Dimension wrote:I had a discussion today with a guy on the net who claimed that in Japan the Japanese use the word メカ (Mecha) as a substitute for the word sci-fi
To say that the Japanese don't have a word for science fiction is like saying that Americans don't have a word for déjà vu. Of course we do. The word is déjà vu. In the same way, the Japanese have a word for science fiction, which is the English word. Just because it's a borrowing doesn't mean that it isn't a word in that language.
Theoretical considerations aside, though, the word メカ comes from the word "mechanical," so it might be used to mean robotics or some other aspect of science fiction. In other words, it might be the nitty-gritty, nuts-and-bolts aspect of science fiction, as opposed to the more anthropological aspect of science fiction you see in writers like Asimov or Ray Bradbury.
That said, however, I've never seen science fiction referred to as anything other than "SF," so I don't know where your friend is getting his information, but it doesn't sound very reliable to me.