A group of young foreigners who visited Japan as part of a study program and mastered the language announced their favorite Japanese words Tuesday to an admiring domestic crowd.
The 14 visitors, representing 12 countries from Mongolia to Morocco, gave presentations at Nikkei Hall in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, after spending a month in Japan with the NPO Japan Return Program, a group that runs projects to encourage the study of the Japanese language. The speakers, aged 18 to 27, wowed the audience with their fluent Japanese and sophisticated presentations of the Japanese words they want to introduce to the rest of the world.
The chosen words often portrayed sentiments that reflect Japanese culture, such as "otagaisama" meaning "we're in the same boat," or new concepts key to modern society, such as "mieruka" meaning "visualization."