noun:

• draining basket (traditionally made of bamboo); colander; strainer; sieve
• something full of holes ➜ ざる法【ざるほう】
• zaru soba - abbreviation ➜ ざる蕎麦
• strong drinker; someone who can drink like a fish - colloquialism

noun:

• totally useless (fruitless) effort; wasting time on an impossible task (like trying to scoop up a reflected moon from the bottom of the sea) - four character idiom

noun:

• bracing oneself up to action, being inspired by something; getting down to work, putting heart and soul into it; tackling (a job) with gusto - four character idiom

noun:

• anniversary that celebrates author Dazai Osamu's birthday, and incidentally, the day his body was found after he was involved in a double suicide - 太宰治

noun:

• Naso (genus of tropical marine surgeonfishes in the family Acanthuridae known as unicorn fishes due to a spike protruding from the forehead)

noun:

• 49th, 51st, 52nd, 54th, 56th, 57th, 58th or 60th day of the sexagenary cycle (said to be inauspicious with a high probability of rain) ➜ 間日【まび】

noun:

• painting representing reeds around water with rocks, grass or birds made using characters (Heian period)
• characters written in a way inspired from that style

noun:

• new single (by a recording artist)
• person of marriageable age who remains single (e.g. to focus on their career) - From English

noun:

• elegance; grace; refinement; class; dignity

suffix:

• article; item

suffix / counter:

• counter for items (of food, etc.); counter for dishes or courses (at a restaurant) - sometimes pronounced ぴん

~する noun:

• to master (a skill)

noun:

• proprietor; manager; owner; barkeeper
• leader; chief; head
• master (of arts, science, etc.)
• master (recording)
• master (device) ➜ スレーブ

noun:

• sky
• heaven ［てん］
• svarga (heaven-like realm visited as a stage of death and rebirth) ［てん］ - Buddhism term
• deva (divine being of Buddhism) ［てん］ - Buddhism term

noun:

• cut end; edge (of a page, etc.)
• small amount; small sum Antonym: 大口【おおぐち】
• beginning; clue
• tiger's den; jaws of death; dangerous place ➜ 虎口

adverb:

• what street? (esp. in Kyoto and Sapporo)
• what article? (in a law)
• how can?; cannot possibly; there is no way - the 条 in 何条 is an ateji - archaism

noun:

• phenomime; mimetic word; word that mimics an action, condition, or manner that does not make a sound (e.g. "damp", "calmly") - e.g., じめじめ、ゆったり - Linguistics term

noun / ~する noun:

• writing with the brush in one's mouth

noun:

• foreword; preface
• affidavit; written confession (of a commoner in the Edo period)

noun / ~する noun / ~の noun:

• rumination; regurgitation; chewing the cud

noun / ~する noun:

• turning over in one's mind; thinking over something; pondering; musing; rumination (about a subject)

expression:

• necessity is the mother of invention; there is always some way out of a difficulty if you really look for one - proverb

noun:

• putting on a brave face; put-on cheeriness; pretending one is fine; show of courage; bravado; Dutch courage

noun:

• girl who has led a sheltered life; pet daughter; naive girl; ingénue
• wooden block puzzle; Daughter in the Box; Klotski

expression / godan ~う verb:

• to live on air
• to derive nourishment from an elemental portion of mist or fog (the goal of a mountain ascetic) ➜ 仙人

noun:

• puzzle ring; wire puzzle
• exercise where students link crossed hands in a circle and try working together and without letting go

expression:

• Defeat is inevitable for an overconfident army; Being arrogant and overconfident inevitably leads to defeat (failure); Pride comes before a fall - four character idiom

noun:

• entrance exam for a university giving preference to persons who excel in one special field (skill); one-talent oriented entrance examination - four character idiom

expression / ichidan verb:

• to be highly-reputed and sell extremely well (of a printed literary work); to raise the price of paper in Luoyang [literal] - idiom - archaism

adverb / ~と adverb:

• stiff and slackless; tense without any looseness - onomatopoeia ➜ きりっと
• cling tightly; pulled or stretched as far as possible
• creaking of a door or oar