Japanese Internet Slang: A Glossary

Japanese online comments are dense with slang, and a single word can flip a sentence from sincere to sarcastic. This glossary explains the terms you'll run into most in our translations. Some are jokes, some are labels people throw at each other — where a word is derogatory, we say so plainly rather than endorse it.

Updated July 11, 2026

Laughing and hype

The Japanese internet has a whole vocabulary just for laughing.

w / ｗｗｗ: The literal "lol." It comes from 笑い (warai, laughter) — one w is a chuckle, a long row of wwww is howling. This is the seed everything below grew from.
草 (kusa): "lol / lmao." Literally "grass": a row of wwww looks like blades of grass sprouting, so 草 came to mean laughter itself. "That's grass" = "that's hilarious."
大草原 (daisōgen): "A vast grassland" — when 草 (a patch of grass) isn't enough. Reserved for something wildly funny. You'll also see 草不可避 ("grass unavoidable").
ｷﾀ━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━!! (kita): "It's HEEERE!" A classic 2ch/5ch-era ASCII-art shout of excitement when something long-awaited finally happens. The face and the ━ dashes are part of it.
神 (kami): "God / godlike" = amazing. 神回 (kamikai) is a "god episode"; 神対応 is a "godlike response" (someone handling a situation perfectly).

People and labels

How posters refer to themselves and each other. Several of these are pejorative — noted where so.

名無し (nanashi): "No-name." The default anonymous handle on 5ch (名無しさん, "Mr. Nobody"). Being nameless is the norm; using a fixed handle (コテハン, kotehan) stands out and is often mocked.
ネトウヨ (netouyo): From ネット右翼, "net right-winger." A loaded label for online nationalist / hard-right posters, usually thrown by their opponents.
パヨク (payoku): A derogatory label for the online left, used mainly by the right. It spread from a 2015 online spat (the "payo-payo-chīn" meme) rather than being a neat mirror of ネトウヨ — but in practice the two get slung across the same divide. Both are insults.
陰キャ / 陽キャ (inkya / yōkya): "Gloomy character" vs "sunny character" — introverted/awkward vs outgoing/sociable personality types. Often self-deprecating (people call themselves 陰キャ).
リア充 (riajū): Someone whose "real life is fulfilling" — a partner, friends, a social life away from the screen. Half-envious, half-mocking, from the online/otaku point of view.
DQN (dokyun): A delinquent, trashy, or obnoxious person. Pejorative; read "dokyun." Originally from a TV show name.
情弱 (jōjaku): "Information-weak." Someone seen as uninformed, media-illiterate, or easily fooled — a common jab in news and political threads at people who supposedly missed the real story.

Threads and board moves

Vocabulary specific to how anonymous boards work.

>>1 (the OP): ">>1" (read ">>ichi") is the first post in a thread — i.e., the person who started it. "乙 >>1" thanks them for making the thread.
乙 (otsu): "Nice work / thanks / cheers." Short for お疲れさま (otsukaresama). Often aimed at >>1 for starting a thread — though it can be sarcastic ("nice try").
釣り (tsuri): "Fishing" = bait / trolling: a post written to provoke reactions. 釣られた ("I got fished") means "I fell for the bait."
煽り (aori): "Fanning the flames." Provocation — needling or baiting others to spark a reaction or a fight. An 煽り comment is written to get a rise, not to make a point.
荒らし (arashi): A troll or vandal who disrupts a thread with spam or flames. Distinct from 釣り (bait): 荒らし is about wrecking, not tricking.
炎上 (enjō): "Going up in flames" — a pile-on or public backlash against a person, brand, or post.
特定 (tokutei): "Identification." Crowd-sourced sleuthing to identify a person, place, or account from clues in a post. It shades into doxxing once it exposes private information.
凸 (totsu): "Charging in" (from 突撃, totsugeki). Descending directly on a target — a call, a visit, a comment raid, a direct message — not always a complaint, and not only after a 炎上.

Feelings and fandom

Words for how people feel about things — heavily used in fan communities.

推し (oshi): Your "pick" — the idol, character, or creator you support and root for. 推し活 (oshikatsu) is the fan activity of supporting them.
尊い (tōtoi): "Precious / sacred." A fandom word for something so good it feels almost holy — a pairing, a moment, a performance.
エモい (emoi): From English "emotional." A nostalgic, bittersweet, moving feeling — the Japanese internet's version of "that hits different."
ワロタ / ワロス (warota / warosu): "Lol'd" — past tense of laughing (a Kansai-flavored わろた). An older cousin of 草.

Laughing and hype

The Japanese internet has a whole vocabulary just for laughing.

w / ｗｗｗ: The literal "lol." It comes from 笑い (warai, laughter) — one w is a chuckle, a long row of wwww is howling. This is the seed everything below grew from.
草 (kusa): "lol / lmao." Literally "grass": a row of wwww looks like blades of grass sprouting, so 草 came to mean laughter itself. "That's grass" = "that's hilarious."
大草原 (daisōgen): "A vast grassland" — when 草 (a patch of grass) isn't enough. Reserved for something wildly funny. You'll also see 草不可避 ("grass unavoidable").
ｷﾀ━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━!! (kita): "It's HEEERE!" A classic 2ch/5ch-era ASCII-art shout of excitement when something long-awaited finally happens. The face and the ━ dashes are part of it.
神 (kami): "God / godlike" = amazing. 神回 (kamikai) is a "god episode"; 神対応 is a "godlike response" (someone handling a situation perfectly).

People and labels

How posters refer to themselves and each other. Several of these are pejorative — noted where so.

名無し (nanashi): "No-name." The default anonymous handle on 5ch (名無しさん, "Mr. Nobody"). Being nameless is the norm; using a fixed handle (コテハン, kotehan) stands out and is often mocked.
ネトウヨ (netouyo): From ネット右翼, "net right-winger." A loaded label for online nationalist / hard-right posters, usually thrown by their opponents.
パヨク (payoku): A derogatory label for the online left, used mainly by the right. It spread from a 2015 online spat (the "payo-payo-chīn" meme) rather than being a neat mirror of ネトウヨ — but in practice the two get slung across the same divide. Both are insults.
陰キャ / 陽キャ (inkya / yōkya): "Gloomy character" vs "sunny character" — introverted/awkward vs outgoing/sociable personality types. Often self-deprecating (people call themselves 陰キャ).
リア充 (riajū): Someone whose "real life is fulfilling" — a partner, friends, a social life away from the screen. Half-envious, half-mocking, from the online/otaku point of view.
DQN (dokyun): A delinquent, trashy, or obnoxious person. Pejorative; read "dokyun." Originally from a TV show name.
情弱 (jōjaku): "Information-weak." Someone seen as uninformed, media-illiterate, or easily fooled — a common jab in news and political threads at people who supposedly missed the real story.

Threads and board moves

Vocabulary specific to how anonymous boards work.

>>1 (the OP): ">>1" (read ">>ichi") is the first post in a thread — i.e., the person who started it. "乙 >>1" thanks them for making the thread.
乙 (otsu): "Nice work / thanks / cheers." Short for お疲れさま (otsukaresama). Often aimed at >>1 for starting a thread — though it can be sarcastic ("nice try").
釣り (tsuri): "Fishing" = bait / trolling: a post written to provoke reactions. 釣られた ("I got fished") means "I fell for the bait."
煽り (aori): "Fanning the flames." Provocation — needling or baiting others to spark a reaction or a fight. An 煽り comment is written to get a rise, not to make a point.
荒らし (arashi): A troll or vandal who disrupts a thread with spam or flames. Distinct from 釣り (bait): 荒らし is about wrecking, not tricking.
炎上 (enjō): "Going up in flames" — a pile-on or public backlash against a person, brand, or post.
特定 (tokutei): "Identification." Crowd-sourced sleuthing to identify a person, place, or account from clues in a post. It shades into doxxing once it exposes private information.
凸 (totsu): "Charging in" (from 突撃, totsugeki). Descending directly on a target — a call, a visit, a comment raid, a direct message — not always a complaint, and not only after a 炎上.

Feelings and fandom

Words for how people feel about things — heavily used in fan communities.

推し (oshi): Your "pick" — the idol, character, or creator you support and root for. 推し活 (oshikatsu) is the fan activity of supporting them.
尊い (tōtoi): "Precious / sacred." A fandom word for something so good it feels almost holy — a pairing, a moment, a performance.
エモい (emoi): From English "emotional." A nostalgic, bittersweet, moving feeling — the Japanese internet's version of "that hits different."
ワロタ / ワロス (warota / warosu): "Lol'd" — past tense of laughing (a Kansai-flavored わろた). An older cousin of 草.

Japanese Internet Slang: A Glossary

On this page

Laughing and hype

People and labels

Threads and board moves

Feelings and fandom

See it in action

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Fewer Foreigners Want to Work in Japan as the LDP Turns Its Eyes to Nigeria

Foreign Residents in Japan: Crime Fears Meet an Unexpected Hero

Related guides

A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Internet Culture

How to Read Japanese Internet Reactions

Japanese Internet Slang: A Glossary

On this page

Laughing and hype

People and labels

Threads and board moves

Feelings and fandom

See it in action

Two Shocking Overseas Accidents Stun Japanese Netizens

Japanese Netizens Split Over PlayStation's 'Death' and a World Cup Reality Check

Germany's Deadly Heatwave and Russia's Fuel Crisis Draw Cool Commentary in Japan

Chinese Netizens Realize How Widely Disliked They Are, and Japan Reacts

Fewer Foreigners Want to Work in Japan as the LDP Turns Its Eyes to Nigeria

Foreign Residents in Japan: Crime Fears Meet an Unexpected Hero

Related guides

A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Internet Culture

How to Read Japanese Internet Reactions