25 Why does to "nyan nyan" mean "to have sex" in Japanese? (Japanese Cat Idioms)

<p>On this episode of <em>Ichimon Japan</em> we ask: Why does to "nyan nyan" mean to "have sex" in Japanese?</p> <h2 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Topics Discussed<br /></strong></h2> <ul> <li>Japanese expressions/idioms related to cats</li> <li>What the Japanese expression <em>neko no te mo karitai</em> means and how it is used</li> <li>What pets are most popular in Japan</li> <li>The Japanese festival game of <em>kingyosukui</em></li> <li>What the Japanese expression <em>nekojita</em> means</li> <li>What the Japanese expression <em>nekobaba</em> means</li> <li>What the Japanese expression <em>nekoze</em> means</li> <li>What the Japanese expression <em>dorobōneko</em> means</li> <li>Snakes falling from the ceiling of an old Japanese house</li> <li>The <em>Sazae-san opening</em></li> <li>An experiment designed to find out how heavy a fish a stray cat is willing to carry</li> <li>What <em>neko o kaburu</em> means</li> <li>Theories about the origin of the expression neko o kaburu</li> <li>What the Japanese expression <em>nyan nyan suru</em> means</li> <li>The origin of the expression nyan nyan suru</li> <li>The story of Tomoko Takabe</li> <li>The <em>Nyan Nyan Jiken</em> (Nyan Nyan Scandal) of 1983 and its aftermath</li> <li>Erika Sawajiri</li> <li>What happened after Tomoko Takabe's photo was published in 1983</li> <li>Underage smoking in Japan</li> <li>Why <em>Focus</em> chose to use nyan nya to mean sex (according to one theory)</li> <li>What nyan nyan shashin are</li> <li>And much more!</li> </ul> <p><strong>Note:</strong> It is possible that nyan nyan as it was used by <em>Focus</em> in 1983 was not coined with the onomatopoeia for a cat crying in mind. In fact, the term appears to have been an allusion to something Tomoko Takabe used to say. It is not clear if this original nyan nyan was an allusion to cats. However, due to the fact that without any context a person hearing the term for the first time would likely assume that it is in some way connected to cats meowing, I decided to include nyannyan in