Today (19 May 2021), a great number of Japanese people were astonished to hear the news that the Japanese actress Yui Aragaki (新垣結衣), a.k.a “Gakkī/Gakky”, and the Japanese singer Gen Hoshino (星野源), will tie the knot. This announcement has left a myriad of their fans speechless, and “Gakkī Loss” or “Hoshino Gen Loss”.
Meaning of ロス (“Loss”) in Japanese
Whenever a popular celebrity announces his/her marriage, a sea of people find themselves feeling ロス (“loss”) – in Japanese, if someone becomes ロス (“loss”), that means they feel heartbroken because the person they stan or idolise is now taken by someone else, and they officially “lose” him/her. Therefore, upon the release of the astonishing news today, loads of Japanese men and women started suffering from “ガッキーロス (Gakkī Loss)” and “星野源ロス (Gen Hoshino Loss)”, particularly because both of them frequently ranked in popularity rankings like “The most attractive actresses/actors in Japan”. Their marriage is often called “逃げ恥婚” (Nigehaji Kon), named after the popular Japanese TV drama that they both starred in as a “husband” and wife” (see the next section below for details).
The number of the “patients” caused by their marriage will probably rival or top that of those when the famous Japanese actor/singer 福山雅治 (Masaharu Fukuyama) announced his marriage at the age of 46 in 2015 out of the blue — at that time, zillions of women suffered from “福山ロス (“Fukuyama Loss” or “Masya (his nickname) Loss”), some of whom had to take several days off work to recuperate from their sombre state of mind. Whether coincidental or not, even the Nikkei Stock Average dropped sharply on the next day of his marriage announcement, and some people speculated that this must have been caused by the “Masya Loss”.
Besides the meaning described above, ロス (“loss”) is also used when you and someone close to you part ways due to a change in circumstances. For instance, if your best friend moves to a different country, you may feel a bit of “loss” about him/her. People also feel “loss” when they are faced with a loss of life, e.g. if your beloved pet suddenly passes away, you’ll suffer from ペットロス (“pet loss”).
逃げ恥婚 (Nigehaji kon)
The marriage between Gakkī and Gen Hoshin was particularly surprising because they had previously starred as a couple in the award-winning Japanese TV drama in 2016, “逃げるは恥だが役に立つ” (“Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu”), which is is often abbreviated as “逃げ恥 (nigehaji)”. Therefore, people call their marriage “逃げ恥婚” (Nigehaji Kon; “Nigehaji marridge”). The English title of this drama is “We Married as a Job” or “The Full-Time Wife Escapist”, and the Chinese and Taiwanese ones are “逃避雖可恥但有用” and “月薪嬌妻”, respectively. The Japanese title originates from the Hungarian proverb: “szégyen a futás, de hasznosp”, which means “Running away is shameful but useful“. In this story, Mikuri Moriyama (acted by Yui Aragaki) becomes a housekeeper of Hiramasa Tsuzaki (acted by Gen Hoshino), and eventually, they start a “contract marriage”, where Mikuru becomes not only his housekeeper but also his “wife as a job”. This drama made a great success, and so did its theme song “恋” (koi) sung by Gen Hoshino, as well as its dance “恋ダンス” (koi dance); see the next section for details.
恋(Koi) and 恋ダンス (Koi Dance)
逃げ恥’s theme song “恋 (Koi)” and its dance 恋ダンス (“Koi Dance”) went viral soon after the drama started in 2016. Here is the link to the official YouTube video of 恋.
See also
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