Why are vegetables so insulting in Japanese? | Japan Station 162/Ichimon Japan 14
Japan Station: A Podcast About Japanese Culture & the Japanese Language
Release Date: 06/16/2025
What to know BEFORE you move to Japan: SIM cards, phone numbers & more (Mobal CEO Declan Somers) | Japan Station 173
Japan Station: A Podcast About Japanese Culture & the Japanese Language
On this episode of Japan Station, we're talking about some of the annoying things people have to deal with when moving to Japan. Our guest this time is the CEO of Mobal, Declan Somers. 👉Topics Discussed About visiting Japan for the first time About moving to Japan and working in a Japanese company in the late '90s Japan in the '90s versus Japan today About job possibilities for foreigners in Japan today About moving to Japan today About how difficult it can be finding a hotel in Tokyo Why you need a phone number as soon as possible when you move to Japan About the trouble getting Japanese...
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He SURVIVED a BEAR encounter in Japan! Talking about hiking in Tohoku with GoNorth Japan | Japan Station 172
Japan Station: A Podcast About Japanese Culture & the Japanese Language
On this episode of Japan Station, we're talking to Quinlan from the GoNorth Japan YouTube channel about surviving a bear encounter in Japan, hiking in the Tohoku area of Japan and more. 👉Topics Discussed About bear attacks and encounters in Japan How to prevent encounters with bears while hiking in Japan Whether bear bells and whistles are effective in warding off bears About Quiinlan's encounter with a bear while hiking in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture What to do if a bear attacks you while hiking in Japan Why bear attacks have increased in Japan in recent years Whether you should yell at a...
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Tales from the Tokaido Road: About the Tokaido Challenge | Japan Station 171/Ichimon Japan 78
Japan Station: A Podcast About Japanese Culture & the Japanese Language
On this episode of Japan Station we ask: What was it like walking the Tokaido Road? NOTE: This is a re-broadcast of episode 78 of the Ichimon Japan podcast. Topics Discussed About the Tokaido Challenge About what it was like walking the Tokaido Road About the challenges of walking the Tokaido Road About what it was like walking from Kyoto to Tokyo About getting stopped by police in Kyoto About walking along the Shizuoka coast How long it took to walk the Tokaido And much more! Listen to Ichimon Japan on [btn...
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ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!!
Japan Station: A Podcast About Japanese Culture & the Japanese Language
Follow me on Instagram and leave a comment on one of my latest post for a chance to win one of two $3 a month PLUS ALPHA tier Patreon memberships!
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DON'T do these 8 things on trains in JAPAN! | Japan Station 170
Japan Station: A Podcast About Japanese Culture & the Japanese Language
On this episode of Japan Station, we're talking about train etiquette in Japan. We're covering a recent Japanese survey that lists the 8 most irritating things people do on trains in Japan. 👉Topics Discussed Eight things you shouldn't do on Japanese trains A survey indicating eight annoying things people do on Japanese trains How people in Japan deal with annoying things people do on Japanese trains And much more! 👉Subscribe to the Podcast! 👉Support on Patreon & Ko-fi Support for as little as $1 a month to get early access to episodes, ad free versions and occassional...
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Shikoku's 88 Temple Pligrimmage: What You Should KNOW (Kevin Tarpey) | Japan Station 169
Japan Station: A Podcast About Japanese Culture & the Japanese Language
On this episode of Japan Station, Kevin Tarpey joins us to talk about what it was like doing Shikoku's famous 88 Temple Pilgrimmage and why Japan is such a great place for long-distance walking. 👉Topics Discussed Why Japan is such a great place for long-distance walking About the famous Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimmage (Ohenro, お遍路) What it's like walking the 88 temple pilgrimmage How long it took to walk the 88 temple pilgrimmage in Shikoku How much distance Kevin covered per day while doing the 88 temple pilgrimmage About getting blisters while walking the 88 temple pilgrimmage About...
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She moved to this Japanese island to FARM INDIGO?! (Sally Hancox of AiAii) | Japan Station 168
Japan Station: A Podcast About Japanese Culture & the Japanese Language
On this episode of Japan Station, we learn about traditional Japanese indigo dyeing from Sally Hancox, one of the co-owners of AiAii Worshop & Shop on Awaji island. This is a conversation to dye for! Sorry, I couldn't help myself. 👉Topics Discussed About AiiAii Worshop & Shop About the aizome (indigo dyeing) process About farming and preparing indigo for dyeing Why Sally Hancox ended up farming and working with indigo What are the benefits of natural indigo dyeing About the workshops at AiAii About Awaji How to get to Awaji How to get in touch with Sally for scheduling...
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How Japanese scandals EXPLODE! (Igor Prusa) | Japan Station 167
Japan Station: A Podcast About Japanese Culture & the Japanese Language
On this episode of Japan Station, we talk about scandals in Japan. My guest Dr. Igor Prusa tells about how scandals in Japan work, how they surface and how entertainers/business people/politicians who get caught in scandals try to deal with them. This is a truly SCANDALOUS episode. Sorry, couldn't resist. 👉Topics Discussed The characteristics of a Japanese scandal About the Noriko Sakai scandal Why the Sakai Noriko scandal was such a big deal What celebrities caught in scandals are expected to do About the press conferences often seen after a scandal rises to the surface in Japan About...
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Why do Japanese train stations do that? | Japan Station 166/Ichimon Japan 03
Japan Station: A Podcast About Japanese Culture & the Japanese Language
This episode was originally released as episode 3 of the Ichimon Japan podcast. Today's Question On this episode of Ichimon Japan we ask: Why do Japanese train stations do that? Topics Discussed The train system in rural areas versus urban areas in Japan Trains in Kagoshima and Ishikawa What a Wanmanressha (one man trains) is Unmanned rural train stations Why Japanese train stations use cute songs to indicate a train is about to depart Hasshamero (train departure melodies) The use of Nogizaka46's song "Kimi no Na wa Kibō" as a train departure melody The logic behind train departure...
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WHICH is CORRECT? Funiki vs Fuinki (雰囲気) | Japan Station 165
Japan Station: A Podcast About Japanese Culture & the Japanese Language
On this episode of Japan Station, we talk about the Japanese word funiki (雰囲気) and other words that aren't read the way they are written. 👉Topics Discussed About the Japanese word funiki (雰囲気) What the correct way to read/pronounce funiki is Whether you should read funiki as fun'iki （ふんいき) or fuinki (ふいんき) Why so many people pronounce funiki incorrectly About words like manin (満員) and zenin (全員) and why people often pronounce them incorrectly/differently from how they are...
info_outlineThis episode of Japan Station is a rebroadcast of Ichimon Japan episode 12.
On this episode of Ichimon Japan we ask: Why are vegetables so unsulting in Japanese? On this episode we are honored to once again be joined by Kyle Broyles of the Tokyo Splosion podcast and Hard Officers YouTube channel.
Topics Discussed
- Some funny Japanese vegetable-based insults and their (supposed) etymologies
- What the term daikon ashi means
- Why daikon ashi is so insulting and reserved only for use on women
- The usage of the term "dumpling legs"
- What the term daikon yakusha means
- Why daikon yakusha is considered an insult
- Why it's insulting to call someone a bean sprout (moyashi) in Japanese
- What it means to "stink of potatoes" (to be imokusai)
- What a "country milkboy" is
- What an "embankment pumpkin" is (dote kabocha)
- The most commonly cited story explaining the insulting meaning of the term dote kabocha
- A tip for training yourself to like vegetables
- Interesting Japanese slang involving the the Japanese word for eggplant (nasu)
- What the term bokenasu means
- Why it is insulting to be called a bokenasu
- What the heck an otankonasu is
- Two theories for where the "otanko" part of otankonasu derived from
- The most common etymologies of the term otankonasu
- The potential connection between otankonasu and Edo period pleasure districts
- Bubble era Japanese slang
- How pīman (green pepper) was used as an insult in Japan in the 1970s
- The difficulties localizers face when translating idioms from Japanese into English
- Whether the Japanese word for "vegetable" (yasai) totally overlaps in meaning with its English counterpart
- Why there seem to be more vegetable-related insults in Japanese than fruit-related insults
- And more!
Note: All of the etymologies provided during this episode were found in Japanese language sources and are the most commonly cited. However, just because they are the most commonly cited etymologies that does not mean they are true, so please keep this in mind.
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Kyle Broyles Links
This episode features Kyle Broyles as a special guest. If you would like to follow him on Twitter, please use the link below.
Kyle is one of the hosts of the Tokyo Splosion podcast. If you would like to check his podcast out, you can look it up wherever you get your podcasts or use the links below.
The latest episode of Tokyo Splosion as of the time of this posting can be found below.
Kyle also produces the YouTube series Hard Officers. Check out the channel via the link below.
Sources, Links, Videos, Etc.
Here's a link to the previous episode Kyle Broyles was a guest on.
Just to review, here's a list of all the insults that were covered on this episode, including how you write them in Japanese.
- Daikon ashi
- 大根足 : 大根足; 大根脚 【だいこんあし】 (n) thick legs; fat legs; cankle; cankles (literally: daikon radish legs)
- Daikon yakusha
- 大根役者 【だいこんやくしゃ】 (n) (yoji) ham actor; hack actor (literally: daikon radish actor)
- Moyashi
- もやし (n) bean sprouts (in certain contexts it can also be used to mean as an insult meaning lanky, gangly or frail)
- Moyashikko
- もやしっ子 【もやしっこ】 (n) weak child; frail child; gangly child
- Imokusai
- イモくさい 【いもくさい】 (n) country bumpkin; unsophisticated; hick (literally to stink of potatoes)
- Dote kabocha
- どてかぼちゃ (n) incompetent person; halfwit; blockhead; fool (literally: embankment pumpkin)
- Bokenasu
- ぼけなす (n) (1) faded, dull-colored eggplant; (2) (derog) slow-witted, abstracted person; halfwit
- Otankonasu
- おたんこなす (n) fool; twit; idiot; bird-brain
- Atama ga pīman (Note: This term was popular in the 1970s and is rarely, if ever, used today.)
- 頭がピーマン 【あたまがぴーまん】 stupid; dumb (literally: your head is a green pepper)
- Hanashi ga pīman
- 話がピーマン 【はなしがぴーまん】 what you are saying is stupid/pointless (literally: what you are saying/your story is a green pepper.)
If you'd like to check out episode 38 of Japan Station, you can do so via the link below.
If you missed the Japanese study tips episode of Ichimon Japan, check out the article below.
Japanese Vocabulary List
Most episodes feature at least one or two interesting Japanese words or phrases. Here’s some of the ones that came up on this episode. All information is from Jim Breen's WWWJDIC.
- Yasai
- 野菜 【やさい】 (n,adj-no) vegetable
- Kudamono
- 果物 : 果物(P); 菓物 【くだもの(P); かぶつ(果物)】 (n) fruit
- Oden
- おでん (n) (food) oden; dish of various ingredients, e.g. egg, daikon, potato, chikuwa, konnyaku, etc. stewed in soy-flavored dashi
- Shokuatari
- 食あたり : 食あたり; 食中り 【しょくあたり】 (n) food poisoning
- Shokubutsu
- 植物 【しょくぶつ】 (n) plant; vegetation
- Emoi
- エモい (adj-i) (1) (sl) emo; sad; melancholic; (2) (sl) (pun on エロい and キモい) (See エロい,キモい) erotic in a disgusting way
- Inakakusai
- 田舎臭い : 田舎臭い; 田舎くさい 【いなかくさい】 (adj-i) rustic; unsophisticated; provincial; hick; cornball
- Ume
- 梅 : 梅(P); 楳 【うめ(P); むめ(ok); ウメ】 (n) (1) Japanese apricot (Prunus mume); Japanese plum; ume; Chinese plum
- Tnkō
- 炭坑 : 炭鉱(P); 炭坑; 炭礦 【たんこう】 (n) coal mine; coal pit
We Want Your Questions
Is there something about Japan that confuses you? Is there something about Japanese culture that you would like to learn more about? Is there something in Japanese history that you would like us to explain? We're always looking for new questions about Japan to answer, so if you have one, please send it to [email protected].
Special Thanks
Opening/Closing Theme: Produced by Apol (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Fiverr)
Ichimon Japan cover art: Produced by Erik R.
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Full Show Notes