It’s inevitable that I’m going to use Japanese words and film terms that aren’t in common usage in English. While I won’t go into detail when I use them in the blog after the first time, here are the explanations for any word I’ve written in italics, or that isn’t in common usage.

ABSOLUTE FILM: An art movement from 1920s Germany, where artists made abstract films without plot or inherent meaning. The Nazis snuffed it out, along with many other artistic movements, once they rose to power.

BANZAI: It’s best to translate this as “hurrah”, but the literal meaning is “Ten Thousand Years”. As with so many Japanese ideas, the Imperial Japanese government corrupted it to serve their own purposes during the Fifteen Years War.

BENSHI: A narrator who would read out text appearing on the film screen, including acting out dialogue where necessary. They would also explain any non-Japanese ideas, locations and other “exotica” before the film started.

CHAGAMA: A cast-iron teakettle, used since the 15th century as part of a traditional method of making tea. Tanuki transform into them, but as soon as the kettle gets hot, they transform back very quickly.

DANGO: A small round dumpling, made of a mix of rice flour and glutinous rice flour. Restaurants and food carts sell them in groups of three or five on a skewer, along with various sweeteners. There are as many variations of dango as there are kinds of doughnuts.

GEISHA: Professional companions. Women who wear traditional Japanese clothing and white-powder face makeup, who provide non-sexual company and entertainment, almost always for men.

ERO GURO NANSENSU: The name given to a 1930s counter-culture movement in Japan, and of an artistic movement that focused on the ideas of “erotic grotesque nonsense”, which is where the name comes from.

HACHIMAKI: It means “helmet-scarf”. It’s a plain white scarf emblazoned with Japanese writing and the Rising Sun. While it’s inextricably bound up with the idea of Japanese WW2 pilots in the UK and America, they’re still worn today by sportspeople and those wishing to evoke national pride.

HIRAGANA: One of the four Japanese writing systems, used to make pronunciation of native Japanese words more clear. Each character represents either a vowel, the “n” sound, or a consonant-vowel pair.

HUQIN: A Chinese musical instrument. A spike fiddle; it has a box at the bottom that amplifies the sound, and a long neck with two strings to play the notes on.

JIDAEGEKI: Literally “period drama”, it specifically means any story set in Japan between the 14th and 19th centuries CE, before the Meiji Restoration (see below). They don’t all involve heroic samurai and closing swordfights, but that’s the cliche.

JURŌJIN: The Taoist God of longevity and wisdom. Usually portrayed as an old man with white hair and beard, holding a staff. One of the Seven Gods Of Fortune (see below, once more than one of them show up in animation).

KABUKI: Despite my slightly dismissive description in a footnote, this is a theatrical artform which is part drama, part dance, and part bright make-up and masks. Women invented it in 1603, the Japanese government banned women from it in 1629, and now it’s a staple of high Japanese culture.

KAIJU: Literally meaning “strange beast”, the term refers to any giant monster which spends its time destroying major cities. King Kong was the first to become famous, but Japan’s most famous kaiju remains Godzilla.

KAMIKAZE: Literally “divine wind”, it refers to the Japanese tactic of loading an aircraft up with explosives, sticking a pilot in it, and flying the thing directly into an enemy warship. In a horrible echo of a war to come, the average age of kamikaze pilots was 19.

KAMISHIBAI: “Paper Theatre”, a form of street entertainment for children that was popular from the 1930s onwards, until television eclipsed it.

KANJI: One of the four Japanese writing systems, using Chinese characters. Each character represents a single word, or part of a compound word. It’s the primary script used in Japan, including on Japanese Wikipedia.

KAPPA: Small, greenish, water-dwelling humanoids. These youkai have duck-like beaks, and a saucer of water on their heads that weakens them, if it’s empty. Often shown with turtle shells on their backs. One of the Big Three Youkai (see below).

KATAKANA: One of the four Japanese writing systems, used to make pronunciation of foreign loanwords and calques more clear. Each character represents either a vowel, the “n” sound, or a consonant-vowel pair.

KENDO: Meaning “way of the sword”, Kendo is a martial art that relatively safely simulates actual sword combat. It involves wielding bamboo swords and wearing special protective armour, and originated in the Shotoku Era (1711–1715).

MANCHUKUO: Between 1932-1945, a Japanese puppet state on the Asian mainland, in an area currently controlled by China. The only countries which ever recognised it were Japan and the other Axis nations.

MASUMUNE Gorō (1264-1343): One of Japan’s two Great Bladesmiths. His swords are real and sit in museums around Japan, but his legends are the root of countless stories, in anime and outside.

MEIJI RESTORATION: In 1868, the Emperor Meiji overthrew Japan’s military government and restored power to the Imperial throne. It began the modernisation of Japanese society, ending the country’s feudal period.

MOCHI: A rice-cake made by pounding glutinous rice into a paste, usually in a special mortar.

MOE: A word coined in Japan in the late 1980s to describe a strong attachment to something or someone. By extension, a word describing a character designed to evoke that feeling.

MONOGATARI: The traditional Epic Form of Japanese literature. Studios use the word if they’re adapting of classical texts such as “The Tale Of The Bamboo Cutter”. It’s also used when epic texts are translated into Japanese: for example, “The Lord Of The Rings” was translated to “Yubiwa Monogatari”.

NATTO: A breakfast food and side dish, made from fermenting whole soybeans in a specific bacterium. Some people love it, and some loathe it. It occupies the same place in Japanese culture that Marmite, haggis and grits do, elsewhere.

NICHIRIN BUDDHISM: A Japanese branch of Buddhism which involves chanting while focusing on a holy object. It originated in the 13th century, but by the 20th it had become significantly linked with Japanese nationalism.

OMOMORI: Protective amulets in Shinto, sold in temples. To a European eye, they resemble ornate bookmarks.

ONDO: A traditional form of Japanese music, with a swung 2/2 rhythm. You’ll hear it in a lot of anime title sequences.

ONI: Red-skinned ogres, with huge fangs and a single horn on their heads. These youkai are known for their strength and fighting prowess, and are often connected with lightning. Usually portrayed in tiger-skin loincloths. One of the Big Three Youkai.

OTAKU: A term for a dedicated fan of something. Sometimes self-applied positively, but more commonly used as an insulting term by someone outside the relevant subculture. You can translate it into English as “geek” or “nerd”, but is more insulting than either word manages to be in English.

PALANQUIN: A covered carrying litter, usually for one person. Between two and eight people carry it, for the convenience of the rich person inside.

RIKISHI: A professional sumo wrestler. Yes, that’s where the WWF wrestler took his name from.

ROMAJI: One of the four Japanese writing systems, using Latin characters as we do in English.

RŌNIN: A samurai with no lord or master. Taken literally, it means “migrant” or “wanderer”.

SAKE: A fermented rice wine, traditionally served warm. It has more alcohol in it than western wines, but far less than in spirits like vodka.

SEPPUKU: Also known as “harikiri”, this is an act of ritual suicide, carried out by a samurai on the orders of his master. I won’t go into any more detail.

SHAMISEN: A three-stringed traditional Japanese instrument, played with a plectrum called a “bachi”. It’s nothing like a banjo.

SHINTO: A belief system common in Japan, primarily connected to a belief in spiritual beings called “kami”. Entire libraries exist arguing if it’s a religion or not, or if it’s a branch of Buddhism or not.

SUMO: A traditionally male-only full-contact wrestling style, which takes place in a circular ring. The two wrestlers or rikishi must force each other down, or out of the ring. It’s existed in some form since 712 AD, but the modern competitive sport began in 1925. Your writer is a big fan.

TAIATARI: Literally meaning “body strike”, this is a kendo (ibid) attack, where one fighter uses their body to knock their opponent out of their defensive stance. By extension, the phrase was used in 1942 for a supposed suicide attack on an American warship by a fully laden bomber aircraft. A much more common term would follow: “kamikaze”.

TANUKI: An real animal, often referred to as a “raccoon-dog”, although they’re more closely related to foxes. In folklore, they’re shapeshifters with enormous testicles. They’re more mischievous than malicious, usually.

TENGU: While it literally means “heavenly dog”, this youkai varies more in appearance than any other. Sometimes it’s a crow-goblin, or a monkey-demon. But most often it’s a humanoid with a bright red face and an impossibly huge nose. One of the Big Three Youkai.

TOKUSATSU: Literally meaning “special filming”, this is a broad category of films and eventually TV shows that rely on special effects and special costumes to work. The biggest names in the genre are giant monster franchises “Godzilla” and “Gamera”, and superhero series like “Kamen Rider” and “Super Sentai”. After several false starts, Haim SABAN would import “Super Sentai” to the West as “Power Rangers” in 1993.

TONARIGUMI: Neighbourhood mutual aid groups, of about 10-15 households, set up by the Japanese government in 1940. In theory, they were meant to make fire-fighting and civil defence easier. In practice, they were laced with informants who made sure any thought-crimes were reported to the authorities. They were abolished in 1947, by the American Occupation forces.

TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi (1537-1598): Born into the peasant class, Toyotomi schemed and fought to become Imperial Regent, the most powerful man in Japan. One of the most important rulers of the Warring States period of Japan.

URASHIMA TARŌ: A folktale dating back to the 8th century. A fisherman saves a turtle, and is taken to the Sea King’s undersea palace as a reward. While there, he’s gifted with a magic box that he mustn’t open under any circumstances. Upon returning to the surface, he finds that a century has passed. So he opens the box, and instantly becomes an old man.

YATAI: Japan’s term for a mobile food stall. They’ve been in use since the 17th century, and they’re usually one-person affairs made of wood and steel. They sell grilled food and alcoholic drinks. They’re only really used in Fukuoka in the south, these days.

YOUKAI: A vast range of spirits and other strange entities, which form the bedrock of Japanese mythology and folktalkes. Three of the most popular are the Kappa, Oni and Tengu; details are above.

YUKI-ONNA: A youkai, who appears as a tall, beautiful woman with long black hair and blue lips. She only appears on snowy nights, and her folktales are all about the threat of winter, although she can be persuaded to let her victims go.