These designer chocolates let you taste the meaning of Japanese words

(Image credit: (Photo courtesy Nendo, by Akihiro Yoshida))

published 4 February 2015

The Japanese language has a whole category of words for describing specific sensory imagery — how something looks, moves, sounds, tastes, and feels. For example, biri biri can describe a cluster of related imagery: the feel of electricity, a buzzing sound, the pins and needles sensation you get when your arm falls asleep. Gangan can represent hard knocking on a door or a pounding headache. Pachi pachi can represent the crackling of a fire, the clicking sound of abacus beads, or rapid eye blinking.

There are many such words to describe specific textures as well, and now Japanese design firm Nendo has created a box of chocolates to embody them. See if you can guess which one is which.

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Arika Okrent is editor-at-large at TheWeek.com and a frequent contributor to Mental Floss. She is the author of In the Land of Invented Languages, a history of the attempt to build a better language. She holds a doctorate in linguistics and a first-level certification in Klingon. Follow her on Twitter.