Japan’s 2024 “Buzzword Awards” 30 candidate groups of new words have been released, “Exit 8” and Seal Kindergarten are both on the list

Japan’s 2024 “Newspeak and Buzzword Awards” announced today (5th) 30 groups of shortlisted words, including Japanese star Shohei Ohtani, who set the first record in Major League Baseball (MLB) of 50 homers, 50 steals in a single season. -50″, the ghost wall-beating game “Exit 8”, and the live-streaming popular Seal Kindergarten are among them.

The “Newspeak and Buzzword Award” was first held in 1984 by the annual magazine “Basic Knowledge of Modern Phrases” published by the Japan Free National Society. At the end of each year, the top ten popular words and phrases that can reflect Japanese social phenomena and arouse topics are selected and Awards are given to people and groups related to or represented by these keywords.

The finalists for the Newspeak and Buzzword Awards are nominated by readers, and then the top ten are selected by the review committee for the annual awards. The results will be made public in early December. The top ten words of 2024 will be announced on December 2.

The members of the jury this time include: Kindaichi Hideho (Professor of Kyorin University), Nako Hashimi (cartoonist and columnist), Patrick Harlan (comedian), Shigeru Muroi (actor and director of Toyama Prefectural Takashi Nokuni Literature Museum), Yuko Yoko Otsuka (cartoonist) and editor-in-chief of “Basic Knowledge of Modern Phrases”.

and” #Basic knowledge of modern terminology “Basic knowledge of modern terminology” selected based on terms included in U-Can #New word/buzzword award 」
The 30 nominated words were also announced today. The top ten and annual grand prize will be announced on December 2nd! pic.twitter.com/MSAaCd80Yl

— Basic knowledge of modern terminology @ “2025 edition” released on November 5th! (@gendai_yougo) November 5, 2024

Japanese media NHK reported that among the 30 popular candidate words in 2024, many reflect important social issues, and for the first time since 2021, people in the entertainment industry were not selected.

For example, not long after Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba took office, after soaring prices caused people’s pain, the government also broke out a corruption scandal that aroused public outrage. As a result, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party was reduced to a minor party in the House of Representatives election last month. The “political donation issue” was selected by the government. The plan to “consolidate National Health Insurance Cards into a single card” has caused social unrest and was also selected.

There are also “Customer Harassment” such as the unreasonable complaints and harassment of AOK, the “Anonymous Mobile Criminal Group” of serious crime cases that shocked society, the “Innocent Case” related to illegal work, and the new non-taxable investment system “New NISA”, “new banknotes” with new anti-counterfeiting technology, etc., and the “Reiwa rice riot” due to shortage of rice caused by shortage of supply in Japan, and terms closely related to people’s lives were selected.

On the other hand, the main character’s line “Huh?” in NHK’s morning drama “A Tiger’s Wings” and the TBS drama “Extremely Inappropriate!” “The abbreviation of “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” by the well-known hip-hop group Creepy Nuts, which is popular around the world, and “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” related to the 2024 Paris Olympics, are also selected.

[Announcement]30 nominated words for the “2024 U-CAN New Words and Buzzwords Award” have been decided! Top ten announced on December 2nd https://t.co/THhXM0beix

01. Acai bowl
02. Seal Kindergarten
03. Inbaundon
04. Secret money problem
05. Neighborhood
06. Kashara
07. Convenience store Mt. Fuji
08. Samurai Time Slipper
09. Elderly Japan
10. New banknotes

11.… pic.twitter.com/k8wxnO3qFn

— Livedoor News (@livedoornews) November 5, 2024

The organizer stated that although 2024 started with heavy news starting from the earthquake in the Hokuriku Noto Peninsula in January, there were also many other topics that emerged this year, such as the Olympic Games, Shohei Ohtani’s outstanding performance, popular dance music videos on the Internet, etc.

“The candidate words for buzzwords in 2024 are generally more subtle and scattered. At the same time, there are many words related to “money”. Amid the wave of irresponsibility, this year has been both light and dark, feeling like the calm before the storm. “

The 2024 “Newspeak and Buzzword Awards” shortlist is sorted by 50 sounds:

1. Acai Bowl/Acai Bowl, a plum dessert originating from Brazil and popular in Hawaii. It became popular in Japan in 2000 and is now back in fashion.
2. アザラシKindergarten/Poster Kindergarten, Zeehondencentrum Pieterburen, a seal research and conservation center in the Netherlands, takes in hundreds of injured seals every year, and its live broadcast channel is loved by Japanese netizens
3. インバウン丼／Selling super expensive seafood rice bowl for foreign tourists visiting Japan
4. Likin issue/political donation scandal engulfed by the Liberal Democratic Party
5. Kaikuma/has evolved from its original meaning of “nearby, adjacent” to referring to “common people” such as companions or close people, and is usually understood as “that type of person”
6. カスハラ/The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly passed and established Japan’s first “Customer Harassment Prevention Ordinance” on October 4, 2024 to deal with Oko
7. Fujisan/Fujisan LAWSON Kawaguchiko Station Store, the scenery was so beautiful that it attracted tourists to take photos but caused trouble to the locals, and was finally covered with black cloth
8. Samurai Samurai/The independently produced costume drama “Time and Space Samurai”, the story of a samurai from the late Edo period traveling to modern times is very popular
9. Chu Lao Yin/The Japanese equestrian team at the Paris Olympics is nicknamed “Chu Lao Japan”. The average age of the team members is 41.5 years old.
10. New banknotes/new Japanese currency banknotes in three denominations of 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen and 1,000 yen officially issued by the Ministry of Finance of Japan on July 3
11. New NISA/Japan’s non-taxable investment system (Nippon Individual Savings Account) for Japanese residents over 18 years old starting from January 2024
12. Soft old age harm/soft old age harm, mentioned in the book of writer Suzuki Misaki, is similar to the speech or suggestion of senior members of the organization, which inadvertently causes work or psychological burden for rookies.
13. Toruクリュウ/hidden flow, the abbreviation of anonymous mobile criminal group, is not only limited to the underground of the underworld, but also has close ties with violent gangs, has blurred boundaries, and repeatedly separates and gathers. It specifically targets the middle-aged generation.
14. Nankai Trough Earthquake Temporary Information/After a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred in Miyazaki Prefecture on August 8, the Japan Meteorological Agency immediately called on the public to pay attention to the “Nankai Trough Earthquake Temporary Warning” for the next wave of major earthquakes.
15. Cat meme/Cat meme, various cat meme emoticons on the Internet
16. はいよろこんで/Singer-songwriter Taketo Sugan’s original song “Happy to Serve”, the brainwashing melody and pertinent lyrics speak to countless workplace voices, and the MV’s magical dance also set off a wave of second creations
17. Exit 8 / Ghost wall game “Exit 8”
18. はて? ／The line “Eh” used by the protagonist Tonko in the Japanese drama “Tiger Wings” when she expressed that it was difficult to accept it
19. BeReal/A social software from France. Users have two minutes to post. No photo retouching or filters are allowed. The most authentic aspect is emphasized.
20. The Japan Atomic Bomb Victims Group Council, which won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, is composed of victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and is committed to promoting a world without nuclear weapons.
21. 50-50／Ohtani Shohei became the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season.
22. Futehodo/Tokikotaku style of Showa-style song and dance Japanese drama “Extremely unreasonable!” 》
23. Bling-Bang-Bang-Born／See the report on this site for details
24. ブレイキン/Paris Olympics adds breakdancing event for the first time
25. The term ホワイトcase/innocent case originally represented the job or part-time job information solicited through SNS and emphasized that it was not a “dark heart” job. As a result, many victims thought it was not a “dark part-time job” but became an accomplice in crime after applying. This situation has recently occurred in Japan. Society emerges in endlessly
26. MANUMA Insurance Card is unified into one book/From December 2, Japan’s paper health insurance cards (health insurance cards) will stop issuing new ones, and it will be mandatory to merge them with My Number Card. However, problems such as data leakage and card reader failure are still unresolved.
27. Famous quote: Haruka Kitaguchi/Japanese athlete Haruka Kitaguchi won the gold medal in the Olympic women’s javelin final with a throw of 65.80 meters. It was Japan’s first gold medal in land sports in 20 years. After the game, she was interviewed and said, “There is no way I can stay.” The classic saying.
28. It’s already true / Netflix Japanese drama “Jijishi” General line “You’ve done it~”
29. やばい、かっこよすぎる俺／Japanese men’s wheelchair tennis player Keito Oda won the men’s wheelchair tennis singles gold medal at the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games. After the game, he proudly said, “Toothless, I am too handsome.”
30. Reiwa Rice Movement/Japan’s national rice inventory hit a record low in August. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries speculated that it may be due to the large number of tourists visiting Japan, the low price of rice, and the lower-than-expected supply due to last year’s intense heat, which ultimately led to Japan’s rice shortage.