PAGE	ENTRY	NOTES
46	Akihito	See the comment below on Hirohito. Present emperor's reign, starting in 1989, is called Heisei. He would be referred to as Emperor Heisei after his death, but it is incorrect to refer to him in this name before his death. [22/11/01]
132	Australian Broadcasting Tribunal	The Australian Broadcasting Tribunal was replaced by the Australian Broadcasting Authority in 1992. [25/11/01]
381	Chiba	This is a large city (not town), and one of 13 cities designated by ordinance. [16/11/01]
1014	Hirohito	After the modernization of Japan in late 19th century, a single era name is used for the reign of one emperor. Hirohito became the emperor in 1926 and died in 1989. The period of his reign was named Showa, and 1945 for example was Showa 20. Most Japanese do not remember the emperors by their personal names. While the present emperor is simply the present emperor (kinjo ten'no), and seldom referred to as Akihito, previous emperors are remembered with the era name of their reign. Hirohito, for example, is more often referred to as Emperor Showa (Showa ten'no). Although there is greater chance for Hirohito to be chosen in reference to the previous emperor in English writings, it should worth adding a short note telling that he is also referred to as Emperor Showa, after his death. Also see my comments on Akihito, Mutsuhito, and Yoshihito. [22/11/01]
1019	Hokusai	The painter is listed by his first name. Kitsushika is his surname. [16/11/01]
1028	Hondo	Hondo means Japan proper, which includes not only Honshu but other islands. Before and during the WW II, Hondo was mainly used in contrast with colonies under Japanese rule, such as Korean peninsula, Taiwan, Sakhalin, and islands in the Pacific. After the war, it was used in contrast with the Ryukyu islands under US rule until 1972. [16/11/01]
1163	Kamakura	The first shogunate was located here in 1192 under the shogun Yoritomo of Minamoto, starting the rule of samurai class. While the emperor and the capital remained in Kyoto, Kamakura became the first political centre located in east Japan. The Kamakura shogunate lasted until 1333. [22/11/01]
1169	Keijo	Referring to Seoul by this name is obsolete and deliberately avoided, for this is the way the city was called under the Japanese colonial rule. Also see page 1935, Seoul. [16/11/01]
1177	Kim Il Sung Kim Jong Il Kim Young Sam	There is inconsistency in the way of presenting entries of Korean persons. Some people are given by surnames, as Park Chung Hee in page 1564 and Rhee Syngman in page 1822, while some others are given by their full names as those appear on the same page. It seems more reasonable to give those entries bandled by their surname, Kim, adding a new entry of the present South Korean president, Kim Dae Jung. [25/11/01]
1177	kimono	The etymological note should be complemented by adding that kimono in Japanese simply means clothings, or something to put on, in general. [ki put on, + mono thing] [25/11/01]
1189	Korea	The name Choson mention here as a Korean term to mean Korea is alright with North Korea, where Choson is included in the official name of the state. However, it is not the case with South Korea, i.e. Republic of Korea, where Han Guk, a short form of the official name of the state Tae Han Min Guk, is the standard name in reference to their country. In South Korea, Choson is acknowledged as the state title under the Yi (Lee) dynasty (1392-1897). The last king of the dynasty declared the change of the state name to Tae Han Chae Guk (Great Korean Empire) in 1897, in the course of modernizing reform of the state. In Japanese writings after the WW II, choice of the terms between Chosen and Kankoku (Japanese reading of Han Guk) often comes with political connotation. Some Japanese writers try to avoid this trouble using the term koria (Japanese reading of "Korea" in English) instead. [16/11/01]
1192	Kurosawa	Died on 6th September, 1998 (after the publication of the Third Edition). [16/11/01]
1193	Kwangju	This is the city, where handreds of civilians were massacred in May, 1980. Anti-government demonstrators overpowered the local police, and the central government, in response, declared martial law and sent the army troops. The result was chaotic. Handreds of citizens were shot dead, and many more were arrested. Kim Dae Jung, then an active anti-regime politician, was arrested for conspiracy of the incident, and sentenced to death. Later, the whole incident became a serious scandal under the presidency of Kim Young Sam, and two ex-presidents Chon Doo Huan and Noh Dae Woo were sentenced to jail for their responsibility as supreme military commanders of the time. After 1994, the incident was officially evaluated as democratic movement of the people, and the National Memorial Cemetary was opened in 1997 under Kim Dae Jung's presidency. This incident of May, 1980 should be more important a fact than the city's logistic function at the time of the Korean War. [25/11/01]
1193	Kyoto	Kyoto became the capital in 794 (not in 784). [16/11/01]
1362	Mifune	Died on 24th December, 1997 (after the publication of the Third Edition). [16/11/01]
1375	Mishima	Yukio Mishima is his pen name. His real name, Kimitake Hiraoka, should be added with parantheses. [25/11/01]
1388	Mongoloid	2 Anthropology It is misleading to exclude indigenous poeple of the North and South Americas from the examples of Mongoloid. [25/11/01]
1416	Murasaki Shikibu	She is the world's first female novelist. Is it politically incorrect to note that ? [16/11/01]
1421	Mutsuhito	See the comment above on Hirohito. Mutsuhito is also referred to as Emperor Meiji after his death, as the era name for his reign was Meiji. [22/11/01]
1427	Nakasone	1) He is still alive. "1918-87" should read "born 1918". 2) The last "I" put on the end of the pronunciation should be omitted. [16/11/01]
1430	Nara	The capital moved to Kyoto in 794 (not in 784). [16/11/01]
1458	Nippon Shakkaito	1) The latter part should read "Shakaito", not "Shakkaito". 2) The party changed their name to Shakai Minshuto, i.e. Social Democratic party, in 1996. 3) Tha policy explained was of 1970s, and is already obsolete. [25/11/01]
1494	Oe	The latter vowel should be pronounced as 'e' in 'pet', not 'peat'. [16/11/01]
1497	Ogasawara-gynto	Should read "Ogasawara-gunto". See page 244, Bonin Islands. [16/11/01]
1499	Okinawa	The explanation defines Okinawa as the main island of the Ryukyus, but the population figure quoted is that of Okinawa prefecture, i.e. the Ryukyu as a whole. [16/11/01]
1457	ninja	Feudal Japanese ninjas seldom were mercenary fighters. They were specialized in espionage, sabotage, and assasination. They were not soldiers in the battlefield and had nothing to do with kung-fu fighting. Thus, "mercenary fighters trained in martial arts and espionage" is a bit misleading. However, it is also true that such martial artists image of ninja is widespread thanks to Hollywood movies. It might be a better idea to give the second definition for a ninja as an imaginary martial artist inspired by a feudal Japanese ninja. [16/11/01]
1564	Park	1 Chung Hee The explanation might be misleading without mentioning his background as an army officer. He seized the power by coup d'etat. His regime was a typical military dictatorship. His opponent in the North, Kim Il Sung is descriped as 'soldier and politician' in page 1177. This description is no less suitable for Park. [25/11/01]
1686	prefecture	Local government system of Japan divides the country into 47 prefectures, including the Tokyo Metropolis. Tokyo does not use the title of prefecture, but is usually counted as one of the prefectures. Japanese prefectures resemble counties in UK, in their degree of autonomy. They are less independence from the national government than states in USA or Australia from the federal government. However, for some reason, the head of a Japanese prefecture is titled as a governor rather than a prefect. It seems preferable to add the third definition to this term as: 3 one of the chief administrative divisions of Japan. [22/11/01]
1867	Ryukyu Islands	1) The Ryukyus are part of Japan. Thus, "between Japan and Taiwan" should read "between Japan proper and Taiwan", or "between Kyushu and Taiwan". 2) Explanation about what happened in 1879 is misleading. In this year, Japanese government established Okinawa prefecture for the region, incorporating the Ryukyus into the domestic government system. By then, the region was treated as han territory governed by a former feudal king under the supervision of the Japanese government. Since the establishment of the first unitary kingdom in 15th century, the Ryukyus enjoyed its independence and diplomatic relations both with China and Japan. Early in 17th century, however, the kingdom was ruled practically by the Satsuma han, a feudal domain of southern Kyushu. Although the kingdom maintained its formal independence, mainly in purpose of trading with China, it was controlled and heavily taxed by the Satsuma han. After the Meiji reformation in 1867, the Ryukyus phased out its nominal independence. In 1872, the kingdom was officially abolished and the last king became a member of the Japanese peerage. He stayed in the Ryukyus until 1879, when he moved to Tokyo, and the region was incorporated into Japan completely. China, who traditionally received tributes from the Ryukyus, diplomatically resisted Japan's incorporation of the Ryukyus around 1879. However, this does not mean that the region was under Chinese rule by then. 3) The population figure is utterly wrong. The Ryukyus equal Okinawa prefecture today, and the census data of Okinawa, the most trustworthy figures for the population, show 1.04 million for 1975, and 1.11 million for 1980. The most recent census in 2000 counts 1,318,281. [16/11/01]
1882	samurai	First definition seems lacking. [25/11/01]
1961	shogun	The etymological note includes incorrect information. The first holder of the office, Tamuramaro of Sakanoue, received this title in 797, as the definition 1 explains. 1192 was the year when the first rule by a shogun in the definition 2 started in Kamakura under Yoritomo of Minamoto. [22/11/01]
2117	sukiyaki	The meat for sukiyaki should definitely be beef. Or is there anything like pork sukiyaki or chicken sukiyaki in Australia ? The etymological note is lacking. [suki a spade + yaki to grill] [22/11/01]
2132	sushi	The description given is of makizushi, just one particular type of sushi. Sushi could be any type of Japanese dish using boiled and vinegared rice with fish etc. Besides makizushi, such types as nigirizushi (hand-shaped sushi), oshizushi (sushi moulded in a box, popular in western Japan), and chirashizushi (unrolled sushi) are common. Most sushi bars in Australia serve both makizushi and nigirizushi types. [16/11/01]
2134	Suzuka	This city is famous with the Suzuka circuit, a Mecca of motor sports in Japan, which hosts F1 Japan grand prix. [16/11/01]
2134	Suzuki method	The founder of the method, Shinichi Suzuki, died on 26th January, 1998 (after the publication of the Third Edition). [16/11/01]
2157	Takao	The name of the city has not change for a long time. Takao is Japanese reading of the name. Until 1945, under the Japanese colonial rule, the official romanization should have been Takao. Takao is more a Japanese name for Gaoxiong in Pinyin, i.e. Kaohsiung in older system of romanization. See page 872, Gaoxiong. Also see the case of Taibei/Taipei/Taihoku. [16/11/01]
2158	Takeshita	Died on 19th June, 2000 (after the publication of the Third Edition). [16/11/01]
2181	tempura	The etymological note is incorrect and misleading. Tempura in Japanese is an old 16th century loan word from Portuguese. The original Portuguese term should have something to do with temperature, etc. [16/11/01]
2184	teriyaki	The etymological note is incorrect. Teri in this context is a glaze (not flame). [16/11/01]
2332	Utamaro	The painter is listed by his first name. Kitagawa is his surname. [16/11/01]
2389	wasabi	A wasabi is often described as a Japanese horseradish. This expression appears in the explanation for sashimi on page 1889. Although the explanation of wasabi here is correct, it would be better understood by adding that it is often referred to as a Japanese horseradish. [22/11/01]
2450	World War II	The surrender of Japan was announced on 15 August 1945, in Japan Standard Time, and it was still on 14 August in USA. Since Australia shares the similar time zones with Japan, it was 15 August also in Australia. This is why VP Day is 15 August. Since the dictionary is Australian, it is better to have 15 August rather than 14 August, in accordance with the explanation on VP Day in page 2375. [25/11/01]
2461	Yagi aerial	This device is named after profesor Hidetsugu Yagi, 1886-1976, Japanese physicist. Yagi was a professor at Osaka University, when he theorized the basic mechanism of the device in 1924-1926. One of his staff scholar, Shintaro Uda, practically designed and realized the device in 1926. Patent for this device was registered by Yagi's name internationally, thus it became known as Yagi aerial, or Yagi antenna, or simply yagi. Neither Yagi nor Uda was an electrical engineer. They were both physicists teaching and researching at one of the most prestageous national universities in Japan. Yagi was also known as a generous mentor of Nobel prize winning Hideki Yukawa (see page 2470), and supported Yukawa's study in varied ways. Yagi later become the president of Tokyo Institute of Technology, and then of Musashi Institute of Technology. He was also a member of the House of Councilors. This device is now more commonly called Yagi-Uda antenna in Japan, acknowledging the Uda's contribution. [25/11/01]
2468	Yoshihito	See the comment above on Hirohito. Yoshihito is also referred to as Emperor Taisho after his death, as the era name for his reign was Taisho. [22/11/01]

[First released: 16/11/01]
[Last modified: 26/11/01]