Japanese edit

For pronunciation and definitions of ほうまつ – see the following entry.
泡沫
[noun] a bubble, or foam, or froth
[noun] (attributive) the state of lasting only for a short time, like a bubble; ephemerality, transience, fleeting-ness, etc.
(This term, ほうまつ, is the hiragana spelling of the above term.)