Glossary
Here's some Japanese words that appear in this trip report (and a few useful words that don't):
(please note that both English and Japanese encoded characters appear on this page)

quick pronunciation guide: 
*Japanese words are pretty easy to pronounce if you remember that they write words in syllables rather than separate letters. For instance, anime アニメ is written in three characters: ア(a)  二(ni)  メ(me). 
*There are only 5 vowel sounds: a (father), i (ink), u (blue), e (pen), o (open). They can be pronounce for a short time, like in butsu, or for a slightly longer time, like in gyuudon.
*Words that have a double constanant like kissaten are pronounced with a very slight pause between the doubled letters.
*With very few exceptions, most Japanese words are pronounced flat with no dominant syllable.

anime　アニメ
short for "animation". In Japan, it refers to any animated show, but in American usage and this report, it refers specifically to the unique style of animation that tends to come out of Japan.

azuki　小豆
a purplish-red colored bean. It is served in several forms in Japanese dishes, although the most common form I encountered was as a sweet paste.

-ben　弁
dialect, accent. Common usage: Osaka-ben　大阪弁, Kansai-ben　関西弁, Nagoya-ben　名古屋弁

benjo　便所
restroom or lavatory (but not "bathroom", because in Japan the toilet facilities and bath facilities are usually in separate rooms.) 
See also: otearai and toire

butsu  仏
a word referring to a Buddha or the dead. The "Dai Butsu" 大仏　in my report is a big (dai 大) statue in Kamakura, Japan that was made in the style of the Buddha statues in India.

Calpis　カルピス
pronounced: karupisu. A soft drink, produced by Calpis Co. in Japan, that is made with lightly fermented milk. Fukuyama-san described it as "sour milk" when I asked him what he was drinking, but it's really more sweet than sour. I think it would be more accurate to call it a yogurt drink. It can be found in some specialty shops here in the USA, although the name has been changed slightly to "Calpico" due to the unfortunate fact that "Calpis" tends to sound a bit like "cow piss" to the average English speaker. It comes in two basic forms, Calpis Soda  カルピスソーダ and Calpis Water　カルピスウオーター, as well as a variety of different flavors.

cha 茶
tea, generally expressed as ocha お茶　(green tea) or kocha　こ茶 (black tea). Ocha appears to be the drink of choice by most Japanese people during meals.

chikatetsu   地下鉄
subway, often indicated by a sign with a stylized S symbol on it.

choutokkyuu　超特急
very limited express commuter train, will skip all but a few main stations on a route.
see also: densha

conbini コンビに
convenience store

deguchi　出口
exit; a compound word made up of de 出(to go out or bring forth) and kuchi 口(mouth or gate). As is often the case, the "k" in kuchi is softened to "g" when placed on the end of a compound.

densha   電車
commuter train. 
see also: choutokkyuu, futsuressha, kyuukou, shinkansen, tokkyuu

donburi 丼
also known as "rice bowl". Generally, it is a bowl of rice with some kind of topping on it such as meat or vegetables. This is Japanese fast food, but much more nutritious and filling than the average hamburger. There are doburi shops everywhere in Japan, including a large chain called Yoshinoya. A fair sized bowl of donburi, served with miso and green tea, can usually be bought for between 300 and 500 yen (about $3 to $5).

eki　 　駅
train station

furo 風呂
bath
see also: furoya and oyu

furoya　風呂屋
a public bath house, made from furo 風呂(bath) and ya 屋(store or shop).

futon　布団
a thin cotton mat used for sleeping on, not to be confused with the thick mattresses on the Scandinavian style "futon" furniture that is often sold in the United States.

futsuuressha　普通列車
local train, stops at every station along a route.

ginkou　銀行
bank

green car　グリーンカー
A seat in the "green car" of a train would be like traveling "first class" in an airplane. Instead of being seated in rows, passengers of the green car are seated in  four person booths. Generally, the seating is sold by booth; that is, if only two seats in the booth are sold, then the tickets would be that much more expensive to cover the cost of all four seats.

guesthouse ゲストハウス
A guesthouse is similar to a hostel in that you rent a bed or small bedroom and then have use of the shared common rooms (kitchen, bath, etc.) but without the curfews and other restrictions generally imposed by hostels. They are generally used by students, foreigners, and travelers as temporary housing because they are inexpensive and generally easier to get into than a standard Japanese apartment. They are generally rented by the month, although some guesthouses allow stays as short as a week or a couple days.

gyuudon 牛丼
also known as "beef bowl". Gyuudon is a combination of gyuu 牛, meaning beef, and the "don" in donburi 丼. 

hiku　引く
pull

hiragana ひらがな
the Japanese equivalent of the alphabet, and one of the four methods used to write the Japanese language (hiragana, katakana, kanji, and romaji).  It is the first writing learned by Japanese children. Hiragana is used write words out in phonetic form, or along with kanji to indicate verb conjigation and other variables.

hyakku-en shop　百円ショップ
hundred yen shop, a discount store similar to the American "dollar store". 

iriguchi　入口
entrance, a compound of iri 入り(enter) and kuchi 口(mouth or gate). As is often the case, the "k" in kuchi is softened to "g" when placed on the end of a compound.

kanji　漢字
Chinese pictograph characters used in writing
see also: hiragana, katakana, romaji

karasu　烏
crow or raven. The Japanese karasu is actually somewhere halfway in between both.

karaoke　カラオケ
literally:  kara 空(empty) oke オケ(orchestra, slightly abbreviated), it involves a process where people get up and sing along with recordings of popular songs that have had the vocal track turned off. Very often mispronounced by English speakers as something that sounds more like "kerioki".

katakana　カタカナ
a phonetic "alphabet" of sorts, using the exact same syllable sounds as hiragana, but written with more stark, angular strokes. Katakana is generally used for foreign words, sound effect words, or to emphasize. Because it is angular and easier to read, it is also asked for on forms as the equivalent of "please print".

katsudon　カツ丼
a form of donburi that is topped with slices of lightly battered and fried pork.

keitai denwa　携帯電話
cell phone; literally means "portable phone."  "keitai" means "carry something" and "denwa" means "phone". Often, in casual conversation, it is shortened to just  "keitai", written out in hiragana as "けいたい" or in katakana as "ケイタイ".

ken　県
prefecture (similar to a county or state). Some examples: Kanagawa-ken　神奈川県, Chiba-ken　千葉県

kinshi　禁止
forbidden, not allowed.

kissaten　喫茶店
coffee shop

kotatsu 　こたつ
a low table with a heater underneath. The table frame is generally covered with a quilt and a tabletop placed over top. A very good description of a kotatsu, and a few pictures, can be found at www.sushicam.com.

kuukou　空港
airport

kyuukou 急行
express train
see also: tokkyuu and choutokkyuu

live　ライブ
concert or live performance; pronounced "raibu"

live house　ライブハウス
concert venue, night club

manga　漫画 or マンガ
comic book or graphic novel; an anthology periodical magazine (generally as thick as a small phone book) containing several different story series.  In Japan, manga are not just for children. There are manga made for all different age or interest groups, including manga for golfers or lawyers!

manga kissaten　マンガ喫茶店
a place where you can pay by the hour to read manga from their library, use the internet, or use their equipment to watch videos. While not a kissaten (coffee shop) in the true sense, many of them do have a beverage bar and/or sell simple snack foods.

miiha ミーハ
slang term for obsessive fan girl

miso　味噌
a paste made from soy, often mixed with hot water and other ingredients to make a soup.

miso shiru　味噌汁
miso soup.

onna　女
woman

oshi　押し
push

otearai　お手洗い
restroom, lavatory
see also: benjo, toire

otoko　男
man

oyu　お湯 or おゆ
hot water bath

Pocky　ポッキー
a type of Japanese snack food consisting of stick shaped cookies dipped in one of an assortment of coatings, most commonly found in chocolate.

prefecture
The English word for one of the state or county like districts of Japan, often used by Japanese people in abbreviated form as "Prif." or "Pref."

ramen　ラーメン
(pronounced raamen) a type of noodle commonly used in soup.

romaji　ローマ字
(pronounced roomaji) Japanese words written out in western style (English) letters, came into common usage after the advent of the typewriter.
see also: hiragana, katakana, kanji

-san　さん
honorific following a name, equivalent to "Mr." or "Ms.", generally used in most polite or common speech when addressing or referring to all but the most intimate friends. The diminutive form "chan" is generally used with small children or by schoolgirls when addressing close friends.

sen　線
line. In the case of my report, it refers to a train line such as JR Chuou-sen 中央線 or JR Tokaido-sen 東海道線 (both train lines going out of Tokyo).

shinkansen　新幹線
bullet train

soba　蕎麦
buckwheat noodles

takoyaki　たこ焼
octopus dumplings.

toire　トイレ
toilet

tokkyuu　特急
express train, limited stops
see also: choutokkyuu, futsuuressha

tomare　止まれ or とまれ
stop

yaki　焼き
to fry or bake

yakiniku　焼肉
meat, generally beef, that is served sliced,  then cooked on a tabletop grill and served with an a variety of side dishes and condiments.

yakisoba　焼き蕎麦
soba, fried with a variety of vegetables and/or meat

yakuza　やくざ
Japanese mafia, gangsters

yen　円 or ￥
(usually pronounced "en") Japanese money. One yen is roughly equivalent to an American penny.

yuubinkyoku　郵便局
post office, usually marked by the symbol “〒”