Slang term used in
Japan to unkindly describe a middle-aged or older woman who is considered obnoxious or overbearing. If you ever see a woman who holds up traffic by crossing a street slowly, or rushes for a seat on the
Yamanote line, chances are she is regarded by others in Japan as an Obatarian. Many are actually quite sweet, but after a lifetime of obligations and hassles with their parents, bosses, children and, especially, husbands, they feel the chain of
reciprocity should flow back in their direction.
The word is a contraction of the Japanese word for woman (Oba-san), and the English word battalion articulated as Japlish to be battarion. The battalion reference comes from the 1981 film Night of the Zombies, also known as Night of the Wehrmacht Zombies and Battalion of the Living Dead, which was promoted in Japan as Bataarion. The fact they often go out in numbers also has helped give the word currency.