A-
ane - 姉 older sister.
aza - 字 (sometimes ooaza - 大字 ) unorganised district in a shi or mura.
B-
banchi - 番地 house number.
bo - 亡 deceased; the late.
C-
chichi - 父 father.
choujo - 長女 eldest daughter.
choume - 丁目 smaller division of a chou in some neighborhoods.
chounan - 長男 eldest son.
chou - 町 (also read machi) district within a shi or ku; town within a gun.
D-
dan - 男 (also read nan) male; man; son.
E-
F-
fu - 府 urban prefecture (kyoto-fu, Osaka-fu, 京都府 , 大坂府) Similar to ken.
G-
gatsu - 月 (also read getsu or tsuki) month.
genseki - 原籍 another term for honseki.
gokyodai - 御兄弟 siblings.
gun - 郡 county, divided into cho and mura.
H-
haha - 母 mother.
hi - 日 (also read nichi) day; date.
hibaba - 曾祖母 great-grandmother.
hijiji - 曾祖父 great-grandfather.
himago - 曾孫 (also read souson) great-grandchild.
honseki - 本籍 registered locality (address of household being registered).
houmyou - 法名 Buddhist name given to living converts; similar to kaimyo.
I-
imouto - 妹 younger sister.
J-
jiisan - 爺さん grandfather, male senior-citizen.
jijo - 次女 second daughter.
jinan - 次男 second son.
jinshin koseki - 壬申 戸籍 registry begun in the year Jinshin (Meiji 5: 1872). Not available for private genealogical work.
joseki - 除籍 expired register in which all persons originally entered have been removed because of death, change of residence, ect. A joseki file is ordinarily available for 80 years after its expiration.
jo - 女 female; woman; daughter.
K-
kaden - 家伝 family history (tradition). [t-shirt]
kaimyou - 戒名 posthumous Buddhist name, recorded in kakosho.
kakochou - 過去帳 Buddhist death register.
keizu - 系図 family tree;pedigree; genealogy. [t-shirt]
keizugaku - 系図学 genealogy (the study). [t-shirt]
ken - 県 (or 縣 ) prefecture, divided into shi and gun.
koseki - 戸籍 household register, begun 1872; available from 1886. Includes all people in a household under one.
koshu - 戸主 head of a household.
kousofu - 高祖父 great-great-grandfather.
kousobo - 高祖母 great-great-grandmother.
ku - 区 (or 區 ) ward in some large cities (Sapporo, Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima, Kita Kyushu, Fukuoka); divided into cho.
kuni - 国 (or 國 ) province (no longer in official use). Now used to mean "Nation."
L-
M-
mago - 孫 (also read son) grandchild.
mura - 村 (also read son) village within a gun.
N-
nen - 年 (also read toshi) year.
ninchi - 認知 acknowledgement or recognition of a child as his own.
ninbetsuchou - 人別帳 individual examination register (pre-1873).
The shumon aratamecho and ninbetsucho were special surveillance censuses whose object was to detect and apprehend hidden Christians.They were superseded by the koseki.
O-
otouto - 弟(or ototo)younger brother.
otto - 夫 husband.
P-
Q-
R-
S-
senzo - 先祖 ancestor.
shimei - 氏名 family name; name of household head.
shi - 市 city, divided into cho and aza.
shiseiji - 私生児 child born out of wedlock.
shussei - 出生 birth.
shizoku - 支族 tribe, branch family.
shison - 子孫 descendants, offspring.
shuumon aratamechou - 宗門 -朱門改め帳 examination of religion register (pre-1873).
sofu - 祖父 grandfather.
sobo - 祖母 grandmother.
shouhon - 抄本 summary; abstract.
T-
touhon - 謄本 certified copy.
to - 都 metropolitan prefecture (tokyo-to - 東京都 ). Similar to ken.
tsuma - 妻 wife.
U-
V-
W-
X-
Y-
yo - 養 (or - 養子 youshi)adopted child, son-in-law. In Japan, a man without sons may adopt his eldest daughter's husband as his own son, and the young man will take his wife's surname.
yuisho - 由緒 history; pedigree; lineage. [t-shirts]
Z-
zenkoshu - 前戸主 previous head of household.
