Glossary

afuri: A word among others in the tale that are not explained.

Ama Otome: Said to be the deity of Nijūsanya; see Nijūsanya.

amanojaku or amanjaku: A demon with feminine attributes.

ame: Sweet gluten.

an: Sweet bean paste.

anmochi: mochi covered with sweet bean paste; see mochi.

Aomori Gongen: See Gongen.

asanarō or asunarō: A magic plant.

Atago: A deity associated with ancestral worship.

azuki: A small red bean.

Azuki rice: Red beans steamed with glutenous rice for a festive occasion (also called sekihan).

Bashū-no-shū: Worship related to the head of a horse.

Benjo-no-kami: See kami.

Biwa: A lute.

bonboko: See bunbuku.

bosama: See zatō.

botamochi: See ohagi.

bu: One percent or a coin of low denomination.

Buddha: A great Buddhist deity, often referred to as Hotoke or Shaka.

bumbuku: An onomatopoeic term for boiling water written with the character for good fortune.

Chinju: The deity of the locality or the village,

chō: A measurement of 119 yards or 2.45 acres.

chōja: One upon whom unexpected good fortune is bestowed—a man, a woman, a couple, or a family.

Daigongen: A Great Temporary Manifestation of a deity, usually with a place name Fukayama Daigongen, the Great Temporary Manifestation at Fukayama.

Daikoku: A deity of good fortune; also the principal supporting pillar of the roof.

daimyō: A feudal lord.

Daimyōjin: A Great Manifestation.

Inari Daimyōjin: The Great Manifestation of Inari.

Nekoza Daimyōjin: The Great Manifestation of a Cat.

Ohera Daimyōjin: The Great Manifestation in the Ladle.

dango: A small ball made into a cake from glutenous rice flour or other material.

dengaku: Fried tōfu with miso on it; see tōfu and miso.

dote: A spectral bird.

Ebisu: A deity of good fortune.

ekisha: A diviner.

Festival of the 5th Day of the Fifth Month: Often called the Iris Festival.

Festival of the 7th Day of the Seventh Month: Often called Tanabata.

Fukayama Daigongen: See Daigongen.

Fuku-no-kami: See Kami.

fukude mochi: See mochi.

furoshiki: A cloth used for wrapping things that are carried.

gajimaru: A tropical tree.

gamarijaku: See amanojaku.

gami: See Kami.

ge: The last part of a two or three volume work.

geta: Wooden clogs.

gidayu: A dramatic recital accompanied by music.

gō: A unit of capacity, one tenth of a shō

Gongen: A temporary Manifestation of a deity or a sacred place.

Aomori Gongen

Hakusan Gongen

Hiko-san Gongen

goyō: A highly esteemed variety of pine.

goze: A blind female ballad singer.

gun: An administrative district within a prefecture.

Haguro: The name of a sacred mountain.

Hakama: A loose divided skirt.

Hakusan Gongen: See Gongen.

Hana-no-kami: See Kami.

Hannya: God of wisdom.

Hata-no-kami: See Kami.

Hatsu mizu: First Water drawn at New Year.

Hatsu yume: First Dream of New Year (on the 2nd Night).

hayamonogatari: A brief humorous tale recited rapidly.

hei: A shinto symbol used in purification rites.

Hi-no-kami: See Kami.

Higan: The observance during Equinox.

Hiko-san Gongen: See Gongen.

hōin: See yamabushi.

hōji: A Budldhist memorial service.

hokekyō: A play on words: the cry of the nightingale and the name of a sutra.

Hōki-gami: The broom deity usually present at parturition.

hongure: Acorns or testes.

hōsha: A priest like a yamabushi.

hōshi: A general name for a Buddhist priest. mekura hōshi: See zatō.

Hotoke: A name used for Buddha or an ancestral spirit.

Ki-botoke: A piece of a tree worshiped as the image of Buddha.

Hyottoko: A god of luck.

Inari: The field deity.

Inari Daimyōjin: See Daimyōjin.

Ise: The Grand Shrine of Shinto faith.

Jizō: A Buddhist Bodhisattva that has become identified as a kami. He may be a single Jizō or a group of six or twelve figures.

Koyasu Jizō: Protector of children.

Jō: The first volume of a two or three volume work.

Jōdo: Paradise.

joruri: A recital about heroes rendered with musical accompaniment.

kachi-kachi: An onomatopoeic term written various ways to refer to the sound of striking flint or burning brush.

kaimochi: See ohagi.

Kami or gami: A deity.

Benjo-no-kami: Deity of the Privy.

Fuku-no-kami: Deity of Good Fortune.

Hana-no-kami: Deity of the Nose.

Hata-no-kami: Deity of the Loom.

Hi-no-kami: Deity of the Fire (in the kitchen).

Hōki-gami: Deity of the Broom.

Kane-no-kami: Deity of Gold.

Ki-no-kami: Deity of a Tree.

Mizu-no-kami: Deity of Water.

Neko-no-kami: A Cat Deity.

Sai-no-kami: Deity of the Border or to the approach to a village.

Sai-no-kami: Deity of Dice.

Ujigami: The clan deity or tutelary deity.

Yama-no-kami: Mountain Deity.

kan: A unit-of weight; also called kanme.

Kane-no-kami: See Kami.

Kannon: A Buddhist deity usually given feminine attributes; usually enshrined, but one that appears in revelations and dreams.

Kamoe Kannon: Kannon at Kamoe

Senju Kannon: Kannon with 1000 hands.

Kōshin Kannon: Kannon associated with the Kōshin observance; see Kōshin.

kappa: A creature associated with streams.

kasha: A kind of ghost.

katarimono: A story recited to musical accompaniment.

kaya: Thatch (torrera nucifera).

ken: A prefecture.

Ki-no-kami: See Kami.

Kō-jin: See Shin (Jin).

koku: A measurement of capacity, about two bushels,

komekura: A word play on rice storehouse and little blind men.

Kōshin: An observance on the night the two calendar signs of Kanoe (8th calendar sign) and Saru (monkey) coincide. See Nijūsanya.

kotatsu: A frame covered with a quilt set over live coals as a warmer.

Koyase Jizō: See Jizō.

Koyasu son: A deity to protect the birth of a child,

kunotsu: A magic bird.

kyōgen: A comic interlude.

mandara: A picture of Buddhist paradise.

manjū: A steamed bun filled with sweet bean paste,

medetashi: An exclamation to the happy ending of a story,

mihagusa: A kind of plant,

mikankō: A magic cat.

miko: A woman with a special role in folk faith, a shamaness.

miso: fermented bean paste.

Mizu-no-kami: See Kami.

mochi: rice cake which is made by pounding steamed glutenous rice. This rice is used only on festive occasions. Besides steamed and pounded, the glutenous rice is ground into flour to make various cakes.

mon: A coin of low monetary value.

muri: dialect for mori, meaning leak.

namu amida butsu: Words in a Buddhist prayer.

namu toraya: “Hail, Tiger Cat.”

nara pears: A wild fruit.

Neko-gami: See Kami.

Nekoza Daimyōjin: See Daimyōjin.

Nijūsanya San: See San.

nishiki ki: uconymus alta.

nushi: A guardian spirit in a tree, rock, pond, or the like.

Mizu-no-nushi: Water Spirit.

Kumo-no-nushi: Spider Spirit.

o (omote): The upper side of a folded page.

obi: A sash.

ohagi: A dango covered with sweet bean paste served at festivals.

oni-baba: An old she-demon.

Onigashima: A fictitious demon stronghold.

ōnyūdō: A kind of ghost.

oshō: A Buddhist priest.

osōshi: The same as ekisha, a diviner.

Raijin: See Shin (Jin).

rakugo: A comical story usually ending in a word play.

renga: A poem chain.

ri: A measure of distance, about two and a half miles.

rokubu: A mendicant pilgrim.

ryō: A coin of high monetary value.

Ryūgu: Dragon Palace, approached from the sea, a stream, a cave, or a tree.

Ryūjin: See Shin (Jin).

ryūsengan: A magic object.

Sai-no-kami: See Kami.

sake: Rice wine.

samurai: A warrior usually attached to a feudal lord.

san, sama, son: An honorific attached to the name of a shrine or festival to refer the deity at the place or a festival or an object.

Atago Sama: A deity associated with ancestral worship.

Nichirin San: The Sun.

Nijūsanya San: The deity on the 23rd Night or Kōshin.

Ryūgu San: The deity at the Dragon Palace.

Shōgatsu San: The New Year Deity.

Tanabata San: The deity of the festival of the 7th Day of the Seventh Month.

Tentō San: The Sun.

satori: The name of a ghost,

sembei: A wafer made of rice flour.

Shaka: See Buddha.

shamisen: A three-stringed musical instrument.

Shichi Fukujin: See Shin (Jin).

Shin or Jin: Another reading for the character for kami.

Kōjin: Deity of the kitchen hearth.

Raijin: Thunder deity.

Ryūjin: Dragon Deity, sometimes given feminine attributes.

Shichi Fukujin: A group of seven deities popular at New Year.

Toshitokujin: A New Year Deity.

Yakujin or Yakubō: Deity of Pestilence,

shingaku: A teaching of ethical practices,

shō: A measure of capacity, about one and a half quarts.

Shōgatsu San: See san.

shōgun: Highest ranking civilian official. Official ranks in tales are vague.

shōji: An official representative of the feudal lord,

shōya: The village official answering to the feudal lord,

son: Title of veneration,

sun: A measure of length, about one inch.

Suzume-no-miya: Sparrow Shrine.

tabi: Footwear sewn from cloth,

tabi sō: An itinerant priest.

Tanabata: Vega, the Weaver Star,

tara: A kind of tree,

tengu: A demon that flies,

tenko: A ghost animal.

Tentō San: See San.

to: A measure of capacity ten times greater than a shō.

tōfu: Bean curd.

toragame: A kind of jar.

toranomaki: A magic object.

torii: The gate at the approach to a shrine.

tororo: Grated yam.

Toshitokujin: See Shin (Jin).

tsukigusa: A kind of plant.

u (ura): The underside of a folded page.

Ujigami: See Kami.

Untoko: A little lucky deity.

Yahiko: A sacred mountain.

Yakujin: See Shin (Jin).

Yakushi: A Buddhist deity, a god of healing.

Yama-no-kami: See Kami.

Yamabushi: A priest living in mountains and serving rural areas.

Yamachichi: A malevolent male encountered in mountains; also, yamajii or yamaotoko.

Yamauba: A female, usually malevolent, encountered in mountains; also, yamanba, yamaonna, or yamababa.

yatsumetō: A sword.

yuta: See miko.

zatō: A blind itinerant musician traveling a fixed route and often belonging to a group housed in a temple. Zatō told stories and entertained hosts where they were put up.