The Emperor in Shadow

by Richard Parks

  sutra: In Buddhism, a scriptual narrative.

  tachi: A long, thin sword originally designed for use on horseback.

  tanka: Classic Japanese poetic form of thirty-one syllables. A longer version of what eventually became the haiku.

  tengu: A goblin, often depicted with a long nose or beak and crow’s wings.

  -tenno: Literally “heavenly sovereign”; an honorific connoting royalty.

  torii: The gateway of a Shinto shrine, consisting of two upright posts supporting two horizontal crosspieces.

  tsukumo-gami: Inanimate objects that, after serving their owner(s) for a century, receive a soul and become self-aware. A harmless yokai, although known to play pranks.

  udaijin: See sadaijin.

  washi: traditional paper made from the long inner fibers of three plants (the kozo, mitsumata, and gampi). Literally: wa means Japanese and shi means paper.

  Way of the Gods: Shinto, the indigenous faith of the Japanese people.

  yin-yang: A philosophy rooted in both the balance between and interconnectedness of all things: light/dark, male/female, life/death, etc. Probably derived from Daoism via China.

  youkai: Generic term for a monster, or pretty much any supernatural creature.

  yurei: Ghosts. Literally: yū (meaning “faint” or “dim”) and rei (meaning “soul” or “spirit”).