Tempura (1894) and early Japanese

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A HANDBOOK FOR TRAVELLERS IN JAPAN
by Basil Hall Chamberlain
Fourth edition revised and augmented
London: John Murray
1894

    I haven't looked at earlier editions.  The John Murray HANDBOOKS were
early version of LONELY PLANET or LET'S GO.  The classic one is Richard
Ford's HAND-BOOK OF SPAIN (1845), which had "gazpacho" and so much more.
Unfortunately, the writing is not always as good, or as early, as that.
Search a catalog for "John Murray (firm)."
   OED and Merriam-Webster have "tempura" from 1920.


Pg. 10:
   12--PROVISIONS.
(...) Wine , spirits, and cigars are equally unobtainable; but beer is to be
met with in most towns, the _Kirin Beer_ brewed at Yokohama being excellent.
(...)
   Curry-powder will often help to make insipid Japanese dishes palatable,
and _shoyu_ (soy) adds a zest to soups. (...)
   The following Japanese articles of food are considered palatable to most
foreigners:

_Kasuteira_, sponge-cake.
_Miso-shiru_, bean-soup.
_Sakana no shio-yaki_, broiled fish.
_Sakana no tempura_, fish fritter.
_Sake_, a strong liquor made from rice and generally taken hot.
_Sembei_, thin biscuits of various kinds.
_Tamago-yaki_, a sort of omelette.
_Tori-nabe_, chicken cut up small and stewed.
_Ushi-nabe_, beef similarly treated.
_Unagi-meshi_, layers of rice with eels done in soy.
_Yokan_, sweet-bean paste.

(I didn't find "see no evil" here in this book under "nikko" temple, but look
again--ed.)

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THEY CAME TO JAPAN:
AN ANTHOLOGY OF EUROPEAN REPORTS ON JAPAN, 1543-1640
edited by Michael Cooper, S. J.
University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles
1965

   This book provides an excellent starting point for Japanese words into
English.  Unfortunately, dates are not easily given--you have to search the
end of the chapter, and there you often find the original is Spanish or
Portuguese.


Pg. 13:  THE WINDS CALLED _TUFFON_.
("Typhoon."  In Linschoten, Jan Huyghen, _John Huighen Van Linschoten His
Discours of Voyages into Ye Easte and West Indies_.  John Wolfe, trans.
London, 1598.  OED has about 20 years later, given in this book on page
14--ed.)

Pg. 193:  All they have are two small sticks, called _hashi_, which they
manipulate with such cleanliness and skill that they do not touch any of the
food with their hands nor let even a crumb fall from their plate on to the
table.
(Alessandro Valignano, _Historia del Principio_, 1542-1564--ed.)

Pg. 193:  CHOPSTICKS. (Editor's heading?--ed.)
(...)  These are called _hashi_ and are used as follows...
(Francesco Carletti, 1701, translated 1932--ed.)

Pg. 194:  I will not praise Japanese food for it is not good, albeit it is
pleasing to the eye, but instead I will describe the clean and peculiar way
in which it is served. (...)
   This table is called an _oshiki_...
   The largest one is called a _goki_ and within it is brought the rice,
covered by the third vessel, called a _kasa_; in the second bowl, or _kowan_,
they bring the soup, or _shiru_; and this in turn is covered by the fourth
bowl, or _hanashi_. )...)
   The Japanese do not use chairs but seat themselves on the _tatami_, just
as women sit on an estrade.  Tow clean sticks, or _hashi_, as thick as a
quill and about a span and a half in length, are placed on the table.  (...)
On top of this table there is sometimes a saucer or two with some _sakana_ or
dainty morsel.
(Bernardino de Avila Giron, translated 1933-1935, date of original not
given--ed.)

Pg. 196:  THE SAKAZUKI.
   First of all you must know that the _sakazuki_ is the cup from which they
drink.
(Also by Bernardino de Avila Giron--ed.)

Pg. 199:  TEA DRINKING.
   There is a certain leaf which they call _Cha_ or _the_ which grows on a
plant somewhat similar to the box-wood tree...
(Francesco Carletti, 1701, translated 1932--ed.)

Pg. 205:  The principal robe invariably worn by the nobility and ordinary
folk, both men and women, in the whole of this realm is called _kimono_ or
_kirumono_.  (...)  This was most fashionable and was called _kosode_, that
is, short sleeves, and thus silk robes are to-day known as _kosode_. (...)
   The _katabira_ is generally made of very fine linen, somewhat like a veil,
but there are silken ones which they call _susushi_.
(Joao Rodriguez, _historia da Igreja do Japao_, translated 1954-1956, from
1600-1625?--ed.)

Pg. 208:  THE KIMONO.
   The garment which they call _kimono_ is a robe which, on women, reaches
the ground, while men wear it down to the middle of the leg according to
their station, for people of quality wear them long, but the poor folk wear
theirs down to where they may.
(Bernardino de Avila Giron--ed.)

(The tea ceremony is also here.  "Kabuki" is mentioned in the works of Lois
Frois (1549-1578) and Richard Cocks' diary, about 1615--ed.)