Language Log

« previous post | next post »

The Japanese word for "spinach", "hōrensō", has many different graphic forms and meanings:

【菠薐草】

[noun] spinach Alternative spellings ほうれん草, 法蓮草, 鳳蓮草, ホウレンソウ

【報連相】

[noun] reporting, communicating, and consulting: an approach to decision-making and the sharing of information in an organization Alternative spellings 報・連・相, ホウレンソウ

(Wiktionary)

Hōrensō ほうれんそう) acronymic overview:

The Japanese word for spinach is also the acronym for "houkoku (report), renraku (link), soudan (consult)," a core business practice.

A more detailed explanation of "Ho-Ren-Sō"

"Hō-Ren-Sō" (報・連・相) is a business mantra or mnemonic acronym in Japanese business culture. It is an abbreviation of "Hōkoku" (報告, to report), "Renraku" (連絡, to inform) and "Sōdan" (相談, to consult), and is more memorable as a homonym of hōrensō, the Japanese word for "spinach". It is utilised as a basic business rule in Japan to conduct smooth business communication. The origin of "Ho-Ren-So" comes from Tomiji Yamazaki who was the ex-president of Yamatana Security firm. In 1982 he started using the term for effective business communication in his firm and it has been widely spread and used throughout Japan through his book titled Strengthen Your Company with Ho-Ren-So.

(Wikipedia)

Origin and name of the plant (we have been over some of this in previous posts on "spinach", so this may be counted as a summary review):

The plant was introduced to Japan in the 16th century from China. A number of Japanese sources^[1][2] state that the term 菠薐 (hōren) had previously been borrowed from Middle Chinese 菠薐 to refer vaguely to Persia or Nepal. The spinach plant did likely originate in the area of ancient Persia, but the Chinese term itself means spinach, not Nepal or Persia or any other place name. The plant was introduced to China via the region of Nepal around the year 647, suggesting that the Chinese term may have been borrowed from the Sanskrit language in use by the Licchavi kingdom ruling Nepal at that time. One possible Sanskrit source term is पालङ्ग (pālaṅga, “beet” or “beet greens” initially, later extended to also refer to “spinach”). Compare modern Nepali पालुङ्गो (pāluṅgo, “spinach”).

The Japanese term would thus be a compound of 菠薐 (hōren, “spinach”, obsolete, not used in modern Japanese) +‎ 草 (sō, “herb, plant”).

The alternative kanji spellings are ateji or phonetic substitutions.

• • (Tokyo) ほーれんそー [hòóréꜜǹsòò] (Nakadaka – [3])^[3]
  • IPA^(key): [ho̞ːɾẽ̞ɰ̃so̞ː]

菠(ほう)薐(れん)草(そう) or 菠薐草(ホウレンソウ) • (hōrensō) ^{←はうれんさう (faurensau)?}

1. 1. spinach

The first two kanji are extremely rare; the second character appears to be used only in this term. These two kanji are often replaced with the kana spelling, as ほうれん草.

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ホウレンソウ (hōrensō).

(Wiktionary)

To tidy up our spinach harvest a bit

Vegetally versatile, spinach is also semantically productive.  In this post, I've only focused on the Japanese word for spinach, "hōrensō ほうれん草".

My guess is that, if we looked at words for "spinach" in other languages, we'd find a lot of metaphorical or figurative uses in them too.  For instance, in English:  something unwanted, pretentious, or spurious.

(Merriam-Wester)

Other slang meanings of "spinach" are "money" (because green), cannabis (in the 1920s and 1930s), and pubic hair.

For trends of "spinach" usage from 1708 to 2008, see here (Google Books Ngram Viewer).

Selected readings

• "Spanakopita: a spinach footnote" (9/16/25)
• "Spinach smorgasbord" (7/15/25)
• "Spinach: Mongolian rhapsody" (7/10/25)
• "Spinach: Indian interlude" (7/10/25)
• "Spinach: the Persian vegetable" (1/19/21)
• "Spiny spinach" (7/9/25)

September 23, 2025 @ 10:36 am · Filed by Victor Mair under Etymology, Language and biology, Slang

Permalink