"The word 'home' comes from the Nordic and Germanic languages and means a place of comfort, a warm fire and a place to sleep," said Colleen Lanki, artistic director of Kee Company, a Tokyo-based bilingual theater group.
In her research for Kee Company's most recent production, "Home," Lanki discovered an even wider range of definitions of home, especially in Japanese.
"We tried to translate 'home' but found it has no Japanese equivalent," said Lanki. "It requires three words: ie -- ancestors' family house; uchi -- where you live with your immediate family; and ibasho -- place of being, place of your heart."