Buzzwords belong in the category of catchwords and catch phrases. Like cliches — though not always as long-lived as cliches — they capture the imagination of a nation and are used in many contexts. In Japanese, buzzwords are called hayarikotoba and, as such, often do hayarisutari (pop into, then out of, fashion).
Being a fad-loving people from long ago, the Japanese do like their buzzwords. Let's go back a bit into the past to see how some of these came about.
During the Allied Occupation of Japan (1945-1952), the Japanese created a number of buzzwords from GI English. Perhaps the most famous of these is tondemo happun, a variation on tondemo(nai) and "happen," hence, "never happen, no way." Because happun also means "8 minutes" and tonde also means "flying," this phrase was often heard in the nonsensical joke, tondemo happun aruite juppun, or "8 minutes by air, 10 by foot."