Word origins

• Kai KenA dog of a rare Japanese breed with a wedge-shaped head and prick ears.
• kamioshiA person's ultimate favorite VTuber, i.e. preferred to one's other oshis.
• karesansuiA Japanese rock garden or Zen garden.
• katsuwokinaseA particular fibrinolytic enzyme.
• kenkenA Japanese math game that involves adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers in boxes.
• KōbeA city and capital of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.
• kogationGradual and inevitable degradation of the print head of a heat-based inkjet printer from residual ink and/or impure water.
• kuromidoA Japanese alloy of copper with a small amount of arsenic.
• madakeTimber bamboo (Phyllostachys bambusoides)
• mama-sanA mother, in Japan or East Asia.
• meibutsuA product famously associated with a particular region of Japan, often purchased as a gift or souvenir.
• meidoA female fictional character who is employed as a maid, typically wearing a stylized French maid outfit.
• Minamata diseaseA neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning.
• mingeiA Japanese folk art movement focusing on inexpensive hand-made everyday items.
• mitsugashiwalactoneA cat attractant found in the buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata).
• MitsuyeA female given name from Japanese.
• MiyajimaguchiA neighbourhood of Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.
• MizunumaA surname from Japanese.
• mizutakiA Japanese chicken hot pot.
• Moji-kuA ward of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, previously named Moji.
• mokume-ganeA mixed-metal laminate with distinctive layered patterns.
• mono no awareA wistful awareness of the impermanence or transience of things.
• mousméA Japanese young woman or mistress.
• mujinaA badger. In some regions the term refers instead to the Japanese raccoon dog. In Japanese folklore, like the fox and the tanuki, they are frequently depicted as a yokai that shapeshifts and deceives humans.
• Musubi no KamiThe Japanese god of matchmaking, love and marriage.
• Musubi-no-KamiThe Japanese god of matchmaking, love and marriage.
• namekoPholiota microspora; a type of edible mushroom used in Japanese cookery
• nekomimiCat ears.
• NendoAn individual Nendoroid figure.
• nihongapaintings made in a traditional Japanese style, typically executed with brushes on washi paper or silk
• nihoniumThe synthetic transactinide chemical element with atomic number 113.
• NihonjinronA genre of texts that focus on issues of Japanese national and cultural identity and how Japan and the Japanese should be understood.
• nikujagaA Japanese dish of meat, potatoes and onion stewed in sweetened soy sauce.
• ningyoiteAn orthorhombic-disphenoidal mineral containing calcium, cerium, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and uranium.
• niramiaiThe staredown between sumo wrestlers before a match.
• noboriA type of Japanese banner, originally used to identify waring factions, but now used as advertising etc.
• nohkanA transverse flute used to accompany Japanese noh theater.
• nommunicationThe Japanese social custom of going out for drinks after work with one's colleagues.
• nurikabeA Japanese logic puzzle with a rectangular grid of squares, some of them numbered; the solver is challenged to fill in a subset of squares (under certain constraints) such that each numbered square finally indicates the number of unfilled squares contiguous to it.
• obangAn old Japanese gold coin.
• odangoA Japanese sweet round dumpling made from mochiko (rice flour), eaten off a stick. Related to mochi.
• ofudaA type of talisman or amulet issued by a Shinto shrine.
• omikujiA random fortune, often written on a strip of paper or on a stick of bamboo, available at Japanese shrines in exchange for a small offering.
• OnmyodoA traditional Japanese esoteric cosmology, a mixture of natural science and occultism, formerly under the control of the imperial government.
• ozumoprofessional sumo wrestling
• petty knifeA Japanese paring knife.
• pink filmA style of Japanese softcore pornographic theatrical film, originating in the early 1960s, in which the genitals are censored.
• PJSKHatsune Miku: Colorful Stage! (rhythm game)
• PokédexA fictional electronic encyclopedia with information about Pokémon.
• quantitative easingA monetary policy in which the central bank increases the money supply in the banking system, as by purchasing bonds from banks.
• randoriFreestyle practice, such as one-on-one sparring.
• Rashomon effectThe effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of it.
• red kuri squashA thin skinned orange colored winter squash, cultivar of species Cucurbita maxima.
• red string of fateIn East Asian mythology, a red string tied between soulmates' fingers.
• RGSSRGSS
• ryanmenA wait consisting of two adjacent number tiles that can be completed by extending the sequence in either direction.
• RyūjinA dragon god also known as Watatsumi and Suijin, the tutelary deity of the sea in Japanese mythology.
• saikeiThe art of creating miniature landscapes with living trees, rocks, water, etc., each landscape in a single tray.
• SakushuMimasaka, a former province of Japan.
• sankyuthank you
• sanshoolA pungent compound derived from the Sichuan pepper and related plants.
• sauryA marine epipelagic fish of the family Scomberesocidae, with beaklike jaws and a row of small finlets behind the dorsal and anal fins.
• seifukuA Japanese school uniform modelled on the sailor suit.
• shakudoA billon of gold and copper that can be treated to form a dark indigo patina resembling lacquer.
• shibuichiA Japanese silver-copper alloy that can be patinated into a range of muted shades of blue or green through the use of rokusho.
• shikimicOf or pertaining to shikimic acid or its derivatives.
• shikoninSynonym of alkannin.
• shinobi-irininjutsu techniques for stealth and infiltration
• shintaidoA form of physical and mental exercise developed from several Japanese martial arts
• shogaolA pungent constituent of ginger, similar in chemical structure to gingerol.
• shugoshinAny of a family of proteins that play a role in the centromeric protection of cohesin
• shukun-shoA special prize for outstanding performance; one of the sansho prizes.
• soaplandA kind of Japanese brothel, ostensibly for bathing.
• sogo shoshaA kind of general trading company in Japan, trading in a wide range of products and materials and historically also acting as investment banks and private equities.
• spam musubiA food, common in Hawaii, made of cooked spam tied to a block of rice with nori, differing from sushi in that the rice is not vinegared.
• SuijinA Japanese god of water; another name for Ryūjin.
• sukumizuA type of swimwear in Japan, mass-produced for the schools.
• surimonoA kind of Japanese woodblock print, privately commissioned for special occasions such as the New Year.
• sushi-meshiA preparation of white short-grained Japanese rice mixed with a dressing of rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and occasionally kombu and sake, used as a filling for sushi.
• Sweet LolitaA Japanese fashion movement whose adherents dress in pastel colours and styles resembling clothing for young girls.
• taijutsuJapanese martial arts techniques that rely on a set of body movements without weapons.
• TakaishiA Japanese family name.
• tarakoA Japanese food made from salted cod or pollack roe (originally cod, but now mostly pollack).
• tekkamakihosomaki sushi with a tuna filling
• tenji blockA type of walkway paving tile, consisting of a dot array block and a line stack block, used to inform visually impaired pedestrians of a route (lined path) and danger ahead (dotted threshold).
• TenriismSynonym of Tenrikyo.
• tentsuyuA Japanese sauce used as a dip for tempura.
• tesujiA skilful move to achieve a tactical objective
• timeskipAn instance of fast-forwarding a substantial amount of time, such as years or decades, as a narrative device in a story, quickly aging characters and developing events.
• tombo ahiAlbacore, longfin tuna (Thunnus alalunga)
• tsutaezoriA kimarite in which the attacker dives under his opponent's arm whilst maintaining a grip on it, then leans back, forcing him to fall forward.
• unadonA Japanese dish of grilled glazed eel fillets served on steamed white rice.
• urushiLacquer from the tree Toxicodendron vernicifluum.
• urushiolAn oil found in plants of the family Anacardiaceae, causing an allergic skin rash on contact; consists of a variable mixture of several related organic compounds.
• waggadashA wakizashi.
• waza-aria throw in which the opponent is thrown with control and accuracy, but not to the extent of an ippon, or held on the back for between 20 and 25 seconds on the mat; the score of half a point awarded for this throw
• Yakushi NyoraiThe Japanese name for Bhaiṣajyaguru, the Buddha of medicine.
• yamamomoyangmei
• yumojiThe traditional Japanese undergarment (like a loincloth or perizoma) for adult females; it may also be worn as a kimono underskirt, and as a single-layer absorbent bathrobe (worn during or after a bath).
• yushoThe top-ranking position at the end of a basho; the championship.