We love Japan, and we know from the success J-List has enjoyed that thousands of you do, too. Japan is a rich and fun world, filled with the wacky and the beautiful, the bizarre and the kawaii.

As a service to our customers who may not always understand the various terms used on the J-List site, we've decided to start this glossary, and put as much information as we can on the various terms we use. Note: Many of these terms deal with adult products.

If you have any questions or would like us to add somthing to this list, or there's a term you'd like to see explained in this list, please contact us using the link at left.

 
Term
Short Answer
 Long Answer
"Japanese Animation"
 The old word for animation is manga (literally "whimsical pictures"), but sometime in the 1970's, the term anime was coined. It just means "animation" of any kind, and to the Japanese, it covers Disney animation as well. Of course Westerners use the term to describe only Japanese animation.
"Japanese Comics"
 "Japanese comics"
"amateur Japanese comics"
 Doujinshi (literally "same heart books") are a form of underground comic book that Japanese fans. The vast majority of doujinshi are not adult, but the products that J-List carries are almost always adult, since this is one of our specialties. They are very much "tributes" to the popular anime, comic and game characters, even the erotic ones: the fans love the characters so much, they can't help drawing erotic tales, fantasizing about this character having sex with that. They are very collectible, since only a few hundred of each book are printed, and they're nearly always out of print from that moment.
"adult anime, comics or games"
 In Japanese, the word hentai is not really a nice word, as it means "sexual pervert." In English, fans started using it as a catchall to describe all adult Japanese anime, games and comics
"anime sexual"
 "H" is the first letter of the word "hentai." For some reason, the letter "H" has come to refer to any kind of sexual term. If a guy touches a girl, she screams and calls him "H" (ecchi!). If a couple has sex, a term for this act us "H suru" (to do H, i.e. to have sex).
"pretty girl"
 Really a term that describes any pretty girl, the word has come to refer to the adult anime simulation games that are so popular in Japan. Bishoujo games are also called "hentai" games (although we don't like this term as much).
"adult video"
 Different countries use abbreviations for different things. In Japan for example, a P.A. is a "parking area" or a little place you pull off the freeway to buy food, drinks and gasoline. AV is Japanese parlance for "adult video" (not audio/visual), and an AV girl or AV idol is an adult video star. Now you know. We also use the term JAV in Japan to denote Japan Adult Video.
"foreigner"
 A word that literally means "outsider," gaijin is kind of a rude word when used in some situations, as it sounds short and might offend some listeners. A more politically correct word is "gai-koku jin" or "outside country person." There is a tendency for gaijin to refer to themselves by this word, but sometimes take offense if Japanese say "Hey, gaijin." In this way, it's not unlike American blacks and their use of the "n" word as a way of forming groups.
"facial"
 Ejaculating on a woman, principally on her face. "Kakeru" means "to pour onto" in Japanese. Like many words in the "adult" world in Japan, it's a normal word -- one of the most famous noodle dishes is Bukkake Udon, with a white sauce poured over noodles. Um, yeah.
"male/male homosexual comic"
 A huge up-and-coming form of comic/anime, yaoi is an often sexual art style that is generally popular among girls. It often features sexual drama and artwork between males, especially some male characters in anime.
"boy's love"
 A sub-set of yaoi, it refers specifically to sexual comic (and doujinshi) about the love between guys. Also called BL. Also written shonen-ai.
"beautiful boy"
 Just what it says. Also written bishonen. The extra 'u' is more accurate so we usually use that term on J-List.
shoujo
"girl"
 Meaning simply "girl," this word has come to describe any kind of anime or manga comic for girls. Weekly manga magazines like Ribbon are "shojo comics." Often, shoujo themes are cross-bred with other themes. Also written shojo, although strictly speaking the word with the short vowl means "virgin," not "girl."
"cute"
 This term means "cute." Usually said Kawaii!!!!! in a very high pitched voice by cute anime girls. There's an interestaing variation called ero-kawa meaning erotic and cute, which we approve of very much.
"costume play"
 Basically, dressing up in your favorite costumes, usually as characters from anime. As a category of adult product, seeing a pretty girl dressed up as Chun Li while getting banged by Ryu. Note that there's not necessary a sexual connotation (although if there is, that's fine too).
Japanese version of "valley girls"
 Really difficult to describe. Ko = "child" and Gal = "gal." Also called just "gals" kogals are a kind of Japanese girl who wear outrageous styles, paint their faces with weird make-up, and tan their bodies in tanning salons. There have been many shifts in kogal culture since they emerged around 1995, growing out of the old Amuler boom (when all the girls wanted to dress up like Amuro Namie. Various types have included including younger versions of kogals (mago-gals, where "mago" means "grandchild"), yamanba ("mountain hags," girls who tan themselves til they're black), and one-gal ("oh-nee gal," gals who act grown up, like stylish actress/model Noriko Fujiwara). Kogals are sexually very loose, which is exciting to see, thus Japan's pornography industry has latched onto that with magazines, videos and more. Since girls who have sex can get pregnant, there are also "mama-gals" in Japan now, silly young women in their early 20's who wear outrageous fashions yet push baby carriages.
big, bulky socks
 These big, loose socks (if you're talking to a Japanese person, you need to pronounce them as "lose socks") are the trademark of kogals. Virtually no high school girl goes around without loose socks on. To keep them stuck to your leg, apply "socks glue." We happen to sell both loose socks and socks glue at J-List.
pussy
 The only "really" bad word in Japanese, omanko (or just "manko" -- the "o" on the front of words in Japanese is a polite prefix that could be translated as "honorable" if you wanted the translation to sound stupid) just means pussy. Don't say it to Japanese people, it's very rude.
"gulp"
 This is the sound of swallowing to the Japanese. Thus, as a pornographic term, it implies a woman sucking off a guy and swallowing.
"boobs"
 Breasts, tits, teats.
"ass"
 A person's rear end
"titty fucking"
The Japanese word for a man coplating with a woman's breasts. "Pai" comes from "oppai" (a normal word for breasts). Zuri means "stroke"
"hand job"
 Another fetish to come up in recent years, tekoki is the act of a female giving a male a hang job. There are quite a few tekoki-only products on J-List's pages.
"girls with glasses"
 A word that means a girl (ko) wearing glasses (megane). Pronounced meh-gah-neh-KO.
fan (of anime, manga, anything)
 A word which really means "you" or "your family," this is a term that has come to mean anyone who gets carried away in his love of anime, manga, sci-fi films, JPOP idols, or any other topic. There are all kinds of otakus in the world, perfume otaku, goth otakus, shoe otakus. It's fun to get obsessive over pop culture! Note that fans of anime use the term all over the world, but in Japan it's not really a positive concept. Just as you wouldn't always feel right about a "Trekkie" who wore Spock ears while shopping, celebration of one's self as an otaku is better done quietly and with others who share your passion. If you have anime T-shirts and want to wear them in Japan, you might want to reconsider ^_^
"Not Safe for Work"
 A euphemism for anything that's adult in nature and should be avoided while at work. Since emails will often be trapped as spam if they contain certain keywords, we usually use this term instead of, say, "adult," in our emails.
"all nude"
 There's a big boom in "all nude" sports in Japan, mostly headed by Soft on Demand, who had brought out many innovative videos over the years.
"whale spout"
 When a woman has a wet orgasm, that's known as a whale spout (shiofuki). This is a normal word too, which makes it quite a shock when you see it in a nature documentary on whales and have to avoid giggling.
"matured woman"
 A word literally meaning "ripened woman," it describes anyone over the age of 30. Implies great sexual experience, in contrast to the cute but inxperienced AV idols found at the other end of the spectrum.
"married woman"
 Similar to the above. This word literally means "a person's wife" and describes the fetish of men wanting to own what other men have.