Dai-Tokyo Binbo Seikatsu Manual - Use of The Word binbo

Use of The Word binbo

In the title of, and throughout the manga, Maekawa chose to spell the Japanese word for poverty, binbō, using katakana instead of the usual kanji for two reasons. First, using katakana instead of a more traditional spelling gives a word a stronger emphasis (similar to italicizing or bolding a word in English). Second, using katakana can indicate that a word's usage does not fall into the traditional meaning or sense of the word. The katakana lends emphasis since the manga revolves around Kōsuke's 'poor lifestyle', and it differentiates his lifestyle (which he explicitly chose for himself) from the usual definition of poverty. So despite there being a common and easily recognizable kanji compound for binbō (貧乏), a katakana spelling is used instead (ビンボー).