They aren’t all directly gadget related, but I found Pink Tentacle’s
collection of the “Top 60 Japanese Buzzwords of 2007″ to be a fun peek
into a culture that’s about as obsseive and trend-swept as our own.
34.
One-yen products (one-yen pachinko, one-yen cellphone) [1-en mono -
１円もの]: Products that cost one yen are becoming popular. This year, some
pachinko parlors reduced the price of balls to one yen each (down from
four yen each), and some cellphone providers cut the price of featured
handsets to one yen.…
40. Dark website [yami site - 闇サイト]: Yami sites (”dark websites”)
are online networking sites where people can take out hit contracts on
others, make illegal transactions (drugs, fake bank accounts, hacked
cellphones, prostitution, etc.), and meet suicide partners. Japan has
seen a recent rise in the number of murders arranged through these
web-based hotbeds of criminal activity.…
46. China shock/China-free [チャイナショック／チャイナフリー]: “China shock” refers
to the impact felt in world markets after the Shanghai Composite Index
took a steep plunge in February. “China-free,” a phrase that grew in
popularity after a string of Chinese products (toothpaste, toys, etc.)
were found to contain hazardous materials, refers to products not made
in China.
Top 60 Japanese buzzwords of 2007 [Pink Tentacle]
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