noun:

• the four cardinal directions; north, east, south and west; all directions
• surroundings ［しほう・よほう］
• many countries; the whole world ［しほう］
• all around; here and there ［よも］
• square; quadrilateral; four-sided figure ［しほう・よほう］
• four sides (of a square)

noun:

• striking sparks with flint and steel or by rubbing sticks together (usu. to start a fire); fire lit by sparks from flint and steel, etc. ➜ 鑽る
• Shinto fire-purification ceremony - Shintō term

noun / ~する noun:

• permanent staff; permanent employee; service for a fixed period of time - obscure term

noun:

• (Edo era) a daimyo or feudal retainer who lived and/or served in Edo for a fixed period of time - archaism

noun:

• strait with a roaring tidal ebb and flow; whirlpool; maelstrom - from 鳴門海峡
• kamaboko with a spiral whirlpool-like pattern - abbreviation ➜ 鳴門巻き
• cooking technique where ingredients are cut in a spiral pattern - Food term
• Naruto; city in NE Tokushima pref ［鳴門］
• Naruto Strait ［鳴門］ - from 鳴門海峡 - abbreviation
• Naruto wakame ［鳴門］ - abbreviation ➜ 鳴門若布【なるとわかめ】

expression:

• if you do a favor for somebody, you will get a return favor; if a fish is friendly toward water, water will be kind to the fish too [literal]; you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours - proverb ➜ 魚心あれば水心

noun:

• method of dyeing in which a color repeatedly goes from dense to diffuse, diffuse to dense - imported from western China and used in Buddhist pictures, temple ornaments, etc., during the Nara and Heian periods

noun:

• orca (Orcinus orca); killer whale; grampus
• mythical carp with the head of a lion and the body of a fish (auspicious protectors of well-being) ［しゃち］ - abbreviation ➜ 鯱【しゃちほこ】

noun / ~の noun:

• ideal
• ideal in a ring (i.e. subset of a ring closed under addition and multiplication by elements of the ambient ring) - Mathematics term

expression / godan ~る verb:

• to hold fast to one's ways; to be overly conservative; to not get with the times; to guard the tree stub [literal] - from a fable appearing in the Han Feizi - idiom

godan ~る verb / intransitive verb:

• to topple over and lean at a precarious angle; to fall onto something and lean against it
• to be on the point of collapse; to be about to fall; to begin to fall

noun:

• salad of fish and vegetables, dressed with crushed mustard leaves and greens seasoned with sake lees, miso and vinegar - Food term

expression:

• too much pleasure ruins a man (esp. in reference to spending too much time with geisha and prostitutes); playing the dandy ruins a man - proverb

noun:

• better being rough and ready than slow and elaborate; better being brisk and sharp than slow and prudent - four character idiom

noun / ~する noun:

• (husband and wife) earning a living together

adverb / ~と adverb:

• with a smooth, unhindered motion; speedily and without delay - onomatopoeia

noun:

• (brother and sister) born of a different mother

noun:

• cross between a mallard and domestic duck

noun:

• record of a person's words and deeds

noun:

• closing argument and sentencing recommendation (of a prosecutor)

noun:

• governing a nation and providing relief to people - four character idiom

noun:

• red-haired and blue-eyed (person); a Westerner - four character idiom

noun:

• (a line, queue) being long and serpentine - four character idiom

noun:

• saving a nation and providing relief to people - four character idiom

noun:

• governing a nation and providing relief to people - four character idiom

noun:

• fold and blindstitch a pleat or folded edge