Kakemono

Aino. The aboriginal inhabitants of Japan, only found now in the North Island. A remarkably hairy, remarkably dirty race, with the flattened shin-bone only occurring in skeletons of the cave-men. They are great hunters and fishers.

Amado. Sliding wooden walls which are drawn all round a Japanese house at night, completely enclosing it.

Amaterasu, lit. “Heaven-Shiner.” The Sun-Goddess, born from the right eye of the Creator Izanagi.

Amida Butsu. Buddha as Amida. Originally Amida was an abstraction, the ideal of boundless light.

Benten. One of the seven Deities of Luck, frequently represented riding on a serpent. Her shrines are mostly on islands, and from her connection with the sea she has certain points of resemblance with Venus. Benten always has a white face.

Biwa. A musical instrument with four strings, something like a lute.

Boy. Term universal among foreigners in the Far East for a male servant, of whatever age.

Bot’chan. A little boy; baby; Japanese baby language. Derived from bōsan, a Buddhist priest (bonze). Japanese babies, like Buddhist priests, having completely shaven heads.

Bushi. Warrior.

Bushidō. Way of the warrior.

Cha-no-yu. Tea ceremony, from cha, tea. The people of Tokyo and the initiated call it chanoyī. This ceremony, religious in its inception, has in the course of the 600 or 700 years of its existence passed through a medico-religious, a luxurious, and an æsthetic stage. A little of the religious element still clings to it, tea enthusiasts usually joining the Zen sect of Buddhism, while diplomas of proficiency are obtained from the abbot of Daitokuji at Kyoto.

Cha-ya. Tea-house.

Cloisonné. A species of mosaic, its characteristic feature being a network of copper, brass, or silver wire soldered on to a solid foundation of the same metal. The cloisons, or spaces between the network, are then filled in with enamel paste.

Daimyō, lit. Great name; a feudal lord. Before the Restoration of 1868 Japan was divided into provinces, each ruled by a daimyō. Every daimyō was the head of a clan of armed retainers, the samurai, and all samurai had to belong to some daimyō. Shortly after the Restoration the daimyō voluntarily gave up their lands, powers, and possessions to the Emperor.

Fuji. Usually translated as “The Peerless Mountain,” from the two Chinese characters with which, in poetry, it is usually written, meaning “not two,” “unrivalled.” In prose it is generally written with Chinese characters meaning “rich samurai.” It can also be written with ideographs meaning “not dying” and so “deathless.” Most probably Fuji is derived from the Aino word push, to burst forth.

Futon. A sort of eiderdown quilt made of silk wadding. The Japanese spread one of these on the matting at night to sleep on, using a second as a covering. The native pillow is a shaped and padded piece of wood or lacquer which supports the neck.

Geisha. Girls trained to the profession of dancing, singing, playing, and socially entertaining. They are the usual accompaniment to a Japanese dinner.

Gheta. A sort of wooden clogs kept on by straps passing between the big and second toes. Gheta are only worn in the street, and are left outside houses, temples, or other buildings. It would be as disrespectful to enter a house or a temple with your gheta on as for a man to walk into a church, or a drawing-room, in his hat.

Godown. A fire-proof building for storing valuables. Derived from Malay word gādong, a warehouse.

Hakama. A divided skirt of either cotton or silk, pleated into a broad stiff band in big pleats. Worn by the samurai on official or ceremonial occasions. Always worn by both teacher and pupil in the classrooms. Also worn nowadays by the girl students.

Hibachi. A brazier in the shape of a lidless box of wood or bronze containing charcoal, the warming apparatus of Japanese houses.

Holland. Considered as a tributary kingdom of Japan during the Tokugawa shōgunate, because the Dutch shut up in the island of Deshima, near Nagasaki, sent yearly presents to the shōgun.

Ijin San. Barbarian; foreigner; or perhaps simply “strange man,” and so foreigner.

Iyeyasu. B. 1542, d. 1616. The founder of the Tokugawa shōgunate, which lasted from 1603 to 1868. Iyeyasu was one of the greatest generals and perhaps the very greatest ruler, Japan has ever produced. He went to school in the Temple of Rinzaki (p. 17), and the room where he learnt to write, his ink-slab and other belongings, are still preserved. Iyeyasu founded Yedo, now Tokyo, making it his capital. He died at Shizuoka, and was first buried at Kunō-san (Between Earth and Heaven, p. 36), and afterwards at Nikkō.

Izanagi and Izanami. The Creator and the Creatress of Japan. It was during the purification of Izanagi after his descent into Hades in search of Izanami, a legend which has many points of resemblance with that of Orpheus, that Amaterasu, the Sun-Goddess, was born.

Jinricksha or Jinriksha. From the Chinese, lit. man-power-vehicle; shortened by Europeans into ’ricksha, by the Japanese to jinriki, but usually called in Japan by the native word kuruma. A small two-wheeled carriage like a miniature hansom or an old-fashioned perambulator, drawn by a man.

Kagura. Sacred shintō dance, whose origin is supposed to be traced back to the time when Amaterasu, angry at the insult offered her by her brother Susa-no-wo, retired to a cavern, thus plunging the world into darkness. She was at last induced to look out by the sound of music and dancing, and finally enticed right out by the sight of her own face in a mirror. The dance performed in front of her cavern is supposed to be the Kagura. (Note the “g” here, as all medial “g’s” in Japanese have the sound of “ng” as in English “sing.” So Nang-o-ya, not Na-go-ya. Some dialects, as that of Satsuma, say a hard “g.”)

Kakemono, lit. the hanging-up-thing. A picture painted on either silk or paper, in either monochrome or colour. It is mounted on brocade, and has a roller each end. Roughly and quite untechnically, kakemono can be divided into two classes: those which seek to give only an impression, and those which are a kind of miniature painting.

Kana. Katakana and Hirakana, popularly supposed to have been invented, the first 772 A.D., the second 835 A.D. In reality they were not inventions, but simplifications of certain common Chinese ideographs. The kana represent sounds, as does our alphabet, but they stand for syllables, not letters. They both consist of forty-seven sounds, which by the addition of dots and other symbols can be considerably increased.

Kannon, written K(w)annon, Sanskrit Avalokites-vara, the Goddess of Mercy, who contemplates the world and listens to the prayers of the unhappy. In the opinion of a small minority Kannon belongs to the male sex.

Kimono. The long-sleeved robe of Japan, which has no fastening. It is merely folded across on the right-hand side (only grave-clothes are crossed to the left) and kept in place by the folds of the obi. Practically the same shaped kimono is worn by men and women, the difference consisting principally in pattern and colour. The number of kimono worn depends entirely on the temperature.

Kirin. A fabulous monster answering to our griffin. He degenerates sometimes into a sort of three-cornered dog, and is said not to trample on live insects nor to eat live grass.

Kitsune. Fox. It is the fox and the badger in Japan who are credited with supernatural powers. Foxes are able to change themselves into beautiful young women to the undoing of confiding man. The powers of the badger may be comic.

Kojiki, or “Record of Ancient Matters.” The oldest literary work of Japan, dating from the year 712 A.D. It is a chronicle partly mythological, partly historical, of the doings of gods, emperors and men.

Kuruma. See Jinricksha. The Japanese term for jinricksha.

Kurumaya. The man who draws the kuruma.

Manjū. A flat round cake of rice paste filled with a brown bean-jam.

Meiji. Age of Enlightenment or Progress. The name of the years from 1868 onwards. The privilege of appointing year-names is regarded in the Far East as one of the rights of independent sovereignty, much as coining money with us. In Japan the length of the year-name period has been up to now purely arbitrary, not coinciding with the reign of an emperor as in China.

Miyajima. One of the San-kei or “Three Chief Sights” of Japan. An exceedingly beautiful island in the Inland Sea. It contains a temple built on piles, which at high tide seems to float on the water. According to tradition, the first temple was erected about 600 A.D.

Mma. The actual pronunciation in the Tokyo district of the word usually Romanised as Uma, horse.

Mmé. The actual pronunciation in the Tokyo district of the word usually Romanised as Umé.

Musmé or Musumé. Daughter; girl; and so, waiting-girl.

Namu-myōho-rengekyō. Sanskrit, lit. “O! the Scripture of the Lotus of the Wonderful Law.”

Nēsan. lit. elder sister miss. Used as a half-polite, half-familiar address to girls; and so, waiting-girl.

Nichiren. B. 1222, d. 1282, at Ikkégami, where some of his bones remain as relics. He entered the priesthood at the early age of twelve, when he adopted the name of Nichiren, or “Lotus of the Sun.” He miraculously learned the whole of the 100 volumes of the Buddhist canon in one night. He fiercely attacked all the already existing Buddhist sects, a thing unheard of in Japanese ecclesiastical history; was twice banished, and once condemned to death, on which occasion the executioner’s sword refused to perform its function. His crest is the orange blossom.

O and Go. Polite prefixes usually translated as “honourable” or “august.”

O Bā San, lit. honourable grandmother Mrs.

Obi. A long sash usually of wadded brocade, which is folded several times round the waist and tied behind. The obi is the most expensive part of a woman’s dress, and exceptional ones of richest brocade stiffened with gold thread can cost as much as £50 or more; such obi are handed down in families as heirlooms.

O hachi, lit. honourable pot. Tub in which cooked rice is kept.

Persimmon. A fruit the size of an apple which can be round and reddish, or orange and pear-shaped. Called in Japanese kaki.

Ricksha. See Jinricksha.

Rin. 10 rin make 1 sen, or one farthing.

Ronin, lit. wave-man. Samurai without a feudal lord. He might be described as a samurai out of work either through fault or misfortune.

Saké. An intoxicating drink obtained from fermented rice, containing 11 to 14 per cent. of alcohol. It is generally drunk warm and tastes something like sherry.

Samisen. A square three-stringed lute with a long handle, played with a plectrum; the commonest and most popular of the musical instruments of Japan. Its notes are very tinny. In Tokyo usually called shamisen.

Sampan. A small flat-bottomed boat, rowed by a man standing in the stern.

Samurai. Derived from the verb samurau, to be on guard. A term used in the early Middle Ages of the soldiers of the Mikado’s palace, then applied to the entire warrior class. The samurai were “the gentry” of Japan, the daimyō corresponding to the peers. In Old Japan all gentlemen were soldiers and all soldiers gentlemen. Since the Restoration, when their incomes were commuted for a lump sum, the samurai have had to earn their own livelihood. They are now the officers, professors, schoolmasters, policemen, officials, practically the whole governing class of Japan.

San. Contraction of sama. A title such as our Mr., but used for both sexes and all ages.

Semmi. Cicada. Japan grows innumerable semmi of many kinds. A favourite amusement of boys is to catch them and keep them in small cages of green net.

Sen. ¼d. 100 sen make 1 yen.

Shappo. From the French chapeau. The modern name for the modern “foreign” hat. Old Japan knew no hats.

Shintō, lit. the way of the gods. This, the native religion of Japan, is a combination of ancestor-and nature-worship. Its priesthood is not a caste, nor even a separate profession. Up to the time of the revival of Shintōism, due to the Restoration of power to the Mikado, everybody was born with Shintō and buried with Buddhist rites. The whole Japanese nation is supposed to be descended from the lesser Shintō deities, while the Emperor is the direct descendant of Amaterasu.

Shōgun, lit. generalissimo. A title first used in 813 A.D., and continued down to 1868. In the twelfth century the shōgun Yoritomo first contrived to become the effective ruler of the land; thus originating the dual control of Japan, the temporal power belonging to the shōgun, the spiritual to the Emperor. Yoritomo was succeeded by various dynasties of shōgun until Iyeyasu founded the Tokugawa shōgunate in 1600.

Shoji. The sliding wall of a house, like an immense lattice window whose leadings are wood and whose panes are rice-paper, Shōji are semi-transparent, and divide the room from the outer world. The walls which divide one room from another are called karakami or fusumi, and are of opaque paper. They slide in grooves and can be entirely removed when required.

Susa-no-wo, lit. the Impetuous Male Deity, was born from the nose of the creator Izanagi. It was owing to the insult which he offered his sister Amaterasu by breaking a hole in the roof of the hall of heaven where she sat weaving with her celestial maidens, and dropping down into it “a heavenly piebald horse flayed with a backward flaying” that the Sun-Goddess retired to the cavern and left the world in darkness. Susa-no-wo was the ancestor of the rulers of Izumo, who finally gave up their throne to the descendants of the Sun-Goddess, accepting a spiritual for an earthly homage. Susa-no-wo is sometimes considered as the God of the Moon, sometimes as the God of the Sea.

Suzuki Tetsutarō. The family name in Japan always comes first, the “Christian” name after, as Smith John. Suzuki is one of the commonest of Japanese surnames of samurai rank, Hayashi running it very close. Tetsutarō, lit. own eldest son.

Tabi. Half-boots fastening up on the inner, not the outer, side, as with us. They are made of cotton, and the sole is a soft sock. There is a separate compartment for the big toe. Tabi are of either dark blue or white cotton; white is for house and street wear; dark blue for hard work or walking, and mostly worn by the lower classes.

Tenshisama. Chinese term meaning Son of Heaven, from ten, heaven. Sama is the longer and more courteous form of san. The Emperor is also called Tennō, Heavenly Emperor, or Shujō, the Supreme Master; all Chinese terms. The word Mikado is very rarely used by the Japanese except in poetry or on great occasions.

Tōfu. A white bean-curd, looking like cream cheese. A favourite food of the coolie.

Tokonoma. A raised alcove. Probably it was originally that part of a room raised above the level of the earth floor, on which people slept.

Tokugawa. The family name of Iyeyasu and so of the shōgunate founded by him. The last shōgun, who abdicated in 1868, is still living.

Tokyo. The modern name for Yedo, meaning the Eastern Capital.

Torī. A gateway without a gate formed of two perpendicular and two horizontal beams, which at first stood in front of every shintō temple. When the Buddhists adopted it they turned up the ends in a glorious curve, and used it for affixing tablets. Popular etymology derives it from tori, fowl, and i (iru), dwelling, regarding it as a perch for the sacred birds. It probably came from Northern India, where similar gateways called turan are found outside burial-grounds. Cf. Luchuan turi.

Uchi, lit. inside; and so, house.

Uguisu. A small brown bird, the cettria cantans, with a simple but exquisite song.

Urashima. The Rip Van Winkle of Japanese folk-lore. He married the Sea King’s daughter. After a short honeymoon he came back to visit his parents. But the oldest inhabitant of the village could only dimly remember the family tombstones in the graveyard. Thinking he was the victim of an illusion, Urashima rashly opened a box the Sea Princess had given him. Instantly a grey smoke went up to heaven, and Urashima changed from a stalwart youth to an old man, sank down on the seashore and died. He was a thousand years old.

Yedo. The original name of Tokyo, given it by its founder Iyeyasu.

Yashiki. The house or enclosure of a noble or honourable person.

Yen. The Japanese money unit, worth 2s. ½d.

Waraji. A straw sandal fastening securely with strings of straw. The straw turns up slightly round the back of the heel. Waraji are for travelling.

Zashki. The room; parlour; the sitting-room of a house.

For much of the information contained in these notes I am indebted to the works of Prof. B. H. Chamberlain.