Glossary

Abacus

  • Known as a soroban in Japan, an early calculating tool using beads on a frame.

Assimilation

  • Conversion to/acceptance of the dominant culture and often loss of birth culture.

Bon or Obon

  • Traditional summer festival with outdoor dances and street festivals to honor ancestors.

Buddhism

  • A religion of eastern and central Asia that is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha.

Emigration

  • To leave a country or region to live elsewhere.

Geisha

  • Professional women trained in various performing arts: dance, singing, playing musical instruments.

Go

  • A territorial strategy board game using analytical skill.

Gosei

  • The generation of people born to at least one Yonsei parent.

Hanamatsuri

  • Buddhist Flower Festival to celebrate birth of Prince Siddhartha, founder of the Buddhist religion.

Hapa

  • Hawaiian word refers to children of mixed ethnicity; including Japanese and other races.

Hina Matsuri

  • Festival of Dolls takes place on March 3 where wishes for future happiness for girls are expressed (also known as Girls’ Day or Girls’ Day Festival).

Hoonko

  • Buddhist memorial service to honor founder of Buddhist sect Jodo Shinshu.

Idosha

  • Forced resettlement of Japanese Canadians during World War II, away from the west coast.

Ikebana

  • Japanese flower arrangements which values the empty space or minimalism in the arrangement.

Ikenobo

  • The oldest school of Ikebana, developed by a Buddhist monk in Kyoto in the 15th Century.

Immigrant

  • A person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence.

Immigration

  • To come into a country of which one is not a native for permanent residence.

Issei

  • First generation of Japanese who immigrated; the generation born in Japan who later emigrated to another country.

Japanese cuisine or Washoku

  • Social practice and skills in preparing and consuming food being mindful of the sustainability of natural resources.

Japanese New Year

  • January 1, start of a month-long celebration, sets the tone for the next year.

Judo

  • "The gentle way"; a popular defensive martial art style growing out of jujutsu.

Kabuki

  • A traditional Japanese art form in the theater.

Kana

  • Syllabic Japanese scripts where each character responds to a certain sound in Japanese language.

Kanji

  • Chinese characters known in Japan as Kanji.

Karuta

  • Japanese card game involving two types of cards: “grabbing” cards and “reading” cards. The objective is to grab the correct cards as clues or hints as revealed by the reading cards. The player who has grabbed the most cards wins.

Kimono

  • T-shaped, straight-lined traditional robe, means “thing to wear”; worn wrapped about the body and held with an “obi” or sash that is tied in the back, usually worn with traditional footwear and split-toe socks.

Mai

  • Traditional Japanese dance influenced by Noh drama.

Meiji era

  • Transition period when Japanese society modernized from an isolated feudal society, 1868-1912.

Nikkei

  • Person of Japanese descent.

Nisei

  • Second generation; the generation born in any country outside of Japan to at least one Issei or one non-immigrant Japanese parent; children born in Canada to the Issei.

Noh

  • A form of traditional Japanese theatre involving song and dance performed in a slow, standardized manner.

Obon

  • Buddhist Festival of Souls to honor ancestors and remember the deceased, important family reunion time.

Odori

  • Folk dance included in festivals and commemorating ancestors, using graceful, synchronized movements.

Origami

  • Traditional art of paper folding, from very simple to extremely complex, often without any cutting.

Sansei

  • Third generation; the generation of people born to at least one Nisei parent.

Shibai

  • Dramatic performance.

Shin-Issei

  • Postwar Japanese immigrants, the prefix shin meaning "new".

Sho or Shodo

  • Artistic writing; drawing characters with a brush to express spiritual depth and beauty.

Shogi

  • The Japanese cousin of Chess, played with two players.

Sumi

  • Inkstick, solid black ink found in a suzuri used in calligraphy.

Suzuri

  • Heavy black inkstone holding a solid ink.

Tango no Sekku

  • Boys’ Festival held on May 5th hopes that sons will be healthy and strong; celebrates courage and determination. After the Second World War, May 5th was set aside as Children’s Day or Kodomo no Hi (now a national holiday in Japan).

Yonsei

  • Fourth generation; the generation of people born to at least one Sansei parent.

Zen Buddhism

  • Focuses on attaining enlightenment through meditation, mental and spiritual discipline.