How did Japanese words enter the English language?
Oxford English Dictionary editor, John Simpson, explains how Japanese words entered English in three distinct historical phases.
Some of these loan words jave introduced or popularised ancient elements of Japanese culture - kabuki for example
Other loanwords were what the OED calls ‘reborrowings’ or English words that have been modified in Japanese and the re-exported. Salaryman was first cited in the OED in 1719 and imported into Japanese as sarariman in the early 20th Century. Its later reemergence in English to describe a Japanese social phenomena is an example of
the lexical relationship with Japanese … English borrows back the words it lends to Japanese, usually after Japanese has done something interesting to them. source
Some commonly used English words of Japanese origin
Business/Politics: tycoon, Shogun, mikadoWeather: typhoon, tsunami
Religion: Zen, Shinto
Clothing: kimono, obi
Food: sushi, satsuma, miso, tempura, saki
Art/Culture/Design: bonsai, anime, origami, karaoke, haiku, manga, karate, judo, aikido, jujutsu, futon
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| Origin: 布団 (futon) First known use: 1876 |
More on Japanese loanwords here