Gion-go and Gitai-go — Japanese Sound & Mimetic Words
Why “pika-pika” means shiny and “waku-waku” means excited — Japan's huge system of sound-effect and mood words, from manga panels to doctor's questions.
Japanese has an unusually large vocabulary of words that imitate sounds or moods, split into two overlapping categories: 擬音語 (giongo, sound-imitating words, like “woof” or “boom”) and 擬態語 (gitaigo, words that capture a feeling or manner with no real-world sound at all, like “sparkling” or “sluggish”). They're everywhere — in manga sound effects, weather forecasts, doctor's questions, and everyday small talk.
Giongo — real sounds
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| わんわん | わんわん wanwan | a dog's bark (“woof woof”) |
| ザーザー | ザーザー za-za- | heavy, driving rain |
| ゴロゴロ | ゴロゴロ gorogoro | rumbling thunder (or a cat's purr, or lazing around) |
| ペラペラ | ペラペラ perapera | speaking a language fluently (like pages flipping rapidly) |
Gitaigo — feelings with no sound at all
Gitaigo is the more uniquely Japanese half: words like ピカピカ (pika-pika, sparkling/shiny-new) or わくわく (waku-waku, excited anticipation) describe a state or feeling directly, without any real acoustic basis. A doctor might ask if your head hurts ズキズキ (zuki-zuki, a throbbing pain) or ガンガン (gan-gan, a pounding, hammer-like pain) — the word you choose changes the diagnosis.
Common gitaigo
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| どきどき | どきどき dokidoki | a heart pounding (nervousness or excitement) |
| いらいら | いらいら iraira | irritated, on edge |
| ぐっすり | ぐっすり gussuri | sleeping deeply and soundly |
| のろのろ | のろのろ noronoro | moving sluggishly, slowly |
Why they're worth learning early
These words are extremely common in casual speech and nearly unavoidable in manga, where they're often written directly into the art as sound effects — see manga and anime culture. Because most are built from a repeated two-syllable root (ピカピカ, わくわく, どきどき), once you learn the pattern, new ones become much easier to guess and remember.
🔊 Tap any word in the vocabulary tables to hear it spoken.