Reading about unfamiliar cultures or technology can be confusing. Here’s some help.
Asagao 朝顔
Ipomoea nil, a species of Convolvulus known in English as the Japanese Morning Glory. It is a fast-growing creeper with large blue, purple or pink flowers that open in the morning, and is perennial in warmer conditions. While some see it as a weed or parasitic plant, choking other plants in its reach and starving them of light, it is also loved for its beautiful and historically cultivated flowers, said to be medicinal, and its seeds are mildly psychoactive
Andon 行灯
A type of lantern, traditionally paper over a bamboo frame with an oil lamp in the centre. Modern ones with electric lights are essentially traditional-style floor lamps.
BBT / Brenner Base Tunnel
an epic project to bore a 55-km/34-mile tunnel below the Brenner Pass in the Alps from Innsbruck in Austria to Fortezza in Italy. A rail link exists but it climbs steeply and turns sharply, which limits the speed and freight capacity significantly. As a result the Brenner pass road is usually very busy and full of trucks, causing lots of pollution and jams. The near-flat, straight tunnel will allow much larger and heavier goods trains to pass quickly and reduce travel times, switching freight on this major north-south route from road to rail. Construction work began in 2007 and is slated for completion in 2027.
Bōsōzoku 暴走族
Biker gangs; the word translates literally as 'violent running tribe', which is pretty apt, and "Bōsō" can be a verb too. Usually these groups are teenagers or young men, but there are female gangs too. They usually have ties to true Yakuza groups; members sometimes feed into the Yakuza groups as they get older. Their bikes often have exaggerated fairings and very tall rear seats, and the sound they make while cruising is unmistakeable, as they constantly rev their engines (they mod their engines to make this possible in many cases). Rather than speeding, they often cruise very slowly and loudly annoy everyone by blocking the road and revving.
Bōsōzoku are sometimes connected with a particular style of car, too: the Kaido Racer style, usually a '70s or '80s car like a Soarer or Cressida with exaggerated silhouette-style splitter and boxy body kits, miniscule 4-spoke wheels and incredibly elaborate tall exhaust pipes. But while this has been true in the past, most Kaido fans nowadays are NOT Bosozoku.
bubble economy
from around 1960 to 1993 Japan's economic power increased hugely to the point where it became the second largest in the world, and property was a major part of it - one (perhaps apocryphal but still fun) story says that the land where the Imperial palace stands in the centre of Tokyo was at one time worth more than the entirety of California. However, it ended when a real-estate bubble caused by speculation on land prices burst and the growth collapsed, resulting in the economic stagnation seen since 1993 in Japan, which has to some extent persisted to date. Therefore modern Japanese history can be characterised as either pre- or post-bubble.
Bullets: .380ACP
one of the larger calibres for concealed-carry pistols, this is not a particularly powerful bullet. It's still more than enough to be deadly at close range, however - across a room or alley. It's also called 9mm Short, but shouldn't be confused with 9mm Parabellum, which is significantly more powerful (it's a longer cartridge with more propellant; see below).
Bullets: .38 Special
a common calibre for medium and small revolvers, a little more powerful than the largely obsolete .38 S&W but not as severe as .357 Magnum. A common choice for police revolvers of the mid-20th century; current Japanese police revolvers load this round.
Bullets: 9mm Makarov
Soviet gunmakers loved simple, rugged and reliable designs. They designed this bullet to give maximum power from a blowback design, meaning they could create simpler, smaller pistols that didn't need to lock closed when firing. It's still a perfectly adequate bullet for most handgun functions, a bit more powerful than .380ACP but a little less than 9mm Parabellum.
Bullets: 9mm Parabellum
probably the most ubiquitous pistol cartridge worldwide, popular with police, soldiers and civilians, because this is a bullet that balances speed, power, weight and size well. Guns that use this round are generally larger and more complex, because they have to lock closed while firing due to high pressures, but often have at least thirteen round magazines.
Bullets: .45ACP
this cartridge was designed for the US military in the wake of the 1905 Moro rebellion in the Philippines, where .38 revolvers proved ineffective at stopping charging enemies; it is a pretty large, heavy bullet, moving relatively slowly, so transfers a lot of energy to its target yet has manageable recoil. Because it is large, guns using this round usually have low magazine capacities.
Bullets: .357 Magnum
a very potent revolver cartridge that's one of the most popular chamberings for revolvers; it is very fast despite not having a very large bullet, which gives it a lot of its power. One reason for the popularity of this round is that any revolver that is designed for .357 Magnum will also load and fire the less brutal .38 S&W and .38 Special rounds as well without any modification (because these bullets are the same diameter and simply have a shorter cartridge) meaning you can practice with milder rounds.
Bullets: .327 Federal
intended to put .357 Magnum-level power in a smaller package, allowing backup revolvers that usually can only fit 5 rounds an extra shot on par with most larger revolvers, this is an unusual but acclaimed and effective modern round.
Bullets: .480 Ruger
Designed to create a more manageable cartridge for handgun hunting of larger game than the various super-magnum cartridges on the market like .454 Casull or .475 Linebaugh, it does so by launching a heavier bullet at a lower speed, reducing recoil while delivering comparable muzzle energy. It is still a hell of a handful, but not as punishing as it's competitors, and can kill a bear, let alone a man...if you're both accurate and lucky.
Bullets: 37mm
Unlike most firearms, 37mm rounds are not designed to kill. They are essentially the police version of the military 40mm propelled grenade, but 37mm explosive grenades are not made. Instead they come in specialised forms like baton rounds, irritant gas, flares and smoke. The launchers are big, bulky guns, not normally deployed for patrol cops, and are mostly used by riot squads.
Chinpira チンピラ
Very similar in the hierarchical sense to Bōsōzoku, just without the bikes; often the term is translated as simply "punks", in the Dirty Harry sense rather than the Sid Vicious sense. They are low-level criminals without Yakuza affiliations, essentially - potentially open to joining the Yakuza, and sometimes employed by them for basic tasks, but not necessarily likely to be invited to join.
dango 団子
a sweet delicacy that combines many quintessential elements of traditional Japanese sweets; soft rice cakes (mochi) on a stick, often with red bean paste (anko). Often they are pink, white and green, with the pink having a delicate sakura flavour that's more a smell than anything and the green being tea flavoured, as a massive number of traditional Japanese sweets are.
Danchi 団地
Social housing blocks similar in concept to British council estates, American housing projects and most of all Soviet Khrushchevka. Usually aging midrise apartment buildings of three to five storeys made of standardised and often prefab parts, clustered in groups of several buildings, in larger cities they can be clusters of very significant buildings; the Kawaramachi danchi are particularly massive and architecturally bold, a 1972 complex by Metabolist Yukio Otani. They mostly arose in the early postwar period until the late '70s to solve the housing shortage in the devastated cities. They are now largely outdated and lack modern amenities, but are solid, reasonably sized and cheap. Convenient ones are hard to find a place in, especially if they are modernised, while old, out-of-the-way ones with outdated amenities stand largely empty.
ECU
Engine Control Unit; a small basic computer that uses input from various sensors to control things like valve timing, valve lift and fuel/air mixture in order to optimise performance, in one way or another (more speed, or maybe better fuel economy). All modern cars have them; some control other things like active suspension or aerodynamics as well and some newer ECUs can shut down selected pistons to improve fuel efficiency. A significant part of tuning of modern cars is editing, hacking or replacing the ECU software or hardware to increase output or otherwise enhance performance.
Engawa 縁側
Imagine double glazing where the distance between inner and outer panes is wide enough to walk through. That, essentially, is the engawa, a corridor between an inner fusuma screen and an outer window (glass in modern buildings, paper in historic ones) that acts as a thermal barrier and the main access route for rooms all in one.
FLIR
An ascended brand name that defines an entire type of device, from an old acronym meaning Forward-Looking Infra Red. The modern company (and their competitors) make thermal imaging systems that pick up infrared radiation to see in the dark.
fundoshi 褌
a traditional loincloth of twisted-up cotton; used as underwear. Ladies sometimes wear a version called a koshimaki instead.
fusuma 襖
sliding paper screens on wooden frames used to divide spaces into rooms in traditional Japanese houses. Unlike shoji these are not translucent and are somewhat more substantial, although not very, being a lattice of thin wood and cardboard covered with rice paper.
futon 布団
not only the frame-and-mattress affair that many people in the west are familiar with but also any sort of padded sleeping stuff - things like duvets/comforters are also futon.
Gaijin 外人
this is a word that literally means 'outside person', and is used for foreigners. Tellingly, some people are careful to change it to 'Gaikokujin', which means 'outside country person', in an attempt to force a change to the common Japanese antipathy to or rejection of foreigners. Personally I prefer 'gaijin' because it's natural language and describes the attitude of many people; 'gaikokujin' has all the same artificiality and inauthenticity as 'person of colour' (disclaimer: I’m white and this always seems a really sterile term, maybe it’s just my privilege). Foreigners are outsiders, in Japan or anywhere else; it's not like that's necessarily a bad thing. The issue isn't that someone's an outsider, it's what insiders do about it.
Gashira 頭
an 'officer' of the Yakuza, essentially a lieutenant.
Genkan 玄関
low, hard-floored area where shoes are removed on entering a Japanese home. Technically, you should place your shoes together pointing at the door at the inner edge of the genkan after removing them, or maybe put them in the nearby shoe cupboard.
Genki drink
A tiny bottle of some sort of healthful beverage, usually high in vitamins and maybe whatever superfood or weird thing is supposed to cure everything this week, named for the word 'genki' that usually means some combo of unbothered, flourishing, energetic and happy. Often they are surprisingly delicious; Chokola BB Sparkling and C1000 Lemon are recommended.
Geta 下駄
traditional wooden footwear, like wooden flipflops with pretty cloth straps; these are why tabi have a notch between the big toe and other toes. Indoor ones are usually soft-soled, outdoor versions have two vertical bars of wood as a sort of grip.
Haikyo 廃墟
An abandoned, perhaps ruined house. Like most places in the world young Japanese people in the country want to go to the big city. Unlike most places, the declining birthrate means they aren't being replaced with more young people. Small villages and rural communities are aging at an alarming rate. When people die in Japan, usually their house is demolished and the land sold by their descendents, but if no-one wants the land, it's a waste of money to demolish the house, so they simply sit and moulder away. On any trip into the country, or even in quieter neighbourhoods of otherwise busy towns, you'll see plenty of these dusty old places; some are simply a little too quiet (these are sometimes called Akiya 空き家), but on others the roof has fallen in and the whole place is downright dangerous to be around. Some surveys estimate there to be more than 8 million of these across Japan.
Hakama 袴
a skirt-like lower garment, usually split like culottes or large trousers. They are most commonly seen as part of kendo attire but are worn by men on formal occasions, and also by women for graduation.
Homologation
Rules of many motorsports demand that, to qualify a certain car as legal in that class of race, a manufacturer must create a certain number of base cars that are sold publicly as road cars. In most cases (like the Nissan 240RS), these are specially modified versions of existing models, but some unique race-bred models also see very limited sale as homologation models (for example the Ford RS200 or Lancia 037). Numbers vary; some racing series specify as few as 10, others as many as 5000. It has been known for production to never actually meet the numbers specified, too, as manufacturers have to spend a lot to make these cars and in many cases they are very costly for what amounts to a stripped-down track car that kind of sucks to drive on the road, and don't sell well. It exists mostly to stop manufacturers from making insanely powerful one-off cars that are limited only by their money; it's also the reason that a few lucky people are rolling around in road-legal racing cars.
Hanko 判子
in Japan signatures are not a thing. Instead, people carry this personal stamp which is used with red ink in most of the places signatures are used in other places. The name is for both the stamp itself and its imprint. These carry legal weight and can be registered with the local government as your personal authorisation for anything; this necessity for ink on paper for legal reasons in part explains the endurance of the fax machine in Japan; for example if you go and buy a mobile phone, your hanko on official documentation must be faxed to head office before you get to rent a line from the phone company.
Holzer method
A measurement of mechanical vibration, which applies to exhaust design; you want your exhaust to vibrate as little as possible, to avoid smashing it against the mounts, so designing the manifold with an eye toward controlling vibration and limiting wear over time can be very beneficial, particularly in applications where a turbo is installed in an originally non-turbo engine, or upgraded significantly beyond original spec.
Hostess bar
a bar with pretty girls who will have a conversation with guys if they pay them; you pay a cover charge and then by the hour, and you pay waaaay over the odds for drinks too. Incredible though it might seem, it's a real thing; arguably the hostesses are somewhat similar to Geisha of olden times - beautiful paid entertainers, skilled in social arts like conversation, games and karaoke. There are also gender swapped versions for women, with pretty boys doing the same sort of thing. These are not sexual services - at least not on the record. Maybe you might make an entirely private arrangement with someone you spend time with, but that's nothing to do with the management. That's their story and they stick to it.
Inari 稲荷
a major Kami in the shinto system, Inari is a trickster spirit who may grant your wishes, but at an unexpected cost. It is wise not to fuck with Inari, and wiser still not to wish for anything from her either.
Itasha 痛車
Cars (sha) with anime character designs that are painful (ita) in that they are unrestrained, ultra-garish or arguably just dreadfully tasteless, immature or cringe-inducing.
J-turn
rapid turning manoeuvre that begins in reverse, builds speed, the driver brakes and turns sharply and allows momentum to pull the front wheels around, whereupon the driver engages forward gear and pulls away. The rubber left on the road is J-shaped.
JDM
Japanese Domestic Market; originally used to distinguish export models of Japanese cars from models sold only in Japan, which obviously carry a certain exclusivity; in present usage it's evolved to sometimes also be a blanket term for Japanese cars in general. It's not unknown to hear 'USDM' for US-made cars that don't reach foreign countries as an evolution of this idea.
Jizo 地蔵
a distressingly common specific incarnation of Buddha (also called Ksitigarbha in sanskrit) that is dedicated to dead children, born or unborn. They can often be seen with knitted hats and bibs, offerings from distraught former parents. The lore says that Jizo safeguards children, pregnant mothers, firemen...and travellers.
Jorogumo ジョロウグモ
Trichonephila clavata, a fairly common and quite large spider found all over Japan, named for a monstrous woman-spider spirit from folklore. It has intricate and beautiful black and yellow-green markings, long thin legs and a vaguely polygonal abdomen. It makes multiplanar webs, which is to say actually three webs, with two of them made from strong, widely spaced threads and placed on each side of the main web, like guard rails to protect it from damage. It is nearly blind and catches prey mostly from sensing the vibrations in its web. It's an incredible and fascinating creature.
JSDF
Japan Self Defence Force. Some would say it's a euphemism for the Japanese army; others would point to the renunciation of aggression that is enshrined in the written constitution of Japan and loved by many of its citizens. Either way, it is largely a well-equipped and modern military force of significant size, divided as most militaries are by battlespace into the Japan Ground Self Defence Force, Japan Maritime Self Defence Force and Japan Air Self Defence Force. The main weakness of the JSDF is lack of experience; the troops are rarely exposed to combat in any way as the constitution prohibits this except in national self-defence.
Kaicho 会長
Chairperson; used both for large corporate boards and Yakuza syndicates. Funny, that. Similar to the word 'kumicho' (see below) it refers to the suffix used for different types of Yakuza organisations. For more on this in the world of Deliverance, see the note on Yakuza structure and culture.
Kami 神
something between a spirit and a god; it varies. There are supposedly 8 million of them in Japan, and their natures and characters vary hugely. Some are very localised, like the spirit of a tree or a stone; others are similar to the Greek gods of legend, powerful and capricious patrons, guardians and general supernatural movers and shakers. They are the focus of the Shinto religion, and shrines are usually the home of a particular kami.
Karepan カレーパン
Curry-filled bread with flaky breadcrumbs on the outside; imagine something like a jam doughnut, but savoury and with a rich mild curry where there would be jam. Filling, pleasant and cheap.
Kei-car 軽自動車
a small vehicle of no more than 660cc engine size, no more than 3.4m length, 1.48m width and 2m height, carrying no more than 4 people or 350kg of cargo. Most are sold in Japan only, but occasionally a model escapes, for example the Suzuki Alto is a kei car in Japan but sold with a 1 Litre engine overseas. They are popular not only because of the lower tax and insurance they qualify for but also because they are excellent for the road conditions of Japan, which are slower than many places and the roads often smaller. They are also exceptionally fuel-efficient. The class includes just about every subtype of car. Pronunciation note: sounds like the name of the letter K.
Keiretsu 系列
After WWII the US occupation decided to cripple Japan's ability to produce military hardware, so the large corporations like Mitsubishi which had relied on their vastly diversified subsidiary companies which they controlled directly in a structure known as a Zaibatsu, were outlawed. These companies then reorganised into a more separated form of vastly diversified company known as a Keiretsu. Sony is a great example; it became known for consumer electronics, but has banks, clinics, insurance firms, software houses, movie studios and plenty more; they are all Sony, but each arm is nominally independent. Mitsubishi and Hitachi are recognisable global Keiretsu
Kel-Tec PF9
a cheap subcompact gun designed for the US concealed carry crowd, with a slim plastic frame, chambered for 9x19mm Parabellum rounds. It has no safety features beyond a very heavy trigger, to make it simple and fast to bring into action.
Kimber Warrior II
a .45ACP calibre handgun based on the Colt 1911 but designed for more specialised shooters like competitive shooters, SWAT teams and special forces users; it has a low magazine capacity but is highly ergonomic, very well made and capable of superb accuracy in the hands of a good shooter. Unlike the original brown version, this model is black, with an accessory rail under the barrel for lights. Neil's has an Inforce tactical light on the rail and tritium night-sights.
Kenmeri ケンメリ
The 1973 generation of Nissan Skyline coupe known by the chassis code KPGC110 is most often referred to as the Kenmeri, thanks to the somewhat odd but memorable advertising that featured an idealised couple named Ken and Mary frolicking in their Skyline. The top-spec GT-R version are some of the rarest in the Skyline lineage, due to debuting at almost the same time as the 1973 oil crisis that made high-spec sports cars a luxury even fewer people could afford, meaning the model sold terribly and was quickly retired. These are probably my favourite generation of Skylines, but the rarity (just 197 made) is not the point; they are amazing looking cars, resembling classic American muscle cars but retaining most of the traditional Skyline quirks too.
Kimono 着物
The stunning and beautiful traditional clothing of Japan, this is a garment with a thousand-year-plus history and a dizzying array of styles, details and subtleties; people go to classes to understand how to wear them. While it's rare that they are worn often in modern society, they are still frequently seen and worn for special occasions by many.
kintsugi 金継ぎ
Japan has many ceramic traditions but this may be the most unusual. It consists of repairing broken pieces of a cup or other vessel with molten gold, or gold-based lacquer (or sometimes silver, in which case it is gintsugi), resulting in a unique artwork embuing an ordinary cup with staggering value and wholly unique beauty. The practice is seen as itself having importance in zen elating to the nature of death, rebirth and how and why we perceive and revise our concepts of value, particularly since some potters purposefully make, break and remake pots with this process intended all along.
Kobun 子分
a term for a recruit into a Yakuza organisation. Recruits must be sponsored by a relatively senior member (see 'Oyabun', below and also this page on Yakuza) and have a personal, mentor-like relationship with them; 'Ko' in this word refers to 'child'.
Konbini コンビニ
this is what happens to the name 'convenience store' when it's pronounced in a Japanese accent and portmanteau'd by a language that doesn't lend itself well to abbreviations or acronyms.
Koureisha mark 高齢者マーク
a sticker or magnet that denotes elderly drivers, with two types: the old style one is a yellow and orange teardrop shape; the newer is a four-lobe design in yellow, orange and two shades of green. It was changed because the older one, resembling a fallen autumn leaf, implies impending death. Outside Japan, the koureisha is popular with drivers of Japanese classics. See also its counterpart, the Wakaba Mark, below.
Kumicho 組長
Yakuza boss. Marlon Brando, if The Godfather were about Yakuza, basically. Note this should really be 'kumichou', with a long vowel, but that was how I saw it romanised first in multiple places and it's too late now... The word 'kumi' is a voiced version of the suffix '-gumi', e.g. Hirabayashi-gumi to mean group.
Kuromaku 黒幕
A covert yakuza fixer, trusted by the top leadership to fix problems as quietly as possible. This may involve violence, but might equally require negotiation or intelligence gathering, making it a demanding role roughly equivalent to a secret agent of some sort.
Kuroneko クロネコ
A major courier firm. The name means 'black cat' and their logo is a rather charming graphic of a mother cat carrying a kitten in her mouth.
Lancia (the tragedy of)
you can look up why Lancia (this is pronounced 'Lan-cha') is legendary for yourself; suffice it to say they were champions in their field many times. But after the Fiat-Chrysler merger, the brass didn't know what to do with the brand, the 2008 crash meant a relaunch was cancelled and after that they were used largely for badge-engineered Chrysler models in mainland Europe. Now they make only one model, the Ypsilon, an ugly and unremarkable small hatchback sold only in Italy, the only thing that keeps the brand alive. At least Autobianchi, Matra, Saab and Plymouth fans know for sure those firms are really gone; but there's still that tiny cruel chance Lancia will one day do something great again that keeps us hanging on.
Lovu-lovu
a fond romantic relationship where the parties involved are particularly overt.
Meiji 明治
The emperor who in 1868 ended the isolation of Japan and forced in reforms aimed at modernising the country, and whose name is given to the era of his reign from 1868.10.23 to 1912.07.30. He brought in experts from around the world and sent talented natives overseas to learn, and in so doing began the process that turned Japan from an isolated near-feudal backwater into one of the planet's largest export economies within the space of 120 years.
Momiji 紅葉
Acer japonicum, a tree usually called Japanese maple outside Japan. A tree with many small, many-branched leaves, often a bright green or a maroon shade. Extremely elegant, and quite common.
Mon 紋
a family crest forming the basis of Japanese heraldry. Usually a circular monochrome line-art design with designs derived from nature, tools or kanji.
Montsuki 紋付
the jacket-like portion of traditional formal male kimono. It is usually black, navy or dark green and has the family mon on each shoulder and the back.
Mozu モズ
see Pies-grièches
Nagajuban 長襦袢
a light cotton undergarment worn beneath kimono, of a similar shape; functionally like a petticoat or slip, except covering most of the body.
Ninkyō Dantai 任侠団体
This is the name Yakuza use to refer to themselves; it essentially translates to "chivalrous organizations", and refers to their origins as mutual assistance groups for discriminated-against groups such as peddlars, gamblers, burakumin and resident foreigners, and their persisting policy of taking in outcasts and giving them an organisation of their own.
Norma MHP
Monolithic Hollow Point ammunition made by swedish ammo maker Norma, a reliable bullet that expands on impact for increased damage but doesn't break apart as much as normal hollow points.
Obi 帯
The broad belt and associated accessories of kimono, usually a contrasting or complimentary colour.
Ocha お茶
Green tea (cha) with an honourific prefix (o). The British 'cup of char' comes from this word.
Onigiri おにぎり 🍙！
A chunk of rice, usually with something like fish or vegetables inside, wrapped in a sheet of crispy seaweed. The word is sometimes mistranslated as 'rice ball' when in fact they are rarely ball-shaped and are much better and more interesting than that would suggest. Normally triangular, sometimes cylindrical, occasionally spherical (in which case they will likely have no filling). Perfect as travelling food, being small, convenient, filling, energy-rich, healthy and tasty, they are available from almost every convenience store and supermarket and their packaging is a marvel of everyday engineering.
Onsen 温泉
Baths fed by geothermal hot springs, meant for relaxing rather than cleaning the body. They often have unusual mineral composition in the water meaning each can be a unique experience. They make for good destinations for 'grown-up' days out. Confusingly the word also refers to a hot spring as a geographical feature, but the bath is the main point for most people.
OpSec
Common abbreviation in espionage circles for Operational Security - being careful about what you say and where and to whom you say it. On the assumption that telephones are inherently insecure, Neil and Maon routinely follow a protocol of avoiding using names on the phone, referring to e.g. Suzu as 'Herself'.
Oyabun 親分
A senior mobster who acts as a sponsor and mentor for a new recruit to an organisation (see Kobun, above), guiding them in how to conduct themselves within the politics of the syndicate and in business. The 'oya' here refers to 'parent'.
Pachinko パチンコ
Since gambling is illegal in Japan, this is what people do instead. Pachinko is a form of vertical bagatelle; you vary the power with which a steel ball is launched into the machine. Landing it in certain places wins you more balls. You can exchange the balls for prizes, or their cash equivalents. A pachinko parlour might have hundreds of machines, all of which have the same glitz as a pinball machine - they are deafeningly loud and bright places.
Parc Ferme
a secure area where rally cars are held, in which participants may not work on them outside of allotted maintenance time.
Pies-grièches
French name for the Lanius genus of small carnivorous birds; usually called Shrikes, also called Butcher Birds, since they catch small prey and impale them, either for easy dismemberment or for later consumption. Not baked goods. Since Shigeko Hirokawa's organisation are heavily into protection rackets, they adopted this name; put a business on a spike and eat them piece by piece or entirely devour them later. Shrikes are also known for preying on large invertebrates, like spiders or mantises.
PIT Manoeuvre
the Pursuit Intervention Technique (or maybe Precision Immobilisation Tactic, or perhaps Push It Tough; it's one of those acronyms) is a police driving move where the pursuing car laterally rams their front wing/fender into the rear wing/fender of the forward car and applies steady pressure, aiming to make the forward car spin and stop/crash. Steering into the pressure can help but the best counter is to speed up or slow down, or better still don't let the pursuers make contact in the first place. If it's successful, assuming you don't crash, the best defence is an immediate transition to a J-turn.
Rasetsunyo 羅刹女
The Japanese translation of a sanskrit word (Rakshasa, or rather Rakshasi for female ones) for a creature common to Hindu and Buddhist lore. They were fierce humanoids somewhere adjacent to a vampire, known to have fearsome fangs, claws and be partial to eating humans, and also fearsome in battle and skilled in illusion and other magic. Interestingly, despite these traits, they are not portrayed as exclusively bad, and in myth heroic Rakshasa were well known. In particular there is a story of a significant bodhisatva with ten highly enlightened rasetsunyo daughters, which mutates in Shinto lore to a group of enlightened saints who are simultaneously fierce half-monsters.
The all-female Yokohama gang named after these characters has long disappeared, subsumed into Inayoshi-kai entirely, but the gang had their own tattoo culture. Members had the sanskrit राक्षस at the base of the sternum and/or the inner thigh - it made cops look like they were molesting or raping their suspects if they were shaken down in public. Yamashita's sternum tattoo has been integrated into the trees around her torso.
Regularity Rally
this is a rather sedate form of competition also known as a TSD event (for Time, Speed, Distance) which is pretty common for classic cars. The organisers set a route and waypoints with times, and from that the competitors need to calculate and adhere to a given time for the distance they are travelling and thus regulate their speed to match this. In the case of most such events this allows classic cars, including really old cars incapable of modern racing speeds, to have a legal competition on the public road; it doesn't stress the old cars and instead rewards careful, skilled driving.
Ryokan 旅館
A traditional inn or guesthouse, frequently found in more traditional tourist spots like onsen towns or culturally significant places. These usually come in one of two forms; one is old, cheap and rather shabby, often a family business or a more old-fashioned alternative to a westernised hotel. The second is usually architect-designed, painfully stylish, sensually luxurious and obscenely pricey, the sort of place that prides itself on showcasing Japanese-style hospitality, known as omotenashi, often with a slight modern twist.
Saikokanbu 最古幹部
The circle of yakuza bosses immediately below the Kumicho; regional heads, with considerable power of their own. In the Inayoshi-kai, being a syndicate of allied yakuza organisations, the Saikokanbu members are all Kumicho or their Wakagashira in their own right.
Sanmaru 三丸
an affectionate name for the R30-code Nissan Skyline (san = three, maru = zero).
Sakura 桜
the cherry trees for which Japanese spring is famous; the blossoms are forecast and the degree of openness is expressed in percent on national news, such is the cultural significance of this event. The concept is a realisation of the whole mono no aware thing (see above) - the blossoms' nature as transient, fleeting, incomplete and imperfect embodies this concept really well.
Saya 鞘
scabbard for a sword or knife.
Scavenging
An engine exhaust design concept whereby the manifold follows the firing order of the engine's cylinders with precisely calculated lengths of ducting coming from each cylinder, and escaping exhaust gas pulses create negative pressure waves that help pull the gas from the next cylinder and the new fuel/air mix in for the next piston cycle. Put simply, rather than use engine power to blow exhaust out, the engine sucks the exhaust out of itself, reducing power loss. It really helps in turbo applications.
Scrutineer
a race official whose job it is to check your car complies with the rules. You are likely to need a good level of technical knowledge to do this properly.
Seijin no Hi 成人の日
a moveable feast on which people turning 20 celebrate becoming an adult, celebrated on whatever day is the second Monday of January each year. People go to a shrine and pray; ladies often wear kimono in an adult style, with a hair pin decorated with dangling strings of shells.
Seiza 正座
the traditional formal kneeling posture, usually adopted on tatami floors. The legs are bent double beneath the body and the back is kept straight and vertical, with the shin and top of the foot flat on the floor. The hands go on the thigh or loosely overlap in the lap. This is painful for a lot of westerners, who never had to do this in school; based on this, you will often see Japanese people sitting with their feet splayed out to each side when they sit on a floor, in the sort of situations where western people might cross their legs.
Sentō 銭湯
A public bathhouse. Not to be confused with an onsen (see above), a sento is focused on getting clean, and rarely features naturally hot water. That said it can also be relaxing, like any bath. A staple of Showa-era post-war hardships and working neighbourhoods where apartments had no cleaning facilities of their own, they are increasingly rare in the modern world, but still have a following.
Shichi-Go-San 七五三
Festival celebrating kids who are three, five and seven years old, held on the 15th of November each year, dating back to when these were important milestones for kids to survive past.
Shide 四手
folded paper decorations that hang from the shimenawa.
Shimenawa しめ縄
rope seen hung across the altars and torii of Shinto shrines and around sacred places or objects like Kami stones and trees.
Shirasaya 白鞘
Plain furniture (hilt, scabbard etc. - anything that's not the actual blade) for swords and knives without a guard or any ornamental fixtures, often used for storing a blade, as opposed to the more ornate fixtures on 'working' swords worn with armour. Often unfinished wood, sometimes laquered. They were sometimes used to disguise swords as walking sticks following the sword ban of the early Meiji era. Yamashita’s sword is made in this style.
Shōji 障子
the traditional sliding translucent paper and wood screens used in place of windows in traditional Japanese homes and covering windows in traditional 'Japanese rooms' in modern houses; sometimes also mounted inside as room dividers like fusuma.
Shōwa 昭和
The era of Japanese history from 1926 to 1989, following the Taisho era, and preceding the Heisei era; incredibly eventful times for the country, including the pre-1945 period leading up to the war and the war itself, and the post-1945 period, including the US occupation and the 'Japanese economic miracle'. Given the long lives of the Japanese generally, this era is well remembered still, and fondly too - including in some cases the absolute monarchy and militaristic aggression of the pre-war period, unfortunately.
Shōtengai 商店街
a public street that's pedestrianised and turned into a covered shopping arcade full of little shops, but also bars and restaurants too sometimes. They often change character between night and day, being bustling and family-friendly in the day and seedy, red-light-districtish at night. Nowadays large stores have poached some of the business so they can be rather run-down. They often still have vehicle access for deliveries and so on, but cars don't drive along them normally.
Snakku スナック
this rendering of 'snack bar' is a name for something like a hostess bar, but more downmarket/seedy. A lot more likely to quietly be a brothel, or at least lead on to that sort of thing, but it might also be fairly above-board.
Soapland ソープランド
a name for the closest thing to a legal brothel in Japan, in the guise of a place offering erotic massage where the 'masseurs' wash their clients and massage them with their whole bodies; orgasm might occur but officially speaking, no penetration happens. At least, not when anyone official is around, and that's reliable, of course.
SP
Security Police - diplomatic protection cops; the Japanese answer to the US Secret Service or British Protection Command (SO1, SO14 and SO16). They guard the prime minister and cabinet ministers, and wear sharp suits and shades to do it. They also carry actually somewhat effective sidearms (a custom version of the SIG P230), unlike the majority of cops.
Sten Gun
The British, largely isolated during WWII and with low resources, designed the Sten series to necessarily be as simple and easy to build, use and store as possible, allowing them approximately the sort of firepower that German units enjoyed with their MP40 submachine guns at a relative fraction of the cost. It's not an especially accurate gun, but it is remarkably easy to make, can be disassembled into a package about the size of a computer keyboard and is highly reliable and easy to shoot. It's a masterpiece of design, millions were manufactured and not only supplied to troops but also widely airdropped for resistance groups, and plans to build them are available easily, making it a plausible weapon in virtually any context. The simple stamped steel design was one of the most influential things to happen in gun design for many years, as prior to this most guns were made with much more costly, slower and resource-intensive methods like milling out solid pieces of steel, where this simply calls for cheap sheet steel for most of the construction.
Stinger
A piece of low-tech vehicle interception equipment that's basically a line of spikes across the road, usually on a chain or retractable mechanism (police like to use the retractable ones to burst a target car's tyres, then quickly retract it to allow pursuers to keep their tyres intact). There are commercial versions, but anyone with a chain, a bunch of nails, welding skills and patience can manufacture something similar. Loose versions scattered on the road are usually called caltrops, and date back to medieval times. Usually it's deployed from a stationary position, but who knows what you could rig up, for example by running a chain between a Porsche and a Skyline?
Stradale
an Italian word meaning 'road', used on homologation models to distinguish the car from the racing version (e.g. Lancia Delta S4 Stradale is the road car, and just Lancia Delta S4 is the racing version); hence the name of the garage where Suzu used to work.
Suzumebachi スズメバチ
Vespa mandarinia, the insect variously known as the Japanese Hornet, Giant Asian Hornet or more recently as Murder Hornet. They're beautiful, if like me you like insects, but do not fuck with them. Tip: if they start flying in a figure-of-eight (or rather an infinity symbol), run the hell away. That's a warning that they're going to attack.
T-top
Performance cars need a stiff chassis; making a fast convertible is therefore a lot harder than just lopping the roof off as the roof often plays an important role in stiffening the whole car, and convertibles are often heavier than their coupe counterparts because of the extra stiffening that needs to be added in the conversion. The T-top is an attempt at a compromise, amounting to a coupe with removable roof sections above both occupants but which retains a structural central beam between the top of the windscreen and the top of the back window. It was particularly popular in American sports cars of the '70s and '80s but never really caught on much outside the USA and is seen as a dated idea nowadays.
Taishō (era) 大正
An era of modern Japanese history from 1912 to 1926, . Eras follow the reigns of emperors; Taisho, Showa, Heisei, Reiwa. Deliverance is set in the tail end of Heisei, though (2017 = Heisei 27).
Tanto 短刀
the smallest of the three traditional weapons of a samurai, essentially a large sheath knife. Unlike the katana and wakizashi, the tanto was usually short enough that it had little or no appreciable curve.
Tanuki 狸
Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus, a racoon-like beast which is fairly similar to a fox in terms of the position it occupies in the ecosystem. They're big in folklore too and are said to be mischievous shapeshifters. They are famed for their large testicles. This is not a joke.
T.E.E.
see Trans Europe Express, below.
Tonbi 鳶
Milvus migrans lineatus, known in English as a Black Kite, these raptors are pretty common in mountain areas of Japan, and many other places. They're Neil's favourite animals because of the way they spiral and glide apparently effortlessly on the thermals and calmly watch the world below, spread out like a map, looking for prey, threats or something to scavenge, and have a beautiful warbling cry. Neil usually watches for them in mountain country; he considers them a good omen. Among military people, the bird is sometimes called a shitehawk as it will happily scavenge from rubbish heaps near mountain bases.
Torii 鳥居
a prayer gate. Traditionally made from wood painted red-orange, although other stone or metal ones are also seen. Common at the gates and approaches to the altars of shrines.
Trans Europe Express (T.E.E.)
A train network serving most European cities in the post-war 20th century.
An album by German electro pioneers Kraftwerk, from a song about the train network. Check out both the original German version and the English one if you haven't heard it, it's awesome.
An underground race, run by the best of the best among European underworld drivers. It’s different every time, with complicated rules, is invitational in nature and usually has a theme of some sort and takes place across several stages in various countries of Europe. Not dissimilar to events like the original Gumball Rally or Cannonball Run, this is not a race for a prize, it’s a race for the sake of the race.
Umeshu 梅酒
An alcoholic drink made by placing ume (a sour green fruit lying somewhere on the stone-centred spectrum between plum and greengage, which needs to be cooked to be eaten) in shochu (a spirit similar to vodka) and leaving it for some months. The resulting drink is sweet, sticky, fairly strong (about 15% abv, on average) and complicated. Often drunk over ice or straight. This, specificially the Kishu label made by Choya, is Neil's preferred form of booze.
vignette
A sticker attached to car windows, much like a parking sticker, that indicates pre-payment of tolls for things like high-speed roads and tunnels; this system is used in several European countries.
Voobing
A verb from older video games meaning to smoothly transition from minimum to maximum brightness and back in a loop. This is a perfect word to describe the slow, steady fade and return of the red lights required by law to be installed on top of tall structures in Japan; the words 'flash' or 'blink' don't really fit, and the transition is visibly gradual. They're also oddly relaxing.
Wakagashira 若頭
The first lieutenant of a Yakuza group, second to the Kumicho.
Wakaba mark (若葉マーク)
a distinctive yellow and green sticker, also called a Shoshinsha mark (初心者マーク) in the shape of an elongated chevron that can be found on the backs of some cars. It warns other cars that the driver has newly passed their test, is inexperienced or is just not very good at driving; it is designed to look like a new leaf just beginning to open (hence the name, meaning young leaf). Outside of Japan, it's popular with JDM fans, particularly drifters, given how hard it is to control a car going sideways. See also the counterpart, a koureisha mark, above.
Wakizashi 脇差
a short sword, traditionally carried alongside a longer sword (a katana). It's generally assumed the wakizashi was mostly for indoor or close-quarters fighting, whereas the larger katana was more of a battlefield weapon.
Yankee ヤンキー
This doesn't have the same meaning as English; in Japanese usage this refers to, basically, yobs/hooligans/hell-raisers of any stripe, but not necessarily actual criminals. People who are more interested in looking like bad guys than actually behaving like bad guys, essentially; bad guy poseurs, the kind of people my wife calls ‘naughty boys’. While you might never rumble an actual Yakuza, a Yankee would stick out immediately.
Etymologically-speaking, this is the lasting legacy of American military occupation; on the one hand they gave Japan baseball and to this day act as a deterrent to invaders or aggressors against the country, but on the other the reality of it is that their behaviour inspired this word, and if you talk to the people living around the Okinawa bases, still does.
Yansha ヤン車
The kind of car a Yankee (above) would drive; cut-price villain cars, essentially. Maybe it's an old Skyline with a bent number plate, or a loud Civic with underlighting, or perhaps a Nissan Elgrand or Toyota Vellfire with tinted windows and silly aftermarket aero. Whatever it is, it's probably a bit stereotypical and unsubtle, but also not particularly serious.
Yen 円
Japanese money; remarkable in that the sub-unit (sen, like pence or cents) is not used outside share trading, since one yen is worth very little. Where the British have pound shops and the Americans have dollar stores, the Japanese have hundred-yen shops (but that's without tax…).
Yukata 浴衣
A light cotton version of the kimono designed for summer wear, particularly at summer evening festivals, or casual wear indoors. They are often provided in hotels where a bathrobe might be in a western hotel, but can be worn outside; convenience stores beside hotels often get guests wearing them coming in to pick up food.
Yumi 弓
a bow, used in traditional Zen archery (Kyūdō). This is a fairly popular club activity in high schools and is much more a meditation than it is a target sport, the focus being to perform the actions of preparing, drawing, aiming and loosing the arrow perfectly, and the natural consequence of this perfect action being an accurate hit.
'zoku
see Bosozoku above.