1. Vocabulary Week 33

2. Mt. Fuji
Japan’s highest and most well known mountain. It is a volcano that has been dormant for many years, and is also worshipped as a sacred place
*Category*: Geography

3. Typhoon
A large low pressure system that originates over the Northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean (known as hurricanes over the Atlantic Ocean)
*Category*: Geography

4. Prefecture
A district ruled by a prefect. Japan is divided up into 47 prefectures. These are similar to our concept of states
*Category*: Government

5. Sea of Japan
Body of water that separates the archipelago that makes up Japan from the Asian mainland
*Category*: Geography

6. Shinto
Japan’s earliest religion. It means “way of the gods” and is based on respect for nature and worship of ancestors
*Category*: Religion

7. Samurai
Warriors that were used by Japanese lords to protect their estates. European knights and the Samurai had the same behavioral expectations
*Category*: Culture

8. Bushido
Means “way of the warrior”. This was a demanding code that a Samurai was expected to follow at all times.
*Category*: Culture

9. Shogun
A military role whose title means “supreme general of the emperor’s army”
*Category*: Culture

10. Zen A Japanese sect of Buddhism that was very influential in Japan.
*Category*: Culture

11. Daimyo
A Japanese feudal baron. This rank in the social structure would be comparable to the European Lord in feudal times.
*Category*: Culture

12. Ring of Fire
A belt of seismic and volcanic activity roughly surrounding the Pacific Ocean
*Category*: Geography

13. Patriarch
A man that is seen as being the father or founder of a family, clan, or group of people. They are normally help in high esteem.
*Category*: Culture