Word origins

• kantenagar
• kanto-shoA special prize for fighting-spirit; one of the sansho prizes.
• KanumaA city in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.
• kanzashiAn ornamental hairpin; hair ornament.
• kanzuriA Japanese cooking paste made from red chili, rice malt, yuzu and salt
• kappamakihosomaki sushi with a cucumber filling
• karaageJapanese or Korean food that is dipped in flour and then deep-fried, typically made from boneless chicken.
• karadaAn intricate rope structure tied around the body.
• KarafutoJapanese name for Sakhalin (island in Russia)
• karajishiA guardian lion figure found in Chinese and Japanese art.
• karasumiDried salted mullet roe, a Japanese delicacy.
• karesansuiA Japanese rock garden or Zen garden.
• kariginuAn open-sleeved, round-collared Japanese robe, originally worn as a hunting costume by the nobility.
• karoshiDeath, such as from heart attack or stroke, brought on by overwork or job-related stress.
• kashikoiwise, especially in the context of Japanese culture.
• KashiwabaraA surname from Japanese.
• katakiriboriA Japanese sword-making technique employing a chisel at two different angles.
• katashiroA traditional Japanese paper doll, used as a talisman to perform a certain form of self-purification.
• katasukashiA kimarite in which the attacker forces his opponent down by placing his hands on the opponent's shoulder blade (one inside and one outside) and pulling him down and forward while backing away.
• katautaA particular kind of Japanese poem, having a 5-7-7 meter and forming half of an exchange of two poems.
• KatōA city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.
• katsudonA Japanese dish of rice topped with a deep-fried pork cutlet, egg, vegetables, and condiments.
• katsuoSynonym of skipjack tuna.
• katsuogiA short log used as decoration in Japanese and Shinto architecture, placed at right angles to the ridgeline of a roof.
• katsuwokinaseA particular fibrinolytic enzyme.
• kawachibunaThe Japanese white crucian carp, Carassius cuvieri.
• kawarimiA ninja technique relying on misdirection to quickly switch the ninja’s body with something that can be mistaken for it, such as a dummy, a mannequin, or another body.
• kawazugakeA kimarite in which the attacker hooks his opponent's leg from the inside, pulls it forward and across his own body, taking him over backwards.
• kayakujutsuIn Japanese martial arts, the use of firearms, gunpowder and explosives, especially by ninja.
• kedaniA mite of species (Trombicula akamushi), found in Japan.
• KegonSynonym of Huayan (“form of Buddism”).
• keikakuA plan, particularly a devious or complicated one.
• keikogiA set of uniform worn while training in some Japanese martial arts
• keishiA Japanese police superintendent.
• kekaeshiA kimarite in which the attacker sweeps his opponent's leg from under him by kicking it from the inside; often accompanied by a slap on the back.
• kekomiA thrusting kick.
• kendamaA traditional Japanese toy with an attached ball that can be caught in any of three cups or on a spike.
• kendokaA practitioner of kendo
• kenjutsuJapanese swordsmanship
• kenkenA Japanese math game that involves adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers in boxes.
• KenpeitaiThe military police of the Imperial Japanese Army that also served as the secret police of Imperial Japan, active from 1881 to 1945.
• KenseikaiA short-lived political party in the pre-war Empire of Japan.
• kenshoPrize money given to encourage rikishi by sponsors.
• kesho-mawashiA decorative mawashi worn by a sekitori during the ring-entering ceremony.
• ketaguriA kimarite in which the attacker leaps aside at the tachiai and sweeps his opponent's front leg from the inside while slapping the shoulder or pulling the arm.
• keyakiAn Asian tree, Zelkova serrata.
• kiaiThe short yell or shout uttered when performing an attacking move in martial arts.
• kibeiA Japanese-American who is born in the United States but primarily educated in Japan.
• kibinagoThe silver-stripe round herring or blue sprat, a small marine fish sometimes eaten for food, Spratelloides gracilis.
• kigakuA form of fortune-telling of Japanese origin based on Chinese twelve year zodiac cycle calendar, and the five traditional elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.
• kigoA seasonal word; a word required in haiku to indicate the season.
• kiguA full-body costume of a cartoon character.
• kigurumiA full-body costume of a cartoon character (typically a mascot of cartoonish proportions) originating in Japan.
• kikokushijoA child of Japanese expatriates who lives abroad, then later returns to Japan.
• KikukoA female given name from Japanese.
• kikumonThe Imperial crest of Japan, a stylized chrysanthemum used as a mon by the Japanese emperor and his family.
• kimarite-gakariThe official who announces the winner of the torikumi and the kimarite used.
• kimedashiA kimarite in which the attacker bars or locks the opponent's arms by wrapping his own arms round them from the outside, then grabs one of the wrists and pulls up and in and then swings or marches his opponent backwards and out. An arm-barring force-out.
• kimetaoshia kimarite in which the attacker bars or locks his opponent's arms from the outside then forces him down by throwing his weight on top of him
• KimieA female given name from Japanese.
• KimigayoThe national anthem of Japan
• KimishimaA surname from Japanese.
• KimitsuA city in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
• kinakoA type of roasted soybean flour.
• kinbakuA Japanese style of bondage that involves tying a person up using simple yet visually intricate patterns, usually with several pieces of thin rope.
• kinboshiAn honour awarded to a rikishi of maegashira rank upon beating a yokozuna.
• kinjiteA foul or forbidden move.
• kirigamiAn art similar to origami, with cutting permitted.
• kirikaeshiA kimarite in which the attacker puts his knee behind his opponent's leg then twists him backwards over the knee.
• kirimonA Japanese governmental emblem resembling a stylized paulownia.
• Kishu KenA dog of a Japanese breed descended from ancient medium-sized breeds.
• KisshōtenThe Japanese version of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi: goddess of happiness, charm and beauty, of fertility, nature, and of human creativity, and the patronesses of joy, amusement and festivities.
• kitakitsuneThe Ezo red fox.
• kitsune udonJapanese hot udon soup topped with seasoned fried tofu, and scallions.
• kizamiA shredded form of nori used in Japanese dishes.
• KobashigawaA surname from Japanese.
• KōbeA city and capital of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.
• kobichaA dark, orangish or grayish brown color historically used in Japan.
• KoboriA surname from Japanese.
• kodokushiA Japanese phenomenon whereby people die a lonely death, and sometimes remain undiscovered for a long period of time.
• koen-kaia sumo fan club, either for a heya or for a particular rikishi; a useful source of money
• kofunA megalithic tomb or tumulus in Japan, often with a distinctive keyhole-shaped mound.
• kogationGradual and inevitable degradation of the print head of a heat-based inkjet printer from residual ink and/or impure water.
• kogyarukogal
• KoharuA female given name from Japanese.
• koi-koiA Japanese card game for two players played with hanafuda cards, similar to the Korean game of go-stop
• koinoboriA carp-shaped streamer used to celebrate Children's Day in Japan.
• KoisoA surname from Japanese.
• kokugisumo
• kokumiA taste, recognised by some Japanese researchers, associated with certain γ-L-glutamyl peptides which activate a calcium-sensing receptor also sensitive to glutathione.
• KokyoThe Japanese imperial palace, located in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo.
• komabueA kind of transverse flute made out of bamboo from Japan.
• komadaiA stand for holding captured Shogi pieces.
• komainuCarved stone statues of stylized lions that guard the entrance to some Japanese temples or shrines.
• komatasukuiA kimarite in which the attacker attempts to throw his opponent and, when the opponent steps forward to defend himself, the attacker grabs his leg, near the thigh, and pulls upward driving the opponent over backwards.
• komatsunaA leaf vegetable, a form of Brassica rapa, used in Japanese cooking
• kominkanA Japanese cultural center, offering education in arts, sport, handiwork, etc. to people of various age groups.
• komusubiA sumo wrestler of the lowest sanyaku rank, below sekiwake and above maegashira.
• konbiniA convenience store in Japan.
• konpeitoJapanese confectionery in the form of small bumpy sugar spheres.