to say “you.” 1980s № 004 madogiwa-zoku When a Japanese company would not fire you, it gave you a seat by the window — and the newspapers gave you a name. 1970s