The confusing world of Japanese onomatopoeia

It contains a host of words that can be used in everyday situations, such as a visit to the doctor, who might hear of their patient's throbbing (zuki zuki) ankle or pounding (gan gan) headache, a piri piri (stinging) insect bite or muzu muzu (scratchy) throat. Hara and other members of the nonprofit sifted through a Japanese dictionary to create a list of 100 words, according to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. They are divided into categories – from actions and emotions to the weather and descriptions of inanimate objects – and accompanied by an illustration and descriptions in Chinese, Vietnamese, Nepalese and Indonesian. Wan Fang, a Chinese resident, said the guide had already made her job at a supermarket a little easier. "When I was told that the floor was tsuru tsuru in Japanese, I didn't know what it meant, but when I saw the illustration in the book, I instantly understood that tsuru tsuru means the floor is clean or slippery," Wan told the newspaper. The print run of 1,000 copies is expected to find a keen readership among students attending local Japanese language schools – as of January, Mie was home to 31,000 foreign residents. Nationwide, the non-Japanese population reached a record 3.2 million last year, according to the immigration services agency.

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  Japanese sound symbolism - Wikipedia

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