豆腐メンタル
Toufumentaru
とうふめんたる
A mashup of 'tofu' and 'mental,' this term likens someone's emotional resilience to a block of tofu — soft and easily broken. Born on 2ch (now 5ch) forums, it spread to mainstream social media and everyday conversation in the 2010s. Often used self-deprecatingly: 'I've got a tofu mental, so...' The opposite is 鋼メンタル (hagane mentaru, 'steel mental').
Examples
上司にちょっと注意されただけで泣きそうになった。豆腐メンタルすぎる
I nearly cried just because my boss gave me a little warning. My mental is total tofu.
Venting to a coworker after being mildly scolded
豆腐メンタルだから、SNSのコメント欄は絶対見ない
I've got a tofu mental, so I never read the comments section on social media.
Chatting with a friend about social media
彼女に既読スルーされただけで病むとか、豆腐メンタルかよ
You get upset just because she left you on read? What a tofu mental.
豆腐メンタルの俺には営業職は無理だわ
With my tofu mental, there's no way I could handle a sales job.