92 words you will meet
Everything worth being able to name
Not vocabulary to memorise — just the words that will be written on the things in front of you, so that a rope is a shimenawa and a gate is a ryūgū-mon and you know why.
Showing all 92 words.
- リムジンバスRimujin basu
- "Limousine bus" — the orange airport coach, famous more for legroom than luxury
- Narita Airport Terminal 1 →
- いらっしゃいませIrasshaimase
- "Welcome, come in" — called out to every customer crossing a shop threshold
- Narita Airport Terminal 1 →
- お疲れさまですOtsukaresama desu
- "You must be tired" — the all-purpose acknowledgement of someone's effort
- Narita Airport Terminal 1 →
- 不動明王Fudō Myō-ō
- The Immovable Wisdom King, flame-wreathed; the deity of nearby Narita-san
- Narita Airport Terminal 1 →
- みなとみらいMinato Mirai
- "Harbour of the future" — the glass skyline across the water from your window
- Hyatt Regency Yokohama →
- 山下公園Yamashita-kōen
- The seafront park below the hotel, opened in 1930 on earthquake rubble
- Hyatt Regency Yokohama →
- 氷川丸Hikawa Maru
- 1930 NYK liner moored permanently at the park, now a museum ship
- Hyatt Regency Yokohama →
- 関内Kannai
- "Inside the barrier" — old name for Yokohama's foreign settlement quarter
- Hyatt Regency Yokohama →
- 手相Tesō
- Palm-reading; the lines of the hand, and what Airi actually offers alongside the tarot
- Yokohama Chinatown →
- 媽祖Mazu
- The sea goddess of the Chinese coast — protector of sailors, calmer of storms
- Yokohama Masōbyō →
- 天后Tenkō
- "Empress of Heaven" — Mazu's imperial title, and the name on many of her temples
- Yokohama Masōbyō →
- 太極拳Taikyokuken
- Tai chi — the slow-moving form practised in the courtyard on Wednesday mornings
- Yokohama Masōbyō →
- 大さん橋Ōsanbashi
- "The great pier" — Yokohama's international passenger terminal, rebuilt 2002
- Ōsanbashi Pier →
- くじらのせなかKujira no senaka
- "The whale's back" — the rooftop deck, open to anyone, 24 hours a day
- Ōsanbashi Pier →
- 綿津見Watatsumi
- The sea-dragon god whose palace lies beneath the water you are sailing over
- Ōsanbashi Pier →
- 蛍の光Hotaru no hikari
- "Light of the fireflies" — the Japanese farewell song, played at castoff
- Ōsanbashi Pier →
- かえるみくじkaeru-mikuji
- Fortune slip drawn from a frog's mouth, unique to this shrine
- Futami Okitama Shrine →
- 浜参宮hamasangu
- Seaside purification undertaken before visiting the Ise Grand Shrine
- Futami Okitama Shrine →
- 龍宮城Ryūgū-jō
- The dragon king's palace beneath the sea, where Antoku is said to have gone
- The Kanmon Straits →
- 해녀 (海女)haenyeo
- "sea women" — Jeju's breath-hold divers, many of them grandmothers
- Jungmun Saekdal Beach →
- 식물원Sikmurwon
- Botanical garden — the word on the sign, and on the taxi instruction
- Yeomiji Botanical Garden →
- 정문Jeongmun
- Main gate — ask for this, not the car park, which is a ten-degree slope
- Yeomiji Botanical Garden →
- 오름Oreum
- Jeju's small volcanic cones — what fell through the giantess's skirt
- Yeomiji Botanical Garden →
- 천제연 (天帝淵)Cheonjeyeon
- "Pond of the Emperor of Heaven" — the deep pool below the first fall
- Cheonjeyeon Waterfall →
- 선임교 (仙臨橋)Seonimgyo
- the arched bridge over the gorge, carved with all seven nymphs
- Cheonjeyeon Waterfall →
- 龍宮門Ryūgūmon
- Dragon Palace Gate — the temple's red two-storey entrance
- Sofuku-ji and the Dragon Palace Gate →
- 龍宮城Ryūgū-jō
- the undersea palace of the Dragon King, seat of Ryūjin
- Sofuku-ji and the Dragon Palace Gate →
- 黄檗Ōbaku
- the Chinese-founded third school of Japanese Zen, based at Manpuku-ji
- Sofuku-ji and the Dragon Palace Gate →
- 超然Chōnen
- the Fuzhou monk invited to found the temple in 1629 (Ch. Chaoran)
- Sofuku-ji and the Dragon Palace Gate →
- 温泉onsen
- hot spring — legally, water rising from the ground at 25°C+, or cold but mineral-rich
- The Izumi Japanese Bath →
- 檜hinoki
- Japanese cypress — the fragrant, rot-resistant timber of the finest tubs
- The Izumi Japanese Bath →
- 金龍山Kinryū-zan
- "Golden Dragon Mountain" — Senso-ji's mountain name, lit up below you
- Asakusa View Hotel →
- 沙竭羅龍王Sakara Ryūō
- Sāgara, dragon king of the ocean, cast in bronze above the basin
- Senso-ji's Dragon Fountain →
- 八大龍王hachidai ryūō
- the Eight Great Dragon Kings, protectors of the Lotus Sutra
- Senso-ji's Dragon Fountain →
- 金龍山Kinryū-zan
- "Golden Dragon Mountain" — the temple's mountain name, from the legend
- Senso-ji Main Hall →
- 金龍の舞Kinryū-no-mai
- the Golden Dragon Dance, created in 1958 for the hall's rebuilding
- Senso-ji Main Hall →