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One of the important components of learning a language is the vocabulary. When you learn words that are enjoyable to say, you’ll want to say them more frequently, and consequently use the language more. Read on to learn a selection of cool Japanese words you’ll want to try out right away!
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Understanding cool Japanese words more fully
Many cool words in Japanese become even cooler when you understand kanji. Kanji can either refer to one of the three writing systems in the Japanese alphabet or the Chinese-derived characters of that system. By knowing the kanji, you’ll understand the vocabulary on a deeper level.
You’ll also be able to more effectively utilize the cool Japanese words in this list if you know Japanese grammar, particularly how different Japanese parts of speech work. Components like i-adjectives and verbs follow the same conjugation rules as usual. That said, the words on this list are practical even when said individually!
I-adjectives
In Japanese, i-adjectives all end with an i (い) hiragana character. If you need to conjugate an i-adjective, remove the last i and add on the new appropriate ending. However, it’s common to use i-adjectives on their own as short reaction phrases.
Natsukashii
Natsukashii (懐かしい) means “nostalgic” and can be used in lieu of the phrase “that takes me back.” People like to indulge in nostalgia from time to time. This is also the case in Japan, contributing to the continued success of franchises like Pokémon and Doraemon, both of which have maintained popularity for decades.
Urayamashii
Urayamashii (羨ましい) is the word for “jealous.” When your friend shares about something cool they experienced or a great gift they received, it’s natural to respond with urayamashii in a lighthearted way.
Omoshiroi
Omoshiroi (面白い) can either mean “funny” or “interesting.” While these two definitions seem rather different to English speakers, to Japanese speakers it’s natural to bundle them together. Conversely, when Japanese people learn English, they sometimes struggle to understand the distinction between “funny” and “interesting.”
The kanji in the word omoshiroi are interesting themselves! The omo (面) character denotes “face” or “surface,” and shiroi (白い) is “white.” There’s no obvious connection between the meaning of the characters to the meaning of the word, and the word’s exact origin is unknown. The most prevalent theory is that when you encounter something omoshiroi, it metaphorically feels like before your “face” things have been “brightened.”
Kyōmi-bukai
Kyōmi-bukai (興味深い) can also be defined as “interesting” but on a deeper level than omoshiroi and may better be translated as “fascinating.” You may sometimes say omoshiroi on autopilot, as can be the case with “interesting” in English. Kyōmi-bukai, however, is always wholehearted.
The word kyōmi (興味) means interest, and bukai comes from the word fukai (深い), which means “deep,” making the literal definition “deep interest.”
Yabai
If you’ve learned any Japanese slang, you’ve likely encountered the word yabai (やばい). It’s a cute Japanese word because of its pronunciation, but also a cool one because of its flexibility. It can communicate an array of strong reactions, such as “dangerous,” “terrible,” “crazy,” “amazing,” and “cool.” Due to the ambiguity, you should be careful of your tone when saying yabai!
Ki-mazui
This is the word for “awkward.” If you break down ki-mazui (気まずい), you get ki (気), which signifies “atmosphere,” and mazui (まずい), which means “terrible” or “unpalatable.”
Itai
Itai (痛い) is the word for “painful” and is also the Japanese version of “ouch!” Reminiscent of the English phrase “it’s painful to watch,” itai can also stand for “cringy.” This is the origin of the name itasha (痛車) given to cars covered with anime characters.
Hageshii
Hageshii (激しい) indicates something “intense.” Common uses of hageshii would be to describe a competition, weather, or personality.
Erai
Erai (偉い) means “admirable” and is a common compliment among Japanese people. It’s used for recognizing when someone has gone above and beyond and can apply to everyday activities, such as studying for a long time or doing a kind favor.
From erai comes erasou (偉そう), which is the attitude of someone who thinks they’re erai but they’re not. It can be translated as “self-important” or “conceited.” Erasou is an na-adjective.
Na-adjectives
Using an na-adjective sometimes requires the use of an na (な) particle. But like i-adjectives, you can use na-adjectives separately as reaction phrases.
Jouzu
It’s an inside joke among Japanese learners that if you can say even a simple thing in Japanese, you’ll quickly receive the compliment nihongo ga jouzu desu ne, meaning “your Japanese is really good.” In this translation, jouzu (上手) means “good,” but as it specifically refers to ability, a safer translation would be “skillful.”
The kanji are “above” (上) and “hand” (手). The “hand” is a representation of “skill,” so you can interpret the characters as “above average skill.”
With jouzu, be careful that you don’t use it to refer to yourself. Japanese culture as a whole values humility, and jouzu is quite a high compliment. It’s a great thing to say to friends and acquaintances!
Nigate
Nigate (苦手) is applied in two different ways; either you’re conveying you’re “not good at something” or you’re “not good with something.”
The first definition is about skill level, which is reflected in the kanji. The first kanji represents “hardship” or “bitter” (苦) and the second kanji is the same “hand” (手) character in jouzu.
The second definition deals with your tolerance. You may express mushi ga nigate (I can’t handle bugs), or karai mono ga nigate (I’m not good with spicy food).
Oshare
Oshare (おしゃれ) is “trendy” or “stylish.” It often describes fashion or cool hangouts such as cafes and bars. While oshare is an na-adjective, it can also be changed into a suru verb to say that you “got dressed up.”
Dentō-teki
Dentō-teki (伝統的) is the term for “traditional” in Japanese. It’s always cool to learn about dentō-teki aspects of a culture!
Teki (的) is a common ending in other na-adjectives, such as kihon-teki (fundamental) and shinri-teki (psychological).
Muchū
If you are “obsessed” or are completely focused to the point that you tune out other things, you are muchū (夢中). The kanji in muchū are the kanji for “dream” (夢) and “middle” (中) and can be interpreted as “in the middle of a trance.”
The typical sentence pattern is [noun] ni muchū. It’s mostly used with hobbies, but can even describe romantic feelings.
Tekitō
The unique thing about tekitō (適当) is it can be positive or negative depending on context. This makes it a bit tricky to translate, but you can compare it to the phrase “good enough” with different implications based on tone.
On the positive end, it can denote “suitable,” such as when looking for someone to fill a role. On the negative end, it can imply a task was done in a “haphazard” way—in this case, it matters less how well something is done, just that it is completed.
Dame
Depending on the situation, dame (駄目) can mean “not allowed,” “no good, “or “useless.” If someone’s doing something they shouldn’t, you can warn them with dame. If a plan of yours won’t work anymore, that’s also dame. And if something has broken, it’s now dame. There’s a more casual connotation to dame and it can be used in a joking manner.
Nouns
Japanese Nouns are usually straightforward in meaning, but you’ll still sometimes find yourself pleasantly surprised!
Konsento
Within Japanese vocabulary, there are many Japanese loanwords or gairaigo (外来語), and the majority of these come from English. Because of the presence of gairaigo, it’s less hard to learn Japanese than you might first assume!
Konsento (コンセント) is a gairaigo, but it does not have the expected definition of “consent.” Rather, it was derived from “concentric outlet.” If you need to charge your electric devices, it’s handy to know the word konsento.
Baikingu
Baikingu (バイキング) is also a gairaigo and technically comes from an English word, yet it’s used in a completely different way! The meaning is “buffet,” but it comes from the word “viking.”
What connection do vikings have to buffets? A Japanese man encountered smorgasbords in Scandinavia and wanted to bring that style of dining to Japan. He then opened a restaurant called Imperial Viking. Over time, the extensive servings of food became associated with the “viking” name.
Kikkake
A kikkake (きっかけ) is an “impetus.” As a Japanese language learner, this is an especially helpful word for explaining why you decided to study Japanese! You can phrase your explanation as nihongo o benkyou shi hajimeta kikkake wa [reason].
Keshiki
Keshiki (景色) is the word for “scenery” in Japanese. If you’re traveling in Japan, you’re sure to see some utsukushii keshiki (beautiful scenery).
Jishin
Jishin (自信) is the word for “confidence” and is literally represented as “believe” (信) in “yourself” (自). It can be paired with the verb aru meaning “to have” or the verb motsu meaning “to hold.” If you’d like to encourage someone to have confidence, you can say jishin o motte!
Kinchō
Kinchō (緊張) is “nervousness” and could be thought of as the opposite of jishin. However, it’s beneficial to acknowledge the feeling; if you verbalize it, the tension is broken, and you’ll receive encouragement to try despite your kinchō. By adding suru, you can make kinchō into the verb “to be nervous.” Using kinchō as a suru verb, you can kindly encourage someone else with kinchō shinai de (don’t be nervous).
Verbs
In Japanese grammar, the inclusion of Japanese verb conjugations makes verbs especially important. The verbs in this list are all u-verbs/godan verbs and follow standard conjugation rules.
Yaku ni tatsu
This word will surely be “useful,” as that’s its definition! While yaku ni tatsu (役に立つ) is technically a verb, it’s very common to structure a sentence as [noun] wa yaku ni tatsu to express that someone or something is useful. Yaku (役) is “role” and tatsu (立つ) is “to stand,” giving the impression of a role being filled.
Ma ni au
Ma ni au (間に合う) means “to make it on time.” It’s used together with the particle ni in sentences like kurasu ni ma ni au (I’ll make it on time for class) or densha ni ma ni au (I’ll make it on time to ride the train). The kanji for ma (間) is in the word for “time” (jikan, 時間). Au (合う) is the verb “to match.”
Niau
Niau is “to suit” in the sense of “that color suits you.” It’s employed in the sentence pattern [thing] wa [person] ni niau. The ni (似) character means “to resemble” and au (合う) is the same as in ma ni au and means “to match.”
Ochi-tsuku
Ochi-tsuku (落ち着く) is “to calm down” or “to settle down,” which is a good reminder if you feel kinchō (nervous). It can express that something helps you relax, such as ocha o nomu to ochi-tsuku (when I drink tea I feel relaxed). In a continuous form conjugation, it can describe someone’s personality as calm, such as saying kanojo wa ochi-tsuiteiru (she is calm).
Cool Japanese words used as phrases
Sometimes ideas that require a sentence to explain in one language can be expressed in just one word in another language. These are often some of the most cool Japanese words!
Sou
There are numerous translations of sou (そう) depending on the circumstance, but to simplify we could define it as “that is the case.” Sou is one of the most common aizuchi (相槌), or interjections that demonstrate active listening. If you’ve listened to a Japanese conversation between native speakers, you’re sure to have heard aizuchi and may have specifically heard sou or the phrase sou desu ne.
Sou can be remarked to show agreement as we would use the phrases “that’s right” or “you’re right.” With a questioning intonation it becomes the inquiry “is that so?”
Otsukare
Otsukare (お疲れ) is not always taught alongside other Japanese greetings, but it’s handy if you want to integrate with Japanese people. It’s similar to proclaiming “nice work today.” Good times to offer it are when you see a coworker heading home, when you’re heading home, or when you meet up with a friend after work. This word is derived from tsukareru (疲れる) meaning “to become tired.”
There are different levels of politeness with otsukare; just otsukare is very casual and should only be said to friends, otsukare sama is fairly polite, and otsukare sama deshita is the most polite.
Mendōkusai
Close equivalents to mendōkusai (面倒くさい) would be phrases like “it’s too much trouble” or “it’s too much work” declared with exasperation. You can use it when there’s a task you don’t want to do for whatever reason, whether it’s tedious, annoying, or you’re just feeling lazy. The word mendō (面倒) means “trouble” and kusai (臭い) means “smelly.”
Shōganai
Shōganai (しょうがない) is often interpreted as “it can’t be helped.” In Japanese culture, people tend to regard bad news with detachment and not be as concerned with taking personal responsibility to fix something. This phrase communicates a “no use wallowing” attitude and an acceptance that “it is what it is.”
Sasuga
Sasuga (さすが) indicates “just as you’d expect from [noun].” While it’s mostly used in a complimentary sense, it can be used in a neutral or negative sense. It can either imply that you predicted something would happen or someone would act in a certain way, or be said in hindsight.
Mottainai
Mottainai (勿体無い) means “it’s such a waste.” It can express disappointment, but it can also be used in the sense of “it’s such a waste to stay inside the house,” which in Japanese is ie no naka ni iru no ga mottainai.
Ichi-go ichi-e
Ichi-go ichi-e (一期一会) is a succinctly conveyed Japanese proverb. The character for ichi (一) means “one,” the character for go (期) means “time,” and the character for e (会) means “meeting.” It can be translated as “one opportunity, one encounter.”
This proverb reflects a value in Japanese culture to fully embrace the present as you will never have the exact same experiences again. Yet these brief moments can leave a profound impact. Ichi-go ichi-e relates to the Japanese aesthetic philosophy of wabi-sabi: an appreciation of impermanent and imperfect things.
Make language learning fun with cool Japanese words
With a large variety of cool Japanese words in your arsenal, you’ll have even more fun meeting new people and making small talk. And when you’re having fun on your language learning journey, you likely won’t even be concerned with something like how long it takes to learn Japanese!
It’s normal to be kinchō about speaking a new language, but when you embrace a wabi-sabi mindset, you’ll appreciate that it’s all part of the process. Rosetta Stone’s lessons allow you to learn in a low-pressure environment and are designed to foster natural language learning with the Dynamic Immersion method. So don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and start learning Japanese with Rosetta Stone!