今でもよくある話 (ima demo yoku aru hanashi)
It’s still a common story today. / A story that still happens often.
Source: TikTok - @ricardo4029
When I realized that I forgot to bring a towel to the bathroom. It’s still a common story today. Ahhhhhh!
In Japan, like in many cultures, people bond over shared frustrations and everyday struggles.
For example, Chinese website 糗事百科 (qiǔ shì bǎi kē, The Encyclopedia of Awkward Incidents) was a website that shared Internet users’ submissions of embarrassing stories. The website ran from 2005 to 2022.
“今でもよくある話” encourages people to document the Groundhog Day stories of awkward experiences. People like this meme because the experiences that come with it are highly relatable. Sharing those stories with an exaggerated sense of humor and playfulness also dilutes the frustration.
最近で一番笑った (saikin de ichiban waratta)
The most I've laughed recently.
What made you laugh the most recently?
Source: X - @eitayazo
Post anything that cracks you up with this popular meme, and you’ll find some kindred spirits that share your interests (or quirks) and can LOL with you!
Search the meme, and you’ll find sources of joy to escape life pressures!
アサイーボウル (asaī bouru)
Acai bowl.
On December 2, 2024, Jiyu Kokuminsha published the 2024 List of New Words / Buzzwords used by Japanese people.
“Acai bowl” topped the list.
Source: prtimes.jp
It may not come as a surprise. The meme ranked No.1 (71.2%) as the most popular food / beverage voted by Japanese Gen Z-ers (born between 1995 and 2010) in the first half of 2024.
Tokyo Juice’s Acai Bowl contains frozen fruits like acai, banana, strawberry, blueberry and banana as well as homemade ingredients like protein granola, almond butter and almond milk. It costs ¥1,700 ($11.33).
Source: Tokyo Juice
アザラシ幼稚園 (azarashi yōchien)
Seal kindergarten.
This meme came in second in Kokuminsha’s 2024 List of New Words / Buzzwords.
Source: YouTube -@ntv_news
Turns out this meme is an endearing nickname for a seal conservation facility in…the Netherlands: Zeehondencentrum Pieterburen.
The Dutch conservation facility has been helping weakened seals for more than 50 years and is the largest seal hospital in Europe.
It became a hot topic in Japan after a Japanese X account @hokahoka_times shared the livestream of the Pieterburen Seal Center with the text, “Let’s all watch a seal nursery in the Netherlands for 24 hours.” The Japanese responded en masse.
Zeehondencentrum Pieterburen was so surprised by its Japanese fans that it proudly posted an article and three fan art pieces about it on the official website.
Source: Zeehondencentrum Pieterburen
Japanese Internet users flocked to Zeehondencentrum Pieterburen’s YouTube channel and left countless live comments on the facility’s live streams of the seals’ day-to-day life.
Source: YouTube - @zeehondencentrumpieterburen
Japanese visitors also traveled to the facility to say hi to their seal friends!
And it may not come as a surprise that the meme has inspired local versions of “seal kindergartens,” such as this aquarium in Hokkaido:
Source: YouTube - @tbsnewsdig
We don’t expect this animal-loving fad to fade any time soon!
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