Tropics of Savagery: The Culture of Japanese Empire in Comparative Frame

Glossary of Japanese Terms

Glossary of Japanese Terms banchi 蕃地 aboriginal land in Taiwan banfu 蕃婦 aboriginal women banjō 蕃情 situation in aboriginal lands Banmuhonchō 蕃務本庁調査課 Survey Section of the Bureau for chōsaka the Control of Aborigines budan seiji 武断政治 military rule of colonies, referring to Japan’s early colonial rule bunka seiji 文化政治 cultural rule of colonies, referring to Japan’s rule after World War I bunmei kaika 文明開化 civilization and enlightenment bushidō 武士道 the way of the warrior or samurai; also, the title of a famous book by Nitobe Inazō dojin 土人 native, indigenous person or people dōka 同化 assimilation policy dōkaryoku 同化力 the ability or capacity to assimilate others fuseji 伏せ字 hidden characters (in censorship) gaichi 外地 external lands (colonies) in Japanese discourse genshi 原始 primitive godai 五大昔話 Japan’s five great fairy tales, including mukashibanashi “Momotarō” Gohō 吾鳳 name of Qing official in colonial-period legend 249 hankai 半開 half-civilized (the middle stage in Fukuzawa’s theory of civilization) hantōjin 半島人 inhabitants of Korea in Japan’s colonial discourse heigō 併合 merger, official term for unification of Japan and Korea; heigō suru is the verb “to merge” hokushinron 北進論 theory that Japan should expand further on Asian continent, defended strongly by army circles itamashisa 痛ましさ distress or pain; in Nakajima’s story “Mariyan,” the word describes the narrator’s reaction to Mariyan, a Micronesian woman; the adjectival form is itamashii jinshu 人種 race as distinguished from ethnicity (minzoku); in practice the two terms overlapped jōmon 縄文 a style of ancient pottery in Japan and a name for the Neolithic period when it was produced (ca. 12,000 b.c.e. to ca. 350 b.c.e.); this word is written with the characters for “rope” and “writing” jukuban 熟蕃 “cooked savages,” a term used to describe Taiwan aborigines assimilated to Chinese customs and submitted to colonial rule; the term is a Japanese pronunciation for the Chinese shufan kanaka カナカ a derogatory term used to describe South Seas islanders, particularly natives of the Caroline and Marshall Islands in contradistinction to the Chamorros of the Marianas; adapted from the Polynesian kanaka, which means “human being” kanbun 漢文 texts written in Chinese but read by Japanese readers in Japanese pronunciation Kantō daishinsai 関東大震災 Great Kanto Earthquake katsujō 割譲 cession, used to describe Qing granting Taiwan to Japan after Sino-Japanese War; katsujō suru is the verb “to cede” kegai no min 化外の民 people outside the pale of civilization kōhaku zakkon 黄白雑婚 intermarriage of white and yellow races, a term used in Takahashi’s Nihon jinshu 250 Glossary of Japanese Terms kairyōron (Theory on the Improvement of the Japanese Race; 1884) kokubungaku 国文学 national—that is, Japanese—literature, a creation of the modern nation state in the Meiji period kokugo 国語 the national language, Japanese kōminka 皇民化 imperialization policies in Japan’s colonies in the 1930s kongō minzoku 混合民俗 notion that Japanese are a mixed race, dominant in prewar Japanese discourse konketsu 混血 of mixed blood konketsuji 混血児 a child of mixed birth Koropokgru コロポックル the name of a prehistoric indigenous (koropokkuru) population of Japan referred to in Ainu literature kuronbō 黒ん坊 a black, used to refer to people in the South Seas in Japanese colonial discourse kyōban 凶蕃 evil (i.e., violent and rebellious) aborigines kyōka 教化 policy of acculturation, applied to Taiwan aborigines kyūdojin 旧土人 exnative; term used to describe Ainu of Hokkaido machō 魔鳥 demon bird in Ataiyal superstition, called hafune in Ataiyal machōtsukai 魔鳥使い manipulator of the hafune or demon bird (Ataiyal); called mahafune in Ataiyal mikai 未開 uncivilized, savage mikata ban 味方蕃 aboriginal tribe allied with the Japanese minzoku 民族 ethnicity as distinguished from race (jinshu); in practice the two terms overlapped Momotarō 桃太郎 the peach boy, most famous Japanese folktale Musha jiken 霧社事件 Musha incident of 1930 naichi 内地 internal land (home islands of Japan in colonial period discourse as distinct from colonies) naichijin 内地人 Japanese living in colonies nanshinron 南進論 theory that Japan should expand to the South Seas, popular in naval circles Glossary of Japanese Terms 251 nan’yō 南洋 the South Seas, refers to vague geographical area to the south of Japan Nan’yōchō 南洋庁 South Seas Agency, name of the colonial government of Micronesia nan’yō dojin 南洋土人 South Seas native (pejorative) Nan’yō guntō 南洋群島 the South Seas Islands (Micronesia) nihonjin 日本人 the Japanese, a term that included both Japanese and those ruled by Japan in colonies nissen dōsoron 日鮮同祖論 theory of common ancestry of Japanese and Koreans oni 鬼 ogre oyatoi gaikokujin お雇い外国人 foreigners hired by early Meiji state as advisors or teachers riban 理蕃 savage control or management, used to describe policies toward the Taiwan aborigines ryūgen higo 流言飛語 wild rumors, especially used to...