baka – A general insult. Usually translated as “idiot,” but with connotations of being uncouth and wild, like an animal.
boushi – A hat.
bushi – A warrior. Later this would refer to samurai specifically.
-chan – Honorific connoting a familiar person. It is a diminutive indicating the person is endearing. In general, used for babies, children, grandparents, and teenagers.
chie (or che) – An expletive.
daikon – Literally “big root”; white radish.
Emishi – An indigenous people usually identified with the modern Ainu.
hai – Yes.
hakama – Loose-fitting trousers.
hi – A kanji character.
hitatare – A two-piece outfit consisting of a large-sleeved tunic and divided trousers.
hojo – The abbot or chief priest of a Buddhist temple.
kami – A divine spirit, roughly equivalent to a god.
kampai – Equivalent to “cheers!” before a drink.
kanji – Chinese logographic characters, used for formal documents in the Heian period.
karma – The sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. Informally: destiny or fate, following as effect from cause.
koku – A unit of volume; one koku was considered sufficient to feed a single man for a year. Wealth was determined by the number of koku in a lord’s landholding. Taxes and salaries were denominated in koku.
-kun – Used for those of junior status; can also be used to name a close personal friend or family member.
kuge – Court nobility; an aristocratic class that emerged in the Heian period and held high posts and considerable power at the Imperial Court in Kyoto.
maedate – A frontal decoration for a helmet.
maku – On the battlefield, a curtain enclosing a space reserved for commanding officers.
mala(s) – Buddhist prayer beads.
mamushi – Gloydius blomhoffii, A venomous pit viper found in japan, China, and Korea.
matsuri – A festival or holiday.
mizu – A kanji character.
menpo – Facial armor that covered all or part of the face and provided a way to secure the helmet.
mon – A family crest or symbol.
noppera-bō – A faceless ghost.
obi – A sash worn with a kimono.
oni – A specific type of dangerous monster, equivalent to the Western ogre.
onibi – Ghost lights. Small will-o’-wisp-type flames that signify the presence of ghosts.
onmyoji – A magician and diviner whose practices are derived from yin-yang. In the Heian period, onmyoji gained influence at Court as they could protect against vengeful ghosts and divine auspicious or harmful dates; they could also call and control shikigami.
sakura – The cherry blossom tree and its blooms.
-sama – Honorific, usually reserved for someone of high social status.
saya – A scabbard.
samuru – A servant. Thought to be the word from which the later samurai is derived.
-san – Honorific, showing respect to the person addressed.
shi – In the context used, a word meaning both “four” and “death.”
shikigami – Artificial creatures created by magic to do the magician’s will.
shin – A kanji character.
shirime – A youkai with an eye in the place of his anus.
shogi – Literally: “general’s board game.” A two-player strategy board game in the same family as Western chess.
sode – Large shoulder guards made from leather in the early Heian period, later of iron
sohei – A warrior attached to a Buddhist temple. Possibly a monk, but more likely a lay-brother, or even a mercenary.
tachi – A long, thin sword originally designed for use on horseback.
yin-yang – A philosophy rooted in both the balance between and interconnectedness of all things: light/dark, male/female, life/death, etc. Probably derived from Daoism via China.
yoroi hitatare – Hitatare and hakama in matching fabric.
youkai – Generic term for a monster, or pretty much any supernatural creature.