Join Our Newsletter
  • Visit Our Store
  • Come Write for J-List!
J-List Blog
Visit J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan
No Result
View All Result
J-List Blog
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan
No Result
View All Result
J-List Blog
No Result
View All Result

Various ways to say “Menstruation” in Japanese

Peter Payne by Peter Payne
19 years ago
in Your Friend in Japan

Hello all. Kind of tired today, as it’s Friday and a rough one at that. But the weekend is near, so near…

Today’s J-List post is below. You can also read it on the J-List website or the JBOX.com site.

It’s been said that Japan is the only country that cares what its foreign population thinks, and I’ve definitely seen this to be true. Books about Japan written by foreigners who live here are often translated into Japanese and sell briskly, and the nightly broadcast of World Business Satellite wouldn’t be complete without the nerdy gaijin analyst from Morgan Stanley giving his view of the recent movements in the market to round out the Japanese commentators. I’ve definitely seen that my own comments seem to carry a lot more weight than those of the average Japanese. Smoking is common in Japan, and it’s not rare for restaurants to not even offer non-smoking sections, but two restaurants we frequent recently converted part of their space, almost definitely (according to my Japanese wife) because of polite comments I, being a foreigner, had made to the staff about cigarette smoke. Another time, I went to a restaurant and found the restroom to be a little on the smelly side. I carefully mentioned this to the manager, and when I went back a month later, I was surprised to find the restroom had been completely renovated (or as they say in Japan, “reformed”). Maybe my comment had nothing to do with this, but I have my doubts. Japanese people usually seem to hold the concept of gaman (patience, tolerance) to be a good one, stoically enduring a bad situation rather than trying to change it. Personally, I prefer to try to make the world a better place when I can…

Tokyo is the sprawling capital of Japan, home to 12 million people, a number which rises by several million during the day as people commute to their jobs from the surrounding areas. It’s not a city at all, but one of Japan’s 47 prefectures, although it’s got a special status as a “metropolis,” not unlike the District of Columbia in the U.S. Inside Tokyo there are 23 ku (wards), 26 shi (cities), 5 machi (towns) and 8 mura (villages), and my Tokyo friends tell me it’s cooler to live in one of the wards since you get a phone number that starts with 03, not one of the inferior ones that start with 04. Some of the more famous areas of Tokyo are Shinjuku, a shopping and business area with many famous anime landmarks; Shibuya, a hip area for young people and home of Japan’s most famous dog statue; Harajuku, where people dress like they do in FRUiTs magazine; stylish Ginza, home of Japan’s only Apple Store; and Akihabara, where people come to buy electronics and eat in “cosplay cafes” (where the waitress dress in interesting costumes).

One of the interesting features of Japanese are the numbers of euphemisms they use for embarrassing things. Cute slang words are usually substituted for terms referring to various parts of the body, or else kanji characters are created to make a stand-in word, like combining the characters for “shadow” and “stem” to refer to that part of a man. There are so many ways to refer to woman’s gekkei (menstruation) that I’ve actually never heard the normal term used even once. They include seiri (which simply means “biology”), okyakusama ga kiteiru (“I’ve got a guest staying with me”), hatabi (“flag day,” in reference to the Japanese flag), and from a few years back, anne no hi or Anne’s Day, something to do with the Diary of Anne Frank. A useful catch-all euphemism for just about anything is are (ah-rei), which literally means “that one over there” but can refer to any object you don’t want to name openly. Another famous Japanese euphemism, as any anime fan knows, is the letter H, pronounced with a Japanese accent (ecchi), which refers to anything to do with sex.

Tags: cosplaygaijinotaku

More Posts Like This

New The Making Of Harry Potter Experience
Your Friend in Japan

Do Otaku Live in the Past? Let’s Ask Japanese Harry Potter Fans!

by Peter Payne
3 months ago

Sometimes Mrs. J-List will see me watching anime about high school students half my age one-third my age discussing what...

Most Embarrassing Otaku Moment
News

What’s Your Most Embarrassing Anime Otaku Moment?

by Peter Payne
12 months ago

While it's fun being an anime fan, enjoying our shared popular culture online, sometimes we have to interface with "normies"...

Shimoneta Weird Anime

16 Ways Being an Anime Otaku Makes You Happier!

1 year ago
San Diego Comic Con Harry Potter Image

San Diego Comic-Con is Back! Four Things We Love About the Show

1 year ago
This Man Won Anime Expo As Far As I'm Concerned

Anime Expo Supremacy: Anime Takes Over the World?

1 year ago
J List At Anime Expo!

Day One of Anime Expo Special Report!

1 year ago
Next Post
J-List Default Featured Image

Just another Manic Monday

Trending Today

Summer Heat Anime Fan Service
Your Friend in Japan

Summer Heat! What Were the Best Fan Service Moments This Season?

4 days ago
Neko Pako Fuck Paradise
Featured

J-List’s Top 11 Hentai Cosplay JAV Works

3 years ago
16bit Sensation Another Layer PV1 20
News

16bit Sensation, Heir to World God Only Knows, to Air

22 hours ago
Real The Real Hip Toy Blog Post
Your Friend in Japan

New ‘REAL The REAL’ Hip Toy Lets You Smack That Booty

2 years ago
Get the Newest Figures from J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
Summer Heat Anime Fan Service
Your Friend in Japan

Summer Heat! What Were the Best Fan Service Moments This Season?

by Peter Payne
September 17, 2023

Villainess Level 99 Dark Otome Isekai Life

TenPuru, Ep 11: Maid Service Means Serve the Maid?

Can Rurouni Kenshin’s Kenshingumi Defeat the Oniwabanshu?

Why Is Tokyo Disneyland the Best Theme Park?

Anime Oni Girls Who Might Let You Grab Their Horns

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Discord
  • YouTube

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.