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Requests

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SIGNS

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DIRECTIONS

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HEALTH

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EMERGENCIES

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LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES

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NUMBERS

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QUESTION WORDS

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SHOPPING & SERVICES

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TIME & DAYS

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TRANSPORT

Also available from Lonely Planet: Japanese Phrasebook

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Glossary

For a list of culinary terms, Click here. For useful terms and phrases when visiting an onsen, see also Click here.

Ainu – indigenous people of Hokkaidō and parts of Northern Honshū

Amaterasu – sun goddess and link to the imperial throne

ANA – All Nippon Airlines

ANK – All Nippon Koku

annai-sho – information office

asa-ichi – morning market

bama – beach; see also hama

bangasa – rain umbrella made from oiled paper

bashō – sumō tournament

bonsai – the art of growing miniature trees by careful pruning of branches and roots

bugaku – dance pieces played by court orchestras in ancient Japan

buke yashiki – samurai residence

bunraku – classical puppet theatre using huge puppets to portray dramas similar to kabuki

Burakumin – traditionally outcasts associated with lowly occupations such as leather work; literally ‘village people’

bushidō – a set of values followed by the samurai; literally ‘the way of the warrior

butsudan – Buddhist altar in Japanese homes

chikan – men who feel up women and girls on packed trains

chō – city area (for large cities) between a ku and chōme in size; also a street

chōchin – paper lantern

chōme – city area of a few blocks

daibutsu – Great Buddha

daimyō – regional lords under the shōgun

daira/taira – plain

dake – peak; see also take

dani – valley; see also tani

danjiri – festival floats

dera – temple; see also tera

dō – temple/hall of a temple

eki – train station

ema – small votive plaques hung in shrine precincts as petitions for assistance from the resident deities

enka – often described as the Japanese equivalent of country and western music, these are folk ballads about love and human suffering

fu – urban prefecture

fundoshi – loincloth or breechcloth; a traditional male garment consisting of a wide belt and a cloth drawn over the genitals and between the buttocks, usually seen only at festivals or on sumō wrestlers

furii kippu – one-day transport pass (furii means ‘free’ and kippu means ‘ticket’)

fusuma – sliding screen door

futsū – a local train; literally ‘ordinary’

gagaku – music of the imperial court

gaijin – foreigners; literally ‘outside people’

gaijin house – cheap accommodation for long-term foreign residents

gaman – to endure

gasoreen sutando – petrol stations

gasshō-zukuri – an architectural style (usually thatch-roofed); literally ‘hands in prayer’

gawa – river; see also kawa

geisha – woman versed in arts and drama who entertains guests; not a prostitute

gekijō – theatre

genkan – foyer area where shoes are removed or replaced when entering or leaving a building

geta – traditional wooden sandals

gū – shrine

gun – county

habu – a venomous snake found in Okinawa

haiku – 17-syllable poems

hama – beach; see also bama

hanami – blossom viewing (usually cherry blossoms)

haniwa – earthenware figures found in tombs of the Kōfun period

hantō – peninsula

hara – uncultivated field or plain

hari – dragon-boat races

hatsu-mōde – first shrine visit of the new year

heiwa – peace

henro – pilgrims on the Shikoku 88 Temple Circuit

higasa – sunshade umbrella

Hikari – the second-fastest type of shinkansen

hiragana – phonetic syllabary used to write Japanese words

hondō – main route or main hall

honsen – main rail line

ichi-nichi-jōsha-ken – day passes for unlimited travel on bus, tram or subway systems

ikebana – art of flower arrangement

irezumi – a tattoo or the art of tattooing

irori – hearth or fireplace

JAC – Japan Air Commuter

JAF – Japan