This reminds of a list I’ve been compiling for the past couple of years: English-language software and products with names taken from Japanese. I find them interesting because there has long been awareness, discussion, and controversy in Japan about the opposite phenomenon—English words used in Japanese.

The following examples all came from HN:

Koi Pond, a load testing tool. Koi (鯉) means “carp.”

https://slack.engineering/load-testing-with-koi-pond/

Anki, a flash card tool often mentioned in HN discussions. Anki (暗記) means “memorization.”

https://apps.ankiweb.net/

Bento, a framework for development of Linux kernel file systems. A bento (弁当) is a meal in a box.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.09723

Umami, a website analytics tool. Umami (旨味)’s original meaning is “taste, flavor, deliciousness”; it now also refers to a particular basic taste sensation.

https://umami.is/

Senpai, a gaming assistant. Senpai (先輩) means “someone senior to or older than one, typically in an educational or workplace hierarchy.”

https://senpai.gg/

Shodan, a search engine. Shodan (初段) means “first-level ranking in a skill, etc.”

https://www.shodan.io/

YubiKey, an authentication device. Yubi (指) means “finger.”

https://www.yubico.com/

Asahi Linux. Asahi (朝日, 旭) means “morning sun.”

https://asahilinux.org/about/

Neko, a virtual browser. Neko (猫) means “cat.”

https://github.com/m1k1o/neko

Kaitai Struct, a declarative language for binary data structures. Kaitai (解体) means “disassembly.”

https://kaitai.io/

Hikari, a custom logon script engine for Windows. Hikari (光) means “light.”

https://github.com/NoenDex/Hikari

Hikari, a Wayland compositor.

https://hikari.acmelabs.space/

Hikari, a thread manager and dispatcher.

https://artificialilliteracy.wordpress.com/2015/06/27/introd...