Vocabulary
| Useful Terms | ||
| ippin ryōri | 一品料理 | one-course meal; dishes a la carte |
| o-kanjō | お勘定 | bill, check |
| teishoku | 定食 | main dish served with soup, rice, pickles, and salad; full-course lunch or dinner |
| washoku | 和食 | Japanese-style food |
| Food Terms | ||
| go-han | ご飯 | cooked rice; meal |
| misoshiru | みそ汁 | miso soup made from soybean paste |
| mizutaki | 水炊き | simmered chicken, usually cooked at your table |
| nigirizushi | にぎり寿司 | small rolls of cooked, vinegared rice with pieces of fresh seafood on top |
| awabi | あわび | abalone |
| ebi | えび | shrimp |
| ika | いか | squid, cuttlefish |
| ikura | いくら | salmon roe |
| maguro | まぐろ | tuna |
| tako | たこ | octopus |
| toro | とろ | belly flesh of tuna (considered a delicacy) |
| uni | うに | sea urchin |
| norimaki (makizushi) | のり巻き (巻きずし) | small rolls of rice with vegetables, wrapped in nori (tissue-thin seaweed) |
| okonomiyaki | お好み焼き | Japanese-style savory pancake containing vegetables, and other food stuff |
| o-sashimi | お刺身 | slices of raw fish, served with soy sauce and wasabi (green horseradish) |
| o-sushi | お寿司 | vinegared rice topped with raw fish or wrapped in nori (tissue-thin seaweed) |
| oyako donburi | 親子丼 | rice with chicken and eggs (oyako literally means “parents and children”) |
| makunouchi teishoku | 幕の内定食 | variety of side dishes served with soup, rice, pickles, and salad; full-course lunch / dinner |
| rāmen | ラーメン | Chinese-style noodles in soup |
| shabushabu | しゃぶしゃぶ | simmered beef, usually cooked at the table |
| soba | そば | thin wheat noodles |
| sukiyaki | すき焼き | beef with vegetables, usually cooked at your table |
| takoyaki | たこ焼き | savory dumplings with octopus inside |
| tenpura | 天ぷら | batter-dipped and deep-fried shrimp, fish and vegetables |
| teppan-yaki | 鉄板焼き | meat and vegetables, usually cooked at your table on an iron grill |
| tonkatsu | トンカツ | pork cutlet |
| udon | うどん | thick wheat noodles |
| kitsune udon | きつね うどん | noodles with fried tōfu (bean curd) |
| tenpura udon | 天ぷら うどん | noodles with tenpura |
| unajū | うな重 | broiled marinated eels on cooked rice |
| yakitori | 焼き鳥 | charcoal-grilled chicken, chicken liver, and green onions on a bamboo stick |
| Drinks | ||
| agari (o-cha) | あがり (お茶） | Japanese green tea (This word is usually used only in sushi shops) |
| kōcha | 紅茶 | black tea |
| nomimono | 飲み物 | something to drink |
| o-cha | お茶 | Japanese green tea (This word can be used anywhere.) |
| o-mizu | お水 | water (This word can be used anywhere.) |
| o-sake | お酒 | Japanese rice wine, sakē |
| Clothing | ||
| geta | 下駄 | wooden clogs |
| happi | はっぴ | happi coat (a colorful, waistlength coat) |
| jinbei | 甚平 | summertime Japanese-style casual wear |
| kimono | 着物 | kimono |
| obi | 帯 | sash worn with kimono |
| yukata | 浴衣 | summer cotton kimono |
| zōri | ぞうり | Japanese-style sandals |
| Entertainment | ||
| Bunraku | 文楽 | puppet play |
| eiga | 映画 | movie |
| Kabuki | 歌舞伎 | Kabuki play |
| Nō | 能 | Noh play |
| Art and Handicrafts | ||
| byōbu | 屏風 | folding screens |
| hanga | 版画 | woodblock print |
| katana | 刀 | sword |
| kokeshi | こけし | Japanese wooden doll |
| mingeihin | 民芸品 | folkcraft objects |
| sensu | 扇子 | paper folding fan |
| shinju | 真珠 | pearl |
| sumi-e | 墨絵 | brush painting |
| takeseihin (takezaiku) | 竹製品 (竹細工) | bamboo craft objects, bamboo products |
| ukiyo-e | 浮世絵 | a particular genre of woodblock print |
| yakimono | 焼物 | pottery |
Culture and vocabulary notes
The prefixes go- and o- in go-han, o-sushi, o-cha, o-mizu, and so on make the noun more polite to Japanese ears. Male speakers sometimes omit the prefixes, but female speakers almost always use them. In some cases, for example in go-han, the prefix cannot be dropped. You are advised to use only the polite form, which is always correct.
When a noun is used as the second part of a compound word, its pronunciation often changes slightly; e.g. in nigirizushi the s of sushi changes to z. The ei in eiga (movie) is pronounced more like ē, as are the ei spellings in other Japanese words
The word o-cha refers to Japanese green tea; kōcha (literally red tea) refers to black tea.
In English you “eat” soup, while in Japanese you “drink” soup. This reflects different eating habits. In the West, you use a soup spoon and do not lift the soup bowl. In Japan, you hold the bowl (usually a piece of lacquerware) in the palm of the left hand, bring the soup bowl close to your mouth, and drink or sip the soup. Any item in the soup such as fish, vegetables, or tofu may be eaten with the help of chopsticks. Good luck in picking up tofu with chopsticks; it requires some skill! And just as a note, when you pick up an item of food with chopsticks, it’s not necessary to take it all in at one gulp. It’s quite proper to bite off just a small piece.
Grammar
The next two sentence patterns will be of great help to you in restaurants, stores, and train stations. By mastering these patterns and the new verbs they introduce, you will be able to satisfy most of your basic needs as a traveler in Japan.
More detailed notes on verb conjugation will be presented later in this book. Looking at Sentence Patterns 2 and 3, however, we can make a few initial remarks about verbs and about Japanese sentence construction. First, note that stating the subject (I,