rubbernecks; curious onlookers; gawkers
Refers to people who gather to stare at accidents, fires, or disturbances, often with a mildly derogatory tone. Commonly used in the phrase 野次馬根性 (morbid curiosity).
A crowd of rubbernecks gathered at the accident scene.
The gawkers who come to see the fire are a nuisance.
野次馬 specifically means onlookers or rubberneckers gathering at an incident, while モブ is a broader term for any large disorderly crowd.
野次馬 describes a noisy, gawking crowd with a negative nuance, whereas 見物人 is a neutral term for an onlooker.
野次馬 highlights the curious onlookers themselves and their nosy motive, while 人だかり describes the resulting crowd or mass as a whole.
rubbernecking mentality; spirit of idle curiosity
Standard ateji spelling; the most common written form.
Search-only mixed kana-kanji form.
Rarely used ateji variant.
Kana spelling; used when the ateji kanji are avoided or for clarity.
Search-only mixed katakana-kanji form.
The origin is disputed; a leading account derives the word from 親父馬, an old horse that follows other horses, through shortening and sound change. It subsequently came to denote people who follow a disturbance out of idle curiosity.