Japanese YouTube Comments Reveal Informal Religious Language

More than 7,000 Japanese- and English-language YouTube comments on news coverage of Apple’s 2024 “Crush!” advertisement reveal how everyday language can carry religious resonance. The study found that Japanese commenters used expressions associated with respect for objects, including the term “mottainai,” in topics connected with both religion-related language and negative emotions. A comparable pattern did not emerge in the English-language comments.

The researchers examined informal religious representations, a category that has received less attention than formal religious imagery and practices. These representations can remain embedded in ordinary expressions, values and social norms rather than appearing as explicit statements of belief. By analyzing public discussion of a controversial advertisement, the study shows how such meanings may become visible in social-media language without being immediately labeled as religious.

The advertisement drew criticism in Japan because of perceptions that its treatment of objects conflicted with beliefs and values concerning respect for objects. The analysis covered news videos discussing the commercial and included more than 7,000 comments written in Japanese or English. To identify relevant language across different linguistic contexts, the researchers combined dictionary-based methods with topic modeling. This approach allowed them to examine how emotion- and religion-related terms clustered in discussions rather than treating individual words in isolation.

In the Japanese corpus, terms related to respect for objects appeared in topics linked to religion-related and negative emotional language. Emotional expressions were also prominent in the English-language comments, but the combined association between object-respect language, religious topics and negative emotion was not observed there. The distinction between the two corpora is observational: it shows a difference in the language patterns detected in the analyzed comments, not proof that the advertisement caused a particular religious response or that one language is inherently more religious.

The findings suggest that informal religious representations can surface through expressions such as “mottainai,” whose religious significance depends partly on context. Rather than requiring an overt religious declaration, a comment can connect criticism of an advertisement to ideas about how objects should be treated. The study therefore offers a technical way to detect subtle links among emotion, everyday values and religious meaning in digital discourse, while also demonstrating the importance of comparing linguistic communities rather than assuming that patterns found in one language will appear in another.

Subject of Research: Computational analysis of informal religious representations in YouTube comments responding to an Apple advertisement

Article Title: Making informal religious representations visible in Japanese YouTube comments on Apple’s Crush advertisement

Article References: Tsunematsu, A., Komiya, A., & Takano, R. (2026). Making informal religious representations visible in Japanese YouTube comments on Apple’s Crush advertisement. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-75884-4

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-75884-4

Keywords: informal religion, YouTube comments, Japanese language, religious language, topic modeling, dictionary analysis, social media, emotion analysis, Apple advertisement, Making, informal, religious