Gendai

Gendai, written in kanji as 現代, is a Japanese term that means present day or modern. It denotes the contemporary era and is used across many domains to describe current conditions, culture, politics, or thought. In Japanese, it appears in phrases such as 現代社会 (modern society), 現代文学 (contemporary literature), and 現代美術 (contemporary art). The word is often contrasted with 近代 (kindai, modern in a historical sense) or 古代 (kodai, ancient).

Beyond its general meaning, Gendai is also used as a title or part of the name for various Japanese periodicals and media outlets. A notable example is the monthly magazine 現代思想 (Gendai Shiso, Contemporary Thought), which publishes essays on philosophy, social theory, and cultural criticism and has played a prominent role in postwar Japanese intellectual life. Other publications and organizations may similarly use the term to signal relevance to contemporary topics.

In academic and cultural contexts, the term Gendai is widely employed to discuss modernity and present-day phenomena in fields such as sociology, art, literature, and political science. It can function as a descriptor for trends, movements, or theories that focus on the current moment, as well as a linguistic bridge to English equivalents like “modern” or “contemporary.”

See also: Modernity, Contemporary art, Contemporary culture.