haiku: A Japanese verse form, rendered in English as 3 unrhymed lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables respectively, often on some subject of nature.

Issei: First-generation Japanese immigrant in America.

kamaboko: Boiled fish paste.

Kibei: American-born person of Japanese ancestry sent to Japan for formal education and socialization when young and later returned to the U.S.

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

tsukemono: Pickled vegetables.