A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower (121 page)

Read A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower Online

Authors: Kenneth Henshall

BOOK: A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower
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ko
  
child or junior in relationship
kofun
  
ancient burial mound, and period name
koku
  
measure of rice and land, equivalent to yield sufficient for one person for one year
kokugaku
  
‘national learning’, Tokugawa period nationalism
kokusaika
  
‘internationalisation’, buzz-word of 1980s
k
reika
  
the trend of aging in society
k
shokubon
  
see
ukiyo-z
shi
k
zoku
  
imperial family
manga
  
cartoon
mapp
  
Buddhist belief in final decline of humankind, esp. in late Heian period
mentsu
  
‘face’, reputation
mono no aware
  
aesthetic value of the ‘sadness of things’
m
retsu-gata
  
‘fiercely determined type’, used of hard workers of postwar period committed to rebuilding nation
musubi
  
bonding with nature, natural purity
Nihonjinron
  
‘theories about the Japanese’, type of self-congratulating and usually simplistic literature of 1970s and 80s seeking to explain Japan’s success, often stressing uniqueness and superiority
n
  
restrained form of high class drama
oitsuke, oikose
  
‘catch up (the west), overtake’, slogan popular in early Meiji period
okashi
  
aesthetic value of the unusual and diverting
omote
  
front or surface appearance
onna bugeisha
  
female warrior
otaku
  
a computer geek or nerd
oya
  
parent or senior in relationship
o-yatoi gaikokujin
  
foreign specialists employed in the Meiji period
rangaku
  
‘Dutch learning’, usually western learning in general
risshishugi
  
successism, achievement-orientation, self-help
ritsury
  
ancient law code,
ritsu
being penal sanctions and
ry
instructions for officials
r
nin
  
masterless samurai
sabi
  
aesthetic value of elegant simplicity
sakoku jidai
  
‘closed country period’, later applied to Tokugawa period
samurai
  
retainer, later warrior
sankin k
tai
  
‘alternate attendance’ of
daimy
at Edo in Tokugawa period

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