A Woman's Nails Page 28

  [10] An o-jô-san is a girl from a “good” family.

  [11] Tabi are Japanese socks that have the big toes separate from the other toes, like mittens for your feet.

  [12] A yokozuna is the highest rank in sumô, and generally occupied by a wrestler who has won two consecutive tournaments.

  [13] All of these are, or were at one time or another, the real names of products available at convenience stores and supermarkets in Japan.

  [14] Adaruto Bideo is Japanese for an “adult video”, i.e. pornography.

  [15] Yukata are unlined cotton kimono used for lounging and sleeping. In summertime, Japanese men and women sometimes wear more elaborate and colorful versions of the yukata to summer festivals and fireworks displays. Geta are the wooden sandals that are usually worn with yukata.

  [16] Jinbei are a traditional, loosely woven cotton garment that is worn by men and children, and increasingly young women, in the summer.

  [17] The Daiei Hawks was Fukuoka’s professional baseball team from 1988 to 2004. Financial pressure, however, forced the supermarket chain to sell the team to the Japanese telecommunication and internet corporation SoftBank. Today the team is called Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

  [18] The Edo Period lasted from 1603 to 1867.

  [19] Literally, “Mercy on me, Buddha of the Infinite Light.” This is a common chant from the Pure Land sect (Jôdoshû) of Buddhism.