New Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s use of words written in katakana, a form of writing used mainly for scientific terms and words derived from other languages, stood out in his policy speech on Friday, as he apparently aimed to create a new image of himself as a leader.
Abe, at 52 the youngest Japanese prime minister in the post-war period, used a total of 109 katakana words in his speech, four times the number used by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who disliked katakana words and bureaucratese.
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The katakana terms Abe used included words such as “missairu” (missile), and “tero” (terrorism), which are hard to convert into Japanese, as well as with names of foreign countries and other proper nouns.
Abe’s katakana-laden policy speech rings hollow with listeners (Mainichi Shimbun)
Unrelated, also from the Mainichi Shimbun: OTAKU BEWARE