Mini Dictionary
Last updated: October 7, 2001
Okay, here are the most common words compiled here in a mini dictionary... If a word/phrase has only come up once and isn't important, then you'll find the explanation in the episode itself. Same with English terms with Japanese pronunciations (with the exceptions of very common ones).
On the Romanization of Japanese words... There are many ways of Romanization. For example, ''Tokyo'' is written as such but in reality, ''Toukyou'' is probably more accurate. Most people take the easy way out (including me), though occasionaly, strange versions may appear. Occasionaly, I haven't been consistent too... (T_T). Just find the word that's most similar if you encounter this problem...
Phrases are in "quotes"
In addressing someone in general, suffixes -chan/-kun are the most casual/friendly. Increasingly formal titles end in -san, -sama
Having an "o" in front of a word makes the speaker sound more formal. -eg- oniisan as opposed to niisan.
A
- aho
- stupid
- aitsu
- he/she, him/her
- anesan
- title of the woman who's the kumicho's wife, the boss's wife; kumiins call her by her title
- aniki
- another word for older brother, or male superior in "male" language
- anohito
- "that person", i.e. him/her
- arigato
- thank you
B
- baka
- stupid; can also mean abnormal or super as in baka strength
- bakemono
- monster
- bakayaro
- literally "dumb guy/ass", retard
- Banzai
- hurray!
- bocchan
- male version of ojyouchan, boy/young man esp. from a well to do family
- boke
- dummy
- boya
- boy/kid
- bozu
- boy/kid
- busaiku
- (of an object/craft/person) to be physically built/made poorly; in other words, "ugly" or "deformed"
C
- -chan
- usually attached on the end of a girl's first/last name, or any name actually, making it sound cuter/softer
- Chi!
- sound that gives the impression of saying damn, darn, shit
- chichi
- breasts
- chikan
- molester, pervert etc
- chiwagenka
- a lover's quarrel
- Chotto!
- hey!; hey (wait a minute)!
D
- daikokuhaku
- big confession
- daikon
- large white radish
- daijyobu(yo)
- (I'm/she's/he's) all right; OK
- danna
- master (of a house), leader
- daruma
- ball
- dekopin
- act of flicking someone on the forehead with your finger
- dengekibans
- land mine shaped devices that deliver electric shocks instead [I don't think these things really exist...]
- dengon
- message
E
- E
- eh, used in exclamation of surprise etc; there can be a number of "E"s
- ecchi
- "H", pervert etc
- enka
- traditional style of Japanese singing, vaguely resembles opera
F
- fu fu fu OR u fu fu
- typically, a woman's sexy way of laughing
- fukujyoushi
- to die while having sex
- fun
- humph, hm
- furigana
- the hiragana or katakana written beside a kanji to show how it's pronounced
G
- gaichu
- harmful/noxoius insect; vermin; pest
- gaijin
- foreigner
- gaki
- kid/brat especially a troublesome/annoying one
- gambare or gambatte
- go!, try your best, Fight!, Good luck!
- Ge
- an exclamation of disgust
- geta
- ummm... Japanese platform sandals? can be worn by either sex
- gokudo
- wicked, scoundrel, gangsters wicked person, a criminal etc; can be used as an adjective/noun
- "gokurosama"
- thanks for your time/hard work
- gya
- sound effect of a scream, can have a number of "a"s
H
- Ha!
- yes/affirmative but kinda sounds more like "Yes sir/madam!"
- hai
- yes/affirmative
- haiku
- Japanese poem with 3 lines, with 5, 7 and 5 syllables respectively; theme is usually of the seasons
- hakama and haori
- the male equivalent of a kimono; the most formal wear for men in Japan; hakama is the bottom half; haori is the top half
- hanafuda
- another type of card deck
- hanamichi
- runway; i.e. a protected path for someone important to travel down from say a car to a building entrance etc.
- harisen
- fan that's folded accordion style. (If you know "Fushigi Yuugi" it Tasuki's weapon.) In modern days, it's usually a fan made of large piece of white paper, used in stand up comedy... an equivalence of the Western idea of throwing cream pies...?
- He
- exclamation of surprise, huh
- hei hei
- impolite way of saying hai hai, "yeah, yeah"
- hentai
- abnormal/perverted/strange
- hi
- sound that describes a shriek
- hime-sama
- princess
- hiragana
- letters of the Japanese alphabet
- hisuterikku
- hysteric, hysterical
- hito
- person
- homo
- Japanese term for gay
- horenaosu
- to fall in love again
- to have a second/different opinion about someone after some incident
- houkouonchi
- a person who's hopeless with directions
I
- ibo kyoudai
- siblings having the same father but different mothers
- iya
- word showing negation, no
- iyada
- (I) don't want to
J
- jitte
- a weapon that the police of the past used to use, kinda like cop's baton/club but with a second bar running parallel to the first, it's made out of metal and the 'hilt' part is usually ornamented [I think it was also used as a status symbol for power/authority as well]
- jizosan
- a stone statue of a man, to which people give offering and prayers
K
- -kun
- suffix usually tacked on at the end of a guy's first/last name
- kage no seisai
- shadow/hidden wife
- kagi
- key
- kai
- company/group, hence Garyukai, and sometimes Kuryukai
- kaicho
- president
- kakkoii
- cool!!!
- kakkowarui
- uncool, embarrassing
- kamo
- duck
- kampai
- cheers
- kanbu
- a title meaning management level/executive
- kanji
- Japanese/Chinese character
- kanojyo
- her, she
- kanpai
- cheers
- kashira
- head, chief
- kashira
- head; leader; boss
- katakana
- letters of the Japanese alphabet written in another way to signify foreign/slang words, can also be used when one is too lazy to write out the kanji of a word
- katagi
- law abiding citizen, general public
- katana
- (Japanese) sword
- keigo
- a way of speaking politely; there are 3 levels but don't ask me more than that...
- ki
- energy, one's life force, spirit, will... it depends on who you ask
- kimono
- Japanese silk robe, worn by women
- "kisu maaku"
- Japanese way of saying "kiss mark" (which sounds much better than "hickey")
- kogumi
- small kumi
- kokuhaku
- confession, usually of love
- konnichiwa
- hello
- konyaku (noun or verb)
- to formally promise of marriage; such a promise
- koohai
- people younger/junior to you; opposite of senpai
- koroshiai
- fighting between two groups that leads to killing, literally "kill each other"
- kumi
- yakuza gang/group/association
- kumicho
- leader of a
- kumi
- kumiin
- member of a
- kumi
- kuromaku
- the "person behind it all"
- kuso
- shit, damn
- kusogaki
- literally "shit" and "gaki" put together
- kusojiji
- old geezer
- kya (with any number of A's)
- a girly scream [Guys tend to say "Wa" or "Gya"]
- kyushoku
- school meals
M
- manga
- Japanese comic
- manuke
- silly/ foolish
- "migawari no jutsu"
- a ninja move where someone (or something) takes the place for someone, used to defend someone with one's life
- miso
- preserved soy bean paste... can't think of a better translation
- mizumishi
- athlete's foot
N
- nama
- live/in the flesh
- namida
- tear
- natto
- fermented soy beans
- neesan
- older sister, opposite from oniisan, also another way of addressing the anesan
- neguse
- is a term that describes your hair when you wake up in the morning and it's stuck in a strange position from sleeping on it...
- NG
- Japanese short form for 'no good'
- nidaime
- second generation
- nihonto
- Japanese sword
- niichan
- big/older brother, more casual than oniichan
- ninja
- samurai spy
- ninpo
- relating to the way of the ninja; ninja style
- nori
- sea weed [actually, technically, it's layers of sea algae that have been dried into sheets
O
- obi
- sash on a kimono
- occhan
- slang for mister
- ojyousama, ojyousan, ojyouchan
- well off girl, miss/young lady esp. of a well to do family [I might have spelled them without the "u" after the "y" in some places; words are in order of increasing casualness]; each word can also exist without the first "o"
- okaerinasai
- "welcome back home"
- omamori
- good luck charm
- omedeto
- congratulations
- omiki
- sake offered at the alter or to a god; libation
- omote no seisai
- visible/primary/outward/main wife
- oneechan, oneesan, oneesama
- big sister, but also can be applied to women older than you if you're speaking casually or to someone close to you; in decreasing levels of casualness; each word can also exist without the first "o"
- oniichan, oniisan, oniisama
- big brother, "guy" when talking to a guy in general; in decreasing levels of casualness; each word can also exist without the first "o"
- onna
- girl/woman; chic; can go as far as to mean ''bitch''
- "oomaiga" (with any number of "a"s)
- Japanese pronunciation of "Oh My God"
- "Ore wa Tsukasa ga sukida"
- I like/love Tsukasa [Akira's declaration of his love for Tsukasa in ep. 27... which Tsukasa didn't hear]
- "Ore...Omae ga sukida"
- I like/love you [Ryuji's famous words from ep. 22]
- oresama
- a fancy way of saying "me" or "myself" that puts you above others; usually a term used by guys
- oriai no gi
- something like "a ceremony to promote good relations", a peace talk?
- oya-baka
- someone who is very into being a parent, especially those who are the type to constantly beam with pride when talking about his/her kids, keeping all art projects done by the kids, taking zillions of pics etc.
- oyabun
- head, leader, chief person
- oyaji
- father, literally, or can just mean an older man, mister
R
- ramen
- a type of thin noodles in soup
- reisui
- literally means "water of thanks"
- renkon
- lotus root
- rokudenashi
- a good-for-nothing
- ronge
- a slang way of saying long-haired
- rorikon
- short for Lolita complex, when an older man has fancies for really young women, usually teenagers
- rotenburo
- open air bath, i.e. outside bath
- ryu
- dragon
S
- sakazuki
- literally means "wine/victory cup" which is very shallow, almost like a shallow bowl; you see them used in weddings
- sakura
- cherry blossoms
- sambo
- tray on a hollow wooden box; used to present food etc. on very special occasions
- samuirai
- warrior
- sandaime
- third generation
- sankyu
- thank you, with a Japanese accent
- satsuki
- literally "killing intent"; malicious intent, evil intent, evil presence
- sayonara
- good bye
- seigi
- good (as in opposite of evil)
- seimei handan
- a type of astrology like test where the number of brush strokes in one's name (written in kanji) determines one's fortune, kind of like numerology
- seisai
- right/holy wife
- seiza
- sitting on your heels [it totally numbs your feet if you're not used to it...]
- senbei
- Japanese rice crackers
- senpai
- people older/senior to you
- sensei
- teacher/doctor
- shinai
- bamboo swords used for practice in kendo
- shingai
- unexpected; violation of privacy [see ep. 74 if you're totally confused]
- shirouto
- amateur, unskilled person; the normal everyday person
- shodaime
- first generation kumicho
- shoji
- sliding doors made of a simple wooden frame covered in paper
- shotakon
- man who loves younger boys [I think]
- shuriken
- ninja star
- shutoo
- literally hand sword, or karate chop
- soba
- Japanese buckwheat noodles
- sousui
- leader/commander
- sugoi
- wow, cool, amazing
- sukebe
- perverted, sexy, dirty
- sukida
- I like/love you [confusing isn't it...?]
- sutemi
- throwing one's life away, especially when describing a desperate attack
T
- tako
- octopus
- takobouzu
- round headed [Tsukasa's description of Hizaki's head]
- takuan
- pickled daikon (large white radish)
- tankoubun
- complied comics (of 1 series)
- tanto
- short sword, dagger
- tekken
- iron fist, just like in the game
- tsujikiri
- a villain that kills innocent people with a sword, and sometimes strips the victim of all possessions; also called a phantom killer
U
- ura no seisai
- same as kage no seisai
- ura
- behind/hidden/back
- uwaki
- affair, unfaithful, disloyalty
W
- wa
- exclamation of surprise; when there's more than one "a", then it's the sound effects of someone crying, and may have an "n" at the end
- wasabi
- Japanese horse radish, the green stuff that comes with sushi
Y
- yakuza
- Japanese mafia, syndicate member
- yana yatsu
- literally means "a guy that people don't like" or "someone unpopular/disliked", "meanie" also applies
- yaro
- guy, bastard
- yubitsume
- cutting off one's finger, a typical way of compensation or asking for forgiveness among the yakuza [this may be stereotypical but I'm not a yakuza so I can't say for sure]
- yukata
- a simple version of a kimono, usually made of cotton and NOT silk, can be worn by both sexes
Z
- zashiki
- covered in tatami mats
- zori
- Japanese sandals made of woven grasses, resemble flip- fliops in shape
- zubozhi
- a term that vaguely means "that's right"
There have been
since Oct. 18, 2000
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