gaman: Patience, perseverance.

hapa: A Hawaiian term for a person of mixed ethnic parentage.

Issei: First-generation Japanese immigrant in America.

kanji: Chinese characters used in Japanese writing.

ken: A prefecture.

Nisei: American-born children of Japanese immigrants; second-generation Japanese Americans.

Sansei: American-born grandchildren of Japanese immigrants; third-generation Japanese Americans.

shikata ga nai: It can't be helped. There's nothing one can do.