The 30 Most Popular Expressions or Words in Japan in 2021

In Japan, at the end of each year, new and trendy words or expressions that people paid close attention to and talked about on their social media are selected. These selected words give an idea of ​​how the year has been in social terms and that, if you are studying Japanese, they reveal characteristics of the language that can be very useful to understand it and also understand Japanese culture.

Since 1984, Jiyukokuminsha Publishing House has been collecting information on these emerging buzzwords from Japan through questionnaires and awards one of them the Shingo / Ryukogo Taisho (新語・流行語大賞“Neologism / Buzzword Grand Prize”). Although only one of the words is the winner, the 30 nominated words are also published and analyzed.

The criteria for selecting the year’s most popular buzzwords or expressions is that they have “an expression and nuance that captures some aspect of society in a casual and witty way during the current year.” Once the winning word or expression is named, it is published in a magazine book, the “Gendai yōgo no kisochishiki” 現代用語の基礎知識.

Although the addition of such new words to the dictionary is not usually immediate since they can become obsolete and lose their strength and importance among people. Some words require more than 10 years to pass before they are revised as a lot of time is spent carefully examining them before they are added to the dictionaries. Many of those that have been selected or were nominated fail to make it to inclusion in the dictionaries. Words are said to be alive so they also die.

Here we present the list of the 30 words or expressions nominated for 2021. Of these 30, only one will be the winner and will be announced on the 1st. December 2021.

イカゲームIka Geemu

Released on Netflix on September 17, this Korean survival drama has made a splash among people and its momentum hasn’t stopped yet. The story revolves around a contest in which 456 players with large financial debts risk their lives to play a series of children’s games for a chance to win an extra millionaire prize.

うっせぇわUsseewa

It is a song by Japanese singer Ado, released as her debut single on October 23, 2020. The lyrics of the song criticize the so-called “common sense” of society, with Ado speaking on behalf of members of society about her dissatisfaction and anger with society. The song is sung in a loud almost screaming tone with harsh words; the song’s title and catchphrase, “Usseewa”, short forうるさいわ, would mean “Shut up”. This song became popular among the younger generations in Japan to the point of being considered by many as the “youth anthem 2021”

ウマ娘 Uma musume

This is a very popular cell/mobile game this year that was also made into an anime. This game takes place in a world very similar to ours, where there are these”horse girls”, girls with pony ears and tails as well as the speed and resistance of these animals. This game was very popular and had many downloads in Japan.

SDGs

These are the acronyms for “Sustainable Development Goals” or “Sustainable Development Goals” consisting of 17 goals and 169 goals by 2030 to eradicate poverty and achieve a sustainable world. Japan intends to lead the promotion of the SDGs in the international community, based on its strength in traditional wisdom, cutting-edge technologies and information, as well as its conviction of leaving no one behind based on the concept of human security.

NFT

It stands for ” non-fungible token ” which is a unique, non-exchangeable unit of data stored in a digital ledger. (NFTs) have been a topic in the Japanese crypto industry since early 2018 although in 2021 they became increasingly popular and have seen more widespread adoption.

エペジーーン — Epe jīn

The Japanese men’s fencing team surprised everyone by taking the country’s first gold medal in the sport at the recent Tokyo Olympics . This sport had not been very popular in Japan as it is in Europe or the United States, having very few who practice it. This makes the success all the more amazing and the story behind it is one of a decade of constant improvement and athletic determination, making it perhaps a popular sport in Japan soon.

推し活—Oshikatsu

It means ” push activity ” and refers to the support given by fans to ” Idols” or anime characters , especially from the younger generation. Although it is not limited only to them but also to actors, writers, youtubers, cosplayers or also to places such as zoos and museums. With the current situation of COVID 19, many of the concerts, events and presentations had to be canceled so the support that the fans gave was focused on buying the music or products, promoting their online activities, visiting the websites, etc. .

親ガチャ — Oyagacha

The ” gacha gacha” or “gacha pon ” are the prize machines in which you insert a certain amount of money and you get a prize that comes out at random, that is, you cannot choose it. They are named for the sound they make when you turn the knob and draw your prize. “Oya” means “father/mother of the family” so this expression means that “children cannot choose their parents”. It means that the family environment and the circumstances that greatly affect your life are left to chance.

カエル愛 — Kaeru-ai

The boxer Irie Sena drew a lot of attention after having won a gold medal in the past Olympics and her interest in frogs caught people’s attention as she showed her “love for frogs” on her social networks and hopes to work on something related to these amphibians once he graduates.

ゴン攻め／ビッタビタ—Gon-zeme; bitta bitta

” Gonzeme ” is a word from Ryo Sejiri , a professional skateboarder who won a gold medal in this discipline who made his debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The meaning according to Ryo Sejiri is something like ” I’m attacking hard ” and ” Bitta bitta ” would be explained as ” Right on cue”. These two expressions were the most used by the professional skater when making comments on his social networks about his performance at different times during the Olympics.

ジェンダー平等 — Jendā byōdō

This expression has to do with “ Gender Equality ” which means that each person, regardless of their gender, can share responsibilities, rights and opportunities equally and make all decisions together. Gender equality is also one of the objectives to be met by 2030 in the “Sustainable Development Goals” in which Japan plays an important role.

自宅療養 — Jitaku ryōyō

This expression means ” recover at home ” Due to the demand for beds in hospitals by people infected with COVID 19 during the different waves, the government urged the population not to go to hospitals if they did not have symptoms or if they these were mild and recover in their homes, hotels or isolated areas to avoid contagion.

13歳、真夏の大冒険 — 13 sai, manatsu no daibōken

It would translate as ” 13 years, summer adventure” and is the expression that the presenter of Fuji TV used to refer to the Japanese skater Nishiya Momiji who won the gold medal at only 13 years old. Since the Olympics took place during the summer, the reference to “a summer adventure” was very well described for Nishiya, since participating in the Olympics must be quite an “adventure!”

ショータイム — Shō taimu

This was the expression used to encourage baseball player Ohtani Shōhei in his attempt to beat Babe Ruth’s home run record as he finished the season without being able to do so.

人流 — Jinryū

This expression translates as “ flow of people ” something that the Government of Japan focused a lot on when issuing the states of emergency after the increases in people infected by COVID 19 in Osaka and Tokyo and other areas of Japan.

スギムライジング — Sugimu-raijingu

Since the Japanese love to shorten words and turn them into expressions, this one comes from the mixture of “Sugimara” and “rising”. It was used a lot to describe the kind of throw Sugimura Hidetaka did during the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. These were accurate throws with a particular “up throw” earning Japan the first gold medal of the competition.

Z世代 — Z sedai

Members of the so-called Generation Z (or Gen Z for short) is colloquially also referred to as ” zoomers “, the demographic group that ranks after Millennials and Generation Alpha. The mid and late 1990s are used as the starting years and the early 2010s. Many of the members of Generation Z are children of Generation X.

チキータ — Chikīta

The “little” is a technique used in table tennis, mainly when receiving the serve. Because the path of the ball at the stroke bends like a banana, it was called “Chikita” after the famous brand of bananas. The winner of three medals (one gold, one silver and one bronze) in Olympic table tennis, Itō Mima, defeated many of her opponents with this technique.

チャタンヤラクーサンクー — Chatan yara kūsankū

This word is the name of the kata or movement patterns that the karateka Shimizu Kiyō performed during her participation in the Tokyo Olympics, which earned her a silver medal in the debut of this discipline.

ととのう — Totonou

It refers to a state of physical and mental well-being through the repetition of saunas, cold baths and breaks since the verb totonou, which means “to prepare” or “to prepare”. Many people had to cancel or postpone their trips to the “onsen” or thermal baths due to the pandemic, so they resorted to saunas to compensate.

フェムテック — Femutekku

And we return to the mixture of terms for this expression that is a mixture of the English words “feminine” and “technology” and refers to products and services aimed at solving the physical and mental health problems of women with technology. For example, improving quality of life during pregnancy, measures of infertility, improving symptoms and physical condition during menopause, menstrual cycle and its prediction as well as specific diseases of women.

副反応—Fukuhannō

This refers to the “side effects” that could occur in people who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 this year. Pain, itching and swelling in the area of ​​​​the inoculation, as well as fever, chills and joint pain were the listed side effects.

ピクトグラム — Pikutoguramu

The presentation of the pictograms at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was very popular. The particular thing was that it was carried out with people dressed all in blue who represented each of the sports and disciplines. The first time these pictograms were used was at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

変異株 — Hen’i kabu

This was another of the words that was heard a lot in the media and people talked about it a lot and they are the “virus variants” or “mutated strains” of COVID-19.

ぼったくり男爵 — Bottakuri danshaku

It translates to “Swindler Baron” and is the name given to Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee when, in a US newspaper column, he was asked to cancel the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. were opposed to the realization of said event took this word, among others, as a banner and it resonated a lot in social networks and the media.

マリトッツォ — Maritottso

Maritozzo , an Italian dessert that became a big hit in Japan this year. Many restaurants and even “konbini” (convenience stores) sold this dessert like hot cakes.

黙食／マスク会食—Mokushoku; masuku kaishōku

This word would mean “ dining in silence ” and it is that many restaurants and food establishments made the request to their clients not to speak while eating and to use the mask at all times that they were not eating or drinking to avoid contagion of COVID 19 among the diners. Something that people commented and even made jokes about it on social networks since it was very impractical.

ヤングケアラー — Yangu kearā

This word comes from the English “ young carers ” (young caregivers) With the current pandemic situation and also due to economic problems, some young people have had to take on the task of caring for and caring for their relatives at home. Although people have been talking about this since 2014, this year it was stronger and people talked and analyzed more about it.

リアル二刀流 — Riaru nitōryū

Ohtani Shōhei reappears in this list and this time he does it as ” the bearer of two swords ” which is what this expression means. He had already appeared as a nominated expression in 2013 but this year his performance as a pitcher and hitter made him be targeted especially because, on the one hand, he tried to beat Babe Ruth’s “homerun” record and win nine games with his Los Angeles team. Angels.

路上飲み — Rojō nomi

This expression means ” drinking in the street ” and became an activity among people who could not consume alcohol in restaurants or bars, the well-known “izakaya” due to the requests made by the Government to bars to reduce their opening hours. opening and no alcoholic beverages were served to reduce contagion with COVID-19. There were many people who shared photos and tweets of themselves or other people in parks or parking lots of the “konbini” drinking (in Japan there is no law that prohibits drinking on public roads) and enjoying the chat with friends or other people of the place.

As we said before, these trendy words or expressions are selected focusing on the ingenuity and novelty they convey. On the other hand, the Kanji of the Year , selected by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation (日本漢字能力検定協会Nihon kanji nōryo kuken teikyōkai ), focuses on a dark and negative side of society. The 2020 Kanji of the Year was (Mitsu) focusing on sanitation measures to deal with the current COVID-19 pandemic.

What do you think will be the winning word or expression of 2021? Tell us in the comments!