Why Do Japanese People Call a Power Outlet a “Consent”?

If you need to charge your phone in Japan, there is one Japanese word that is surprisingly useful to know:

コンセント — konsento.

Ask a Japanese person where the konsento is and they will probably point you towards the electrical socket on the wall.

There is just one problem.

If you are an English speaker, “consent” probably means something completely different.

And depending on whether you come from the United States, Britain or Australia, you may have another word for this ordinary object entirely.

In Japan, it is called a コンセント

The electrical receptacle built into the wall is commonly called a コンセント (konsento) in Japanese.

It is such an ordinary word that most Japanese speakers would not give it a second thought.

You will hear phrases such as:

コンセントはどこですか？
Konsento wa doko desu ka?
Where is the power outlet?

Or:

コンセントがありません。
Konsento ga arimasen.
There isn't a power outlet.

But walk into a hotel in an English-speaking country and ask where the “consent” is, and you are unlikely to get the answer you wanted.

So what is it called in English?

That depends partly on where you are.

American English: outlet, electrical outlet or wall outlet

British English: socket, wall socket or plug socket

Australian English: power point or power outlet

There is plenty of variation within English too, so these are not rigid rules. But they show something interesting: an object that seems to have one obvious name in Japanese can have several perfectly ordinary names in English.

For Australians in particular, power point is useful to remember.

In Japan, however, コンセント is the everyday word you are most likely to encounter.

In an ordinary Japanese home, this is a コンセント (konsento) — what an Australian might call a power point, an American an outlet and a Brit a socket.

And what about the part you put into it?

Technically, Japanese has a separate word for that.

The part with the metal pins — the part attached to your charger or appliance — is a プラグ (puragu), from the English word “plug”.

So, strictly speaking:

コンセント = the receptacle on the wall
プラグ = the part you insert into it

In real life, though, conversation is not always quite so precise.

Japanese speakers may use コンセント more loosely when talking about plugging something in, unplugging something or having a problem with the electrical connection.

For example:

コンセント抜いて。
Konsento nuite.
Unplug it.

Literally, the thing being removed is the plug. But コンセント is often the word that naturally appears in the everyday instruction.

This can become important when something goes wrong.

“The konsento is broken” — but which part?

Imagine you are staying at a hotel in Japan and your phone will not charge.

You tell the front desk:

コンセントが壊れているみたいです。
Konsento ga kowarete iru mitai desu.
It looks like there is something wrong with the outlet.

They may understand that the wall outlet is faulty.

But if the situation is not clear, someone might also wonder whether the problem is actually your charger, plug, cable or adapter.

So if you specifically mean the wall socket, it can help to make that explicit:

壁のコンセントから充電できません。
Kabe no konsento kara jūden dekimasen.
I can't charge from the wall outlet.

And if you mean the plug on your charger:

充電器のプラグ
Jūdenki no puragu
The plug on the charger.

A tiny distinction, but a useful one when you are trying to explain a problem in a hotel room.

Why does Japanese call it “konsento”?

This is where the word becomes more interesting.

Japanese コンセント is often described as a shortened form connected to the older electrical term concentric plug or concentric socket.

In other words, Japanese did not simply look at the modern English word consent — meaning permission or agreement — and decide to use it for a wall socket.

The word developed through the history of electrical terminology in Japan and was shortened into the form コンセント.

Today, the original technical history is largely invisible in everyday conversation.

For most people in Japan, a コンセント is simply a コンセント.

It is a good example of what is sometimes called 和製英語 (wasei-eigo): English-derived vocabulary that has developed a specifically Japanese form or meaning.

But Americans call it an “outlet”...

Here is another potential source of confusion.

In American English, you might naturally ask:

“Is there an outlet near the bed?”

Perfectly normal.

Translate outlet directly into Japanese conversation, however, and it may lead somewhere very different.

In Japan, the English-derived word アウトレット (autoretto) is strongly associated with outlet shopping.

Say アウトレット (autoretto) in Japan and many people are more likely to think of outlet shopping than an electrical socket.

An アウトレットモール (outlet mall) is a familiar concept in Japan, with stores selling branded goods through outlet shopping centres.

So if you walk into a Japanese hotel and ask:

「アウトレットはどこですか？」

you should not expect the listener to automatically understand that you are looking for somewhere to charge your phone.

They may think you are talking about outlet shopping.

For electricity, use コンセント.

For shopping, アウトレット works perfectly well.

A small word that is surprisingly useful in Japan

None of this is particularly dramatic.

It is just a wall socket.

But these tiny differences are often where everyday language becomes interesting.

An American may look for an outlet.

A Brit may look for a socket.

An Australian may ask for a power point.

And in Japan?

コンセントはどこですか？
Konsento wa doko desu ka?

That one little phrase might be all you need when your phone is on 2%.