Japanese Loan Words

Japanese Loan Words Japanese Loan Words Japanese Loan Words By Sharon Whenever you encounter another culture, each culture takes something from the other. So it is with English and Japanese. Each language has borrowed from the other. In the case of English, theres a long list of borrowings. Some of these have no direct English equivalent and describe inherently Japanese concepts. Others come from Japanese via Chinese. Here are a few examples: Adzuki a type of bean Anime Japanese animation (interestingly, this word originated from the English/French word animation) Bonsai tray gardening Dojo a martial arts training ground Futon a type of mattress Geisha female entertainers Haiku a form of Japanese poetry consisting of three lines, with 5, 7 and 5 syllables respectively. Hara Kiri ritual suicide Honcho squadron leader Jujitsu martial art meaning soft skill Kabuki Japanese theatre Kamikaze strong wind (refers to suicide pilots) Kanji A Japanese writing system; refers to the Chinese characters used Karate martial art meaning empty hand Kimono a full length robe Ninja a stealthy warrior Origami folding paper Rickshaw a human powered vehicle Sake rice wine Samurai a warrior Satsuma a type of orange Seppuku ritual suicide by cutting the abdomen Soy a bean Sumo a type of wrestling Sushi rice combined with other ingredients Tofu bean curd; this word is of Chinese origin Tsunami a huge wave (incorrectly called a tidal wave). Zen a branch of Buddhism Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Writing Prompts 101Confused Words #3: Lose, Loose, Loss8 Great Podcasts for Writers and Book Authors