AMATERASU ŌMIKAMI • the sun goddess, the Shinto deity from whom the Japanese Imperial family is said to descend
ANKO • red bean paste
ARIGATŌ GOZAIMASHITA • polite form of “thank you” often used by store clerks
ARIGATŌ GOZAIMASU • polite form of “thank you very much”
BANZAI • an exhortation to live ten thousand years
BUSHIDO • the samurai code of honor
BUTSUDAN • a Buddhist altar used for paying respects to deceased family members
-CHAN • (suffix) shows affection
CHIRAN • a town in the south of Kyushu
CHIRIMEN • a type of silk
DAINI TORII • “Second Gate”; the second gate at Yasukuni Shrine
“DŌKI NO SAKURA” • “Cherry Blossoms of the Same Period,” a popular war song
DOMO ARIGATŌ • “thank you very much”
FURO • a Japanese soaking bathtub
FUROSHIKI • a cloth used for wrapping and carrying items and gifts
GAIJIN • outsider, non-Japanese
GEISHA • a traditional Japanese hostess and entertainer
GETA • traditional wooden platform shoes
GUNKOKU-SHŌNEN • “military youth”; students in a military academy
GUNSHIN • a war god
GYOKUSAI • “shattering of the jewel,” an honorable suicide in the face of defeat
HACHIMAKI • a samurai headband
HAHA-UE • mother (very formal, polite, old fashioned)
HAHAGATAKE • a mountain in Chiran
HAI • yes
HAIKU • a form of poetry originated in Japan consisting of three lines with five, seven, and five syllables respectively, or some version thereof. Images of nature are common, as well as a revelation.
HANA • flower
“HARU NO UMI” • “The Sea in Spring,” a piece for koto and shakuhachi composed by Miyagi Michio in 1929. It was inspired by the image of the sea from his childhood, before he lost his sight.
HONSHU • the largest of the home islands of Japan
HOTARU • firefly, a nickname for the short-lived tokkō
ICHI/NI/SAN • one/two/three
IIE • no
ITAI • ouch; it hurts
JI • a bridge that supports a string on a koto; traditionally made of ivory. (There are thirteen bridges in all.)
JISEI • death poems, a Buddhist tradition in a variety of poetic styles, meant to convey the last thoughts of a person before death. Many jisei and final words are on display at the Chiran Peace Museum.
JIZO • Buddhist deity, protector of travelers and children, who leads the innocent across the Sanzu River to the land of the dead
KABUKI SEWAMONO • a type of play in the Kabuki style of theater, known for contemporary romances among other themes
KAGOSHIMA • a large city on the coast near Chiran
KAIMONDAKE • a mountain in Kyushu that resembles Mount Fuji
KAITEN • manned torpedoes used in kamikaze missions
KAMI • Shinto deities
KAMIFUSEN • paper balloon balls
KAMIKAZE • “divine wind”; also a name for tokkō pilots
KAMISHIBAI • “paper drama,” a form of storytelling using illustrations accompanied by a live, spoken narrative
KANNON • Buddhist goddess of mercy
KEMPEITAI • military police
KENDO • a martial art that typically uses bamboo or wooden swords
KIMONO • a traditional ankle-length robe with long sleeves
KINSHA • a type of silk
KIRI • a type of wood used for making kotos
KONNICHIWA • “good day,” a greeting typically used midday to early evening
KOTO • a stringed musical instrument
KUROBUTA-TONKOTSU • a local dish for which the famous Kagoshima pork meat, on the bone, is boiled for several hours with ingredients such as daikon radish, brown sugar, Kagoshima miso, and shōchū
KUROMATSU • a type of pine tree
KYUSHU • the southernmost of the four home islands of Japan
MANCHUKUO • a wartime puppet state created in China by Japan, which occupied a large part of Manchuria
MENKO • a card game
MISO • a seasoning made from fermented soybeans; a soup made with the same seasoning
MITAMA MATSURI • festival for the war dead at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo
MOMO • peach
MOMOTARO • literally “Peach Boy,” the hero of a traditional Japanese folktale
MONO NO AWARE • the concept of sadness in beauty because it fades
MONPÉ • loose trousers, traditional work pants that are wide at the hips and thighs, and gathered at the ankles
MURA • a rural region supervised by local government, similar to a county
NADESHIKO • a flower from the dianthus family (pronounced na-desh-ko)
NAGAJUBAN • a robe, often made of cotton, worn beneath a kimono
NATTO • fermented soybeans
NIGARI • a type of salt
NINGYO • a mermaid-like creature
O- • a prefix used to show respect for daily items in life (for example, o-cha for tea, o-mizu for water)
OBI • a wide sash worn with a kimono
OBON • an annual Buddhist festival to honor ancestral spirits
OCHA • green tea
OJI-SAN • uncle (middle-aged man)
OJII-SAN • grandfather or old man (over sixty)
OKARA • soy pulp that remains after making tofu
OKĀ-SAN • mother (not as formal as “haha-ue”)
OKAYU • rice porridge
OKINAWA • an island cluster south of the home islands of Japan; also the largest island in that cluster
OKONOMIYAKI • a popular local dish in Hiroshima featuring a savory layered pancake of noodles, vegetables, and meat, topped with a sauce
ONI • a demon in Japanese folklore
ONSEN • hot springs; spas or inns with hot springs
ŌTEMIZUSHA • large purification basin
OTŌ-SAN • father
SAKÉ • an alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice
SAKURA • cherry blossom
SAKURAJIMA • an active volcano overlooking Kagoshima Bay in Kyushu, Japan
-SAMA • a formal honorific suffix
SAMURAI • warrior nobility in early and medieval Japan
-SAN • a suffix added to a proper name to show respect
SANZU-NO-KAWA • “The River of Three Crossings”; the river into the afterlife in Japanese folklore, similar to the Greek River Styx
SATSUMAIMO • sweet potato
SAYOUNARA • goodbye
SENNINBARI • a thousand-person-stitch belt
SENSEI • teacher
SHAMISEN • a stringed instrument similar to a lute or mandolin
SHINMON • Main Gate
SHŌCHŪ • a local liquor made from sweet potatoes
SHŌJI • a traditional door or room divider made of translucent paper with a wooden or bamboo frame
SHOKUDO • a type of casual dining restaurant
SHŌNEN HIKŌHEI • Youth Pilot School
SHŌWA ERA • “the Period of Bright Peace”; the reign of Emperor Hirohito, from December 25, 1926, to his death on January 7, 1989
SODZU-BABA • an old woman who demands the clothes or skins of the dead once they’ve crossed the River of Three Crossings in Japanese folklore
SURIBACHI • a mortar, used with a surikogi for grinding food
SURIKOGI • a pestle, used with a suribachi for grinding food
TABI • traditional Japanese socks worn with thonged footwear, featuring a split between the big and second toe
TAI • unit
TANKA • a form of poetry based on haiku
TARO • boy
TATAMI • woven floor mats
TOKKŌ • special attack pilots, also known as kamikaze
TOKUBETSU KŌGEKI • “special attack,” the term from which the tōkko take their name
TONARI-GUMI • a neighborhood association, comprised of nine households, that handles civic duties
TORII • a gateway to a Shinto shrine
TOYOTAMA-HIME • a goddess, daughter of the sea god in Japanese folklore, descendant of the sun goddess, and grandmother of the first emperor of Japan
TSUBURAJII • a type of evergreen tree
-UE • meaning “upper” or “above”; a suffix to show extreme respect
“UMI YUKABA” • “If I Go Away to Sea,” a popular wartime anthem about the honor of dying for the Emperor
UNOHANA • sautéed okara with vegetables
YAMATO • an ancient name for Japan
YAMATO-DAMASHII • Japanese spirit
YAMATO NADESHIKO • the idealized Japanese woman
YASUKUNI SHRINE • an Imperial Shinto shrine in Tokyo dedicated to those who died in military service for Japan
YUKATA • a casual, lightweight kimono, often made of cotton