Glossary

Akemashite (omedeto gozaimasu)  New Year greeting

Anime  Japanese animated film entertainments

Ao-gera  Japanese green woodpecker

Banzai  Literally, “ten thousand years”; hooray

Bento  Lunch box in which various small dishes are packed in individual compartments

Bizen  Much-prized pottery from the Okayama-Himeji area of Japan, usually brown and unglazed

Bonton ame  Old-fashioned chewy citrus candy of Kyushu; chewy squares wrapped in clear edible wrappers that dissolve on the tongue

Botan yuki  Large snowflakes; literally, “peony snow”

Botchan  Title of famous novel by Natsume Soseki; literally, “young master” or “greenhorn”

-chan  A suffix used after a first name; a term of affection used with the names of children and very close friends

Chankoro  Derogatory term for “Chinese”

Daruma  Roly-poly dolls; Japanese color in one of their blank eyes when they make a wish, and then the other when the wish comes true

Dōki no Sakura  Japanese song about cherry blossoms that bloom at the same time/on the same day; popular in the last years of the war in several versions, including one used by the Japanese Imperial Navy

Edo  Old name for Tokyo; the period when the Shoguns were the real rulers of Japan (1603–1867) is referred to as the Edo Era.

Furoshiki  Traditional cloth used to wrap and carry parcels

Futon  Traditional Japanese bedding; mattresses spread on the floor

Gaijin  Japanese for “foreigner”

Gambatte  “Good Luck”; “Do your best!”

Geisha  Artistes; female entertainers who specialize in traditional Japanese music and dance

Genkan  Entryway to Japanese homes; at a lower level than the interior flooring

Genmaicha  Japanese green tea combined with popped rice

Geta  Wooden sandals

Haiku  Japanese verse form that traditionally includes a seasonal reference and consists of seventeen syllables arranged in three lines of five, seven, and five syllables

Hibachi  Japanese grill

Hoanden  Enshrinement Hall

Hojicha  Roasted tea

Hōryūji  Famous Buddhist temple in Nara

Issei  First-generation Japanese-American(s)

Iyo kasuri  Indigo splashed pattern textile of Ehime Prefecture

Judo  Japanese martial art

Kaki kueba  First two words (and first line) of a famous haiku poem that all Japanese schoolchildren learn

Kakkō  Common cuckoo

Kamikaze  Literally, “divine wind.” In the 13th century, two attempts by the Mongolians to invade Japan failed, thanks to storms of ­typhoon magnitude. The Japanese never forgot this myth, which ­reinforced the belief that the Shinto gods protected Japan. During the last part of World War II, the term kamikaze was applied to members of the Japanese Special Attack Forces, Japanese fighter ­pilots trained to make suicide attacks on Allied ships.

Kempeitai  Wartime military secret police; “thought” police

Kendo  Japanese martial art

Kimigayo  The Japanese national anthem

Kiyomizudera  Famous Kyoto Buddhist temple with a broad veranda over a valley

Kimono  Traditional Japanese women’s dress

Ko-gera  Japanese pygmy woodpecker

kokeshi  Cylindrical wooden dolls from the northern parts of Japan

komadori  Japanese robin

Kosho  Matsuyama Commercial College

Kotatsu  A low table covered with quilts and a tabletop; situated above a fireplace or constructed with a heat source attached to the bottom of the table

Koto  Japanese transverse harp

Kozara  Small plate(s)

Kurozuro  Common cranes

Kyōdai  Kyōto University nickname (Kyōto + Daigaku)

Manazuru  White-napped cranes

Manyōshu  First anthology of Japanese poetry; compiled in the 7th–8th century

Meboso mushikui  Arctic warbler

Meiji  Name of the Japanese era from 1868–1912

Mikan  Japanese mandarin oranges; sometimes marked in the U.S. as “Satsuma” oranges

Miso  Soybean paste; staple of Japanese cuisine

Momotaro  Literally “peach boy”; a fairy tale that every Japanese knows

Mompe  Pants made of simple fabric, typically worn by farmwives

Mugicha  Barley tea

Ne-san  Literally, “Big (older) sister”

Nihon katta, Rosha maketa  “Japan won; Russia lost”

Nisei  Second-generation Japanese-American(s)

Ōaka-gera  White-backed woodpecker

Obasan  Literally “aunt”; used as an honorific title (in lieu of a family name) for an adult woman

Obi  Belt for a woman’s kimono

Ochazuke  Japanese snack: green tea poured over rice to make a porridge

Odori  Traditional Japanese dance

Ojiisan  Literally “grandfather”; used as an honorific title (in lieu of a family name) for older men

Ohayo gozaimasu  Good morning

Ōkaidō  Literally, “Big Shopping Street”; Matsuyama’s principal commercial street

Okusan  Honorific term for “wife”

Omiai  Meeting in advance of an arranged marriage

Omiyage  A souvenir; a hostess gift

Ronin  Literally, “masterless samurai”; used to describe students who take time off from school to prepare for entrance exams for the next educational level

Saikeirei  Deepest bow

Sake  Japanese rice wine

Sakura  Cherry blossoms

Samazama  First word of a Bashō haiku

Samurai  Japanese warrior

-san  Honorific title used in lieu of Mr., Mrs., or Ms. Appended to family names as a suffix

Sashiko  Japanese traditional craft stitch

Sembazuru  Literally, “A Thousand Cranes”; title of the 1952 novel by Yasunari Kawabata, winner of the 1968 Nobel Prize for Literature

Sembei  Japanese rice crackers

Senninbari  “Thousand stitch belt;” scarf-like white cloths hand-stitched with red crosses, typically made for men serving in the Japanese military by their wives, sweethearts, or female relatives. In order to have stitches made by a “thousand” different hands, those making senninbari for their loved ones asked friends, neighbors, and even strangers in public places to add stitches.

Sensei  Literally, “teacher.” Honorary title for teachers, doctors, etc. Can replace the honorific “san” as the suffix used with family names

Seto no Hanayome  Literally “Seto Bride.” Seto Naikai is Japan’s Seto Inland Sea, between the main island of Honshu and Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s four main islands.

Shamisen  Three-stringed musical instrument; somewhat similar in sound to a banjo

Shinkansen  Literally, “New trunk line”; Japan’s bullet train

Shiso  Perilla; beefsteak plant leaf

Shitamachi  Tōkyō’s traditional “downtown”; Asakusa and other neighborhoods in the eastern, older part of the city, near the Sumida River

Shōchū  Alcoholic drink made from potatoes

Showa  Name of the Japanese era from 1925–1989; name of the reign of Emperor Hirohito

Soba  Japanese buckwheat noodles

Sokaijin  Evacuee from the city to the countryside

Sukiyaki  Japanese beef stew dish prepared at the table fondue-style

Sumo  Japanese wrestling

Sumi  Black calligraphy ink made from charcoal

Suribachi  Mortar

Surikogi  Pestle

Sushi  Raw fish and/or vegetables served atop canapés of rice or wrapped in rice and seaweed rolls that are then sliced into individual pieces

Takuan  Japanese pickle made from daikon white radish; typically yellow in color

Tanchōzuru  Japanese crane

Tatami  Woven straw mats used for flooring

Tenno Heika Banzai  “Long Live the Emperor”

Tōdai  Tokyo University nickname (Tōkyo + Daigaku)

Tokkō  Wartime civilian secret police; “thought” police

Tokonoma  Alcove in a traditional Japanese room, typically used to display a hanging scroll and a flower arrangement

Tsubame  Swallow

Tsutusdori  Oriental cuckoo

Umeboshi  Picked plum

Yakyu  Baseball game, a term that replaced the foreign word besuboru during the war

Yasukuni  Tokyo Shinto Shrine famous for its cherry blossoms; place where those killed in service to Japan are enshrined. In that respect, comparable to Arlington Cemetery, but controversial, especially with Japan’s neighbors because individuals adjudged war criminals after World War II are among those enshrined there

Yokaren  Japanese naval recruits—often teenage farm boys—trained as aviators for suicide missions

Yuzu  Japanese citrus