What does 'zen' mean in Japanese?

Answer 1

This is a term for Japanese Martial Arts.

Zen ken without the hyphen refers to exercises for Japanese Swordsmanship or iaido practice. See also Zen Nippon Kendo Renmei Iaido. The word Zen is for Zen Buddhism and "Ken" is "fist" (for karate) or "sword"(for iaido).

See also the philosophy of Ken Zen Ichi, where fist/sword and the zen, meditative aspect of the movement, or the fight, become one (= ichi).

Answer 2

If you computer can display Japanese characters, here are the renderings in hiragana and kanji:

zen

ぜん　(The hiragana letter 'ze' and the ending character 'n'

kanji:

禅 (The two components of this kanji are 'god' and 'single/one'. Take that as you will)

here is a link to an i-stock photo of the kanji character for zen:

http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/754097/2/istockphoto_754097-vector-japanese-kanji-character-zen.jpg

Answer 3

It has different meanings. It could mean whole, it could mean goodness, it could mean Buddhism. It depends on what the character for it is. Here, this might help: http://www.jisho.org/words?jap=zen&eng=&dict=edict&romaji=on

Answer 4

'Kanzen' means "complete(ness)." Modifiers: 'Kanzen ni' is "completely/perfectly."

Answer 5

ken - for handle and dama for ball - kendama a populour wooden game

Answer 6

The word 午前 (gozen) means 'morning' or 'a.m.' in Japanese.

Example: 今朝午前６時に起きちゃった (kesa gozen roku-ji ni okichatta) - "I got up at 6 a.m. this morning."

Answer 7

Sugar