10 Japanese Words Worth Remembering
The beauty, humor, and the lessons they can teach us
Twelve years ago, I traveled around Japan with some friends. 18 months after that, I returned for about a week for work and found that I was still enamored by this land rich in history, possessed of a spiritual and cultural awareness that sits comfortably beside its technological advancement. A decade later, I find myself pining for the day I can return. One of the things that stood out on both trips was the Japanese’s commitment to detail. Precision permeates their fashion sense, technology, how they address each other, and hence language.
As much as I love the English language, many of the world’s languages have words to describe things for which there is no English equivalent or their version is more profound, exact or simply sounds… sexier. Japanese is no exception. Here are 10 Japanese words that describe things in English which you may find thoughtful or just plain amusing.
1. Tsundoku
Defined, in simple terms, as piling up books that you haven’t read.
Among the many battlefronts during these covid times, did you notice the bookcase wars? The unspoken smugness played out on video conferences around the world where the winner is the one with the most intellectual-looking books in the background? Have you wondered how many of the books, whimsically arranged on your counterpart’s bookshelf, they have actually read? No? Just me then… Never mind.
Well, the point is our literary eyes are often bigger than our capacity to consume.
To counteract this, I’ve started including titles in my Amazon wishlist rather than ordering the books. I also buy a lot more audiobooks these days and listen at 1.25x speed. Another trick that I’ve employed is having a section on my bookshelf that acts as an “In Tray” for books I need to read next. This will allow you to keep tabs on your unread pile. Lastly, just read faster.
2. Age-otori
It means ‘to look worse after a haircut’.
Age-otori describes how I felt every time I stepped out of a barber’s in Sheffield. Located in upper-middle England, Sheffield is a city blessed with a fair few African barbers so you’d think getting a decent haircut wouldn’t be an issue. But I always seemed to draw the short straw on the outcome. Didn’t matter which one I went to. Smh. The polite looks at work the next morning were… painful.
3. Karoshi
Defined as dying from overwork. Essentially, working oneself to death.
I knew this word even before I visited the country. It’s real. The Japanese, especially up until the early noughties were known for their ungodly overtime. So extreme it was that every year a small percentage of the workforce literally dropped dead from overwork. Throw this word at your boss when next s/he demands unreasonable overtime.
4. Kuidaore
Meaning to ruin oneself financially by extravagant spending on food. Basically, to eat oneself to bankruptcy.
As a foodie, this is surprisingly easy to do. In the pre-covid era, I used to indulge in restaurants once a week usually with my wife or friends. I also enjoy sitting on my own in a restaurant reading a book. Then there are the gourmet takeaways… A couple of years ago, I decided to tally up what I spent on dining out and meeting up for drinks at sexy bars (another one of my guilty pleasures) and the figure was significant enough to spur me on to introduce a monthly cap on this type of expenditure. My other suggestion: incorporate other cheaper ways to meet up and enjoy your friend’s company like going to a shisha spot or cafe instead. Try a simple walk down a street with interesting shops or galleries and resist the urge to go inside.
5. Nemawashi
Defined as an informal process of quietly laying the groundwork for proposed changes or negotiations before the formal meeting.
While waiting in the lobby of my Tokyo hotel for a British colleague who had insisted on doing dinner the evening before we were scheduled to have a big meeting with our client, I found myself randomly thinking about the little things that make Japan unique for me. Like the tingling sensation in my derriere from overzealous use of my room’s over-engineered toilet, doors of taxis opening automatically to let passengers out, and the impossibly tall skyscrapers surrounding my 25-floor hotel that made it feel like a hobbit’s pied-à-Terre.
I digress. When said colleague arrived, he had two men in tow that turned out to be the client’s chief representatives. I remember thinking it was a little odd but since I never need much convincing to socialize, I went along. Over a dinner of some fine ramen and saki, my colleague skillfully brought up some of our sticking points to which our client shared their reservations. They also generously offered some pointers on what we could do to make them comfortable.
That was the first time I came across the concept of Nemawashi. It translates to “going around the roots” in English. As you’d imagine, transplanting a tree isn’t as simple as dragging it out of the soil and placing it somewhere else. It’s best to take steps to ensure it not only survives the move but thrives. The same principle applies to business. Speaking to the main players before the formal sit-down to gauge the temperature, understand any reservations or conflict of interests, or simply to get buy-in allows you to come up with a win-win situation before the official meeting.
6. Komorebi
It’s not all business, disaster, or doom & gloom with the Japanese. The meanings of the next two words are rather beautiful, in my opinion.
First up; Komorebi. Defined as the scattered rays that filter through the trees when sunlight hits a forest.
Last year, during the lockdown, my family explored a couple of London’s heaths. When the sun was low in the sky and sunlight filtered through the trees onto the ground, it was enough to knock me into philosophic musings and inexplicable soliloquy (don’t judge me). Convinced there must be a word for this phenomenon, I went hunting for the next few days. In the end, the good ol’ Japanese came through with this sublime word.
7. Ikigai
Defined as “a reason for being.”
This word has become popular in the last few years. Ikigai is something we all want: A purpose. It is often misunderstood as Amardeep Parmar’s fine article last year explains.
Ikigai is something you find although students say you shouldn’t go looking for it. It just is, and in your life’s journey, you and this purpose will meet. That’s the other thing; Ikigai doesn’t necessarily have to be one thing. From teaching to painting, to lab work to trading, to parenting, etc. Whatever it is you choose to pour your energy into, should light up your senses.
8. Arigata-meiwaku
I’ll have to lift the definition directly from David Konotey-Ahulu’s article to unpack this word. It describes a situation we all know too well but often find tricky to explain.
David defines arigata-meiwaku as: “an act someone does for you that you didn’t want to have them do and tried to avoid having them do, but they went ahead and did it anyway, determined to do you a favor. Then things went wrong and caused you a lot of trouble, yet in the end, social convention obliged you to say ‘Thank you’”.
Personally, I lead with “Piss off!” when it comes to these busybodies. Anything less simply enables them. The Japanese, with a high sense of propriety, would rarely sink to such a level. Bless…
9. Kuuki Yomenai (“KY”)
Meaning: ‘cannot read the air’
There’s always that guy who walks into a situation, a conversation, a meeting… any scenario basically, and says or does the most inappropriate thing. Turns out, the Japanese have a word for this dude. More a slang, they’ll say he’s a “KY” which stands for kuuki yomenai, which is technically two words but who’s counting? It’s an apt phrase used to describe this hapless fellow with an inability to “read the air”. Don’t be that guy. Don’t be KY.
10. Shibumi
So simple yet so complicated to explain that I was a little hesitant about including this word in my list which is ironic since it is all about simplicity.
Shibumi loosely translates to ‘effortless perfection’ and is a way that encourages subtlety and a balance of the simple and complex to produce an elegant outcome.
As one of its zen elements instructs:
Eliminate what doesn’t matter to make more room for what does.
It’s an all-encompassing philosophy that applies to almost every aspect of life. Whether it’s fashion, or other aesthetics, how our minds work, or even how we come across. To learn more go here.
Honorable mentions:
Shouganai: Defined as: It is what it is. Personally, I prefer the English long-form but still good to know the Japanese have a single word for this classic phrase of resignation.
Seppuku: Also known as harakiri, any film buff worth their salt knows this word. The scene: a samurai, now shamed because of… doesn’t matter, sits cross-legged in his elegant robe. Produces a finely crafted short blade forged in the flames of… doesn’t matter and proceeds to disembowel himself. To restore honour, no less. If only some politicians followed this code. Anyway, this is the Japanese equivalent of ‘falling on one's sword’ but as you’ve gathered, it’s a tad more painful (I imagine) and has a little more pomp about it. Hopefully, when you use this word you will mean it figuratively and have no desire to either commit seppuku yourself or demand it of your minion.
Tabata: Not really a word in the classic sense. It’s a form of high-intensity interval training coined from the eponymous Dr. Izumi Tabata whose research in the 1990s was a forebearer to the HIIT craze of the late noughties.
Kanbina: Means: A word that sounds sweet and pleasant to the ear. A word about words… An apt way to end this article.
