日系 Nikkei Ancestry

These are some common terms you will find on the koseki with the addition of some other useful terms with the kanji character. I will add to these as I get other useful terms that may be used when discussing Japanese genealogy and history.

These are in alphabetical order from A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y

A-
ane – 姉 older sister.
aza – 字 (sometimes ooaza – 大字 ) unorganized district in a shi or mura.

B-
banchi – 番地 house number.
bo – 亡 deceased; the late.

C-
chichi – 父 father.
choujo – 長女 eldest daughter.
choume – 丁目 smaller division of a chou in some neighborhoods.
chounan – 長男 eldest son.
chou – 町 (also read machi) district within a shi or ku; town within a gun.

D-
dan – 男 (also read nan) male; man; son.

E-

F-
fu – 府 urban prefecture (kyoto-fu, Osaka-fu, 京都府 , 大坂府) Similar to ken.

G-
gatsu – 月 (also read getsu or tsuki) month.
genseki – 原籍 another term for honseki.
gokyodai – 御兄弟 siblings.
gun – 郡 county, divided into cho and mura.

H-
haha – 母 mother.
hi – 日 (also read nichi) day; date.
hibaba – 曾祖母 great-grandmother.
hijiji – 曾祖父 great-grandfather.
himago – 曾孫 (also read souson) great-grandchild.
honseki – 本籍 registered locality (address of household being registered).
houmyou – 法名 Buddhist name given to living converts; similar to kaimyo.

I-
imouto – 妹 younger sister.

J-
jiisan – 爺さん grandfather, male senior-citizen.
jijo – 次女 second daughter.
jinan – 次男 second son.
jinshin koseki – 壬申 戸籍 registry begun in the year Jinshin (Meiji 5: 1872). Not available for private genealogical work.
joseki – 除籍 expired register in which all persons originally entered have been removed because of death, change of residence, ect. A joseki file is ordinarily available for 80 years after its expiration.
jo – 女 female; woman; daughter.

K-
kaden – 家伝 family history (tradition).
kaimyou – 戒名 posthumous Buddhist name, recorded in kakocho.
kakochou – 過去帳 Buddhist death register.
keizu – 系図 family tree;pedigree; genealogy.
keizugaku – 系図学 genealogy (the study).
ken – 県 (or 縣 ) prefecture, divided into shi and gun.
koseki – 戸籍 household register, begun 1872; available from 1886. Includes all people in a household under one.
koshu – 戸主 head of a household.
kousofu – 高祖父 great-great-grandfather.
kousobo – 高祖母 great-great-grandmother.
ku – 区 (or 區 ) ward in some large cities (Sapporo, Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima, Kita Kyushu, Fukuoka); divided into cho.
kuni – 国 (or 國 ) province (no longer in official use). Now used to mean “Nation.”

L-

M-
mago – 孫 (also read son) grandchild.
mura – 村 (also read son) village within a gun.

N-
nen – 年 (also read toshi) year.
ninchi – 認知 acknowledgement or recognition of a child as his own.
ninbetsuchou – 人別帳 individual examination register (pre-1873).
The shumon aratamecho and ninbetsucho were special surveillance censuses whose object was to detect and apprehend hidden Christians who threatened Japanese values. They were superseded by the koseki.

O-
otouto – 弟(or ototo)younger brother.
otto – 夫 husband.

P-

Q-

R-

S-
senzo – 先祖 ancestor.
shimei – 氏名 family name; name of household head.
shi – 市 city, divided into cho and aza.
shiseiji – 私生児 child born out of wedlock
shussei – 出生 birth.
shizoku – 支族 tribe, branch family.
shison – 子孫 descendants, offspring.
shuumon aratamechou – 宗門 -朱門改め帳 examination of religion register (pre-1873).
sofu – 祖父 grandfather.
sobo – 祖母 grandmother.
shouhon – 抄本 summary; abstract.

T-
touhon – 謄本 certified copy.
to – 都 metropolitan prefecture (tokyo-to – 東京都 ). Similar to ken.
tsuma – 妻 wife.

U-

V-

W-

X-

Y-
yo – 養 (or – 養子 youshi)adopted child, son-in-law. In Japan, a man without sons may adopt his eldest daughter’s husband as his own son, and the young man will take his wife’s surname.
yuisho – 由緒 history; pedigree; lineage.

Z-
zenkoshu – 前戸主 previous head of household.

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