Japanese adjective for "bitter, pungent." Candidates for what "shibui" tastes like are the
kaki persimmons, and
natto. The character for shibui is the same as the first character in
Shibuya, which means "bitter valley". Shibuya was once famous for its
vinegar.
The word has both positive and negative
overtones.
In slang, it can mean "
uncool" when in reference to fashion and style. However, just like
taste in food, some people find "shibui" to be
cool. For example,
Sean Connery played a shibui
James Bond, in comparison to
Roger Moore or
Timothy Dalton.
In this sense, it is like the concept of "
dasai".