For information about this supplement see The Anime Companion Supplement main page. Additions are in the Anime Companion Supplement News page.
Hyphenated Japanese terms are listed as single words.
The inclusion of an anime or manga title in these entries is not a recommendation of that title see my Recommended Anime and Manga page for a list of my recommendations
- UCC Coffee UCC コーヒー (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.142)
- Sources:
I had to research this one in local markets, tastes pretty good.
- uchiwa (non-folding fan) 団扇 OLD FORM 團扇 (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.142)
- Sources:
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.358
- udo うど or 独活
-
Aralia cordata. The leaves and stalks of this plant are eaten either raw or cooked. The flavor is similar to asparagus. The cultivated type is grown in the dark to blanch it. Wild udo is used in sansai ryōri (mountain vegetable cooking), as the flavor is stronger it must be blanched before it is used in dishes.
Anime:
Udo salad is one of the foods cherry mentions in the Urusei Yatsura TV series (Episode 36 story 59)
Maho buys udo from Tachikawa in MahoRomatic (ep.3) and pickles it.
Sources:
Hosking, Richard. A Dictionary of Japanese Food p.63
- udon うどん or 饂飩 (The Anime Companion 2 p.110)
- Sources:
Hosking, Richard, A Dictionary of Japanese Food p.164
Eating in Japan p.90
- Ueno 上野 (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.142)
- Sources:
A Look Into Tokyo p.40
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.1643
- Ueno Dōbutsuen (Ueno Zoo) 上野動物園 (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.142)
- Sources:
A Look Into Tokyo p.40
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.1643
Web site:
Tōkyō Bureau of Construction page on Ueno Dōbutsuen
Tokyo Zoological Park Society page on Ueno Zoo.
- Ueno Eki (Ueno Train Station) 上野駅 OLD FORM 上野驛 (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.143)
- Sources:
A Look Into Tokyo p.40
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.1643
- Ueno Kōen (Ueno Park) 上野公園 (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.143)
- Sources:
A Look Into Tokyo p.40
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.1643
UENO PARK see: Ueno Kōen (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.143)
UENO ZOO see: Ueno Dōbutsuen (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.142)
- Uguisudani (Valley Of The Bush Warblers) 鶯谷 (The Anime Companion 2 p.110)
- Sources:
Waley, Paul Tokyo Now & Then p.156
Tokyo Metropolitan Atlas p.14
- Uguisudani Eki (Uguisudani Station) 鶯谷駅 OLD FORM 鶯谷驛 (The Anime Companion 2 p.110)
- Sources:
Waley, Paul Tokyo Now & Then p.199
Tokyo Metropolitan Atlas p.14
UGUISUDANI STATION see: Uguisudani eki (The Anime Companion 2 p.110)
- Ukiyo-e (Pictures of the Floating World) 浮世絵
-
A type of painting and printmaking focussing on depiction of entertainment and pleasure. The word comes from the Buddhist term ukiyo which means "world of sorrow". In the 17th century some writers began writing the term with a different kanji (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.61) that has the same pronunciation with a meaning of "floating world". The earliest works of ukiyo-e were painting, however as printmaking techniques improved that medium came to dominate the genre. Common types of ukiyo-e prints include scenes from brothels, kabuki (The Anime Companion 2 p.35), sumō (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.127), shunga (The Anime Companion 2 p.89), city scenes and in the 19th century landscape prints. Today ukiyo-e is considered one of the major artistic contribution of the the chōnin (townsmen) culture of the Edo period (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.25)
Anime:
In episode 5 of Samurai Champloo amateur models for ukiyo-e prints are disappearing.
Sources:
Buckingham, Dorothea N. Essential Guide to Sumo p.205
Cybriwsky, Roman. Historical Dictionary of Tokyo p.158
Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints p. 500
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.1647-1649
UMA-NO-ASHI see: uma-yaku (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.143)
- uma-yaku 馬役 (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.143)
- Sources:
Joya, Mock. Mock Joya's Things Japanese p.546
Outlook on Japan p.24
UMBRELLA, OILED PAPER see: kasa (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.62)
UMBRELLA YŌKAI see: Kara-kasa (umbrella yōkai)
- ume うめ or 梅 (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.143)
- Sources:
Condon, Jack and Camy Condon. The Simple Pleasures of Japan p.111
Hosking, Richard. A Dictionary of Japanese Food p.164
- umeboshi (salted Japanese apricot) うめぼし or 梅干し or 梅干 (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.143)
- Sources:
Eating in Japan p.86
Joya, Mock. Mock Joya's Things Japanese p.301
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.1652
- umibōzu 海坊主
-
A type of yōkai the name of which is a compound of the Japanese words for sea and Buddhist priest (bōzu). These are a kind of ghost found in the sea with a very large round hairless head. If you speak to an umibōzu they will sink your boat. Tradition has it that the spirits of those with no one to look after their grave or whose death was untimely go to the sea.
Anime:
The most famous umibōzu in anime has got to be Ijūin Hayato, aka Falcon, in City Hunter who was given the nickname umibōzu by Ryo Saeba.
In Pom Poko during the tanuki (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.133) created mass illusion sequence we see umibōzu rise beyond the apartment buildings along with large waves.
Umibōzu is also the name of a special forces unit in Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex (ep.24).
Manga:
A very cute umibōzu shows up in Kon Kon Kokon (v.1 p.122-)
Sources:
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.1653
Koge-Donbo. Kon Kon Kokon v.1 p., 209
Piggott, Juliet. Japanese Mythology 1983 p.83
- umeshu (plum "wine") うめしゅ or 梅酒 (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.143)
- Sources:
Condon, Jack and Camy Condon. The Simple Pleasures of Japan p.113
Experiencing Japanese Culture p.247
Hosking, Richard. A Dictionary of Japanese Food p.165
Eating in Japan p.143
UNADON see: unagi donburi (The Anime Companion 2 p.110)
- unagi (eel) うなぎ or 鰻 (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.144)
- Sources:
A Look Into Japan p.150
Vardaman, James M. and Michiko Sakaki Vardaman Japan From A to Z p.40
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.326
- unagi donburi 鰻丼 or うなぎどんぶり (The Anime Companion 2 p.110)
- Sources:
Hosking, Richard. A Dictionary of Japanese Food p.165
Nagasawa Kimiko & Camy Condon. Eating Cheap in Japan p.19 (image) 20-21
UNAGIKABAYAKI see: kabayaki (charcoal broiled fish)
UNAJŪ see: unagi (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.144)
UNDERWEAR THIEF see: pantī dorobō (panty thief)
UNIFORM, SCHOOL GIRL'S see: sailor fuku (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.108)
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE YOKOTA BASE see: Yokota Air Base (The Anime Companion 2 p.118)
UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES IN JAPAN see: zainichi beigun (The Anime Companion 2 p.120)
- UNITED STATES - JAPAN TREATIES see:
-
Nichibei Shūkō Tsūshō Jōyaku (1858) (The Anime Companion 2 p.62)
Nichibei Washin Jōyaku (1854) (The Anime Companion 2 p.62)
UNOHANA see: okara (The Anime Companion 2 p.67)
UNSHŪ see: Izumo (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.52)
URABON see: bon (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.12)
- ura fūzoku (illegal sex industry) 裏風俗
-
Illegal sex trade. While oral and anal intercourse for money are not prohibited by anti-prostitution laws in Japan male-female genital intercourse for money is. This distinction makes it easy for some businesses in the fūzoku (sex industry) to offer illegal services under the cover of being legitimate businesses. Some clubs want to stay within the law and make a point of strictly prohibiting even requesting such illegal activities to the point of not only ejecting the requesters but photographing them and posting the images.
Anime:
Moko in My Fair Masseuse is a fūzokujo (sex industry worker) who works in a sōpurando (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.125) in Kawasaki and happily crosses the line into ura fuzoku to satisfy her customers.
Sources:
Constantine, Peter. Japan's Sex Trade p.62-63
Sinclair, Joan. Pink Box: Inside Japan’s Sex Clubs p.160-162, 189
- Urashima Tarō 浦島太郎 (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.144)
- Sources:
Must-See in Nikko p.117
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.1666
- Urayasu 浦安 [市] (The Anime Companion 2 p.111)
- Sources:
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.1666
Tokyo City Atlas [2nd ed.] p. 61, 69
URBAN COMMONERS see: chōnin (townsmen)
URINATING IN THE STREET see: tachishōben (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.129)
- urisen bā (auction bar) 売り専バー
-
A bar where customers, usually men, bid at an auction on individual women, or men, for their company for an hour or evening.
Anime:
In episode 4 of the City Hunter 1 TV series Ryo is looking for Makimura's missing sister when he runs into someone else who is looking for a missing girl, a someone who crashes an auction gun in hand.
Sources:
Sinclair, Joan, Pink Box: Inside Japan’s Sex Clubs p.42, 189
USED PANTY SHOP see: buruseara shopu (bloomer-sailor shop)
USHI-GURUMA see: gissha (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.36)
- ushi no koku mairi (nailing a doll to a tree) 丑の刻参り OLD FORM 丑の刻參り (The Anime Companion 2 p.111)
- Sources:
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.1668
Nelson, John K. Enduring Identities. (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.47
Thanks to:
Thomas Neumann for a suggestion on this entry.
USHI NO TOKI MAIRI see: ushi no koku mairi (The Anime Companion 2 p.111)
USHIWAKAMARU see: Minamoto no Yoshitsune (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.84)
USUTÂ SÔSU see: sōsu (vegetable sauce)
- uta karuta (poem card) 歌ガルタ (The Anime Companion [vol.1] p.144)
- NOTE: According to several Japanese dictionaries the proper transliteration seems to be uta garuta, however uta karuta 歌カルタ is used by some. It can also be written in kanji as 歌加留多 or 歌骨牌Sources:
Joya, Mock. Mock Joya's Things Japanese p.547
Discover Japan v.2 p.172
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.577, 1208
Japanese Family and Culture p.76
- Utsunomiya 宇都宮 [市] OLD FORM 宇都宮 (The Anime Companion 2 p.111)
- Sources:
De Mente, Boye Lafayette. Japan Encyclopedia p. 511
Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia p.1671
Papinot, E. Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan p.728
Web Sites:
Utsunomiya (official site)
UZUMASA MOVIE VILLAGE see: Tōei Uzumasa Eigamura (Toei Uzumasa cinema village)
Go To: Topical Index
# - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - Y - Z - Side Bars
Special Supplement: Rurouni Kenshin OVAs
Back to Gilles' home page
Back to The Anime Companion Supplement main page
Questions, comments, raves, flames etc. to:
Created: October 31, 1998
Updated: July 14, 2008
