onomatopoeiamania

Japanese is without a doubt the language with the most elaborate, complete, and colorful set of onomatopoeia. They make our "ouaf ouaf" and "miao miao" look pale and ridiculous.
I was wondering if this proliferation of onomatopoeia was in part due to manga culture.
One thing that seems to account for their richness is that in addition to those onomatopoeia which imitate nature and animals, Japanese recognizes two additional types of onomatopoeia: one that suggests states of the external world, and another that names internal mental conditions and sensations (according to John Whitman, in "Chit-chat among Japanese Farm Animals").
Here a re a few examples, you can find more on this page


boka boka - hitting something (or someone) hard

deko bako - bumpy

doki doki - heart beating fast from excitement

fusa fusa - full and attractive head of hair

gata gata - trembling with cold

gucha gucha - soft and wet

guzu guzu - lazily, slowly

kara kara - very dry

kari kari - someone scratching their head in puzzlement

pachi pachi - clapping hands

paku paku - eat in big mouth fulls, eat fast

shiku shiku - crying

tsuru tsuru - slippery, smooth