Words from Japanese
Study Words
- ninja
- sushi [1]
- tofu
- shogun
- honcho
- karate [2]
- samurai
- teriyaki
- sashimi
- tsunami
- haiku [3]
- futon
- mikado [4]
- hibachi
- origami
- geisha [5]
- wasabi
- ramen
- kudzu
- banzai
- tycoon
- sumo
- koan
- satori
- tatami
- kami
- sukiyaki
- kuruma
- Meiji
- Romaji
- odori
- miso
- Kabuki
- geta
- sayonara
Challenge Words
- karaoke
- nisei
- sansei
- issei
- kibei
Spelling Tips
- 1 A long e sound (\ē\) is very common at the end of Japanese words and is usually spelled with i as in sushi, teriyaki, wasabi, Meiji, odori, and several other words on the list.
- 2 In some Japanese words, long e is spelled simply with e (not i) as in karate and karaoke.
- 3 An \ü\ sound is also a common way to end Japanese words and is spelled with u as in haiku, tofu, and kudzu.
- 4 Long o (\ō\) at the end of a word from Japanese is spelled with o as in honcho, mikado, sumo and miso.
- 5 A long a sound (\ā\) heard in geisha is spelled ei in some words from Japanese. Four of the challenege words have this spelling of the long a sound and contain the word element sei, which means "generation."