Yamada Monogatori: The Emperor in Shadow (38 page)

Old habits in old men die last of all.

Glossary of Terms

-ama
: Honorific attached to the names of Buddhist nuns.

Amaterasu
: An important Shinto deity; the celestial sun goddess from whom the Japanese imperial family claims descent.

anata
: Literally: “you.” Sometimes used as a token of affection between spouses or lovers.

asobi
: A female entertainer, often also a courtesan. Not to be confused with the later geisha.

baka
: A general insult. Usually translated as “idiot,” but with connotations of being uncouth and wild, like an animal.

boushi
: A hat.

buke
: A martial house or a member of such a house.

bushi
: A warrior. Later this would refer to samurai specifically.

chie
(or
che
): An expletive.

Daigaku-ryō
: The imperial university of Japan founded in the seventh century.

daitengu
: Literally: “greater
tengu.
” (See
tengu
, below.) These
tengu
were once knowledgeable men with excessive pride.

daijō-daijin
: The chancellor who presided over the Great Council of State, and controlled the officers of the state, in particular the
sadaijin
and
udaijin.

Daijō-kan
: The Great Council of State, the highest organ of Japan’s pre-modern imperial government. Established in the early eighth century, it gradually lost its power during the tenth and eleventh centuries.

daimyo
: From
dai
, meaning “large,” and
myō
, short for
myōden
, meaning “name (‘private’) land.” The most powerful lords with the largest estates. Originally applied to only civil lords; later included military lords as well.

Eight-Fold Path
: The fourth of the Four Noble Truths, the earliest of the Buddha’s teachings.

funnu-in
: The “corna,” a hand gesture resembling “horns”: the index and little finger extended.

hai
: “Yes.” Can also signify that the person hears and understands you, rather than being in agreement.

hakama:
Loose trousers with many pleats in the front.

-hime
: Honorific meaning “princess.”

hitatare
: An upper body garment. Originally peasant clothing, it was adopted by the upper classes during the Heian era.

inugami
: Like
shikigami
, these are supernatural creatures created by a magician.

-ji
: Place name suffix; “temple.”

jibakurei
: An “earth-bound spirit.” A spirit with a strong attachment to and strong hatred of its place of its death.

Jizou
: An Enlightened Being, one who chose to stay behind to fulfill some worthy function in this world (usually to protect) rather than pass into transcendence.

junihitoe
: Literally: “twelve-layer robe” A formal style of clothing worn by ladies of the court. The color scheme of the layers had to be appropriate for the season or special occasion for which it was worn.

kage-onna
: Literally: “shadow woman.” A supernatural shadow of a woman that appears on screens or windows although no one is there to cast it. A type of harmless
yōkai.

kami
: A divine spirit, roughly equivalent to a god.

karaginu mo
: The most formal court attire worn by ladies of the court during the Heian Period. The outermost layers were the
karaginu,
a short jacket, and the
mo,
a train-like back skirt—thus the name.

karma
: The sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. Informally: destiny or fate, following as effect from cause.

kasya
: A cat-like demon that descends from the skies and carries corpses away.

kicho
: A portable partition made of two T-shaped columns about six feet in height supporting long silk hangings.

kimono
: Literally: “a thing to wear”
(ki
means “wear” and
mono
means “thing”).

kodachi
: Literal translation: “small or short
tachi
(sword).”

kodama
: A spirit that inhabits a tree.

kofun
: Tombs of mounded earth (
tumulus
—a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave; plural
tumuli
) built for the ruling elite during the fourth to the seventh centuries. The Ishibutai Kofun is the largest rectangular tomb in Japan, famous for its form created by piling up huge stones.

koku
: A unit of volume; one
koku
was considered sufficient to feed a single man for a year. Wealth was determined by the number of
koku
in a lord’s landholding. Taxes and salaries were denominated in
koku.

koto
: A traditional Japanese stringed instrument.

-kun
: Honorific used for those of junior status; can also be used to name a close personal friend or family member.

kusunoki
: A large evergreen tree:
Cinnamomum camphora
(commonly known as camphor tree, camphorwood, or camphor laurel).

kuge
: An aristocratic class that emerged in the Heian period and held high posts and considerable power. Originally used to describe the imperial family, the word came to connote the noble class of bureaucrats. Later,
kuge
became an antonym to
buke.

matsuri:
A festival or holiday.

momonjii:
A
yokai
taking the form of a hairy, bestial old man.

mon
: A family crest or symbol.

neko-mata
: A cat-like
yokai.

nikusui
: A monster that appears as a demure young woman, but who sucks her victims’ skin off, then leaves them to die.

nodera-bo:
The ghosts of fallen priests. They haunt deserted old temples.

onibi
: Ghost lights. Small will-o’-wisp-type flames that signify the presence of ghosts.

onmyōji.
: A magician and diviner whose practices are derived from yin-yang. They could call up and control
shikigami.

Ritsuryo
: The historical Japanese legal system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese law.

rokurokubi:
A
yokai
that appears to be a normal woman, but by night—as their bodies sleep—their necks stretch to great lengths, allowing their heads to wander about.

saiō
: An unmarried female relative of the emperor chosen to serve as high priestess at Ise Shrine.

sadaijin
: The “minister of the left.” The senior minister of state in the Daijō-kan who oversees the functions of government with the
udaijin
(the “minister of the right”) as his deputy.

sakura
: The cherry blossom tree and its blooms.

-sama
: Honorific, usually reserved for someone of high social status.

-san
: Honorific, showing respect to the person addressed.

sekkan-ke
: Literally “house of
sesshō
and
kanpaku
”; an ellision of
sesshō
and
kanpaku
, both words meaning “regent.”

shikigami
: Artificial creatures created by magic to do a magician’s will.

shinden
: A style of architecture typical of the Heian period. The main, central building was the
shinden
(literally: “sleeping hall”) itself and faced south. Secondary buildings were connected to it by various kinds of covered corridors and bridges.

shimo-no-ku
: The final two lines of a
tanka.

shoro
: Another word for “ghost.”

sode
: Large shoulder guards made from leather in the early Heian period; later made of iron.

sohei
: A warrior attached to a Buddhist temple. Possibly a monk, but more likely a lay-brother, or even a mercenary.

shōshō
: A rank roughly equal to captain.

sugi
:
Cryptomeria
, a kind of large evergreen tree.

sumi
: A type of brushwork painting using the same thick black ink as calligraphy.

sutra
: In Buddhism, a scriptual narrative.

tachi
: A long, thin sword originally designed for use on horseback.

tanka
: Classic Japanese poetic form of thirty-one syllables. A longer version of what eventually became the
haiku.

tengu
: A goblin, often depicted with a long nose or beak and crow’s wings.

-tenno
: Literally “heavenly sovereign”; an honorific connoting royalty.

torii
: The gateway of a Shinto shrine, consisting of two upright posts supporting two horizontal crosspieces.

tsukumo-gami
: Inanimate objects that, after serving their owner(s) for a century, receive a soul and become self-aware. A harmless
yokai
, although known to play pranks.

udaijin
: See
sadaijin.

washi
: traditional paper made from the long inner fibers of three plants (the
kozo, mitsumata
, and
gampi
). Literally:
wa
means Japanese and
shi
means paper.

Way of the Gods
: Shinto, the indigenous faith of the Japanese people.

yin-yang
: A philosophy rooted in both the balance between and interconnectedness of all things: light/dark, male/female, life/death, etc. Probably derived from Daoism via China.

youkai
: Generic term for a monster, or pretty much any supernatural creature.

yurei
: Ghosts. Literally:
yū
(meaning “faint” or “dim”) and
rei
(meaning “soul” or “spirit”).