Meanings
- The common urge to defecate when entering a bookstore or library.
I mean, you talk about "bookache." Persons with a history of experiencing Mariko Aoki phenomenon were described as having a book bowel tendency, a “book bowel.”
2018 November 13, “Podiots: Episode 20 - Book Ache”, in Podiots, archived from the original on 05 Dec 2025Synonyms: book bowel tendency, book bowels
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe common urge to defecate when entering a bookstore or library.
Origin
Named after a Japanese woman who wrote to a magazine about this tendency in 1985.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Mariko Aoki phenomenon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mariko%20Aoki%20phenomenon
“Mariko Aoki phenomenon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mariko%20Aoki%20phenomenon. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Mariko Aoki phenomenon,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mariko%20Aoki%20phenomenon.
Source: Mariko Aoki phenomenon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.