Borrowed Words

Although Japanese has borrowed many foreign words, some necessary to describe foreign concepts and some simply to sound trendy, few Japanese words have migrated into English. Even some concepts which seem very basic to anyone living in Japan (futon, tatami, sake, tofu, miso) are frequently "translated" into English--though English has no true equivalent. I'm a great believer in the idea that Japanese concepts should be described with Japanese words and not translated.

Last month the Collins English dictionary added eight words to their more than hundred borrowed from Japanese.

Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
January 09, 2002

Comments

I would like a complete list of Japanese words used in English. Do you know where I can get such information?

Comment by: ursula zimmermann. Posted March 13, 2002 04:06 AM.

I would like to know about some english words borrowed from japanese

Comment by: dulamkhand. Posted November 29, 2006 03:34 AM.

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