Yonsei Glossary: a reader’s companion to the essay Circuitous Paths of the Yonsei

by C.K.Itamura

Circuitous Paths of the Yonsei is included in Write Now! SF Bay’s Uncommon Ground anthology. Uncommon Ground is available to purchase here.

The most curious thing that happened to me during the writing of Circuitous Paths of the Yonsei is the trickle cum flood of Japanese words and phrases — buried in my memories for decades and decades - that resurfaced and filled my recollections at every turn.

The words and phrases listed here appear in Circuitous Paths of the Yonsei and are listed in the order in which they appear in the essay. Each word and phrase contains a link to more information.

Fuji-No-Hana - wisteria flowers

odori - dance

kimono - literally “wearing thing”

hachimaki - literally “to wrap around the head”

Hana - short for Hanafuda; literally “flower cards”

Go - an abstract strategy board game for two players in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent

Sakura - cherry blossoms

gakuen - study garden

origami - literally “fold paper”

sumo - a Japanese-style of wrestling and Japan's national sport

yukata - a simpler, summertime version of the kimono

Obon - an annual Japanese holiday which commemorates and remembers deceased ancestors

ojuzu - (Read article here.)

Otosan - father

tatami - mats made from rush and cloth and used as flooring

shoji - paper coverings; literally “a tool to obstruct”

ikebana - Japanese art of flower arranging; literally “living flowers”

omiyage - gifts that you buy while on a trip to give to your work colleagues, family and friends after returning from a trip

furoshiki - traditional Japanese wrapping cloth, literally “bath” and “to spread”

bento - container for holding travel food, slang for “convenient”

gohan - cooked rice or meal

Golden Curry - a popular style of Japanese curry

miso soup - soup made from soup stock (dashi), fermented soy bean paste (miso), wakame (seaweed), steamed soy bean curd cubes (tofu), and often topped with scallions

dashi - Japanese soup stock

wakame - a type of edible seaweed

tofu - bean curd made by coagulating soy milk and pressing the resulting curds into blocks

tamago - egg

Sansei - third generation Japanese Americans, originating from the Japanese language term for "third generation”

Nikkei - Japanese emigrants and their descendants living outside (and sometimes inside) Japan. A broader term (since it includes Japanese Brazilians, Japanese Canadians, etc.), "Nikkei" it has come to be used as an alternative to "Japanese American" by some.

Arigatogozaimasu - thank you (politely)

Here are a few examples of words and phrases that didn’t make it in to this essay:

My obachan (grandmother) using a large spoon as a weapon and a pot lid as a shield during a fight with a live tako (octopus) to keep it from climbing out of the boiling water on the stove.

My obachan frequently pinching the bridge of my nose and reciting “Hana taku nari sodatsu!” (“I want [your] nose to grow!”) expressing her wish for my nose to grow bigger to be more like the nose of a hakujin (a white person of European origin).

Me replying “Chotto matte kudasai.” (“Wait a little.”, politely) when my obachan would motion for me to come inside the house for dinner when I’d rather stay outside and play.

When out walking errands, my obachan and I would often stop at a little take-out window for ice cream. I’d always smile at the tall creamy swirls of the soft serve ice cream cone in my hands and enthusiastically say to it out loud, “Oiishi! Dai suki des ka!” (“Delicious! I love you so much!”) before eating it. This made my obachan happy every time.

Replying with “Wakarimasen.” (“I don’t understand".”) whenever someone, anyone, including my obachan, would speak to me in Japanese. Ironically, I would reply thus, in Japanese, even though I don’t really speak Japanese.

Kanpai! (Cheers!)

— C.K.Itamura