Due to the worldwide pandemic, 2020 was marked by the daily use of words and phrases such as ‘social distancing’ and ‘lockdown’. The word ‘sanmitsu’ was so popular in Japan that it was chosen by publishing house Jiyukokuminsha as Japan’s buzzword of the year
A well-known approach to preventing COVID-19 infection by avoiding close-contact situations, closed spaces and crowds, sanmitsu is the Japanese equivalent of the “Three Cs” and has recently been proclaimed top buzzword of the year by publishing house Jiyukokuminsha. Frequently uttered by Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike and Japanese authorities to the public, sanmitsu has helped limit the number of COVID cases and deaths in Japan during spring and summer. Unfortunately, over the past few weeks, the island-nation has begun to suffer from a third wave of the pandemic.
According to The Japan Times, Koike said during a live-streamed ceremony that the word “has had a huge impact [on our lives]… It has raised public’s awareness of potential risks and therefore helped [us] proceed with implementing measures to curb further viral transmission.”
The words ‘Amabie’ and ‘Abenomask’ also went viral this year in Japan. Amabie means an auspicious yokai—a class of supernatural spirits popularised through Japanese folklore that was first documented in 1849—while Abenomask refers to former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s very makeshift-looking mask that drew much criticism earlier this year.
Other than top buzzwords relating to the coronavirus pandemic, a few pop culture terms also received honourable mention from Jiyukokuminsha. They include Demon Slayer, or Kimetsu no Yaiba, an anime based on Koyoharu Gotoge’s manga that became a huge box-office hit in Japan, surpassing the US$100 million revenue milestone in just 10 days, and Atsu-Mori, based on the Nintendo game Atsumare Dobutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing: New Horizons).
Providing extraordinary insight into Japan’s social trends of the year, publishing house Jiyukokuminsha has chosen Japanese top buzzwords annually at the end of every year since 1984.
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