Abbreviations are common in Japanese; these include many Latin alphabet letter combinations, generally pronounced as initialisms. Some of these combinations are common in English, but others are unique to Japan or of Japanese origin, and form a kind of wasei eigo (Japanese-coined English). This is a list of Latin alphabet letter combinations used in Japan.

A

* ADV –

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

(also abbreviated as AVG) * AV –

adult video Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotica ...

* AV – audio-visual * AVG –

(also abbreviated as ADV)

B

* BGM – background music * BL – Boys Love * BS – Broadcast Satellite (

Direct-broadcast satellite Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna commo ...

; also a prefix for BS stations)

C

* CM – commercial message ( television advertisement) * CS – Communication Satellite * CV – character voice ( voice actor)

D

* DT – * DV – Domestic Violence

E

* ED – ending (an animated sequence which includes the

closing credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a ...

, often used regarding

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

) * EV – elevator

G

* GW – Golden Week

H

* H –

hentai Hentai is anime and manga pornography. A loanword from Japanese, the original term ( ) does not describe a genre of media, but rather an abnormal sexual desire or act, as an abbreviation of . In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exis ...

, alternately written as

ecchi is a slang term in the Japanese language for playfully sexual actions. As an adjective, it is used with the meaning of "sexy", "dirty" or "naughty"; as a verb, means "to have sex", and as a noun, it is used to describe someone of lasciviou ...

; the meanings of these two terms have diverged. * HP – home page ( website)

I

* IC card —

contactless smart card A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit-card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit ticke ...

(derives from the initialism IC which is occasionally used for an integrated circuit in English, although the meaning of the complete term is likely non-obvious for English speakers)

J

* JC – * JH –

Japan Highway Public Corporation , or JH, was a public company established after World War II to construct and manage highway networks in Japan, founded in 1956. On October 1, 2005, JH was divided into three private enterprises, East Nippon Expressway Company Limited (NEXCO Ea ...

* JK – * JK – * JR –

Japan Railway The Japan Railways Group, more commonly known as the or simply JR, consists of seven for-profit stock companies that took over most of the assets and operations of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. Mo ...

* JS – * JSDF –

Japan Self-Defense Forces The Japan Self-Defense Forces ( ja, 自衛隊, Jieitai; abbreviated JSDF), also informally known as the Japanese Armed Forces, are the unified ''de facto''Since Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution outlaws the formation of armed forces, the ...

(also abbreviated as SDF)

K

* KY – ; refers to someone who is unable to read a social situation. * KSK – ; an increasingly popular way to propose among young people.

L

* LDK – Living Dining Kitchen; home type where the kitchen is merged to the living room * LDP – the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan

M

* M –

masochism Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

(or characterized by or pertaining to it) * MC – Master of ceremonies * MV – music video

N

* N'EX – Narita Express * NG – no good ( wasei-eigo term meaning the opposite of

okay ''OK'' (spelling variations include ''okay'', ''O.K.'', ''ok'' and ''Ok'') is an English word (originating in American English) denoting approval, acceptance, agreement, assent, acknowledgment, or a sign of indifference. ''OK'' is frequently ...

) * NHK – * NJS – — Japanese

Keirin – literally "racing cycle" – is a form of motor-paced cycle racing in which track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan around 1948 for gambling ...

Association

O

* OA – office automation (i.e. the computerization of offices), opening act (as in live music performances) * OB – old boy (male former student (alumnus), club member, teammate, employee, etc.) * OG – old girl (female former student (alumnus), club member, teammate, employee, etc.) * OL – office lady (a female office worker) * ONA - original net animation (anime directly released onto the Internet) * OP – opening ( title sequence, often used regarding

) * OSV – original sound version ( video game soundtrack) * OVA – original video animation (also abbreviated as OAV)

P

* PS – police station * PV – promotional video (usually refers specifically to music videos)

R

* RPG –

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

(usually refers to

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

S

* S –

sadism Sadism may refer to: * Sadomasochism, the giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation * Sadistic personality disorder, an obsolete term proposed for individuals who derive pleasure from the s ...

(or characterized by or pertaining to it) * SD – super déformé ( super deformed) * SDF –

(also abbreviated as JSDF) * SNS – Social networking service, social website * SS – service station * STG – shooting game ( shoot 'em up video game)

T

* TQB – * TPO – Time, Place, Occasion

U

* UMA – unidentified mysterious animal (

cryptid Cryptids are animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist somewhere in the wild, but are not believed to exist by mainstream science. Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience, which primarily looks at anecdotal stories, and other claims rejected ...

); coined in connection with unidentified flying object

V

* VG –

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

* VTR – video tele-replay (the display of pre-recorded footage)

W

* w – laugh out loud {{Nihongo , , 笑う, warau Japanese vocabulary