What is a "gyochu"? I read it mentioned in a CNET article
(http://news.com.com/2010-1071-948117.html):

"Whichever genius came up with the marketing-challenged name of .Net
My Services should be sent to serve as Larry Ellison's gyochu as
penance. "

Hello.

According to a soc.culture.japan newsgroup post archived by Google
Groups:
"Gyouchuu by the way is translated as 'pinworm' or 'threadworm.'"
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=359922C1.3E97A775%40nospamhotmail.com&output=gplain

Pinworm is an intestinal parasite. For more about it, visit
Healthcentral.com:
http://www.healthcentral.com/peds/top/001152.cfm

Serving as Larry Ellison's personal intestinal worm would seem to
harsh penance indeed!

search strategy: gyochu

I hope this helps.

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 05 Aug 2002 10:50 PDT

That should have read:

"... would seem to be harsh penance indeed!"

Sorry about that.

I think I might be able to clarify juggler-ga´s answer a little more.

According to the author of the article you quoted, Charles Cooper who
is the  executive editor of commentary at CNET News.com.

"Gyochu is a Japanese term referring to a servant."

I e-mailed him and and he very kindly replied.

THX1138

Perhaps Mr. Cooper's "servant" translation is slang because the
intestinal worm translation would seem to be confirmed by this
Japanese page on which worms are pictured:
http://ota.on.arena.ne.jp/pediatrics/gyochu.htm

I believe this is a term named for the Gyochu province in Tibet and is
the Tibetan Buddhism equivalent to sack cloth and ashes.  I'll check
some offline sources and get back to you this evening.

Here's just a bit of history on gyo-ja and shugyo-ja:
http://pears2.lib.ohio-state.edu/FULLTEXT/JR-ADM/takeda.htm

Search criteria:
shugyo+buddhism+monks+prostrate