Jan Dodd : Japan : Update

This glossary was created by Tada Taku in Tsukuba and is reproduced here with his kind permission.

Its purpose is to give a general feel for contemporary Japan, as relected in the media and everyday life of the 1980s and 90s. Though there is a special emphasis on customs and manners, food, fashion, social problems, regional differences etc, the selection of words is entirely subjective.

Entries are listed alphabetically in Japanese (with one or two exceptions). The date given at the end of the definition (where appropriate) shows approximately when the word or phrase first came into fashion or began to appear frequently in the media.

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - M - N - O - P - R - S - T - U - W - Y - Z

To keep the pages a manageable length the glossary consists of 3 pages:
This page: A-I; Page 2: J-O; Page 3: P-Z.

Adaruto chirudoren (adult children)
Young people who are morally immature and tend to withdraw into their own world. Misuse of the American word "adult children of abusive parents". [1997]

Agura
Manner of sitting with legs folded and crossed on the tatami, usually practiced only by men.

Aho; Baka
Invectives meaning idiot or stupid. Aho is more often used in Kansai, while baka is more common in Kantô. It is a cliché that aho has a warmer feel, because, when Kansaians say aho, it is implied that everybody has an aho side.

Ahô-dori, short-tailed albatross
Inhabiting Tori-shima Island south of Tôkyô, ahô-dori was declared extinct in 1949 from overhunting, but they were later found out living and made a miraculous recovery. As of 2001, ahô-dori number about 1,300 birds on Tori-shima and about 200 in the Senkaku Islands.

Aibo
Trademark of an epoch-making robot dog that was put on sale by Sony in 1999 and became an instant hit. The name is associated with "Artificial Intelligence roBOt" and the Japanese word aibô (buddy).

*Aidoru (idol)
Young male or female pop star created by stragetical calculations of the production office. Flourished especially in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The most representative idols of that period [golden age] include the duo Pink Lady, Yamaguchi Momoe (1959-), Matsuda Seiko (1962-) and Nakamori Akina (1965-).

Ainori (ride-together)
All major political parties except the Communists backing the same candidate. Conspicuous tendency in mayoral and gubernatorial elections since the 1980s.

Airin Chiku
Skid row, or slum area, for day labourers in Ôsaka's Nishinari-ku district, the biggest in Japan. Also called Kamagasaki.

*Aji no moto (Source of tastiness)
Chemical seasoning largely made up of monosodium glutamate, which was identified as the source of the tastiness (umami) typically liked by the Japanese. Aji no moto is now in use in other parts of Asia, too. [1909]

Aka-suri
Scrubbing grime off your skin with a hard brush. Health practice imported from South Korea, popular among young women. [Around 1990]

Akisame
Also called aki no naga-ame or shûrin. Rainy season in September, brought about by a front zone separating the air mass of summer and that of autumn. Pairs with tsuyu.

*Akô Rôshi
The famous 47 samurai, led by Ôishi Kura-no-Suke, who raided the mansion of Kira Kôzuke-no-suke and killed him on the night of December 14, 1702 in order to take revenge for their master Asano Takumi-no-kami, knowing that they would be forced to commit suicide as a punishment. Akô is a placename to the west of Himeji, Hyôgo Prefecture, and rôshi is synonymous with rônin (masterless samurai). (Nowdays, the word rônin usually refers to high school graduates who have failed college entrance exams and are preparing to resit.)

*Akutagawa Shô (Akutagawa Prize)
Most prestigious literary prize, conferred twice a year. It comes in a pair with Naoki Shô, the most prestigious prize for entertainment literature. In the 1980s, there was a general feeling that literature was in a crisis, but in the 1990s, literature seems to have picked up again somehow. Prize since 1935.

Ama-kudari (descent from the heaven, or golden parachuting)
The practice of bureaucrats finding high-ranking jobs in quangos or private enterprises after retirement. This allows the bureaucrats to find a handsome source of income after retirement, at the same time allowing the quangos and enterprises to secure a pull with the high officials.

Amerajian (Amerasians)
Children of U.S. soldiers stationed in Asia and local women. Amerasians in Okinawa are often subject to such problems as cultural identity crisis and bullying at school.

Ampan
Bread with something inside. Invented in 1874. In the 1990s, there was a popular children's animated movie "Ampan man".

Ampo Tôsô (Security Treaty Protest)
Protest movement against the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty in 1960. The biggest mass protest throughout the post-war era. Ms Kamba Michiko, student at the University of Tôkyô, was killed in the clash at the age of 22 on June 15, 1960.

Amuro Namie (1977-)
Female idol singer and superstar of the latter half of the 1990s, born in Okinawa. Her shotgun wedding in 1997 took her fans by surprise. She heads the list of numerous successful singers produced by the Okinawa Actors School of legendary fame in the latter half of the 1990s and onward (others including MAX, SPEED, DA BUMP).

Atsu-zoko sandaru (thick-soled sandals)
Sandals with a sole thickness of 10cm or even more, worn by girls of the kogyaru type. A 25-year-old Kanagawa woman died on August 26, 1999, presumably from stumbling and hitting her head because of the think-soled boots (reported in the press on September 2). On November 1, 1999, a 25-year-old car driver failed to step on the brake because of the thick-soles boots and crashed against a concrete pole in Ibaraki, killing her fellow passenger. The thick sole fad came as a blessing to the shoes industry, one of the major industries of Kôbe, which suffered significantly from the 1995 earthquake. [1999]

*Baburu Keizai (Bubble Economy)
A period of unprecedented economic boom which lasted approximately from 1986 to 1990. Speculative activities caused sky-rocketing land and real-estate prices. Enterprises and private citizens became obsessed with buying up assets in Western countries, too ("Japan money"). The after-effects are still dogging the country to this day. [1990]

Baikingu (Viking)
All-you-can-eat buffet. Increased in number in the 1990s. The prices hover around 1,000-1,500 yen for lunch and more for dinner. [1957]

Baka-tono (idiot lord)
Elite man with a prestigious career who lacks common sense.

Banchô
Leader of a group of delinquent teenagers. A female banchô is called a suke-ban. [1963]

Bankara
One style of manlihood that was popular until around the 1970s, typically among college students, being unrefined in outlook and behaviour. Opposite of haikara. Another concept worth mentioning is taiiku-kai kei, sport club type. [1898]

Bankon-ka (later marriage)
In 2000, the average age of the first marriage rose to 28.8 for men and 27.0 for women. Non-marriage (hikon) is getting more and more common.

*Barentain Dê (St. Valentine's Day); Howaito Dê (White Day)
February 14. On this day, girls are supposed to give chocolate to boys whom they like, a custom commercially introduced to Japan after the war, around the 1960s. However, in the early 1980s it became practically obligatory for female company workers to give a box of chocolate to all their male colleagues (giri choko). Men are supposed to give back a return present on Howaito Dê (White Day), March 14.

Batafurai naifu (butterfly knife)
Foldaway-type knife that became popular among teenagers after the superstar Kimura Takuya brandished one in a TV drama in 1997. It turned out that a surprisingly large number of teenage boys were daily carrying knives to school in order to make up for their inner sense of insecurity. This led to a number of cruel murder cases, like the one in which a 26-year-old female teacher was stabbed to death by a 13-year-old boy during a class on January 28, 1998.

Beni shôga (red ginger)
Pickled ginger, sliced in threads and tainted red. Typically accompanies sushi and gyûdon.

Bentô; O-bentô
Lunchbox. Often sold in special outlets and from peddlers' trucks. Sold in convenience stores, too.

Berammê
Traditional Tôkyô dialect of the working class, known for the high-spirited tone. Berammê (corruption of Berabôme) is a derogatory word. It might be translated as "damn you". Tôkyô-ben has another typical invective teyandê, short for nani itte yan dê (meaning "What's that crap?").

Bibimba
Bowl of rice mixed with various toppings like meat, vegetables and raw egg. From the Korean, pibim-bbap. Since the late 1990s, a fast-food chain "Ishiyaki Bibimpa", dealing specially in bibimpa, has been developing.

Bijuaru-kei rokku bando (visual-type rock bands)
Rock bands whose members dressed in tawdry costumes like kabuki actors. They have become fashionable in the latter half of the 1990s. The most representative groups include GLAY and L'arc-en-ciel. [Mid-1990s]

Bijuaru-shi (visual magazine)
Monthly or biweekly magazines enriched with photo gravures, distinguishing themselves with their high esthetic standard and chic stylishness. The best ones include Sarai and Tôkyô-jin.

Binihon (vinyl book)
Porn book wrapped in plastic film to prevent free browsing. Some second-hand bookstores deal in vinyl books in order to make both ends meet. [1980]

Bodikon (body-conscious)
Young woman who is preoccupied with her sexy attractiveness. [1987]

*Boke (stooge); Tsukkomi (bully)
Words to indicate the respective roles of two manzai performers. These concepts are used to explain roles of people in every situation of life.

Bon odori (Bon dance)
Public dance performed in the summer festivity of neighborhood communities. People dance around a lit-up stage of a square shape to the tune of recorded music of the min'yô style.

Botton benjo (plop toilet)
Japanese-style toilet of the primitive sort which is underlain by a huge empty box.

Budô
Martial arts. Major ones include jûdô, karate, aikidô and kendô (using bamboo swords). They are practiced by many people as hobbies, but by no means by a majority of the population. Taekwondo is Korean, while tai chi chuan and kung fu are Chinese.

Bunka jûtaku (cultural residence)
Low-story apartment house for people of relatively modest income.

Bunraku
Traditional puppet play. The accompanying narrative is called jôruri.

Burusera
One form of underground sex industry, buying dirty underwear from teenage girls and selling it to men, which became a focus of media attention in the early 1990s. Synthesis of buruma (bloomers) and sêrâ fuku (sailor blouse). [1993]

*Cha; O-cha (tea)
Most commonly consumed types of Japanese tea include hôji cha (brown and of ordinary quality); gemmai cha (roasted rice tea); mugi cha (roasted barley tea usually drunk in summer); uji cha, hako cha, ryoku cha (green tea in general); bancha (green tea of low quality); sencha (green tea of medium quality); gyokuro (green tea of high quality); matcha (powdered green tea used in the tea ceremony) etc. Since the 1980s, Chinese tea is also consumed, of which ûron cha (oolong tea) is the most common type.

Champon; Champon men
Chinese noodles with meat and vegetables in a thick caramel sauce, a speciality of Nagasaki. According to the most popular theory, champon was invented by Mr. Chen Pingshun in 1899. Another local specialty of Nagasaki is sara udon (udon on the platter), eaten with usutâ sôsu.

Champurû
Sauté of vegetables, tôfu and meat eaten in Okinawa. The most famous is gôyâ champurû with bitter gourd (gôyâ). Other important items in Okinawan cuisine include rafutii (square pieces of pork boiled in soy sauce) and sôki (pork sparerib). Okinawa has a special sort of noodles (Okinawa soba), too.

Chanko; Chanko nabe
Meat and vegetable stew in a big pot, consumed by sumô wrestlers. Came to be eaten in sumô stables during the age of the Yokozuna Hitachiyama in late Meiji (1868-1912). There are two different theories on the etymology: one theory says that chanko came from a Japanese word meaning Dad, used to call the senior wrestler in charge of the pot, while the other theory says that it came from a Chinese word for the pot that is used in cooking it.

*Chapatsu
Dyeing one's hair brown, which became fashionable among young men and women since the mid-1990s. Combination of cha (brown) and the ending of kimpatsu (blond). [1994]

Charumera
Sort of a bugle, traditionally used by cruising food peddlers. It is of Chinese origin, introduced to Japan in the Edo period and later became associated with Chinese food peddlers in the early 20C. The tune of charumera arouses a nostalgic mood in your heart.

Chiimâ (teamers)
Delinquent boys who hang out typically in Tôkyô's Shibuya quarter, sometimes indiscriminately attacking ordinary passers-by. [1991]

Chikan
Groper, or the act of groping. The JR Saikyô line, linking Tôkyô with its northern suburbs, is notorious for the frequent occurrence of groping. In March 2001, the Keiô line, covering Tôkyô's western suburbs, began operating cars exclusively for women in order to protect them from gropers. The JR Saikyô Line soon followed suit in July 2001.

*Chikatetsu sarin jiken (Sarin subway incident)
At around 8am on March 20, 1995, poisonous Sarin gas was released in the Tôkyô subway system, killing 12 people and poisoning more than 5,000, sending shock waves throughout the world. Some of the severely injured people had their brain functions damaged and have no prospect of returning to normal life. Aum Shinrikyô, a new religion, was identified as the attacker, and its guru Matsumoto Chizuo (a.k.a. Asahara Shôkô) was arrested on May 16. Many other murders were revealed to have been systematically carried out by Aum.

Chikyû ni yasashii
Earth-friendly. Used when referring to environmentally-friendly products. [Mid-1990s]

Chin-chin densha (jingle train)
Nickname for the tram, said with a touch of nostalgia.

Chindon'ya
Band of performers who played loud music in a queer costume in advertisement of the client's shop. Practically extinct, but survives as a curiosity these days. [1931]

Chinjao rôsu
Green pepper sauté with meat minced in threads. From the Chinese, qingjiao rousi.

Chôme
Numbered subdivisions of a district used in addresses. A typical Japanese address goes: seven-digit postal code; Prefecture (ken/fu/to/dô); City (shi); quarter (chô/machi/or no special suffix); chôme; banchi; gô. Chôme, banchi and gô are usually denoted in a string of three figures like 3-2-12. Bigger cities are divided into Wards (ku). In rural areas, the City is often replaced by a County (gun), which is subdivided into Towns (chô/machi) or Villages (mura/son). In such rural areas, a Town or Village name is often subdivided into Settlements (ô-aza/aza/ko-aza).

Chommage, mage
Topknot hairstyle typical of the feudal-era samurai and sumô wrestlers.

*Chônai-kai
Association of inhabitants in a quarter of town that is found everywhere in Japan. Not always tolerant to those members who do not like collective conformism.

Chûgoku zanryû Nihon-jin koji (Japanese orphans left in China)
In the disorder following Japan's defeat in the war in 1945, many Japanese then living in Manchuria left their small children with local Chinese families to be reared as adopted children. Those children grew up with Chinese being their sole mother tongue, many of them not knowing that they had Japanese blood until quite late in life. They suffered from a serious identity crisis. In 1981, China and Japan started a joint project to help them search for their close relatives in Japan, and the group visits were put into practice 30 times before being ended in 1999. They were allowed, under certain conditions, to immigrate ("repatriate", as the press says) to Japan on a permanent basis. In quite a number of cases, their spouses, children and grandchildren were also allowed to immigrate to Japan.

*Chûka ryôri (Chinese cuisine)
The Chinese style of cuisine was brought into Japan and became popular in the period from the 1900s to the 1920s, and became, since around 1960, an indispensable part of the popular food culture, with Japanese adaptations where necessary. In the restaurant scene, Chinese-style restaurants make up a large part of popular eateries of the cheapest rung.

Chûnambei imin (Emigrants to Latin America)
A large number of Japanese systematically emigrated to Latin America (Peru, Argentina, Brazil etc.) in the pre-war period and in the 1950s, many of them as workers such as farmers. The emigrants included a large number of Okinawans. The 1956-59 emigrants to the Dominican Republic, who numbered about 1,300, were not given the land promised to them before arrival, which became a major scandal. Since the 1980s, Brazilians and Spanish-speaking Latin Americans of Japanese descent are coming to Japan to work on special permission, and they now constitute a significant portion of the immigrant population in Japan.

Chûshû no Meigetsu (Mid-Autumn Full Moon)
The full moon of August of the lunar calendar, which usually falls on September of the solar calendar. People are supposed to watch the full moon (tsuki-mi), displaying pampas grass (susuki) and eating dango.

Dai Ku (No. 9)
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, sung and listened to traditionally toward the end of the year.

Daikon oroshi
Grated radish, eaten alone or with tempura, grilled fish and other dishes.

Dankai no Sedai (The Lump Generation)
Baby-boomers between 1947 and 1949, 8.06 million in population. Also called the Beatles Generation or Zenkyôtô Generation, So named by writer Sakaiya Taichi in 1976. The Dankai Generation is the first generation that went through the massification of the college and the intellectuals' recognition of the pop culture such as manga and pop music, so it forms a sort of cultural watershed, and a deep cultural gap is sometimes seen among intellectuals on both sides of this generation. The generation of their children, born between 1971 and 1974, is called Dankai Junia Sedai (The Lump Generation Jr.).

Danson johi
Male-chauvinism. It appears that modern male-chauvinism reached its peak in the first half of the 20C.

*Daruma
Typically papier-mâché doll of a round shape, without limbs, said to represent the Buddhist priest Dharma (founder of the Zen sect). A daruma is usually painted red and has a low center of weight, so that it rights itself when you lay it on its side. Legend has it that Dharma's legs decayed and went off because he sat too long in the seiza style. It is said that the Daruma doll brings good fortune if you fill only one of its eyes in black ink and leave out the other, because the doll wants to have its empty eye filled. Election candidates usually keep a big daruma in their office, and fill its blank eye when they are elected.

Daruma otoshi
Wooden toy in the shape of a daruma underlain by several slices of a cylinder. If you knock one of the cylinder slices with a wooden hammer, all the overlying parts simply drop on the next slice without collapsing.

Daruma-san ga koronda (the daruma has stumbled down)
A children's game. The one named the ogre (oni) stands facing a wall, reciting daruma-san ga koronda, and then looks back. The others are scattered in the distance, and approach him/her while he/she is reciting the phrase. However, you must stop your motion before the ogre looks back. If you are witnessed in motion, you are the loser and will become the next ogre. The ogre loses the game when somebody manages to touch his/her back.

Dashi no moto
Soup base, Japanese style. Usually, a powdered product is used in everyday cooking.

Datsua nyûô (out of Asia, into Europe)
Tendency for the modern Japanese leadership to wish to join in the rank of civilized countries by Westernization.

Datsu-sara (de-salarymanning)
The act of quitting the job as a salaryman and launching an independent business, like a farmer, a shop owner or an entrepreneur. The latent dream of many a salaryman. [1971]

Dobu-ita senkyo (gutter cover election)
Very hard election campaign, in which candidates try hard to dig out every available vote from among the grass roots.

Dobu nezumi (gutter rat)
Japanese working men dressed in monotonously grey suits.

Dodoitsu
Popular tune with 26-syllable (7-7-7-5) lyrics, which became popular in the Edo period. Now practically extinct.

Doi Takako (1928-)
Current head of the small Social Democratic Party and a widely respected figure. She was elected head of the Socialist Party in 1986 as the first woman to preside a major political party (until 1991). Her presence greatly encouraged feminist movements and civil movement for a certain period. Lower House Speaker 1993-96.

*Doken kokka (Construction state)
The post-war Japanese state, which has traditionally relied heavily on public investment in the construction industry.

Domburi (rice bowl)
Entered from Korea in the latter half of the Edo period. Refers both to the tableware and the food. Domburi appears both in Japanese and Chinese cooking. Japanese dishes include una don topped with eel (invented in 1836); oyako don (parent-and-child bowl) with chicken and egg; kaisen don topped with sashimi; tendon topped with tempura; niku don topped with meat sauté; katsu-don topped with deep-fried meat cutlet and covered with lightly cooked egg (invented in the early 20C), etc. Chinese dishes include chûka don (Chinese bowl) topped with meat and vegetables in a thick caramel sauce; Tenshin don (Tianjin bowl) topped with a big omelette, etc.

Dosue
Typical ending of the Kyôto dialect, a variant of Kansai-ben. Dosue corresponds to desu in standard Japanese.

*Dôwa (assimilation)
In the feudal era, the discrimination against some categories of people, that had existed largely on the basis of their professional lifestyle, was officially institutionalized. The discrimination was abolished with the modernist revolution in official terms, but it still lives on in the imagination of part of the population, and the buraku discrimination is still a serious social issue in certain regions, especially in western Japan.

Dôwa is the keyword for the administrators' effort to abolish the buraku discrimination, which was accompanied by measures to improve the infrastructure within corresponding communities. Zenkoku Suihei Sha (All-Japan Equality Society), a landmark association for the abolition of the buraku discrimination, was founded in 1922. The problem of "buraku", short for "hi-sabetsu buraku" (discriminated-against community), is on the way to extinction in a broader view, as ever fewer people in ever fewer regions have actually seen or heard about the discrimination.

Edo-kko wa yoi-goshi no kane wa mota-nai (An Edoite does not keep money overnight)
Proverb referring to the Edo (present-day Tôkyô) citizens' generous way of spending money.

Eikyû shûshoku (lifelong employment)
Humorous way of referring to a young woman securing her living for life by marrying and becoming a housewife.

Eki
A school of fortune-telling based on the Chinese yin-yang theory. Uses eight different combinations of yin and yang.

Eki-ben
Lunchbox sold at JR stations. Shortened form of eki (station) and bentô (lunchbox).

Ekonomikku animaru (economic animals)
Upstart-spirited Japanese people and enterprises who behaved in a terrible, inconsiderate way abroad in the 1970s and 80s. [1969]

*Enjo kôsai; abbr. enkô (assistance dating, sugar-daddying)
Voluntary prostitution by middle-class teenage girls, which became a serious social problem in the latter half of the 1990s. The commonest motive for girls to sell their body is their desire for money to play around with. By the end of the 1990s, enjo kôsai became a serious problem in South Korea, too. [1996]

*Enka (ballad)
A style of popular songs, liked by elder generations, characterized by lyrics narrating thick and wet emotions typical of the traditional Asian society, and a vocal style often vibrating and making use of the natural voice of the singer. Also exists in South Korea.

Esunikku (ethnic)
Anything other than Japanese, Chinese or Western, ususally with referrence to food or culture. [1986]

*Eto
Zodiac of Chinese origin with a 12-year cycle. Each year of the cycle is named after an animal: ne (mouse or rat); ushi (cow); tora (tiger); u (rabbit or hare); tatsu (dragon); mi (snake); uma (horse); hitsuji (sheep); saru (monkey or ape); tori (chicken); inu (dog) and i (boar). 1999 falls on the year of the rabbit, 2000 the year of the dragon. This cycle, combined with another 10-year cycle based on the notions of yin yang wu xing theory (traditional, and later superstitious, Chinese natural philosophy), constitutes a great cycle that circulates with a 60-year period (jikkan jûnishi).

Famikon
Video game machine. Short for "family computer". Nintendô and Sega are names of famikon companies that are known worldwide. [1986]

Famirii resutoran; abbr. famiresu (family restaurant)
Half American, half Japanese-style restaurant chain, with prices a little higher than in popular eateries but still reasonable (1,000-1,500 yen). They typically look like drive-in restaurants, but they are found not only along suburban highways but also in the central city. Major chains include Denny's, Jonathan's, Royal Host and Skylark.

Femio
Young men dressed in an innovatively feminine fashion, with chapatsu (dyed brown hair), pierced earrings and makeup. The 1990s was characterized by a radical feminization of the society, where the masculinity had dominated for about a century following the modernist revolution (the Meiji Restoration, 1868). [1994]

Fôku (folk)
A new trend in the pop music scene that appeared around the year 1970 under the influence of the contemporary Anglo-Saxon pop music. From February to July 1969, a street folk concert was held every Saturday in the underground square outside the West Exit of the JR Shinjuku station in Tôkyô, until it was banished by the riot police. Folk triggered a dramatic renovation of the youth music scene. Folk-style music is seeing something of a revival since the late 1990s, but the overall quality of this fad is yet to be seen.

*Fûfu bessei (separate surnames for married couples)
In Japan, it is not allowed for married couples to have separate names. In reality, about 98% of married couples use the surname of the husband. The Ministry of Law drew up a plan to revise the civil law to allow separate names in 1996, but there is no prospect for its full actualization as of 1999, because conservative congressmen are firmly opposed to the plan. In public opinion polls, those supporting fûfu bessei are neck and neck with those opposed to it.

Fuji-san (Mt. Fuji)
The highest mountain in Japan, whose image is often used as a symbol of the nation. "Fuji-yama" is a misnomer that is never said in the vernacular language. In summer, the mountain trails get very crowded. Sunrise watched on the top of a high mountain is called go-raikô and is highly appreciated. The thick Aoki-ga-hara Jukai forest, on its foot in Yamanashi Prefecture, is known as a popular suicide site.

*Fujiyama geisha
Byword for the stereotyped images Westerners tend to embrace of Japan. The natives scoff at such images on the one hand but often exploit such images on the other hand when they try to advertise or attract attention to their own country.

Fujôri manga (absurdity comics)
A trend in comics that amused readers with the absurdity of the story. Represented by cartoonist Yoshida Sensha (1963-). [Latter half of 1980s]

Fuku-toshin (metropolitan subcenters)
Newly developed, busy quarters in Tôkyô, such as Shinjuku, Shibuya or Ikebukuro.

Furiitâ (freeter)
Short for "free arbeiter". Young man or woman who doesn't like holding a permanent job and moves from one workplace to another. The increase of "freeters" reflect the decrease of available posts as well as the weakening social pressure against changing jobs easily. The Labor Ministry estimates that about half of high school graduates and 30% of college graduates who found a job in private enterprise in 1995 quit their job within 3 years. The Ministry also estimates that there were, as of 1997, 1.51 million young "freeters" (610,000 men and 900,000 women), and that 23% of new college graduates became "freeters" in 1999. [1987]

Furusato Sôsei (Homeland Creation)
Catchword of unclear meaning created by Prime Minister Takeshita Noboru during the Bubble Economy era. He subsequently handed 100 million yen equally to all cities, towns and villages nationwide, but many municipalities felt annoyed, not knowing what to do with that money. Many of the folly buildings (hako-mono) you see today in many parts of the country were built during or shortly after the Bubble Economy era. [1987]

*Futôkô (school non-attendance)
This phenomenon, which used to be called tôkô kyohi (refusal to go to school) formerly, has been a serious problem since the 1980s. Many children fall into non-attendance out of psychological reasons without any visible sign or definable cause. [Mid-1990s]

*Futon
Refers to both mattresses and quilts. Not the same thing as what is called futon in Western countries.

Fûzoku (public morals)
Entertainment industry with sexual connotations. More specifically, brothel.

Geisha
Hostess of the traditional entertainment business, with high skills in artistic performances. Some also engage themselves in sexual relations with customers.

*Gengô
Way of counting years, which was also used in China and Korea before the modern age (each country had its own gengô). Under the current system, which became law in 1979, a gengô begins with year one when an emperor is enthroned, and ends when he dies (the law says that the gengô is changed only when the succession of the throne takes place; in practice, however, it is generally understood that an emperor usually stays on the throne as long as he is alive). The Emperor is given a Chinese-model posthumous name when he dies, but he is simply referred to as "the Emperor in Throne" (Kinjô Tennô) while he is alive. For three generations since Emperor Meiji, the posthumous names have coincided with the gengô. 2001 falls on the 13th year of Heisei. Under the war-time totalitarian regime, a way of counting years, called kôki, was also used, which begins with 660 BC, year of the enthronement of the first Emperor Jimmu as stated in an ancient chronicle.

Genri Kenkyûkai (Principle Research Club)
Student circles affiliated with the Unification Church. Their active recruitment in college campuses first became a social problem in 1967, and continues to this day.

Geta
Wooden clogs with a thong to be caught between the big toe and the next toe.

Gêtobôru (gateball)
Sport resembling croquet, popular among aged men and women. [1982]

*Giri (social obligations); Ninjô (human feelings)
A set of two conflicting values that are one of the basic themes dealt with in Japanese dramaturgy (play, songs, novels, etc).

*Go; Igo
Popular game of Chinese origin, played by two people who compete to dominate a larger part of a 19-by-19 grid face using black and white pebbles.

Gojûgo-nen taisei (1955 Regime)
Regime of parliamentary party politics that remained stable from 1955 to 1993. The unified right (the Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP) permanently held a majority, while the Socialist Party (about half the LDP in number of seats) formed the axis of the permanent opposition. There were three other major opposition parties - the Sôka Gakkai-affiliated Kômei Party, the Communist Party and the right-wing labor Democratic Socialist Party. By far the biggest right-left ideological divide was the security and armament policy. [Latter half of 1970s]

Goken (pro-constitution)
Political position advocating the protection of the pacifist constitution from revision (kaiken), favoured by many right-wingers.

Gokiburi Hoi-Hoi (Go Away Cockroach)
Trademark of a sticky box used as a cockroach trap. [1973]

Gôkon (mixer)
Mixed parties organized by young men and women in order to have opportunities to meet people of the opposite sex. Short for gôdô kompa, meaning "joint party" (kompa derives from the English, company).

*Gôruden Wiiku (Golden Week)
The biggest holiday period, from April 29 to May 5 including four national holidays. If April 28 falls on Sunday, the holiday can begin on April 27, and if May 5 falls on Friday, the holidays can last until May 7.

*Gosô sendan hôshiki (convoy fleet system)
The traditional policy of the post-war Japanese financial authorities, which put emphasis on supervising and protecting financial institutions so that no bank might go under. However, the convoy system began to falter as deregulation partly began in the 1980s, and came to a symbolic end when Yamaichi Securities was allowed to go bankrupt in 1997 in the midst of the Asian financial crisis.

Gotai Fumanzoku (No One's Perfect)
Title of a book (Kôdansha, 1998) by Mr Ototake Hirotada (1976-) which sold more than 4 million copies by the end of 1999 and became a big social phenomena. Mr Ototake, born with no limbs, was a student at Waseda University when the book appeared, and has become a famous media personality. A big photo of him on the wheelchair is printed on the cover of the book, which is printed in large types and with hiragana signs beside the kanji so that small children can read it. The book is characterized by his stunningly open and unassuming attitude toward his own physical disability ("Disability is inconvenient but not unfortunate"), and is said to have caused a significant change in the popular perception of physical handicap. [1999]

Gurume bûmu (gastronomy fad)
The cult of going to smart restaurants, eating haute cuisine, foreign cuisine etc. Began during the economic bubble in the mid 1980s and continues to this day.

*Gyôza
Grilled Chinese-style ravioli. Popular food. Eaten with an equal volume of soy sauce, vinegar, and râyu (spicy hot oil) mixed together. From the Chinese, jiaozi.

Gyûdon (beef bowl)
Bowl of rice topped with cooked beef and onion. Typical dish in Japanese-style fast-food chains like Yoshinoya and Matsuya. Gyûdon was invented in the late 19C. In the late 1990s, Japanese-style fast-food chains, whose menus are not limited to gyûdon, came into existence (such as Meshiya Don).

H (pron. etchi)
Short for hentai (pervert). This slang was commonly used to mean "salacious" in the past, but, since the 1980s, it is also used to indicate the act of lovemaking. [1952]

*Haiku
17-syllable poetry (5-7-5) practiced by many (mainly elderly) people as a hobby. In composing a haiku, it is obligatory to include a word that represents the season (kigo). A haiku poet is called haijin. (See also senryû).

Haiso
Short for the English "high society". Adjective for a lifestyle reminiscent of the rich people's. [1990s]

Hakama
Skirt-like garment worn over a kimono. Today, sometimes worn by young women celebrating their graduation from school. Haori hakama is the traditional formal dress of men.

Haken
Temporary worker supplied by an employment agency. Haken became popular in the 1990s as a means of finding a job opportunity for women who wished to resume working in a flexible way at their convenience, but in the late 1990s, with the rising unemployment rate, many people got to choose working haken as a stop-gap before finding a full-time job. According to the Ministry of Labor, haken workers numbered 1,067,949 in fiscal 1999.

Hana-fuda (flower cards)
A set of playing cards, often used by men gambling, on which pictures in traditionally Japanese themes are drawn. Also used in Korea.

Hanako
Influential weekly magazine for young women published since 1988, providing information for the metropolitan area. Its immediate hit reflected the increasing purchasing power of young women in the late 1980s.

*Hanko; han; inkan
Wooden, plastic or ivory seal with one's family name engraved. Used to sign official documents in the same way as a signature is used in the Western society. Only the family name is engraved on a seal. In important contracts, a jitsuin (the seal registered at the municipal office) must be used.

Hannya Shingyô
A relatively short and popular Indian-Buddhist sutra, perhaps related to esoteric Buddhism, in Chinese translation and recited in Chinese pronunciation.

*Hanshin Dai Shinsai (Great Hanshin Earthquake)
At 5.46am on January 17 1995, a big earthquake hit Kôbe City and the surrounding areas, killing more than 6,000 people.

*Harajuku
A busy commercial quarter targeted at youth and located in Tôkyô's Shibuya-ku, about 1.3 km to the north of Shibuya, which is the hippest focus of teenage fashion in Japan. The pedestrian main drag is called Takeshita Dôri.

Mr. Oliviero Toscani (1942-), PR manager for Benetton, highly appreciated the Harajuku fashion for its imaginativeness and creativity, in a break from the traditional Western mind's aversion to the eclectism of modern Japanese life. However, he said in an interview with Asahi Shimbun (October 3, 1998, evening edition):

"The Japanese youth are the only existence in the world that is alien to the problems of the contemporary world, such as poverty, war, class discrimination or joblessness. The Harajuku youth looked like angels, the world's most lovely and immaculate and the farthest away from violence. Nobody told about politics or the society when interviewed. Unconsciously rejecting the realities of Japan and playing around in the virtual world of imagination, they might in fact be the tragic angels, heralding the next tragedy that we are going to face in the near future."

Hârii Tsû (Ha-Jih Tsu)
"Japan-worshipping Tribe", Taiwanese word for youngsters infatuated with the Japanese pop culture. Since 2000/01, South Korean pop culture has also become highly trendy in China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Mongolia. [late 1990s]

Hari-kyû
Acupuncture and moxibustion. Medicine of Chinese origin, practiced in small private clinics.

Hatsu hinode (first sunrise)
There is a traditional habit of watching the Sun rise on January 1 morning. Some people watch it on the top of mountains.

Hatsu-môde
The habit of going to pray at a shrine or a temple at the New Year. According to the National Police Agency, a total of 88.75 million people paid visits to famous shrines and temples during the first three days of the New Year in 2001.

Hayari-gami (deity in vogue)
Deity or shrine that attracts a large number of pilgrims and worshippers in a temporary fad.

He-no-he-no-mo-he-ji
When you write these seven characters in hiragana in a certain shape, they make up a human face. HE makes the eyebrows, NO the eyes, MO the nose, HE the mouth and JI the lower contour of the face.

*Hensa-chi (deviation value)
Statistical concept to measure the deviation of a sample value from the average defined by 50 + 10 x (sample - average) / (standard deviation). This word was commonly used in the 1980s to criticize the inhuman education system that functioned like a factory sorting out students solely on the basis of their academic standards. [1976]

Hepburn system (Hebon shiki)
The commonly used system of transcribing Japanese in Roman letters. There is another system, Kunrei shiki (Statutory system), emphasizing grammatical regularity at the cost of reflecting actual pronunciation, but this system is used only occasionally. There is absolutely no commonly accepted rule on the hyphenation and separation of Romanized Japanese words.

Hi-Jimin renritsu seiken (Non-LDP Coalition)
Coalition of eight political parties and groups, ranging from left to right, that dramatically toppled the Liberal Democratic Party's single rule in 1993, but then ended in 1994.

Hiki-komori (withdrawal into oneself)
Young people, typically men, who can no longer stand holding normal relations with other people and tend to stay indoors. A psychiatrist estimates that there can be up to 1 million hiki-komori people in today's Japan. The word became popular after several young men, who fell in this category, committed brutal crimes, but there is criticism that such a way of focusing enhances social prejudice against the withdrawn youth and corner them even further inside themselves. [2000]

Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival), also called Momo no Sekku (Peach Festival)
March 3, the festival for girls. A set of dolls (o-Hina-sama) perched on a flight of steps covered with a red carpet, symbolizing the nobility of the court, is displayed inside the house around this day. Yomogi mochi (also called kusa-mochi, mugwort rice cake) is eaten during the festival.

*Hinomaru
The so-called "Rising Sun flag", with a red circle on the white background, which was officially designated the national flag in 1999 (called Nisshô-ki in official terms). The Navy flag, Kyokujitsu-ki, is a variant which depicts stripes of rays radiating from the central red. Hinomaru had been looked on with mixed feelings by many people, because of its connections with the pre-1945 militaristic regime.

*Hiragana and Katakana
Sets of 46 syllabic letters used only in the Japanese language. Derive from corrupted forms of kanji (Chinese characters). In the post-war convention, hiragana (round-shaped) is used in plain text, while katakana (angular-shaped) is used to denote words of foreign origin (except for the vast amount of Chinese-origin words that make up as large a part of Japanese vocabulary as Latin-derived words do in European languages), names of animals and plants, and other words that have to be differentiated from the rest of the text. The Roman letters are called rôma-ji.

Hiyashi chûka (iced Chinese)
Râmen noodles eaten cold in summer, with toppings like seaweed, shredded ham or shredded cucumber, first invented in Sendai in 1937. Reimen (cold noodles) looks similar at first glance but is different; it is a Korean dish of Pyongyang origin. Reimen is also a renowned specialty of Morioka.

Hôgan biiki
The mentality of siding with the ill-fated. Hôgan refers to the warlord Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159-89), who helped to exterminate the Taira clan (Heike) in 1185 but was then betrayed by his elder brother Yoritomo and was finally killed in Tôhoku (north Japan). The story of Ushiwaka-maru (Yoshitsune's childhood name) and his retainer Benkei is well known. The story of Benkei beating Yoshitsune when they had to go undercover through the Ataka barrier is famous too.

*Hondo (Mainland)
Refers to the four main islands of Hokkaidô, Honshû, Shikoku and Kyûshû. This term is often heard in the context of the lifestyle divide between Okinawa and the Mainland.

*Honne (true intentions); Tatemae (professed opinions)
It is a cliché that Japanese tend to distinguish between what they really have in mind and what they express as their viewpoint. It belongs to the finding by the literary critic Katô Norihiro that these pairing concepts are fairly new and date only from the 1970s (Ref. "Nihon no Mu-shisô" - Japan's Thoughtlessness; Heibonsha Shinsho, 1999). [1970s]

Hoppô Ryôdo (Northern Territories)
Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and the Habomai Islands, in the southern part of the Kuril Islands lying between Hokkaidô and Kamchatka that are administered by Russia since the end of the World War II but are claimed by Japan. In the 1990s, the tension loosened somewhat and there are many visits on the civilian level. There are two other territorial disputes: over Takeshima (Tok-ddo in Korean) with South Korea, and over the Senkaku (Diaoyu in Chinese) Islands with China and Taiwan. Takeshima is administrated by South Korea. The Senkaku Islands are uninhabited but are practically under Japanese control.

Horumon
Animal entrails used in Japanese-Korean barbecue (yaki-niku). According to one theory, the word derives from the Ôsaka-ben hôru mon, which means "thing to throw away". Horumon grill is peculiar to the culinary culture of the Korean-Japanese population, and is not eaten in South Korea.

Hosuto kurabu (host club)
Sex industry outlets where female clients can meet male hosts.

Hyakunin Isshu (100 People, 100 Verses)
A fixed selection of 100 waka (31-syllable poems), written each by a different person in 7-13C. Young students are often made to recite all verses by heart, although the language used is difficult for people nowadays to understand. The 100 verses are also used as a set of playing cards.

Ichi-oku sô chûryû (all 100 million in the middle class)
The post-war Japanese society can be characterized as a relatively egalitarian mass society. In the 1970s and 80s, a very large part (about 90%) of the population came to believe that they belonged to the middle class. However, signs for a new stratification are seen in the 1990s. [1967]

Ido-bata kaigi (well-side conference)
Idle chatter among housewives of the neighborhood.

Ierô kyabu (yellow cabs)
Young Japanese women who were obsessed with having sexual relations with foreigners. So called because they "let anybody ride" like the New York taxis. This phenomenon had multiple background causes: for example, the disillusionment with the male-dominated Japanese society and with young Japanese men, the deep-rooted longing for the Western countries, moral confusion from the sudden advent of economic affluence and of the superficial freedom of deeds, etc. [1993]

Ihai (mortuary tablet)
Slender wooden plate, with the posthumous name of the deceased written on it, which is supposed to embody the deceased person in Japanese Buddhism.

*Ijime (bullying)
In the latter half of the 1980s, violent and non-violent bullying in elementary and high schools became a serious problem, which continues to this day. There have been many suicides by bullying victims. Since the target of bullying regularly changes and is chosen haphazardly by collective psychology, children have to be afraid lest they should become the next target. [1985]

Ikaino
Japan's biggest Korea-town, east of Tsuruhashi in Ôsaka's Ikuno-ku. Other major traditional Korea-towns in Japan include Mikawajima in Tôkyô's Arakawa-ku and the Kawasaki Korea-town in Hama-chô, Kawasaki-ku.

Ikki nomi (chug-a-lug)
It became popular among the youth, in the latter half of the 1980s, to force each other, during a drinking party, to drain up a whole mug of beer or of any other alcoholic beverage at a single gulp. There have been many fatal cases. [1984]

*Insutanto men (instant noodles)
Processed Chinese-style noodles in a plastic receptacle that come with a soup base, dried toppings and spices. If you pour boiling water, the noodles are ready in 1-3 minutes. Popular food, especially among the youth and the men. Also called kappu men (cup noodles). Japan's export of instant noodles reached a record high of about 8,400 tons in 1998. The largest destination was Hong Kong at 3,738t, followed by the United States at 1,610t and Taiwan at 1,094t. [1960]

Irohanihoheto
Beginning of an old rhyme that uses all 47 syllabic letters (except "n") used in Classical Japanese but never repeats any of them: irohanihoheto chirinuruwo wakayotareso tsunenaramu uwinookuyama kefukoete asakiyumemishi wehimosesu. The iroha is also used as a set of playing cards (iroha garuta); on each card is printed a proverb that begins with one of those letters.

*Ishihara Shintarô (1932-)
Right-wing populist politician, governor of Tôkyô Prefecture (1999-current) and the second most popular politician in Japan after Tanaka Makiko as of 2000. Brother of the legendary actor Ishihara Yûjiro (1934-87). Made a brilliant debut as a writer with the novel "Taiyô no Kisetsu" (Season of the Sun) which won an Akutagawa Prize in 1956. Entered politics as an LDP member in 1968 (now independent), and co-authored a best-selling book "Nô to Ieru Nihon" (Japan That Can Say No) in 1989 amid trade frictions with the United States. Some observers are cautious of the dangerous traits in his nationalist ideas.
Other popular prefectural governors, regarded as champions of devolution, include Mr Tanaka Yasuo of Nagano (famous writer and leftist maverick journalist; elected 2000), Mr Hashimoto Daijirô of Kôchi (younger brother of the ex-Prime Minister Hashimoto Ryûtarô), Mr Kitagawa Masayasu of Mie, Mr Asano Shirô of Miyagi, Ms Dômoto Akiko of Chiba and Mr Fukuda Akio of Tochigi.

Ita-meshi
Humorous way of calling Italian cuisine. Combination of Itaria (Italy) and meshi (chow). [1990]

Iwasaki Chihiro (1918-74)
Painter of children's book illustrations, much loved by the public. Her home-cum-atelier in Tôkyô's Nerima-ku is now used as a museum in her honor. Her husband Matsumoto Zemmei (1926-) is a Lower House member of the Communist Party since 1967.

Iyashi bûmu (healing fad)
The general mood of indefinable uneasiness led people to long vaguely for psychological healing of the New Age sort since the mid-1990s. The healing fad can be observed in consumer trends, as in book and music sales, and in the health and mental care industry. [1999]

Iyomante
Bear festival, which was very important in the religious life of the Ainu in Hokkaidô.

*Izakaya; Nomiya
Japanese-style bars that serve alcoholic drinks as well as small dishes resembling Spanish tapas. O-tôshi is a small dish that is served, usually free of charge, to accompany the first glass of drink. Izakaya are characterized by the high quality of Japanese-style home cooking.