a native or inhabitant of Japan
the language of the Japanese
Japanese adj
Since Japan began to open its borders to Europeans in the 1850s, many Japanese words have appeared in English, but nearly all are restricted to specialized fields such as food and drink (sake, soy, sukiyaki), martial arts (judo, karate), and practices, activities, and titles (kamikaze, bonsai, origami) of unmistakably Japanese origin. Tycoon is a rare example of a Japanese word (ultimately from Chinese) which has become thoroughly anglicized; and the more recent borrowing honcho, picked up by US servicemen during the Korean War (1950–3), is fast establishing itself in English