深夜テンション (shinya tension) Meaning “Midnight High” in Japanese Slang

Definition

深夜テンション (しんやてんしょん, shinya tension/tenshon) means “midnight high”, i.e. the state of feeling high, bold and somewhat irrational when you’re staying up late at night (with or without drinking).  During the midnight high, you often feel more positive than usual and find anything, even lame jokes or conversations, very hilarious. Some people end up going overboard and doing something they regret the next day, e.g.

• impulsively buy expensive and unnecessary items on Amazon
• write a lengthy and poetic post on social media
• send an overly emotional text like “I love you” or “I can’t help thinking about you” to one’s crush

and so on. This phenomenon is considered to be caused by the rise in dopamine following sleep deprivation.

Word Structure

“深夜しんや” means “midnight”, where “深しん” and “夜や” mean “deep” and “night”, respectively.  “テンション” is a loanword from “tension” in English, but its meaning is completely different from the English word. See the following section for how it is used in Japanese.

Meaning of “tension” in Japanese

In Japanese, テンション (tension) describes a person’s emotional state or feeling. For instance, “テンションが高たかい” or “ハイテンション”, which literally means “tension is high” or “high-tension”, actually means “(someone) is excited, giddy or delighted”. Similarly, “テンションが低ひくい”, which means “tension is low”, indicates that someone is down, gloomy, or depressed. Therefore, you may hear some Japanese people saying “You are high-tension!” in English, which you should interpret as “You look excited!” or “You look delighted!”.

Example Sentences

Ex1
深夜テンションで自分のダンス動画をYouTubeにアップした事は黒歴史だ
It is my 黒歴史 that I uploaded my dance video on YouTube during “midnight high”.

Click here to learn the meaning of “黒歴史”

Ex2
深夜テンションで何なにか重要じゅうような決断けつだんをするのは避さけるべきだ
You should avoid deciding something important when you are in “midnight high” (temporary high at midnight).

Ex3
深夜テンションでブログを書かくと、大抵たいていは翌朝よくあさ後悔こうかいすることになる
If you write a blog during the “midnight high”, you most likely regret that the next morning.

Ex4
深夜テンションだと、くだらない冗談じょうだんでもとても面白おもしろく感かんじる
During “midnight high”, even lame jokes can sound very funny

Synonyms: None
Synonyms in English: temporary high at midnight
Related words and phrases: 深夜 (midnight), テンションが高たかい (excited), テンションが低ひくい (down)