From 2008 to 2009, “herbivore men (sôshoku danshi or sôshoku-kei danshi in Japanese)” became a trendy, widely used term in Japanese. It flourished in all sorts of media, including TV, the Internet, newspapers and （ア：m ）, and could even occasionally be heard in everyday conversation. As it became more popular （イ：i ） original meaning was diversified, and people began to use it with a variety of（ウ：d ） nuances. In December of 2009 it made the top ten （エ：l ） of nominees for the “Buzzword of the Year” contest sponsored by U-CAN. By 2010 it had （オ：b ） a standard noun, and right now, in 2011, people do not seem particularly interested in it. Buzzwords have a （カ：s ） lifespan, so there is a high probability that it will soon fall out of use. The fact （キ：r ）, however, that the appearance of this term has radically changed the way （ク：p ） look at young men. It can perhaps even be described as an epochal event in the history of the （ケ：m ） gender in Japan. The term “herbivore men” became popular because of the existence within Japanese society of actual “men” to （コ：w ） it applied. People had already picked up on the fact that young men who seemed to have lost their “manliness” or become “feminized” were increasing in （サ：n ）. Signs of this trend had existed from around the （シ：t ） highly fashion-conscious young men who dyed their hair light brown, wore designer rings, and pierced their ears started appearing at the end of the 20th century.
ア magazines イ its ウ different エ list オ become カ short キ remains ク people ケ male コ whom サ number シ time
