This Glossary includes translations and explanations for words that are frequently used in the interviews.
| Term | Japanese | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Akagami | 赤紙 | Imperial Army conscription summons during wartime; literally, “red paper” |
| Bōkūgō | 防空壕 | Underground bomb shelters built by families or neighborhoods, often little more than a hole in the ground or side of a hill |
| Bōsai-zukin | 防災頭巾 | Quilted head protection worn by civilians during bombing raids to prevent concussion |
| Butsu-butsu-kōkan | 物々交換 | Barter: exchanging goods for goods without money |
| Fuhatsu-dan | 不発弾 | Unexploded bomb |
| Fundoshi | 褌 | Traditional men’s underwear: a long cloth wound around the genitals and buttocks |
| Geta | 下駄 | Wooden clogs, worn instead of leather shoes |
| Gakuto-shutsujin | 学徒出陣 | Conscription of university students, beginning towards the end of World War II |
| Haikyū | 配給 | Rationing system for food and other necessities, due to wartime shortages; without ration tickets, families could not legally purchase these items |
| Hibakusha | 被爆者 | Survivors of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 |
| Kamikaze | 神風 | Originally, the typhoon which destroyed the Mongol invasion fleet of 1281 and saved Japan; literally, “divine wind” or “wind of the gods;” by extension, the Imperial Navy and Army suicide planes sent to attack American ships towards the end of World War II |
| Kanpō-shageki | 艦砲射撃 | Bombardment of the shoreline by cannonfire mounted on naval vessels |
| Keikai-keihō | 警戒警報 | Warning alarm to indicate that U.S. bomber planes were approaching |
| Kenpei-tai | 憲兵隊 | Military police, organized by the Imperial Army to enforce involuntary cooperation by civilians with wartime restrictions |
| Kinrō-hōshi | 勤労奉仕 | Civilian labor mobilized to work in factories producing weapons and war material; literally, “labor service” |
| Kokumin-fuku | 国民服 | Military-style uniform worn by adult men in wartime; literally, “national subject clothes” |
| Kūshū | 空襲 | Air raids by U.S. Army Air Force bombers (especially B-29s supported by P-51 fighters), attacking cities in Japan from November 1944 through August 1945 |
| Kūshū-keihō | 空襲警報 | Air raid alarm directing civilians to bomb shelters |
| Monpe | もんぺ | Loose cotton trousers worn by girls and adult women in wartime |
| Okayu | お粥 | Gruel: primarily warm water with small amounts of rice or other grains or vegetables |
| Sennin-bari | 千人針 | White cotton cloth stitched 1000 times with red thread, presented to departing Imperial Army soldiers and worn as a talisman to protect them from harm |
| Shōi-bakudan | 焼夷爆弾 | Incendiary bombs, containing napalm and other chemicals which ignited on impact; widely used by the U.S. Army Air Force during the indiscriminate aerial bombing attacks on Japanese cities in 1945 |
| Sokai | 疎開 | Wartime evacuation of schoolchildren from major cities to the countryside |
| Tokkō-tai | 特攻隊 | Special Attack Units: Imperial Navy suicide attack squads, commonly called “kamikaze” (not to be confused with Tokkō 特高, the Special Higher Police) |
| Yamiichi | 闇市 | Black market, where daily necessities could be bought and sold illegally without ration coupons |
| Yokohama Dai-kūshū | 横浜大空襲 | One of the largest U.S. air raids of World War II, targeting civilian areas on May 29, 1945 |
| Zanryū-koji | 残留孤児 | War orphans, left behind in Manchuria and other regions of China by Japanese families in the chaotic repatriation following Japan’s surrender |