{"id":455,"date":"2026-07-07T23:57:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wartimememories.org\/?page_id=455"},"modified":"2026-07-07T23:57:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:57:51","slug":"glossary-of-japanese-terms","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wartimememories.org\/?page_id=455","title":{"rendered":"Glossary of Japanese Terms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This Glossary includes translations and explanations for words that are frequently used in the interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<style>\n.wp-table {\n  width: 100%;\n  border-collapse: collapse;\n}\n.wp-table th, .wp-table td {\n  border: 1px solid #ccc;\n  padding: 8px 12px;\n  text-align: left;\n  vertical-align: top;\n}\n.wp-table th {\n  background: #f5f5f5;\n  font-weight: bold;\n}\n<\/style>\n<table class=\"wp-table\">\n<thead><tr><th>Term<\/th><th>Japanese<\/th><th>Definition<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr><td>Akagami<\/td><td>\u8d64\u7d19<\/td><td>Imperial Army conscription summons during wartime; literally, &#8220;red paper&#8221;<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>B\u014dk\u016bg\u014d<\/td><td>\u9632\u7a7a\u58d5<\/td><td>Underground bomb shelters built by families or neighborhoods, often little more than a hole in the ground or side of a hill<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>B\u014dsai-zukin<\/td><td>\u9632\u707d\u982d\u5dfe<\/td><td>Quilted head protection worn by civilians during bombing raids to prevent concussion<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Butsu-butsu-k\u014dkan<\/td><td>\u7269\u3005\u4ea4\u63db<\/td><td>Barter: exchanging goods for goods without money<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Fuhatsu-dan<\/td><td>\u4e0d\u767a\u5f3e<\/td><td>Unexploded bomb<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Fundoshi<\/td><td>\u890c<\/td><td>Traditional men&#8217;s underwear: a long cloth wound around the genitals and buttocks<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Geta<\/td><td>\u4e0b\u99c4<\/td><td>Wooden clogs, worn instead of leather shoes<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Gakuto-shutsujin<\/td><td>\u5b66\u5f92\u51fa\u9663<\/td><td>Conscription of university students beginning in 1943<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Haiky\u016b<\/td><td>\u914d\u7d66<\/td><td>Rationing system for food and necessities; without ration tickets, families could not legally purchase these items<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Hibakusha<\/td><td>\u88ab\u7206\u8005<\/td><td>Survivors of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 1945)<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Kamikaze<\/td><td>\u795e\u98a8<\/td><td>The typhoon that destroyed the Mongol invasion fleet of 1281; by extension, Imperial Navy suicide planes sent against American ships late in WWII; literally, &#8220;divine wind&#8221;<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Kanp\u014d-shageki<\/td><td>\u8266\u7832\u5c04\u6483<\/td><td>Bombardment of the shoreline by cannonfire from naval vessels<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Keikai-keih\u014d<\/td><td>\u8b66\u6212\u8b66\u5831<\/td><td>Warning alarm indicating U.S. bomber planes were approaching<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Kenpei-tai<\/td><td>\u61b2\u5175\u968a<\/td><td>Military police organized by the Imperial Army to enforce civilian cooperation with wartime restrictions<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Kinr\u014d-h\u014dshi<\/td><td>\u52e4\u52b4\u5949\u4ed5<\/td><td>Civilian labor mobilized to work in factories producing weapons and war material; literally, &#8220;labor service&#8221;<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Kokumin-fuku<\/td><td>\u56fd\u6c11\u670d<\/td><td>Military-style uniform worn by adult men in wartime; literally, &#8220;national subject clothes&#8221;<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>K\u016bsh\u016b<\/td><td>\u7a7a\u8972<\/td><td>Air raids by U.S. Army Air Force bombers (especially B-29s with P-51 fighter support), attacking Japanese cities Nov 1944\u2013Aug 1945<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>K\u016bsh\u016b-keih\u014d<\/td><td>\u7a7a\u8972\u8b66\u5831<\/td><td>Air raid alarm directing civilians to bomb shelters<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Monpe<\/td><td>\u3082\u3093\u307a<\/td><td>Loose cotton trousers worn by girls and adult women in wartime<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Okayu<\/td><td>\u304a\u7ca5<\/td><td>Gruel: warm water with small amounts of rice, grains, or vegetables<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Sennin-bari<\/td><td>\u5343\u4eba\u91dd<\/td><td>White cotton cloth stitched 1,000 times with red thread, presented to departing soldiers as a protective talisman<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Sh\u014di-bakudan<\/td><td>\u713c\u5937\u7206\u5f3e<\/td><td>Incendiary bombs containing napalm and other ignition chemicals; widely used by the U.S. in the indiscriminate bombing of Japanese cities in 1945<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Sokai<\/td><td>\u758e\u958b<\/td><td>Wartime evacuation of schoolchildren from major cities to the countryside<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Tokk\u014d-tai<\/td><td>\u7279\u653b\u968a<\/td><td>Special Attack Units: Imperial Navy suicide attack squads, commonly called &#8220;kamikaze&#8221; (not to be confused with Tokk\u014d \u7279\u9ad8, the Special Higher Police)<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Yamiichi<\/td><td>\u95c7\u5e02<\/td><td>Black market where daily necessities were bought and sold illegally without ration coupons<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Yokohama Dai-k\u016bsh\u016b<\/td><td>\u6a2a\u6d5c\u5927\u7a7a\u8972<\/td><td>One of the largest U.S. air raids of WWII, targeting civilian areas on May 29, 1945<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Zanry\u016b-koji<\/td><td>\u6b8b\u7559\u5b64\u5150<\/td><td>War orphans left behind in Manchuria and other parts of China during the chaotic post-surrender repatriation<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Glossary includes translations and explanations for words that are frequently used in the interviews. Term Japanese Definition Akagami \u8d64\u7d19 Imperial Army conscription summons during wartime; literally, &#8220;red paper&#8221; B\u014dk\u016bg\u014d \u9632\u7a7a\u58d5 Underground bomb shelters built by families or neighborhoods, often little more than a hole in the ground or side of a hill B\u014dsai-zukin \u9632\u707d\u982d\u5dfe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-455","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wartimememories.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wartimememories.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wartimememories.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wartimememories.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wartimememories.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=455"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/wartimememories.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":463,"href":"https:\/\/wartimememories.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/455\/revisions\/463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wartimememories.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}