It's easy to create Japanese slang. Use a lot of "sound effect" words (I was walking down the alley and Bwa! the place blew up.), and onomatopoeia or mimesis; such as Baribari (sound of an engine; used when things are running smoothly") Ka-ching (sound of handcuffs, "be arrested") or Bokoboko (sound of hitting something hard, used when beating someone up).
Abbreviation is also a good way to make slang. Japanese tend to take one to three letters in a word, maybe combine it with a couple letters of another word, and use that; such as Sukebo (skateboard), pasokon (personal computer), and rimokom (remote control). Also, you can take the first letter of an English word, or the English spelling of a Japanese word, and use that, like H ('wanna H? Wanna fool around?).
Slang and Vocab[]
- Aho/Do-aho (Osaka): Idiot/Big idiot.
- Akan (Osaka): Bad, No Good, wrecked.
- Anime: Hand drawn animation from Japan.
- Baka/O-baka: Fool/Super-Fool
- Cho: Super
- Choo-bo: Junior High School Student.
- Dachi/Dachi-ko: friend. choombatta
- Deka: Detective
- Dojin-shi: Fanzine, underground blackbook.
- Etchi: Pervert, Have sex.
- Gaki: Kid, Juves.
- Ge-sen: Game Center
- Hamaru: Play a game or braindance fanatically, immobilized, computer crash.
- Hameru: Attack an enemy's weak points.
- Hamewaza: Shut out enemy's attacks, Unfair fighting style
- Hen na: Strange
- Idol: Young (12 - 20) Corporate entertainer.
- Imbeda: Very old game, Sucker, Sitting duck.
- Keto: Foreigner, White (Chambara).
- Kubi: Get fired from a corp.
- Kuso-Ge: Shitty Game, boring/awful game.
- Kuso: Shit.
- Muzu/Muzui: Difficult (short for "muzukashii")
- Manga: are comics or graphic novels created in Japan or using the Japanese language and conforming to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century.
- Mabu-dachi: Best friend.
- Nan-A: South Africa
- Nambei: South America
- Namban/Namban-jin: Euro or Yank
- Nikkei-jin: Japanese-related foreigners.
- OL: Office Lady, a female corporate.
- Omawari: Police.
- Onna-gata/Okama: Female impersonators.
- Otaku: Maniac, A fanatic to their hobby, has a deep understanding of anime, manga, or video games.
- Pampee: Common people, Non-edgerunners, Beavers
- Pu/Pu-taro: Unemployed, Living off the 'rents.
- Ronin: Student who failed entrance exams, out of work.
- Salaryman: Corp.
- Satsu: Police, Cops.
- Sessya: I, Me, Myself.
- Shimeru!: Kill!, Hold on!
- Tame: Waiting for a chance to attack.
- Tansha: Motorcycle.
- Ure-sen: A product that will be a big hit.
- Wakka: Motorcycle (Bosozoku/Teamer)
- Wappa: Handcuffs.
- Yabai: Dangerous.
- Yaku: Drug.
- Yanki Gal/Boy: Girls or boyswith colored hair, earings, nail polish (for girls). This word has no relation to Yankii, or Americans.
- Zako: Weak enemies, low-level Solos.
Yakuza Slang[]
- Anko: A worker, or smuggling "mule".
- Bon-naka: Gambling den.
- Bon-ya: Bookie.
- Chaka: Handgun.
- Chimpira: Low-level Yakuza, identified by colorful "Big Suit" style.
- Deiri: War (Between Yakuza families).
- Dougu: Handgun (tool)
- Eda: Branch of a Yakuza family.
- Garasu-wari: To fire guns into an opponents window to scare or warm him.
- Gasa-ire: A search by police.
- Blank-gumi: Group (Most Yakuza clans/corporations are named with the family name + gumi. Example: Yamaguchi-gumi. These are listed on their buildings doorplates, or kamban).
- Hine: Police.
- Kamban-mochi: Formal member of a Yakuza family.
- Kasuri: "Protection money" from shops and bars.
- Katagi: Common people, non-Yakuza.
- Koma-su: Win the heart of a woman, then dump her.
- Mama: Pocket money; common event, thing, or person: easy job, O.K.
- Mikajime-ryo: "Insurance Fee" from shops and bars.
- Mom-mom: Tattoos.
- Mori: Bodyguard.
- Niwaba: Territory. (Tekiya)
- Paku-rareru: Be arrested.
- Paku-ru: Arrest.
- Shaba: Common world, Outside of jail.
- Shima: Territory, Also said as Shimamori.
- Shinogi: Work, life, Income.
- Tekiya: Street vendor, Stallman (or Ya-shi, "incense seller")
- Teppo-dama: Hitman.
- Tsutomeru: To go to jail for the family.
- Yaru: To kill.
Korean Streeslang Influence[]
The lower-class, Cyberpunks, and Toseikai (yakuza-style mobsters) use Korean, with Japanese influences, to make it more offensive to listeners, and because many are second or third generation returnees from Japan.
- Banchoppari: Mixed blood Korean-Japanese.
- Cho/Choso: Communist, ex-North Korean, Terrorist.
- Chongag: Bachelor.
- Chap-sae: Goons, hired muscle, bodyguards.
- Enyon: Japanese woman (derogatory)
- Kyonchari: Policemen or Cops.
- Noje: Slave, lower class, prole.
- Paekch'i: Idiot, fool.
- Pu: Money.
- Sannomu: Idiot.
- Sasaenga: Bastard, troublemaker.
- Tou: Money.
- Uenomu: Japanese man (derogatory)
- Yain: Barbarian, uncouth person.
- Yongsa: Hero.
Reference[]
PASQUARETTE, C. Pacific Rim Sourcebook. 1st ed. Berkeley CA: R.Talsorian Games, 1994