The words of the year in Japan

How did the Japanese perceive the past year? Let's look for hints with the Word of the Year selection, unveiled each early December by Jiyû Kokuminsha, the publisher of the annual Gendai Yôgo no Kiso Chishiki ("Encyclopedia of contemporary words") in association with U-Can, another publisher and provider of distance education courses. Since 1984, about thirty words are analyzed, among which ten of them are chosen at the end of the year to constitute the U-Can shingo-ryûkô go top 10 ("U-Can Top 10 of neologisms and trend words").

The jury was composed of six panelists: intellectuals from the academic world, arts, press and entertainment sectors, and Jiyû Kokuminsha’s encyclopedia publication director. The 10 words or expressions of the final ranking are chosen for what they show of Japanese society at the moment.

Surprisingly, in 2024, sports do not snatch the 1rst place of the Word of the Year. The selection promised important societal topics, such as the rice shortage at the end of summer, the alarms regarding the Nankai Through or the increase of criminal job offers disguised as harmless well-paid jobs. However, 2023’s trend toward more lighthearted words to remember the past year is confirmed.

ふてほど (Futehodo) is the word of the year 2024

Futehodo is short for Futekisetsu ni mo hodo ga aru, that could be translated as "Extremely Inappropriate!", the Friday drama aired on TBS. The main character, a PE teacher living in 1986, travels the time between his present and 2024 where he is challenged by the new social norms. The show plays on the nostalgia for the 1980s and comically underlines the changes in mentalities, but without disparaging either period.

The rest of the Top 10: an eclectic selection

2. 裏金問題 (Uragane mondai)

Uragane mondai means "slush fund case" and describes the political and financial scandal involving the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (Jimintô). The misuse of 600 million yens (~4.2 million dollars) was unveiled in November 2023 during Fumio Kishida’s time as Prime Minister. The scandal caused the dismissal of 4 members of the Cabinet in December and several subsequent arrests in January 2024. This is one of the biggest political scandals of the recent years, and it contributed to bad scores for the LDP at the 2024 parliamentary elections. It is also the only entry related to politics for 2024 Word of the year.

3. 界隈 (Kaiwai)

Kaiwai is initially a geographical term meaning "neighboring" or "surroundings". It was included in the Words of the year’s selection as its primary meaning has been warped on the social medias to refer to a trend. For example, on TikTok or X, the hashtags 回転界隈 (kaiten kaiwai) are used to tag videos of people spinning around and 自撮り界隈 (jidori kaiwai) tag selfies.

4. 初老ジャパン (Shorô Japan)

"Ripe Japan" is the humorous nickname chosen by the Japanese equestrian team participating in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games 🏅 after they realized the team’s average age was 41,5, which is quite old in the competitive sports field. These "old timers" nevertheless won the bronze medal in the team eventing competition, a feat that last happened 92 years ago.

5. 新紙幣 (Shin shihei)

Shin shihei or "new banknotes" commemorates the introduction of new ¥1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 banknotes in July 2024. These 3 notes have their visuals renewed for the 1rst time in 20 years, to combat fraud. A few ATM 🏧 and automatic tills still need updating so that these new currencies can be carried everywhere, despite the progress of cashless payment.

6. 50-50

Fifty-Fifty: there is no Word of the Year edition without mentioning Shohei Ohtani. The Japanese player of the Los Angeles Dodgers set a new record in 2024, the 50-50, for 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases, all done within the same season. Ohtani quickly raised the threshold of this record by ending the season with a total of 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases. He is the 1rst player ever to reach the 50-50, an exploit all the more extraordinary as Ohtani is not allowed to pitch due to an elbow injury, and that he also broke records in the pitching category.

7. Bling-Bang-Bang-Born

This string of onomatopoeia is the title of anime Mashle: Magic and Muscles' season 2 opening, by hip-hop band Creepy Nuts. The characters' funny dance is very popular on the social medias. On a side note, Creepy Nuts also made Futehodo's theme song.

8. ホワイト案件 (White anken)

White anken, for "white project", is a job offer displayed on the social networks or Internet 📶 advertising an "easy, well-paid on the day and legal job, without ID proofing", that really hides a "yami baito", a criminal job. Those who fell for these job offers are forced to commit robbery or fraud and are trapped in this situation.

9. 名言が残せなかった (Meigen ga nokosenakkata)

Meigen ga nokosenakatta or "I can’t find any inspirational word" is the regret expressed by Haruka Kitaguchi, the women javelin gold medalist at Paris Olympics, during the press conference following her athletic performance. While she is the 1rst to win a medal in this sport for Japan, she said she failed to create a good inspirational phrase to celebrate it.

10. もうええでしょう (Mô ee deshô)

The phrase, that could be translated as "all right / are we done yet?" depending on the context, is one of the favorites of Goto, Pierre Taki’s character in the Netflix drama Jimenshi-tachi (Tokyo Swindlers) available since July 2024. The show follows real estate scammers who would stop at nothing to make money in Tokyo just before the 2020 Olympics.

Special Prize: no special prize in 2024

Sport, tourism and entertainment

Regarding sports, 4 of the 5 entries cover Olympic medals won by Japan at the Paris Games. The 2 other "words" are やばい、かっこよすぎる俺 (Yabai, kakko yosugiru ore, "Damn, I’m so cool!") by Tokito Oda, gold medalist in wheelchair tennis; and ブレイキン, Breaking for break dancing, the one-time only Olympic sport: the Japanese contestant Ami Yuasa (AMI) won the women’s gold medal.

A few words could be linked to the topic of tourism, whose excess were pointed out last year:

• インバウン丼 (Inbaun don), a portmanteau combining "inbound" and the Japanese "don" (for "donburi"). It notes the rise of the "premium" trend among foreign tourists in Japan, allowed by a favorable Yen exchange rate. Thus, travelers can happily indulge in a ¥7,000 (~US$48.83) kaisendon (a pricey seafood donburi), while Japanese patrons are more reluctant as their purchase power took a hit with the inflation.
• コンビニ富士山 (Konbini Fuji-san 🗻) relates to an incident caused by overtourism in spring 2024 in Kawaguchiko. People gathered in crowds to admire a popular view of Mount Fuji with a Lawson konbini at its foot, causing troubles and rude behaviors. The inconvenience reached such point that the city had the view masked with plastic tarp to discourage dangerous behaviors.
• 南海トラフ地震臨時情報 (Nankai torafu jishin rinji jôhô), "special information on the Nankai through earthquake" is another name for the "mega-quake alert" (巨大地震注意) issued for the 1rst time in Japan the day after August 8 magnitude 7 earthquake in the south of Kyushu, at the starting point of the Nankai Through that is hugging the south of Japan up to Tokyo. The alert lasted one week and was mainly issued to entice the population to prepare for a major catastrophe. However, it caused the cancellation of several events while the summer holidays were in full swing.
• 令和の米騒動 (Reiwa no kome sôdô), the "Reiwa era rice riots" refers to the sudden rice shortage that impacted the whole country in summer 2024, causing a price rise for this staple food. While the increase of foreign visitors in Japan had been one of the hypothesis to explain the shortage, it is actually due to long term cuts to production in order to artificially keep rice prices high.

As for entertainment, 2 other movies and series are brought up with 侍タイムスリッパー (Samurai Time Slipper) an independent movie featuring a samurai of the end of the Edo period propelled in our time where he decides to stay as an actor of jidaigeki period movies; and はて？ (Hate?) the disapproving phrase used by Torako, the main character of NHK drama Tora ni tsubasa ("The tiger’s wings"), who is fighting to become the 1rst woman to work in law in Japan, a story inspired by the life of Yoshiko Mibuchi (1914 – 1984) in the 1930s.

Internet and social medias appear through:

• アザラシ幼稚園 (Azarashi yôchien), the "seals’ kindergarten", referring to a seal rescue center in the Netherlands that suddenly became famous in August thanks to the Japanese X (Twitter) that relayed the animals live streaming from YouTube.
• 猫ミーム (Neko mîmu): the Japanese version of the "cat memes" that are drowning the Internet.
• ＢｅＲｅａl, a French social media app launched in 2020 as the anti-Instagram. The app users receive a notification every day to share a "real" picture of their day, without filter or editing, 2 functions that do not exist in the app.

Video game 8番出口 (Hachi ban deguchi) or "Exit 8" is a first-person walking simulator developed by Kotake Create and released on Steam in 2023. The player walks in the corridors of the Japanese subway 🚇 immersed in a horror movie atmosphere. The game has more than 1 million downloads and versions for Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 and 5 have also been released.

はいよろこんで (Hai yorokonde, "Yes, My pleasure!") is the title of a song by multi-talented artist Kocchi no Kento. Its cheerful tune carries dark lyrics about the stressful life in the Japanese society. The music video features cartoon characters in a retro manga style catering to the nostalgia for the 1960s’ Japan (retro Showa).

Society issues are highlighted with カスハラ (Kasu hara), a portmanteau created from the English "customer harassment" to name the increase of incivilities and unreasonable requests from customers in shops and users of public institutions; and ソフト老害 (Soft rôgai), a combination of "soft" and the Japanese word "rôgai" meaning "old fogey" a phrase used on X (Twitter) by Osamu Sugiki, a talento and writer for TV, to describe his own old-fashioned attitude towards a younger coworker.

In the line of White anken, トクリュウ (Tokuryû) is the katakana transcription of 匿流, abbreviation for tokumei-ryûdôgata hanzai gurûpu (匿名・流動型犯罪グループ) and refers to criminal organizations relying on heavily anonymized social medias to recruit their "employees" and commit fraud, theft and even murder. These phenomenon was revealed in July 2023 and is still growing.

Changes of the daily life are also reflected in 新ＮＩＳＡ (Shin NISA) or new NISA (Nippon Individual Savings Account), a type of individual savings account introduced in 2014 based on the British model to encourage smaller investors to invest in stock market thanks to incentives such as tax exemptions. Since January 1rst, 2024, the new NISA offers more flexible investment conditions for a more flexible use of the savings. Additionally, every person residing in Japan is affected by マイナ保険証一本化 (Maina hokenshô ipponka), the unification of health insurance certificates that aims at making everyone use the My Number Card, a more comprehensive and convenient health insurance card.

Hidankyo (被団協) stands for Nihon Hidankyo (日本被団協), a Japanese association of bombs A and H survivors created in 1956, first to fight for the rights of the irradiated victims (hibakusha), then against nuclear weapons. It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2024 after several unsuccessful nominations.

Lastly アサイーボウル (Acai bowl) is a dish whose main ingredient is acai berry, often mixed with sweeter fruits such as sliced banana, and cereals. Acai is considered a super-food and had a first popularity boost in the mid-2000s.

Read more:

2024 Kanji: Kin or Kane, gold - The Japanese Character Of The Year And Its Meaning

Previous years

Words related to sports are still dominant. Politics are quite important as well, and Japan’s former Prime minister Shinzô Abe’s name was often cited, be it for political controversial decisions, scandals and recently even his death.

2023

1. アレ（Ａ.Ｒ.Ｅ.): Slogan of the Hanshin Tigers (formerly Osaka Tigers), the team that won the Japanese championship after a long period without victory since 1985. The letters A.R.E are an acronym for "Aim Respect Empower" and can either be spelled in English or said in Japanese are (this, that), allowing for various puns.
2. 新しい学校のリーダーズ／首振りダンス (Atarashii gakkô no leaders / Kubifuri dance): The second place is awarded to Atarashii gakkô no leaders, a band of 4 young women dressed as high school girls. Their catchy song, OTONABLUE, reminiscent of the late 1980s’ pop music, and especially its "head dance" (kubifuri dance), has become popular on the social networks. The music video’s aesthetics is reminiscent of the 1960s, a period of the Showa Era stirring nostalgic feelings for a lot of Japanese people.
3. ＯＳＯ18／アーバンベア (Oso Jûhachi / Urban Bear): OSO 18 is the code name of an elusive bear responsible for multiple cattle attacks in Hokkaido and killed in August 2023. Its journey underlines the behavioral change of these wild animals that are increasingly roaming closer to urbanized areas, creating the urban bear phenomenon.

2022

1. 村神様 (Murakami-sama) in reference to Munetaka Murakami of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows professional baseball team. He is indeed, at 22 years old, the youngest player to win the batting Triple Crown, that is to say to be ranked 1rst in the 3 statistical categories of this position in the season.
2. キーウ (Kiiu), the name of the Ukrainian capital ranks 2nd, to remind of the war ongoing since February 24, 2022.
3. きつねダンス (Kitsune Dance) is a song and choreography performed by the cheerleaders of the Hokkaidô Nihon Ham Fighters baseball professional team. The girls dance cutely, wearing hairy fox ears and a fox tail on their skirts.

2021

1. リアル二刀流 (Real nitôryû)／ショータイム (Show-time): Both words ranked first ex-aequo and refer to Shohei Ohtani (born in 1994), a Japanese player in the American baseball major league since 2018. In 2021, he became the first player for over a century to be able to play at the same level as batter and pitcher. Shô-time is a pun on Ohtani’s first name, Shôhei, shortened to "Shô" to which was affixed the English word "time," to create the nickname "Showtime," which is to be expected when he enters the field.
2. うっせぇわ (Ussee wa) is a song by Ado (born in 2002), released in October 2020 and that quickly became N°1 of sales and streaming. The singer expresses the rejection and the exasperation the younger generations feel towards the never ending injunctions of Japanese society.
3. 親ガチャ (Oya gacha) is a portmanteau word composed of "oya" meaning "parents" and "gacha" the onomatopoeia from the noise made by a gachapon, the capsule toys vending machine. It means that in the life lottery, destiny is for the most part decided from the moment and the family you were born into, and efforts or willpower will not change much to the situation.

2020

1. 3密 (san mitsu) or 3C: slogan created by the Japanese Ministry of Health in March 2020 to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus 🦠 by avoiding the 3Cs: Confined spaces (密閉 mippei); Crowded places (密集 misshû); Close-contact settings (密接 missetsu).
2. GoToキャンペーン (GoTo Campaign): an extraordinary budget to sustain Japanese economy during the Coronavirus pandemic. The campaigns have globally reached their goal of maintaining a level of activity, but as they encouraged population travel, They are now considered as one of the way Covid-19 further spread in Japan.
3. 鬼滅の刃 (Kimetsu no yaiba): Demon Slayer, the manga by Koyoharu Kotoge, whose publishing ended in May 2020. The movie (Demon Slayer: Infinity Train 🚅) was released in October 2020 and broke all the Japanese box-office’s records.

2019

1. ONE TEAM: slogan of the Japanese Rugby Team, the Brave Blossoms, during the Rugby World Cup, to highlight in a positive way the diversity of its members’ origins, with only half of them of Japanese citizenship.
2. 計画運休 (keikaku unkyû): "planned cancellation" is the security scheme to stop all transportation means before a typhoon 🌀 hits to limit damages. The expression was often employed in 2019, a year when the meteorological phenomenons were particularly powerful and destructive.
3. 軽減税率 (keigen zeiritsu): the "reduced tax rate" is the temporary measure that aims to smoothe the 10% VAT rise, with an implementation limited to non-essential products in its first stage.

2018

1. そだねー (sodanee): "that’s right", was used and popularized by Japan’s women curling team, winner of a bronze medal in the 2018 PyeongChang winter Olympics;
2. eスポーツ (isupootsu): "e-sport", the electronic sports, as a Japanese won a gold medal in an Asian e-sport tournament in summer 2018. Sodanee and e-sport were the two first entries of 2018 Top 10;
3. ＃MeToo: the famous hashtag ranked 10th.

2017

1. インスタ映え (Insta bae): "Instagrammable", to commemorate the advent of the new famous social network;
2. 忖度 (sontaku): "assumption", ex-aequo with Insta bae, was used by the founder of Morimoto Gakuen Group, in a fraud scandal of the same name, to which Japan’s Prime minister Shinzô Abe’s name has been linked;
3. J アラート (J araato): "J ALERT", at the fourth rank, is the national warning system to alert the population in case of danger. It was widely used in 2017, due to North-Korea’s multiple missile launchings.

2016

1. 神ってる (kamitteru): "he’s divine", said about a baseball player who scored two decisive home runs in two consecutive matches;
2. トランプ現象 (Toranpu genshô): "Trump phenomenon", ranked at the third place, reflecting the shock of the discovery of the new United States president and his fancy language;
3. 盛り土 (moritsuchi): "terrace", ranked sixth, reminds of the difficulties in the the fish market's transfer from Tsukiji to Toyosu. It was postponed by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike to allow the soil decontamination of the new site.

2015

1. 爆買い (bakugai): is a Japanese slang word meaning "shopping spree" that Chinese tourists encounter when visiting Japan, due to their high purchasing power. It is ex-aequo with:
2. トリプルスリー (toripurusurii): "Triple Three", accomplished by professional baseball player Tetsuto Yamada with 30% of batting average, 30 stolen bases and 30 home runs over one season;
3. エンブレム (enburemu): "emblem", at the sixth rank, to recall the choice of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics ‘emblem, which much passionated the Japanese in 2015.

2014

1. ダメよ～ダメダメ (Dame yo dame dame): "No way, no, no!", from a Japanese comic duets’ phrase making fun of the Japanese who are yet to learn to assertively say no, even when their government tried to amend the 1947 pacifist Constitution of Japan, in July 2014;
2. 集団的自衛権 (shûdanteki jieiken): "the right of collective self-defense", ex-aequo with Dame yo dame dame, and in the same context, is the argument employed by Japan’s Prime minister Shinzô Abe to justify the amendments he wanted to enforce in the Japanese Constitution;
3. ありのままで (ari no mama de): "The way I am", at the third place, is the Japanese version of "Let it go", the main song from the movie Frozen, released in 2014, and as successful as in the rest of the world.

2013

1. お・も・て・な・し (O MO TE NA SHI): "hospitality". In 2013, four special prizes were awarded, among which one to "hospitality" used by announcer Christel Takikawa during her presentation speech for the attribution of 2020 Olympics to Japan;
2. アベノミクス (Abenomikusu): "Abenomics", at the fifth rank, is the name of the economic policy that Prime minister Shinzô Abe has been implementing in Japan since December 2012;
3. ご当地キャラ (gotôchi kyara): "the local mascot", at the sixth rank, is a reminder of the trend launched in 2007 by Hiko-nyan, the local mascot of Hikone, to have a fictional character represent a city or a region. In 2013, Kumamon, Kumamoto’s mascot hit a record in popularity.