Liner Notes

Volume 13: Innocence and Experience

• Bujin- Literally, "martial man." A man who studies martial arts of any sort.
  
  
• Banzai- Trivia: The "cheer" meaning that most Americans know isn't the only definition in J-J dictionaries. It can also mean a long time or prospering for a long time. In old Japanese, it was pronounced "banzei."
  
  
• Tenken- "Heaven-Sword." I would guess that the best sounding translation would be "heavenly sword."
  
  
• waraji- An old Japanese slipper made from straw. The sole is in the shape of one's foot, and two strings that come out from the toe end of the sole are laced through loops on the side to secure them to the feet.
  
  
• Wakizashi- A type of long dagger that is usually located on one's belt, usually as accompaniment to a longer sword (and that's why its literal translation would be "side stand")
  
  
• sen- A monetary unit in Japan. 1/100 of one yen. Not much use now, other than the yen-dollar exchange rate (and other economic thingie doos...)
  
  
• ojisan- A generic term for a man older than you, or any middle-aged man. The same term can mean "uncle," but you can call some older guy an "ojisan" as well. Though, if the age difference isn't that great you're better off calling that guy an "oniisan" (older brother) even if he's not really your brother.
  
  
• kusouzu- Literally, "smell (bad connotations) - water." As explained by Yumi's line that follows, its the slang term in old Japan for petroleum.
  
  
• high-collar- A "japlish" term meaning "one who pretends to be western in lifestyle, or one who follows the trends." I think the word stems from the fact that western dress shirts had higher collars than the Japanese kimono - so that anyone who went "western" in dress (and their lifestyles) were following the latest fads, and were "high-collar." The Japanese who were cynical of this westernization wrote it the term (pronounced "haikara") as "ash-shell." The opposite of "haikara" is "bankara," which means "one who leads a mundane/retro lifestyle."