Word origins

• riyoA Japanese ounce, especially of silver; a tael.
• robataA charcoal grill used to prepare Japanese food for customers seated around the cooking area.
• robatayakiA technique in Japanese cuisine where food is grilled over charcoal in front of the customer.
• rokkakuA traditional six-sided Japanese fighting kite.
• rokushoA copper-based solution traditionally used in Japan to induce patination in decorative non-ferrous metals.
• RomajikaiA society founded in the 19th century to promote the romanization of the Japanese language.
• romushaA forced laborer, especially one of those made to work in the Dutch East Indies under Japanese occupation during the Second World War.
• RoshidereAlya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian, a Japanese cartoon series.
• royal roadAn easy or straightforward procedure for achieving a goal; a procedure that requires little effort.
• ruibeAn Ainu dish of salmon that is frozen outdoors, sliced like sashimi, and served with soy sauce and water peppers.
• ryanmenA wait consisting of two adjacent number tiles that can be completed by extending the sequence in either direction.
• ryōA gold currency unit in the shakkanhō system in pre-Meiji Japan.
• ryoteiA kind of luxurious traditional Japanese restaurant.
• RyūjinA dragon god also known as Watatsumi and Suijin, the tutelary deity of the sea in Japanese mythology.
• ryūtekia transverse flute used in the gagaku music of Japan
• sabamikiThe split or hollowed trunk of a bonsai tree, for example to suggest a lightning strike.
• sagariThe stiffened silk fronds inserted in the front of a mawashi.
• sagemonoAny kind of carrying container hung from one's belt or sash (in Japan), such as a coin purse, tobacco pouch, or pillbox.
• saibaraA genre of accompanied vocal Japanese court music that existed during the Heian period in the Nara and Kyoto regions.
• saikeiThe art of creating miniature landscapes with living trees, rocks, water, etc., each landscape in a single tray.
• saiko-komonThe chief advisor of the oyabun in the yakuza.
• SakagawaA surname from Japanese.
• SakaharaA surname from Japanese.
• SakasakiA surname from Japanese.
• SakashitaA surname from Japanese.
• sakatottariA kimarite, counter to a tottari, in which the attacker frees the arm being barred and forces his opponent to fall forward.
• SakazakiA surname from Japanese.
• sakazukiA Japanese cup for drinking saké.
• sakéRice wine; a drink made from filtered fermented rice.
• SakikoA female given name from Japanese.
• SakimuraA surname from Japanese.
• sakokuThe isolationist foreign policy of Japan between the 1630s and 1866, in which entry to and exit from Japan were severely restricted.
• sakugaIn Japanese animation (anime), a sequence of noticeably higher quality, used to highlight a particularly important scene.
• SakurajimaIts eponymous giant white radish (“桜島大根”), cultivated nearby since at least the 18th century.
• SakushuMimasaka, a former province of Japan.
• salt breadA crescent‑shaped bread roll made with butter and coarse salt.
• -samaAppended to a person's name or nickname to convey honour and respect.
• SamejimaA surname from Japanese.
• -sanHonorific ending used to indicate that a person is Japanese, talking with a Japanese, or treated like a Japanese.
• Sanbō KōjinThe Japanese god of fire, the hearth, and the kitchen.
• sandanmethe division of sumo wrestlers above jonidan and below makushita
• sangakuA geometrical problem or theorem on a wooden tablet, placed as an offering at a Japanese shrine.
• sanguAn ethnic group based in the Usangu Plain of Chunya District of Mbeya Region, Tanzania.
• sankyuthank you
• sanmaA variant of riichi mahjong adapted for three players
• sanmaiA construction method for Japanese-style blade steels, usually sandwiching a hardenable steel in a taco of flexible steel, that is forge-welded together, leaving a hardenable edge steel and flexible spine steel, for single-edged blades.
• sanpakuThe presence of visible white space (sclera) above or below the iris of the human eye, traditionally supposed in China and Japan to indicate physical or mental imbalance.
• SanseitoA Japanese ultraconservative, right-wing populist political party.
• sanshinA three-stringed instrument of Okinawan origin, the precursor to the shamisen.
• sanshoAny of the three special prizes awarded at the end of a basho.
• sanshokuA yaku awarded for winning a hand with one sequence of the same numbers in each suit.
• sanshoolA pungent compound derived from the Sichuan pepper and related plants.
• sansukeA male bathhouse worker who assisted the bathers.
• sanukiteAn andesite characterized by orthopyroxene as the mafic mineral, andesine as the plagioclase, and a glassy groundmass.
• sanyakuAny of the three highest ranks of sumo wrestler: komusubi, sekiwake and ozeki, together with the honorary title of yokozuna.
• saruboboA Japanese amulet in the form of a red doll without a face, traditionally made for grandchildren or as a charm to ensure a good marriage.
• sarugakuA form of Japanese theater popular during the 11th to 14th centuries.
• SaruwatariA surname from Japanese.
• sasanquaA camellia, Camellia sasanqua, native to China and Japan.
• sashichigaia decision by the shimpan to overturn the decision of the gyoji
• sashikoA Japanese form of decorative reinforcement stitching (or functional embroidery), traditionally used to reinforce or repair garments.
• satoyamaA border zone or area between mountain foothills and arable flat land in Japan.
• sauryA marine epipelagic fish of the family Scomberesocidae, with beaklike jaws and a row of small finlets behind the dorsal and anal fins.
• scaredeerSynonym of deer scarer.
• sea fireflyVargula hilgendorfii, a small bioluminescent ostracod found in the waters off Japan.
• sedokaA particular kind of Japanese poem, composed of two sets of 5-7-7 syllables.
• seifukuA Japanese school uniform modelled on the sailor suit.
• seigen jikanThe time allocated for the shikiri rituals before the beginning of each bout.
• SeiheiA male given name from Japanese.
• seiroganA trademark for a pharmaceutical drug marketed in Japan, sold as gastrointestinal medication (especially as an antidiarrhoeal), whose main active ingredient is wood creosote.
• SeiyuhontoA political party in Japan, active from 1924 to 1927.
• SeiyukaiA major political party in the pre-war Empire of Japan, founded in 1900.
• seizaA traditional formal way of sitting in Japan, by kneeling with the legs folded underneath the thighs and the buttocks resting on the heels, with ankles turned outward.
• SekigawaA surname from Japanese.
• sekihanA Japanese dish of rice boiled with red beans.
• sekitoriA rikishi, of rank juryo and above, who draws a salary.
• sekiwakeA sumo wrestler ranked below ozeki and above komusubi.
• senryūA haiku-like poem of up to 17 syllables that is usually humorous or satirical.
• senshurakuThe last day of a fifteen-day tournament, always on a Sunday.
• sentōA Japanese bathhouse.
• sergalA fictional open species of extraterrestrial, ovoviviparous, anthropomorphic creatures with slick, muscular furred bodies, digitigrade legs, and a distinctive elongated pointy shark-like muzzle; a popular fursona species.
• sesshinA period of intensive zazen meditation in a Buddhist monastery.
• SetogawaA surname from Japanese.
• SetoguchiA surname from Japanese.
• setokaA cultivar of tangor (tangerine/orange hybrid, Citrus reticulata × Citrus sinensis).
• SetsubunA Japanese festival on the last day before spring.
• sewaninA retired wrestler who assists at a stable.
• shabu-shabuA Japanese dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables, cooked piece by piece in hot water at the table by the diners.
• shakubukuto proselytize; to convert (someone) to one's religion
• shakudoA billon of gold and copper that can be treated to form a dark indigo patina resembling lacquer.
• shamojiA flat paddle used in Japanese cuisine to stir and serve rice and to mix vinegar into the rice for sushi.
• shantenThe minimum number of tiles a player must draw to form a winning hand.
• shiaiA judo competition.
• shiba inuA dog of a small, agile Japanese breed originally used for hunting.
• shibazukeA type of Japanese eggplant pickle.
• shibireA gene found in Drosophila, its homolog of the dynamin gene.
• shibuichiA Japanese silver-copper alloy that can be patinated into a range of muted shades of blue or green through the use of rokusho.
• ShibukawaA city in Gunma Prefecture, Japan.
• Shichi-Go-SanA Japanese rite of passage festival celebrating children at the ages of three, five, and seven years old.
• shichimiA Japanese spice mixture based on coarsely ground red chili pepper.