Definitions by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫
Scarface
In 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug empire while succumbing to greed. (Cartel not Mafia).
Scarface by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 12, 2011
Shoji
A translucent screen consisting of a wooden frame covered in rice paper, used as a sliding door or partition in a Japanese house.
Shoji screens are Japanese designed Asian panel screens, popular worldwide for their practical advantages. Shoji screens are different from Chinese and other oriental screens in that the panels are rice paper, not wood, rattan, or bamboo. Rice paper is lighter than wood, but, as important, lets light pass through. Paper provides privacy, like any oriental screen, but also diffuses light throughout any room.
Shoji by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 11, 2011
Tatami
Tatami mats are woven straw mats closely associated with Japanese culture, where they have been an enduring feature for centuries. The densely woven mats are traditionally used as a floor covering, and a number of traditions surround their use. The classic size of a tatami mat is three by six feet (one by two meters), although a wide assortment of shapes and sizes are available in addition to custom mats. This standard size is often used as a room measurement, much as square footage is used in many parts of the West. Thus, one may hear a room described as “four and a half mats.” Many Japanese import stores stock tatami mats, and they can also be ordered directly. The early roots of tatami mats were probably simple rushes strewn on the floors of rooms to keep them more dry and clean. Gradually, rushes were replaced with woven mats, which evolved an inner layer of stuffing such as straw or rice bran. Tatami mats are traditionally edged in fabric such as brocade to keep the layers together. Today, the filling for tatami mats is often a synthetic material, designed to resist wear.
Tatami by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 11, 2011
Shogi
Shogi is a two-player board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, and Chinese Xiangqi, and is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan. Shogi means general's boardgame.
Shogi by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 10, 2011
Seppuku
Ritual suicide by disembowelment carried out by samurai. Literally means "stomach cutting." The samurai committing seppuku would shove a dagger such as a tanto into their stomach while another samurai acted as their second by lopping off their head.
Seppuku is also reffered to as Harakiri
Seppuku by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 8, 2011
Shogunate
(SHOH-guh-nate) The government of medieval Japan in which the Shogun, a military and civil regent, served as the actual leader, while the emperor was the symbolic head of the state and religion. There were three shogunates throughout Japanese history - 1) the Kamakura Shogunate (1192–1333), 2) the Ashikaga Shogunate (1336–1573), and 3) the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1868).
Shogunate by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 7, 2011
Tale of Genji
The Tale of Genji was authored by a female courtier. The tale is about life in the Japanese medieval court.
Tale of Genji by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 7, 2011