Glossary

Chow: In mahjong, a set of three tiles of the same suit and consecutive numbers.

Daimyo: Hereditary rulers of the several hundred small principalities that made up feudal Japan until the dismantling of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1868.

Obi: Kimono sash

Shōji: A sliding door made with paper glued to a wooden latticework.

Paar: The German word for ‘couple’ often used in pre-war Japan to refer to a male-male couple.

Tatami: Rectangular straw mats used for flooring in traditional Japanese houses. They are made in a uniform size (although the precise measurements differ by region) so the number of mats may be used to indicate the size of a room.