Rashomon effect

noun

The effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of it.

OriginJapanese 羅生門 →
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Meanings

nounRashomon effect (plural Rashomon effects)

plural Rashomon effects

  1. human sciencesThe effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of it.

    And, in accordance with the "Rashomon effect," depending on who is doing the telling, the reported effect of computerization in the same agency may differ widely.

    1993, Marcos Leiderman, Technology in People Services: Research, Theory, and Applications

Origin

  1. Japanese羅生門
  2. EnglishRashomon effect

From Japanese 羅生門 (rashōmon), after Akira Kurosawa's film Rashomon (1950), in which a crime witnessed by four individuals is described in four mutually contradictory ways.

More words from Japanese

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Cite this entry
APA

Rashomon effect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rashomon%20effect

MLA

“Rashomon effect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rashomon%20effect. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Rashomon effect,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rashomon%20effect.

Source: Rashomon effect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.