時代錯誤
じだいさくご
jidaisakugo
= anachronism; being out of touch with the times
時代錯誤（じだいさくご）describes something — a belief, custom, or behavior — that belongs to a past era and clashes awkwardly with the present. Unlike a simple mistake, it carries a specific social sting: the sense that someone has failed to keep pace with how the world has moved on.
時代錯誤 combines jidai (era, age) with sakugo (error, confusion), literally meaning “an error of the era.” It functions as both a noun and a na-adjective, so you can say jidaisakugo na kangaekata (an anachronistic way of thinking) or simply call something jidaisakugo da. The word carries a distinctly critical tone — calling an idea or practice 時代錯誤 implies it should have been left behind long ago. It is more pointed than jidai-okure (behind the times), which can sound merely descriptive; 時代錯誤 suggests the gap between past and present is so wide that the mismatch borders on absurdity. Formally and in written contexts, it often appears in social criticism and editorials. In conversation, it is used to push back firmly against attitudes perceived as outdated, especially on topics such as gender roles, workplace hierarchy, or digital literacy.
The most common point of confusion is the difference between 時代錯誤 and jidai-okure (時代遅れ). Jidai-okure simply means “behind the times” and can be used fairly neutrally — an old phone or an outdated software version might be described this way without moral judgment. 時代錯誤, by contrast, almost always implies a value judgment: the person or institution being criticized is not just slow to change but is actively clinging to something that most of society has rejected. Using 時代錯誤 about someone’s personal style (clothes, music taste) would likely sound too harsh unless you intend a strong criticism. Reserve it for attitudes, policies, or institutional practices where the anachronism has social consequences. Also note that 時代錯誤 is rarely self-deprecating — Japanese speakers do not typically call their own ideas 時代錯誤 with a wink the way English speakers might joke about being “old-fashioned.”
時 (ji / toki) means “time” or “era” and appears in words like 時間 (jikan, time) and 時代 (jidai, age/period). 代 (dai / yo) means “generation” or “period,” reinforcing the temporal sense — 時代 together means a distinct historical era. 錯 (saku) carries the meaning of “intermingled” or “confused,” seen in 錯覚 (sakkaku, illusion) and 錯綜 (sakusō, entanglement). 誤 (go / ayama-ru) means “error” or “mistake,” as in 誤解 (gokai, misunderstanding). Together, 錯誤 (sakugo) means a mix-up or fundamental error in judgment — making 時代錯誤 literally “a confusion belonging to a past era.”
Everyday use
「女性は結婚したら仕事を辞めるべき」という考えは時代錯誤だと思う。
“Josei wa kekkon shitara shigoto wo yameru beki” to iu kangae wa jidaisakugo da to omou.
I think the idea that women should quit their jobs after marriage is an anachronism.
Casual / Social Media
「紙の履歴書しか受け付けません」ってまだ言ってる会社、完全に時代錯誤でしょ。
“Kami no rirekisho shika uketsukemasen” tte mada itteru kaisha, kanzen ni jidaisakugo desho.
A company that still says “paper resumes only” is completely out of touch with the times, right?
Formal / Cultural context
終身雇用制度を前提とした現行の退職金モデルは、流動的な労働市場においてはもはや時代錯誤と言わざるを得ない。
Shūshin koyō seido wo zentei to shita genkō taishokukin moderu wa, ryūdōteki na rōdō shijō ni oite wa mohaya jidaisakugo to iwazaru wo enai.
The current severance pay model, premised on lifetime employment, must now be called an anachronism in a fluid labor market.
Japan’s rapid social transformation since the 1990s has made 時代錯誤 a frequently invoked concept in public debate. As digital technology reshaped work, gender expectations shifted, and younger generations embraced more individualistic values, certain long-standing norms — mandatory overtime culture (zangyo), strict seniority-based promotion, or the expectation that wives manage all domestic labor — came under increasing criticism as 時代錯誤. The word gained particular visibility in online discourse around 2015–2020, when hashtag activism brought workplace gender issues to mainstream attention, and commentators used 時代錯誤 to frame institutional resistance to change not merely as conservative but as indefensibly obsolete.
There is, however, a meaningful cultural distinction between 時代錯誤 and traditions that Japanese society consciously preserves. Seasonal rituals, traditional crafts, formal tea ceremony etiquette, or classical arts may appear “behind the times” by purely functional standards, yet they are generally not labeled 時代錯誤 — because they are deliberately maintained as living culture rather than being enforced as unconscious norms. The distinction lies in intentionality and context: a company requiring fax-only communications in 2024 is 時代錯誤 because it imposes an outdated system as if nothing has changed; a pottery artist using techniques from the Edo period is not, because the anachronism is chosen and framed as heritage. This nuance reflects a broader Japanese cultural tension between kakushin (innovation) and dentō (tradition) — where the former is demanded of institutions and the latter is celebrated in arts.