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Japan’s Word of the Year for 2024 is One Few Have Heard Of
The annual U-CAN award goes to a term that doesn’t seem to ring many bells.
By Jay Andrew Allen
It’s that time of year again when online education service U-CAN announces its picks for the top buzzwords and neologisms of the year. These selections give us a peek into what events and cultural phenomena in Japan captured people’s attention and imagination.
However, this year’s announcement generated confusion, as many people didn’t catch the reference. Learn why online commenters say U-CAN missed the mark this year.
The winner: ふてほど (Futehodo)
For the first time in over a decade, the top award went to a drama. Extremely Inappropriate! (不適切にもほどがある; futekisetsu ni mo hodo ga aru) — known popularly by its abbreviation Futehodo.
Ogawa Ichiro, a single dad in 1986 raising his daughter Junko, gets on a bus that somehow transports him to 2024. He finds he can return to 1986 through a toilet in his favorite bar. However, one day, the toilet gets renovated from a Japanese-style to a Western-style one, cutting off his return path.
