Last October, publisher Jiyu Kokuminsha released the 61st edition of its "Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki (Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words)" — a massive 1,614-page tome that retails for just ¥2,980. I have a facsimile copy of the book's first edition, launched on Oct. 10, 1948. In the introduction, the editor notes that in place of such wartime slogans as hōkooku (報国, national service) and messhi hōkō (滅私奉公, sacrificing one's personal interest to the public good) — which had vanished almost instantaneously at the war's conclusion — the postwar process of minshu-ka (民主化, democratization) then under way could herald an avalanche of neologisms.

That book, which sold for ¥90, was a slender 192 pages and carried such American imports as "boogie-woogie," "cheek dance" and サマータイム (summertime, meaning daylight savings) — an unpopular edict imposed during the Allied Occupation and which ended along with the Occupation in 1952.

To better promote its efforts, from 1984 Jiyu Kokuminsha began inviting the public to vote for the Ryūkōgo Taishō (流行語大賞, Trendy Word Grand Prix). From 2003, U-CAN, an operator of correspondence courses and other study aids, started cosponsoring the annual event, in which the top 10 finalists are selected from a list of 60 nominees.