Japanese Slang, Jargon, and New Words from Double-Tongued Dictionary

Japanese language, including Japlish. You can also see entries assigned to this category.

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fukubukuro n. The bargains come in grab bags, called fukubukuro, or sacks of fortune. The bags used to be a traditional way for stores to unload unwanted merchandise. But now that more Japanese have money to burn, department stores are turning fukubukuro into a lavish New Year’s event. [Japanese Japan] [full cite] (Dec. 30, 2004)

fukubukuro n. Grab bags, known as fukubukuro (lucky bags), are popular items in almost every store during the New Year holiday season in Japan. Some are especially large, such as one selling for Y15 million by the Takashimaya & Co. department store in Tokyo. That bag contains Y27 million worth of clothing, jewelry, a suitcase, a video camera and two round-trip tickets to Hawaii on the luxurious Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner. Fukubukuro are usually sold for price less than their contents as a New Year attraction. [Japanese Japan] [full cite] (Dec. 30, 2004)

fuwari n. The Fuwari embroidery technique is the first major change in the industry in thirty years. Fuwari is a Japanese word for “soft and furry”; no pictures can do justice to how it looks and feels in person. There is no backing required and can even stitch out on lace. The raised (up to 5mm) stitching is very smooth and can be manipulated for an “upright” or “raised and velvety” appearance. [Japanese Apparel, Appearance, & Fashion] [full cite] (Jul. 21, 2007)

hikikomori n. In fact, as many as a million young men—mostly teenagers, but increasingly older men as well—suffer from what is known here as hikikomori. It’s a condition in which they seclude themselves in their rooms for weeks at a time (though the causes seem to go well beyond fear of women to traumatic experiences from the past, such as being bullied at school). [Japanese Japan] [full cite] (Jun. 12, 2004)

hikikomori n. Hikikomori has become a major issue in Japan. Loosely translated as “social withdrawal,” hikikomori refers to the state of anomie into which an increasing number of young Japanese seem to fall these days. Socially withdrawn kids typically lock themselves in their bedrooms and refuse to have any contact with the outside world. They live in reverse: they sleep all day, wake up in the evening and stay up all night watching television or playing video games. Some own computers or mobile phones, but most have few or no friends. Their funk can last for months, even years in extreme cases. [Japanese Japan] [full cite] (Jul. 6, 2004)

hikikomori n. Hikikomori is not a disease. For reasons ranging from bullying to exam failure, some young people are shutting themselves away in their rooms and having as little direct contact with the outside world as possible. Many are suicidal, but lack the will to make good their morbid fantasies. It is not clear at what point someone crosses the line into hikikomori. But after a month of seclusion it would not be too soon to seek treatment, psychiatrists say. Machizawa knows one person who shunned professional help for 20 years. [Japanese Japan] [full cite] (Jul. 6, 2004)

kaizen n. Kaizen is a Japanese term that means continuous improvement, taken from the words “kai,” meaning “change,” and “zen,” meaning “good.” The general translation is “change for the better.” In industry today, Kaizen connotes practicing innovative management methods. Japan has been sensitive about waste for decades due to the scarcity of land and raw materials. The philosophy of eliminating waste leading to profit through participative improvement is an integral part of the Japanese philosophy. The key aspect of Kaizen is an ongoing, never-ending continuous improvement process. It is a softer, more gradual methodology, versus the more “scrap and start anew” philosophy of the traditional western mindset. [Japanese Japan Business] [full cite] (Nov. 14, 2004)

kanban n. Kanban. A manual signaling device for regulating material flow in a pull system. [Japanese Business] [full cite] (Sep. 12, 2005)

kantoku shou n. After contributing to a Hanshin victory, Igawa’s manager would frequently hand him an envelope stuffed with yen, usually the equivalent of about $1,000. Igawa was free to spend the money as he liked. He usually saved it and kept the envelope as a souvenir. The financial exchange, which is separate from a player’s salary, is common in Japanese baseball and known as kantoku shou, which, translated literally, means manager prize. The foreign players in Nippon Professional Baseball commonly refer to it as fight money. [Japanese Baseball Money & Finance Sports & Recreation] [full cite] (Apr. 17, 2007)

koban n. The community-based Koban program is celebrating its 10th year. Since starting in 1995, the program has provided a “safe haven” for hundreds of youths while offering educational assistance, mentoring, life and social skills, health and safety training, and various types of family support.…Koban, the Japanese term for police mini-station, was started in Columbia after then-police Chief Charles Austin visited Japan and had a vision to start a program locally. [English Japanese Police] [full cite] (Mar. 5, 2005)

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