The Japanese language uses lots and lots of onomatopoeia. Normally, "onomatopoeia" means "sound-imitating words" — but lots of these words don't imitate sounds, and many have nothing to do with sound at all. There are many lists of Japanese onomatopoeia on the Internet; this one is mine. I, a Japanese learner, started composing it mostly because writing something down makes it easier to remember it but if someone else should find it useful, all the better.