GG5: 〔救命胴衣〕 a life 「jacket [vest].
フローティングベスト	10086

Trimming significantly while retaining the basic message. The WWW hits & images are dominated by the fishing-oriented product.

@@ -14,3 +14 @@
-<gloss>buoyant (fly) fishing vest (esp. one with many cargo pockets)</gloss>
-<gloss>floating vest</gloss>
-<gloss g_type="expl">cargo vest and buoyancy aid. not certified as a life jacket. may be used colloquially as a synonym for life jacket</gloss>
+<gloss>buoyancy vest (esp. one with many cargo pockets and used for fishing)</gloss>

We are the only ones offering a translation(which is ordinarily laudable, but in this case I think there is a reason):
Also note that the 例文 all gloss as "floating vest".
https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/フローティングベスト

vs. a wide variety of sources for "life jacket" translations
https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/life+jacket

This looks like a hand-translation of a company shipping a Japanese product internationally (or importing)
Gamakatsu Multi Pocket Waterproof Buoyant Adjustable Fishing Vest
https://protackleworld.com/products/gamakatsu-fly-fishing-vest-inflatable-fishing-life-jacket-adjustable-size-multi-pocket-waistcoat-waterproof-lure-fishing-clothes?variant=42899374440599

Here's a whole lineup of "fishing vests" on the site:
https://protackleworld.com/search?type=product&q=Fishing+Vest

This all looks like a machine translation, but a pretty decent one, from amazon.jp's page in-English:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/Floating-Buoyancy-Breathable-Capacity-Multiple/dp/B09X9GDLM
Fishing Vest, Taruor Floating Vest with High Buoyancy, Breathable, Large Capacity, Multiple Pockets, Unisex, One Size Fits Most, Load Up to 100kg for Fishing Water Sports
If your main priority is the storage of your gear, then this flotation device is second to none. Perfect for fly fishing, kayak fishing, canoe fishing (almost all types of fishing).
Package List:
1 x Fishing Life Vest
パッケージリスト：
1 *フィッシングライフベスト

North-american analog:
https://www.amazon.com/JKSPORTS-Swimming-Floating-Multifunction-Breathable/dp/B07RJR95Q9/
Fly Fishing Vest, Fishing Safety Life Jacket for Swimming Sailing Boating Kayak Floating Multifunction Breathable Backpack for Men and Women Vest/Kayak
Crafted with a premium ripstop polyester shell and replaceable EPE foam inside for superior buoyancy. Inside zipper opening for convenient to take out the floating foam to be a super thin and breathable vest.

フローティングベスト特集！必ず着用して危険を回避！ダイワ・シマノ・マズメなど徹底チェック
https://fishingjapan.jp/fishing/7739
ライフジャケットとは厳密にいうと異なるもので、国土交通省の承認を受けた桜マークは、フローティングベストには付いていません。
"A floating vest is not a life jacket" 

A very good rundown on floating vests(including "not technically a life jacket").
【2023年4月】フローティングベストのおすすめ人気ランキング19選【徹底比較】
https://my-best.com/15183

A floating Vest on amazon
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07JNV3S45/
q&a: Does it have the Sakura Mark? Nope. Not for use on boats.
桜マークは付いてないですよね？
回答:桜のマークは付いていません。桜のマークが必要な小型船舶の船舶検査には使えません。陸っぱりの釣りには良いと思います。

This is a perfect English-language analog of a フローティングベスト:
https://www.lifejackets.co.uk/lifejackets-angling
Boat and river fishing - angling vests
Made with the angler in mind, our unique fishing vest features various pockets and zip compartments, fleece collar, zipper, tie cords and have a comfortable fit. Vests are very light in weight allowing excellent freedom of movement under the arms for casting etc. 

With 50 Newton's of buoyancy our anglers vest conforms to European standard EN 393. Not classed as a lifejacket because it doesn't turn you into the upright position once in the water, however buoyancy aids are recommended for good swimmers in sheltered waters where help is close at hand.

Perfect as a fly fishing waistcoat.

I suggest starting with a quoted image search for "フローティングベスト"

It looks like one of these things was indeed not like the others.  "buoyancy aid" is the magic phrase for legal purposes, but if you look at the collins/wikipedia definition of "buoyancy aid"(often foam-filled/targeted at kayakers), "floating vest" is even weaker than that (usually targeted at on-land/river fisherman).

Even though it does seem that some Japanese people have internalized "フローティングベスト" as a synonym for "life jacket", for the actual sake of safety (this gloss may end up in automatic translation tools), I strongly suggest that "life jacket" not be given as a direct gloss, and that we allow an unusually long explanation/note. 

xref to "life jacket" (or the note) should be enough to help a translator if they want to manually select that term.


Related term ゲームベスト ("game" as in "hunting wildlife", I think ). You can search this on amazon/google-images, and your results will look similar and include フローティングベスト in many results.
ngrams
フローティングベスト	10086	59.9%
ゲームベスト	6753	40.1%

As of 2018ish (as I read) it became a legal requirement to wear a life jacket when on the water.  Legal life jackets must have the "sakura mark".

Two websites discussing フローティングベスト, plus generic product listings (one amazon example above), emphasize that フローティングベスト do *not* generally carry this certification or meet the "legal definition" of a life jacket.  They are most suitable for fishing *near* water, they generally are generally buoyant (you'll float better with them than without them if you don't fill your utility pockets with too many lead fishing weights), and they may have gas-powered internal inflation devices for emergency(or not).

They are a fishing accessory that is "better than the alternative of random clothing", but are not "a life jacket". (Thus, finally, the answer to my question: "why isn't this term on wikipedia?").

Scroll down on this page, and you'll get all of the fishing marketing with pretty pictures.  It's onshore (or off-boat) fishing, maybe wading into a river, or standing near some water where accidentally falling in might be a concern. 
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B08XXF572C/

Amazon's search category is:
ライフジャケット・フローティングベスト
At first I thought these were common terms for "the same thing".  My new interpretation is that they are partially-overlapping product categories that have been lumped together for marketing purposes (and/or user convenience).  If the category were ライフジャケット, the very-popular "floating vests" should not be displayed.

Amazon includes a search filter:
ライフジャケットタイプ
[]タイプ IV
[]タイプ II
[]タイプ III

Check any of the boxes, and the "floating vests" all disappear.

Copying from the last reference for emphasis
"Not classed as a lifejacket because it doesn't turn you into the upright position once in the water, however buoyancy aids are recommended for good swimmers in sheltered waters where help is close at hand."

@@ -12 +12 @@
-<xref type="see" seq="2177730">救命胴衣</xref>
+<xref type="see" seq="1138200">ライフジャケット</xref>
@@ -14,2 +14,3 @@
-<gloss>life jacket</gloss>
-<gloss>life vest</gloss>
+<gloss>buoyant (fly) fishing vest (esp. one with many cargo pockets)</gloss>
+<gloss>floating vest</gloss>
+<gloss g_type="expl">cargo vest and buoyancy aid. not certified as a life jacket. may be used colloquially as a synonym for life jacket</gloss>

Added additional dotted reading(s) via batch update.Added additional dotted reading(s) via batch update.
-*- via bulkupd.py -*-

@@ -6,0 +6,3 @@
+</r_ele>
+<r_ele>
+<reb>フローティング・ベスト</reb>

Entry created