A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower (120 page)
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Authors: Kenneth Henshall
BOOK: A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower
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| haiku | | form of 17-syllable poetry popular in Tokugawa period |
| han | | feudal domain |
| haniwa | | ancient burial object of hollow clay |
| harakiri | | ‘stomach cutting’, a method of honourable suicide for samurai, often in lieu of execution |
| heimin | | commoners |
| hikikomori | | withdrawal from society; also applied to those who withdraw |
| hinin | | ‘non-person’, nowadays burakumin |
| honne | | true inner feelings |
| horo | | a billowing cloak used to deflect arrows |
| ianfu | | ‘comfort women’ |
| ichioku gyokusai | | ‘self-destruction of the jewel-like hundred million’, belief that the entire Japanese nation in World War Two might commit mass suicide rather than surrender |
| insei | | ‘cloister government’ by retired emperors esp. of late Heian period |
| jinrikisha | | rickshaw |
jit | | medieval steward (of land) |
jiy minken und | | ‘freedom and people’s rights’ movement of early-mid Meiji |
| jmon | | cord pattern on ancient pottery, and period name |
| j-k-ch-dai | | ‘heavy-thick-long-big’, catchphrase for economic focus of early postwar period |
| juku | | ‘after hours’ supplementary schools |
| junshi | | ‘following one’s lord in death’ |
| kabuki | | colourful form of drama esp. favoured by Tokugawa period merchants |
| kamikaze | | ‘divine wind’, originally used of storms that helped save Japan from Mongol invasion in the 13th century, later used of World War Two suicide-pilots trying to protect nation |
| kana | | Japanese phonetic script |
| kanri shakai | | ‘controlled society’, used of complacent society of 1960s and 70s that meekly accepted government control in return for material benefits |
| kare | | aesthetic value of severity and naturalness |
| kawaisa | | cuteness |
| kazoku | | nobles, from early Meiji period |
| kegare | | impurity |
| kei-haku-tan-sh | | ‘light-thin-short-small’, catchphrase for economic focus of postwar period after j -k-ch-dai |
| keiretsu kigy | | ‘aligned company’, postwar zaibatsu |
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