The Japanese Connection To Bogans

There isn’t, as far as I can find, a major established academic field called “Japanese bogan studies.” But there are several fascinating connections.

Japan has its own rough equivalent

Japanese observers might reach for concepts such as:

  • ヤンキー (yankii);
  • 元ヤン (moto-yan);
  • 暴走族 (bōsōzoku);
  • ギャル (gyaru);
  • チンピラ (chinpira).

They aren’t exact equivalents. That’s important. A Japanese yankii is shaped by a very different historical culture, particularly postwar youth rebellion and delinquent subcultures.

A bogan is much more strongly tied to:

class + taste + Australian identity + suburban culture.

But there is enough overlap to make comparison fascinating.

A recent discussion among Japanese and Australia-interested Reddit users produced exactly this question: What is the Japanese equivalent of an Australian bogan? Suggestions included yankii, moto-yan and bōsōzoku. That is anecdotal rather than academic evidence, but it demonstrates that the comparison naturally occurs to people.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

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  • Where Did “Bogan” Come From?

    This is where things get wonderfully murky. The popular theories include: The evidence currently points most strongly toward Melbourne in the early 1980s, although the ultimate etymology remains uncertain. Historian and linguist Bruce Moore found evidence from 1984, in a student magazine at Melbourne’s Xavier College, describing a fictional “bogan doll”. The character already possessed many of the stereotypes we would recognise today: tattoos, long hair, heavy-metal clothing, sleeveless denim, etc. The word then appears in a 1985 issue of Tracks magazine. By the late 1980s it was spreading nationally. By the early 1990s, it was essentially established Australian slang. The really funny part The word may have been popularised…

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  • Bog Words And The Goldmine Of Bogan Language

    Bogan culture generates an astonishing amount of linguistic creativity. The fact that Australians can keep attaching suffixes to bogan is itself linguistically interesting. Researchers describe the word as unusually productive in Australian English. And then there is bogan pronunciation. The stereotype exaggerates features of Australian English: fishing → fishin’going → goin’mate → maaate The dropping of final consonants, broad vowels, swearing and exaggerated informality become part of the performance of bogan identity.

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    豪キャブラリー：Bogan

    「Bogan」とは、洗練されていない、あるいは俗っぽいと見なされる人を指すオーストラリアのスラングである。場合によっては、蔑称として使われることもあれば、ユーモアを交えた自虐的な意味合いで使われることもある。1980年代以降、「ボーガン」は広く認知されたサブカルチャーとなり、しばしば「悪趣味」の代名詞として挙げられるようになった。 Strine Dictionary | 考えRoo