Japanese buzzword nominations in 2024

Jiyūkokumin-sha is the publisher of Gendai yōgo no kiso chishiki (現代用語の基礎知識, "Basic knowledge of modern terminology"), an encyclopedia of the Japanese language that's annually updated. It also nominates the entries for the "New Words and Buzzwords Award" (新語・流行語大賞).

These are the nominees for 2024:


Nippon.com translated and explained them. Our favourites:

裏金問題 — Uragane mondai. The "kickbacks issue" was a thread that ran throughout the year's politics, implicating many Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers in a scandal, as they were found to have misreported donations from fundraising parties, and resulting in the LDP-Kōmeitō coalition losing its majority in the October 27 general election.

Click to expand...

カスハラ — Kasuhara. An abbreviation for "customer harassment" that describes unreasonable complaints and bullying by customers of service staff. In 2024, there were legal moves to tackle the issue.

Click to expand...

コンビニ富士山 — Konbini Fujisan. With tourists flooding into Japan after the easing of pandemic restrictions, there was growing concern about overtourism. A scenic Yamanashi Prefecture Lawson convenience store standing in front of Mount Fuji became associated with this issue, as it attracted crowds of tourists to take photographs, causing a nuisance for residents. The local authorities made headlines by constructing a barrier to block the view of the "convenience store Mount Fuji."

Click to expand...

猫ミーム — Neko mīmu. Cat memes trended on social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube after a video starring a bouncing kitten set to the children's tune "My Happy Song" went viral, unleashing a flood of content featuring felines in various adorable situations.

Click to expand...

Find the entire list here:

Not sure why , but the strangest word I can remember used in Japan was "sister-boy" used by Gaijins and Japanese in Fukuoka. Wondering if it's a word used today in Japan? It seemed it was kind of like the term used here in the US called "boogy-man".

Grandpa Frank said:

Not sure why , but the strangest word I can remember used in Japan was "sister-boy" used by Gaijins and Japanese in Fukuoka. Wondering if it's a word used today in Japan? It seemed it was kind of like the term used here in the US called "boogy-man".

Click to expand...

I've never heard that one. When I was there the term "new half" was common to refer to cross-dressers and transvestites. That one might be outdated now too.

Funny , among the military guys was this terrifying thought that the female they were hot for would be a guy , LOL. Another culture thing that drove them nuts was once in a while on the bar dance floor , 2 girls would be dancing together or even more fearful , two guys would dance together . I always was thankful my second week on base an old Airforce Master Sargent told me if I wanted my 2 year tour to be great , learn the language and the culture of Japan. It made my 2 years there like heaven.
As a small funny story , my girlfriends best friend could have been a Playboy Bunny , so beautiful. A guy would buy her drinks and sat across from her at a small table. She never learned how to drink lightly and guzzled her drinks. Every time when she finished her third drink , she would projection vomit onto the guy. I guess it was mean of me , but I never warned them what they were in for. As always , pardon my war stories.

Grandpa Frank said:

among the military guys was this terrifying thought that the female they were hot for would be a guy

Click to expand...

Was that actually a thing? Or just a rumour?

I always wondered why the homophobia ? I'm guessing because most of us had top secret clearances and had too many lectures about things that would make you lose them. Security was a super strong about everything. I remember our HFDF building had a plumbing problem. The Japanese plumber who came to fix it had two big armed Army guards watching his every move. If any of us had to be put to sleep for a dental procedure or medical issue , There had to be an officer there to make sure we did not talk in our sleep. I often wondered if they were going to put a pillow over our head and smother us if we talked , LOL. Most of the time we flew military in uniform , but if we flew on a commercial flight , we were told to wear civilian clothes. It all seemed a little overboard at times.

The Exit 8 game mentioned in the article is worth a look. Spawn of Lothor and I now refer to Roppongi as Happongi, after a detail in the game.