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Oppai - The Breasts of the Japanese

Censorship, Nihongo

Per Kevin

What is the true meaning of Oppai? Do you know the different ways to refer to Japanese women's breasts? What are the sizes of breasts and bras in Japan? Do Japanese women really have small breasts? Why do anime characters have large breasts? This and other questions will be answered in this guide to Japanese breasts!

Remembering that this is a complete and didactic guide, a somewhat delicate subject but important for everyone, not just for otakus perverted and curious. This article is useful for Brazilian women who need to buy clothes in Japan and curious people. The summary below will help you navigate through this long article:

Ever wondered why Japanese women don't shave their pubic hair? Click below to also read our article: Why Japanese women don't usually shave.

The Meaning of Oppai

Anime fans or those who delve into Japanese culture quickly become familiar with the word oppai [おっぱい], which means breasts or boobs in Japanese. What few people know is that it is a slang or informal word.

The expression oppai [おっぱい] literally refers to breasts and mammary glands, while mune [胸] is used to refer to the chest, sometimes figuratively. oppai mainly refers to the physical part of round and voluminous breasts.

The word oppai can be used to refer to breasts, whether in plural or singular. This word can be used by both women and men when referring to women's breasts.

Despite being an informal word, it is not strange to hear newspapers use the expression oppai to refer to breastfeeding or related issues. Women also often talk to each other using this expression.

We don’t know if there are specific rules that say this word is exclusive to refer to women’s breasts, but the word itself reminds one of the onomatopoeia of boing boing, referring to female breasts. And if we explore the origin, we will understand even more why I said that.

Oppai - Japanese women's breasts

Word Origin for oppai

It is not certain how the expression oppai originated in the Japanese language. Some believe it came from the onomatopoeia paipai (ぱいぱい) that children use to refer to their mothers' breasts. So we should remember that oppai can sound a bit childish, although it is not necessarily a word used by children.

There are other theories that the word originated from ooumai [おおうまい] or from ippai [いっぱい], which means full, but both seem to be a bit exaggerated. There are records of the word being used in the Edo Period, and it is listed as a childhood word in the dictionary of the Meiji Era.

Do you remember the Oppai Shirt worn by Saitama from One Punch Man? How about buying one below?

Ways to Say Boobs in Japanese

What are the other words that Japanese people use to refer to breasts, nipples, or boobs in Japanese? Let's now take a look at some vocabulary to improve your studies of nihongo. We also have an article about buns in Japanese.

What does Mune mean?

Mune [胸] - This word is used to refer to the breasts as a whole, both physically and symbolically, used to refer to the entire thoracic part such as lungs and stomach. The word is generally used mune in songs to talk about heartache and stuff like that.

Menu is like a second word for heart, since the original word for heart kokoro is too broad, as it can refer to the mind and the spirit. That's why mune is a term widely used, probably more than oppai.

Other Ways to Say Breasts in Japanese

  • ぱいぱい - paipai (childish);
  • ブレスト - breast
  • 母乳 - bonyuu (mother's milk);
  • ボイン - Boin;
  • カップ - kappu (cup);

Other synonyms are:

  • Chibusa [乳房] - breasts, bosom.
  • Kyoubu [胸部] - seios, peitos;
  • Munaita [胸板] - breasts, chests;
  • Chichi [乳] - Milk, breasts;
  • Muneniku [胸肉] - Breast meat (usually chicken breast);

Vocabulary Related to Boobs in Japanese

Below we have some useful words for women who want to measure sizes or buy accessories related to breasts like bras and others.

  • Bra - ブラジャー (burajya);
  • Chest - 胸 (mune);
  • Breasts - おっぱい (oppai) similar to slang;
  • Cup - カップ (kappu);
  • Tits, breasts - ぱいぱい (paipai) another kind of childish slang;
  • Bust - バスト (basuto) from English bust;
  • Cleavage - 谷間 - gorge (also means valley, ravine, abyss);

Pettanko, Paizuri, Bakunyuu, Kyonyuuu

There are other Japanese words for breasts. There is even a word for the crisis of having small breasts or large breasts. We have written some articles that will help you understand these factors, we recommend reading them below:

Oppai - Japanese women's breasts

Japan bra sizes and measurements

Breast size is calculated from A to K, with A being the smallest size. Some countries have small differences in measurement, as in the USA there is AA size, however, the system is the same. It is worth mentioning that this measurement is proportional to the size of the body.

The first thing we can do to determine the size of the breasts is to measure the entire bust with the breasts, then subtract from the bust size measuring below the breasts, the remaining value is the cup size (CUP). (top bust – under bust = cup).

SizeCupUnder BustTop BustBrazilian Size
A 10.2cm 63~6777-8738
B 12.0cm 68~7282-9240
C 15.0cm 73~7787-9742
D 17.5cm 78~8292-10244
E 20.0cm 83~8797-10746
F 22.5cm 88~92102-11248
G 25.0cm 93-97109-11150
H 27.5cm 98-102114-11652

It is worth mentioning that the measurements of the cup or glass in Japan are different from Brazil. Brazilians usually measure from the bust to the back, thus giving a high value above 78, while the Japanese divide the 2 mentioned measurements to arrive at an exact breast size.

The image below shows how the busts are measured, and an image showing the size of the Japanese women's busts, however, with the letters

Oppai - Japanese women's breasts

The larger the breast size, the larger the cup. However, just knowing this is not enough to buy the right bra size. The table below can help you choose the appropriate size for your bust:

Under BustTop Bustbra size
63~6777~79A65
63~6779~81B65
63~6781~83C65
63~6783~85D65
63~6785~87E65
68~7282~84A70
68~7284~86B70
68~7286~88C70
68~7288~90D70
68~7290~92E70
73~7787~89A75
73~7789~91B75
73~7791~93C75
73~7793~95D75
73~7795~97E75
78~8292~94A80
78~8294~96B80
78~8296~98C80
78~8298~100D80
78~82100~102E80
83~8797~99A85
83~8799~101B85
83~87101~103C85
83~87103~105D85
83~87105~107E85
88~92102~104A90
88~92104~106B90
88~92106~108C90
88~92108~110D90
88~92110~112E90

Average breast size of Japanese women

Have you ever wondered what the average breast size of Japanese women is? Are they smaller than the Brazilian average? Where do you have smaller breasts? Below I will leave a small list with statistics:

Average breast size in Japan:

  • 5.3% of Japanese women wear size A or smaller;
  • 20% of Japanese women wear size B bras.
  • 26.3% of Japanese women represent size C.
  • 24.1% of Japanese women are a size D;
  • 16.2% of Japanese women wear size E.
  • 6% of Japanese women wear a size F cup or larger;

Average breast size in Brazil:

  • 30% of the Brazilian population is of size A and B;
  • 33% is size C;
  • 19% of size D;
  • 16% are E,F and G;

Where are most of these Japanese women concentrated? Below we will leave a list where most of these Japanese are found according to size. Let's see the average size of each province.

  • Size E - Kyoto and Gifu;
  • Size D - Miyagi, Fukushima, Niigata, Yamanashi, Fukui, Nara, Osaka, Okayama, Hiroshima;
  • Size C - Ibaraki, Tokyo, Toyama, Ishikawa, Aichi, Shiga, Mie, Wakayama, Tottori, Shimane, Kagawa, Ehime, Tokushima, Fukouka, Miyazaki, Kagoshima and Okinawa;
  • Size B - Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Akita, Yamagata, Tochigi, Gunma, Chiba, Kanagawa, Nagano, Shizuoka, Hyogo, Yamaguchi, Kochi, Oita, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto.
  • Size A - Saitama;

How did we arrive at these results? – This research is carried out according to the amount of sales of bras, lingerie and other feminine products.

Oppai - Japanese women's breasts

Do Japanese women really have small breasts?

We've just seen about the average breast size of Japanese women, did you come to any conclusions? Do Japanese women really have small breasts? In fact, Japanese women's breasts are not as small as people think.

In the surveys we saw that only 5% from the Japanese are small size [A]. The big problem is that this measure is proportional to the size of the body, Japanese women are thin and small by nature, which makes their breasts smaller.

Some researches reveal that in the last 20 years, there has been a surprising increase in breast size compared to 1980, where over 50% of Japanese women were size A.

Another survey carried out with 400,000 women shows that neither Brazil was among the 15 countries with the largest breasts, nor Japan among the 15 countries with the smallest breasts. In fact, Brazil has an average of 30% of Brazilian women with size A and B.

It may seem like the Japanese are winning against Brazil in this average shown here. However, this average is proportional to the body size, we take the average of the cup by subtracting the upper bust from the lower bust.

Therefore, even though 30% of the Brazilian population is classified with small breasts, due to their body size, breasts can reach up to 20cm. Not to mention that surveys like this are never 100% exact, as it is not possible to do surveys like this with the entire population.

Oppai - Japanese women's breasts

Why do Anime have big boobs?

I believe the reason Japanese women have big breasts in animes is quite obvious, to attract the male audience. But if the standard of beauty in Japan is thin women, why do animes feature big-breasted characters? Or why do Japanese characters in animes have large eyes and colored hair?

These are unanswered questions, they are anime clichés. When anime shows big breasts, panties, and attractive positions, this is called fanservice. The goal of a mangaka when creating their work is to attract all kinds of people, which is why you find sizes for all tastes.

The fact that Japanese women have too big breasts can be successful with men in Japan, but in real life prejudice from other Japanese women can happen. We've already seen this portrayed in some anime.

Oppai - Japanese women's breasts
A giant anime action figure with giant breasts

Oppai Meaning in Korean - Breasts in Korean

Some search on Google for oppai in Korean, but they're probably confusing it with the honorific treatment and slang oppa. Generally used by women to refer to an older man.

Koreans recognize the Japanese slang oppai which can be written [단어]. If you want to refer to breasts in Korean, you can use [유방] [가슴] [댕이] [방댕이] [궁디], but unfortunately, I am not an expert in the Korean language to explain each of these words. A tip is to Google them in Images to see how Koreans interpret the meaning.

I hope you enjoyed the article, if you did, don't forget to share it with your friends and leave your comments. Thank you very much, I hope you continue reading other articles.

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