Newly Popular Japanese Words
(from the 2005 editions of Imidas and Gendai Yougo no Kiso Chishiki)
Terms with Kanji (some also include katakana/hiragana words):
µµ¼\ (boo-hoo-swindle, shikushiku-sagi)
Yet another form of telephone fraud, in which a male swindler telephones
a female target and convinces her to transfer large sums of money into
a bank account. (See last year's II¼\). Sobbing, the man pretends to be her husband and relays some shocking
news: He has just caused a traffic accident; she must immediately send
money to the victimfs bank account for a private settlement or there will
be dire consequences for the family. One resident of Yokohama was swindled
out of 9,990,000 yen in June, 2004 through this scam.
·ņ^f (hot springs-suspicion, onsen-giwaku)
Several well-known hot springs resorts were caught last year adding chemicals
to supplement the supposed healing power/natural white color of their waters.
The scandal reached even larger proportions when it was revealed that other
ghot springsh resorts were actually pumping mere tap water into their
bathtubs.
µoŠ (trial-come to the office, tameshi-shussha)
By last year, approximately one in every four Japanese companies had this
system in place. It allows employees who have taken extended leave from
work because of mental stress to return to work gradually, beginning with
shorter hours and lessened responsibilities.
Ł»õ§x (court-member-system, saiban-in-seido)
Japanese citizens, long accustomed to judges handing down decisions in
criminal cases, will finally have a quasi-jury system, beginning in 2009.
Jurors will be drawn from voting lists, and will work with judges to hand
down court decisions. Registered voters will have a one in seventy chance
of being called to jury duty in their lifetime.
ćķč„@(substitute-bowl of rice with food on top, kawari-don)
Faced with a ban on American beef imports imposed by the Japanese government in December, 2003, following the first case of mad cow disease in the United States, chain restaurants specializing in gyuudon (rice in a bowl with beef on top) had to get creative with their offerings in order to keep customers coming in. They came up with a variety of substitutes, using pork and chicken, and some chains eventually turned to Australian or Chinese beef. Yoshinoya, which operates 1,250 outlets, announced that its net profit plunged 53 percent in the first half of 2004.
ĄP (die-face, ike-men)
This is a play on the popular katakana word CP (ikemen), used to describe a man with a handsome face (Ź men means gfaceh). The newly-created homonym ĄP denotes a man with
an unattractive face. Since Ą is a euphemistic substitute for @(die),
ĄPcould be translated as gthe face of the dearly departed.h
ā^[(chill-er, rei-taa)
Rei-taa are folks who freeze foods (such as bananas, yoghurt, and pudding)
before eating them. gTaah means ga person who does something,h and
comes from the g-erh in English words like gsmoker.h
@s (nose-pierce, hana-pi)
gPih is short for "pierced." Other variations on the theme
include w\s (navel-pierce, heso-pi) and xs (tongue-pierce, bero-pi). .
ü(beautiful-white, bi-haku)
Used by young people to describe a woman with light skin.
ŲXPP(Fahrenheit-911, kashi-kyuu-ichi-ichi)
The Japanese title for Michael Moorefs controversial documentary is a literal translation of the original, without a slash to separate the month and day (i.e., 9/11). The film opened in Japan in August to long lines and enthusiastic audiences, and caused a considerable stir in the media, with some openly pro-Bush Japanese newspapers publishing the claims of Web sites devoted to debunking Moore's claims.
And finally, a new word that can be written in either romaji or katakana:
NEET (j[g)
NEET is an acronym for: Not in Education, Employment, or Training. This
refers to the increasing number of Japanese young people who are not in
school or working full-time, and who have no concrete plans for the future.
Did you miss last year's newly popular kanji words? Check them out here.