Imagine opening an English dictionary and finding words you first heard in an anime, on a train in Tokyo, or in a late-night convenience store. Language has a funny way of keeping memories like this.

As Japanese culture spreads through travel, food, anime, and social media, Japanese words are traveling too. People use them before they even notice. Now, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has officially welcomed 11 more of them into English.

This update comes soon after the OED added 23 Japanese words like kintsugi (fixing broken pottery with gold) and yakiniku (grilled meat). The words added in 2024 were mostly about food, but this time, the list feels more like a walk through Japan itself — more mixed, colorful, and a bit surprising.

Some choices feel natural. Senpai is already familiar to many anime fans, as it means a senior student or coworker, but also someone you admire and secretly hope will notice you. Yōkai, the ghosts and monsters from Japanese stories, appear everywhere from old legends to hit anime like Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Other words come straight from daily life. "Love hotel" describes short-stay hotels found in many Japanese cities. Senbei, a crunchy rice cracker, is a snack many travelers recognize. And thanks to Japan’s famous toilets, Washlet has earned its place too.

Then there are choices that are less familiar. Words like naginata, a traditional weapon often used by women warriors, or "brush pen", used in calligraphy, and mottainai, meaning "What a waste", aren't words most English speakers use every day. This is where some readers may stop and think: do English speakers really use these words that much?

But that's the wrong question. Japanese has its own magic, and languages love to borrow what they love. They mix, grow, and evolve — and now English can’t get enough of Japanese.

Shōganai — it can’t be helped. And who knows? Maybe next year, even more Japanese words will join the dictionary, carrying a little piece of Japan with them.