Glossary

aikido "The way of harmonious spirit". A form of self-defence performed without weapons, now recognized as a sport.

Amida Nyorai Amida Buddha will lead worthy souls to the Western Paradise (the Pure Land).

banzai The traditional Japanese cheer, meaning "10,000 years".

basho Sumo tournament

Benten or Benzai-ten . One of the most popular folk-goddesses, usually associated with water.

bodhisattva or bosatsu . A Buddhist intermediary who has forsaken nirvana to work for the salvation of all humanity.

Bunraku Traditional puppet theatre.

Buto (or Butoh) Highly expressive contemporary performance art.

cha-no-yu, chado or sado The tea ceremony. Ritual tea drinking raised to an art form.

cho or machi Subdivision of the city, smaller than a - ku .

chome Area of the city consisting of a few blocks.

daimyo Feudal lords.

-dake Mountain peak, usually volcanic.

Dainichi Nyorai or Rushana Butsu The Cosmic Buddha in whom all buddhas are unified.

donjon Castle keep.

dori Main road.

Edo Pre-1868 name for Tokyo.

ema Small wooden boards found at shrines, on which people write their wishes or thanks.

fusuma Paper-covered sliding doors, more substantial than shoji , used to separate rooms or for cupboards.

futon Padded quilt used for bedding.

gagaku Traditional Japanese music used for court ceremonies and religious rites.

gaijin Foreigner.

geisha Traditional female entertainer accomplished in the arts.

genkan Foyer or entrance hall of a house, ryokan and so forth, for changing from outdoor shoes into slippers.

geta Traditional wooden sandals.

genki A useful (and often used) Japanese word meaning friendly, lively and healthy.

haiku Seventeen-syllable verse form, arranged in three lines of five, seven and five syllables.

hanami "Flower-viewing", most commonly associated with spring outings to admire the cherry blossom.

hashi or -bashi Bridge.

hiragana Phonetic script used for writing Japanese in combination with kanji .

ijinkan Western-style brick and clapboard houses.

ikebana Traditional art of flower arranging.

Inari Shinto god of harvests, often represented by his fox-messenger.

-ji Buddhist temple.

jigoku The word for Buddhist "hell", also applied to volcanic mud pools and steam vents.

-jinja or -jingp Shinto shrine.

Jizo Buddhist protector of children, travellers and the dead.

-jo Castle.

Kabuki Popular theatre of the Edo period.

kami Shinto deities residing in trees, rocks and other natural phenomena.

kamikaze The "Divine Wind" which saved Japan from the Mongol invaders . During World War II the name was applied to Japan's suicide bombers.

kanji Japanese script derived from Chinese characters.

Kannon Buddhist goddess of mercy. A bodhisattva who appears in many different forms.

katakana Phonetic script used mainly for writing foreign words in Japanese.

kawa or - gawa River.

ken Prefecture. The principal administrative region, similar to a state or county.

kendo The "way of the sword". Japan's oldest martial art, using wooden staves, with its roots in samurai training exercises.

kimono Literally "clothes", though usually referring to women's traditional dress.

-ko Lake.

koban Neighbourhood police box.

koen or gyoen Public park.

Kogen Plateau.

ku Principal administrative division of the city, usually translated as "ward".

kura Traditional storehouse built with thick mud-walls as protection against fire, for keeping produce and family treasures.

kyogen Short, satirical plays, providing comic interludes in No drama.

machi Town or area of a city.

maiko Apprentice geisha.

manga Japanese comics.

matcha Powdered green tea used in the tea ceremony.

matsuri Festival.

Meiji Period named after Emperor Meiji (1868-1912), meaning "enlightened rule".

Meiji Restoration The Restoration (1868) marked the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, when power was fully restored to the emperor.

mikoshi Portable shrine used in festivals.

minshuku Family-run lodgings, similar to bed-and-breakfast, which are cheaper than ryokan.

mon Gate, usually to a castle, temple or palace.

mura Village.

netsuke Small, intricately carved toggles for fastening the cords of cloth bags.

ningy o Japanese doll.

Nio or Kongo Rikishi Two muscular, fearsome Buddhist kings ( ten ) who stand guard at temple gates, usually one open-mouthed and one closed.

No Highly stylized dance-drama, using masks and elaborate costumes.

noren Split curtain hanging in shop and restaurant doorways to indicate they're open.

notemburo Outdoor hot-spring pool, usually in natural surroundings.

obi Wide sash worn with kimono.

odori Traditional dances performed in the streets during the summer Obon festival. The most famous is Tokushima's Awa Odori .

onsen Hot spring, generally developed for bathing.

pachinko Vertical pinball machines.

pond-garden Classic form of garden design focused around a pond.

romaji System of transliterating Japanese words using the roman alphabet.

ronin Masterless samurai .

rotemburo Outdoor hot-spring pool, often in the grounds of a ryokan.

ryokan Traditional Japanese inn.

salarymen The thousands of suited office-workers who keep Japan's companies and ministries ticking over.

samurai Warrior class who were retainers of the daimyo .

san or -zan Mountain.

sento Neighbourhood public bath.

seppuku Ritual suicide by disembowelment, often wrongly referred to as hara-kiri in English.

Shaka Nyorai The historical Buddha, Sakyamuni.

shamisen Traditional, three-stringed instrument played with a plectrum.

shima or -jima Island.

Shinkansen Bullet train.

Shinto Japan's indigenous religion, based on the premise that gods inhabit all natural things, both animate and inanimate.

Shitamachi Low-lying, working-class districts of east Tokyo, nowadays usually referring to Asakusa and Ueno.

shoji Paper-covered sliding screens used to divide rooms or cover windows.

shogun The military rulers of Japan before 1868, nominally subordinate to the emperor.

shukubo Temple lodgings.

soaplands Euphemistic name for bathhouses offering massages and, frequently, sexual services.

stroll-garden Style of garden design popular in the Edo period (1600-1868), comprising a series of tableaux which unfold as the viewer walks through the garden.

sumi-e Ink paintings, traditionally using black ink.

sumo Japan's national sport, a form of heavyweight wrestling which evolved from ancient Shinto divination rites.

taiko Drums.

tatami Rice-straw matting, the traditional covering for floors.

-tera , o-tera or -dera Buddhist temple.

tokonoma Alcove in a room where flowers or a scroll are displayed.

torii Gate to a Shinto shrine.

ukiyo-e Colourful woodblock prints or paintings which became particularly popular in the late eighteenth century.

waka Thirty-one syllable poem, arranged in five lines of five, seven, five, seven and seven syllables.

washi Traditional, handmade paper.

Yakushi Nyorai The Buddha in charge of physical and spiritual healing.

yakuza Professional criminal gangs, somewhat akin to the Mafia.