Loanwords from the Japanese language in Hawaii appear in various parts of the culture. Many loanwords in Hawaiian Pidgin (or Hawaiian Creole English) derive from the Japanese language. The linguistic influences of the Japanese in Hawaii began with the first immigrants from Japan in 1868 and continues with the large Japanese American population in Hawaii today.
Background
There are other Japanese words common among the Japanese American population (such as "okazu" and "obaachan"), but not as well-known among Hawaii's general population. Such words have not been included here, nor have Japanese words which have entered the English language on a national level, such as "anime," (:ja:アニメ) "karaoke," (:ja:カラオケ) "samurai," (侍) and "sushi" (:ja:寿司). Hawaii is also unique in the United States in that Japanese loanwords often retain Japanese pronunciation, as in the tapped "r" sound even in words that have entered the American English dictionary such as "karaoke" and "karate."
However, as several varieties of Japanese cultural influence in the US in general has increased over the years, it has further bolstered the uses of Japanese terminology in Hawaii. Japanese food has increased in popularity and availability, most notably in the history of sushi in the US and Top Ramen, plus in the 21st century, ramen restaurants. Poke restaurants, centered around the Hawaiian dish, also have food with Japanese influences. Another variety of cultural influence has been the increasing fandom and availability of anime and manga as early as the 1980s with that era's Viz Japanese comics in English and Mangajin magazine. This fandom brought in the name "cosplay" and expanded its practice in a wider audience.
Some words are not from the standard Japanese language. They instead originated from Japan's regional dialects. For example, the word "bobora" is said to be spoken only in certain prefectures, especially in western Japan where many of the Japanese immigrants came from. It originates from the Portuguese word abóbora meaning Japanese pumpkin.
Food
Anpan (:ja:あんパン, 餡パン): A sweet bread filled with azuki bean paste and sprinkled on top with sesame seeds. Usually larger than the Japanese variety. Bentō (:ja:弁当, べんとう): Box lunch geared for portability for picnics, etc. It typically has rice, a main dish of meat or fish, and side dishes. It used to be food on a paper plate placed inside a thin cardboard box. Now, it's all in convenient styrofoam containers molded for each dish. Furikake: A seaweed and sesame seed based condiment commonly used to season rice. Manjū (:ja:饅頭): Confection with sweet azuki bean paste inside a flour-based outside. Miso soup (:ja:味噌汁): Soup made of fermented soybean paste called miso. Miso-shiru in Japanese. Mochi (:ja:餅): Rice cake made of a special kind of rice that has been pounded into a sticky mass. Mochi may be sweetened or unsweetened. Commonly pounded and eaten during New Year's, as in Japan. Sweetened azuki beans are commonly included with mochi as part of a confection. Mochi crunch: Rice crackers seasoned with shoyu. Also called "kaki mochi". Called arare in standard Japanese. Mochi ice cream: Ice cream coated with a thin layer of frozen mochi. Musubi: Rice triangle wrapped in dried seaweed; may or may not have something in the middle, like a pickled ume or bits of fish. Spam musubi has a piece of SPAM luncheon meat on top. In Japanese the word onigiri is more commonly used for rice balls. Without further clarification, "musubi" usually implies the triangle variety (round balls of rice are only eaten at funerals). Shoyu (:ja:醤油): Soy sauce. "Shoyu rice" is "soy sauce" sprinkled over rice. "Shoyu x" is some ingredient x cooked in soy sauce, e.g. "Shoyu chicken", "shoyu pork", "shoyu tofu". This term is so widely used that most Hawaii residents are unaware that is not the widely used English language term for soy sauce. Sukiyaki (:ja:すき焼き): Thin slices of beef, vegetables, and tofu simmered in a skillet or pan in sukiyaki sauce. (It is also the title of a No. 1 hit song in the U.S. made popular by Kyu Sakamoto in 1963. The Japanese title of the song is "Ue o muite arukō—it has nothing to do with the food product.) Teriyaki (:ja:照り焼き): Grilled meat basted with a sauce made of shoyu and sugar. Meat words such as "chicken" are often appended. A common dish in plate lunches. Often shortened to "teri", e.g. "teri burger". Tako (:ja:タコ): Octopus. Often used in a local dish called poke in which case it is called "tako poke".