What is the equivalent Japanese term for "Anthropomorphize/Anthropomorphic" In English, we have two distinct concepts "Anthropomorphization" and "Personification". The former, meaning to impart _some_ human traits onto an object or animal is often seen in Japan/Japanese media: ![enter image description here]( On the other hand, "Personification", which is to go "bottom-up" and make an object or animal into a complete person is also often seen in Japanese media, and after consulting my Japanese friend they taught me the word for it is {}, which is basically this: ![enter image description here]( While the two concepts in English are distinctly different, I could find no Japanese language version of "Anthropomorphization" as either a noun, verb, or concept. Considering how prevalent the former is in Japan, why isn't there a word for it and why does our concept of "anthropomorphize" always imply "Personification" in Japanese?

**** is used to mean "personification" as in the second image of the OP.

* (Expressing a something by showing it _as if it were_ human)



**** is used to mean "anthropomorphism" as in the first image of the OP.

* (Imposing human characteristics on something)



Culturally speaking though, the concept of "anthropomorphism" is referred to far more often by native English speakers than by native Japanese speakers, so this word is not as familiar to native Japanese speakers as it would be to a native English speaker.

Sources: , , Wikipedia, Google Image Search