noun
Rip van Winkle effect (for a woman); feeling that everything has changed upon returning to Japan (for a woman)
Coined term combining 浦島太郎 (Urashima Tarō) and a female given name 花子 (Hanako), used to describe a woman's sense of disorientation after a long absence from Japan, similar to the Rip van Winkle effect.
海外に長く住んでいた友人は、帰国後に「浦島花子状態」だと笑っていた。
My friend, who had lived abroad for a long time, laughed and said she felt like 'Urashima Hanako' after returning to Japan.
久しぶりに日本に帰ったら、浦島花子になった気分だ。
When I returned to Japan after a long time, I felt like Urashima Hanako.
The original male version of the term, referring to the same disorientation effect for a man returning to Japan after a long absence.
A blend of 浦島太郎 (Urashima Tarō, a folk tale character who returns to find everything changed) and the female name 花子 (Hanako), creating a female counterpart to the existing term 浦島太郎 for the Rip van Winkle effect.