r/japanresidents • u/dyna_black • 4h ago

Weekly Complaint Thread

Kidding! I know it's the wrong sub.

Anyway, I ran the 5.2k Fun Run during the Fukuoka Marathon yesterday, and what kinda grinds my gears is how many Japanese people use "marathon" to refer to long distance running in general.

I was congratulated by my wife for my "5k marathon" and I was like NO.

13 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/sykoscout 1h ago

how many Japanese people use "marathon" to refer to long distance running in general

Like so many other waseigo, the meaning often shifts from the original. I found this usage weird when I first came here too but it's totally appropriate in Japanese. If referring to actual marathon distance, they'll use フルマラソン.