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Words I Couldn’t Understand When I First Lived in Japan
In September of 2012, I moved to Japan and started my 1 year student exchange at Keio University. Although at the time, I had taken 3 years of Japanese in college and 2 years in high school, there were many words that I still couldn’t understand. This is an article that will help those who plan on living or studying in Japan who have some knowledge in Japanese.
コンセント Konsento
Probably one of the most shocking words that I’ve heard was コンセント which means plug or electrical outlet. The first day I came to Japan, I heard this word and I was wondering, why does everybody need consent to charge their phones especially the adults.
ビニール Biniiru
This is literally the hardest word that I struggled with in Japan. I would be at the super market and they would look at me wondering why it is so difficult to answer the question if I need a biniiru or not. I mean it sounds like vinyl but I have only heard of vinyl records my whole life living in Hawaii. For the longest time, I thought it meant antique but apparently it is a type of plastic so basically they’ve been asking me if I need a plastic. Occasionally they might as you ビニール袋 Biniiru Bukuro which means plastic bag but most of the time, since Japanese people like abbreviations, they will say only ビニール Biniiru.
