Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [667]
norikae-ken – transfer ticket (trams and buses)
NTT – Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation
o- – prefix used to show respect to anything it is applied to
obi – sash or belt worn with a kimono
ōfuku – return ticket
o-furo – traditional Japanese bath
OL – ‘office lady’; female clerical worker; pronounced ‘ō-eru’
onnagata – male actor playing a woman’s role (usually in kabuki)
onsen – hot spring; hot mineral-spa area, usually with accommodation
oshibori – hot towels provided in restaurants
pachinko – popular vertical pinball game, played in pachinko parlours
raidā hausu – basic shared accommodation/houses, catering mainly to those touring on motorcycles
rakugo – Japanese raconteurs, stand-up comics
rettō – island group
Rinzai – school of Zen Buddhism which places an emphasis on kōan (riddles)
romaji – Japanese roman script
rōnin – students who must resit university entrance exams; literally ‘masterless samurai’, sometimes referred to as ‘wanderers’
ropeway – Japanese word for a cable car, tramway or funicular railway
rotemburo – open-air or outdoor baths
ryokan – traditional Japanese inn
saki – cape
sakoku – Japan’s period of national seclusion prior to the Meiji Restoration
sakura – cherry blossoms
salaryman – male white-collar worker, usually of a large firm
sama – even more respectful suffix than san; used in instances such as o-kyaku-sama – the ‘honoured guest’
samurai – warrior class
san – mountain
san – suffix which shows respect to the person it is applied to
san-sō – mountain hut or cottage
sentō – public baths
seppuku – ritual suicide by disembowelment
shamisen – a three-stringed traditional Japanese instrument that resembles a banjo or lute
shi – city (to distinguish cities with prefectures of the same name eg Kyoto-shi)
shikki – lacquerware
shima – island; see also jima
shinkaisoku – express trains or special rapid train (usually on JR lines)
shinkansen – super express trains, known in the West as ‘bullet trains’
Shintō – the indigenous religion of Japan; literally ‘the way of the gods’
shirabyōshi – traditional dancer
shitamachi – traditionally the low-lying, less affluent parts of Tokyo
shodō – Japanese calligraphy; literally the ‘way of writing’
shōgekijō – small theatre
shōgi – a version of chess in which each player has 20 pieces and the object is to capture the opponent’s king
shōgun – former military ruler of Japan; generalissimo
shōgunate – military government
shōji – sliding rice-paper screens
shōjin ryōri – Buddhist vegetarian meals (served at temple lodgings etc)
shotō – archipelago or island group
Shugendō – offbeat Buddhist school, which incorporates ancient Shamanistic rites, Shintō beliefs and ascetic Buddhist traditions
shūji – a lesser form of shodō; literally ‘the practice of letters’
shukubō – temple lodgings
shunga – explicit erotic prints; literally ‘spring pictures’, the season of spring being a popular Chinese and Japanese euphemism for sexuality
shūyū-ken – excursion train ticket
soapland – Japanese euphemism for bathhouses that offer sexual services, eg massage parlours
Sōtō – a school of Zen Buddhism which places emphasis on zazen
sumi-e – black-ink brush paintings
sumō – Japanese wrestling
tabi – split-toed Japanese socks used when wearing geta
taiko – drum
taisha – great shrine
take – peak; see also dake
taki – waterfall
tani – valley; see also dani
tanuki – racoon or dog-like folklore character frequently represented in ceramic figures
tatami – tightly woven floor matting on which shoes are never worn. Traditionally, room size is defined by the number of tatami mats
TCAT – Tokyo City Air Terminal
teien – garden
tennō – heavenly king, the emperor
tera – temple; see also dera
TIC – Tourist Information Center
tō – island
to – metropolis, eg Tokyo-to
tokkyū – limited express; faster than an ordinary express (kyūkō) train
tokonoma – sacred alcove in a house in which flowers may be displayed or a scroll hung
torii – entrance gate to a Shintō shrine
tōsu – lavatory
uchiwa – paper