noun:

• cord tied around the waist of a kimono before an obi is tied

noun:

• bow-twirling ceremony at the end of a day of sumo wrestling

noun:

• geisha - Kansai dialect ➜ 芸者・芸妓
• kabuki actor (esp. a young actor) - archaism ➜ 若衆【わかしゅ】
• someone accomplished in the arts - archaism

expression / adjective:

• extremely busy; so busy one would even welcome the help of a cat [literal] - idiom

noun:

• control tower; conning tower
• leader; commander; person calling the shots
• playmaker; game maker - Sports term

noun:

• person who has died at his post (in the performance of his duties)

noun:

• nakamise; shops lining a passageway in the precincts of a Shinto shrine

noun:

• flake; chip
• speck or flake used for the production of stone tools

noun / ~する noun:

• burial (disposal of a body) by exposure to the elements; aerial sepulture (burial)

noun:

• ozeki ranked wrestler unable to live up to the expectations of his rank - Sumo term

noun:

• grand champion filling the rank of champion to keep their number at 2 - Sumo term

noun / ~の noun:

• the precedence of merit; performance orientation; ability- (merit-) based (promotion, pay scale, etc.) - four character idiom

noun:

• for ever and ever; (through) eternity; countless ages; till the end of time - four character idiom

noun:

• normalization; offering people with disabilities the same conditions as other people

noun:

• violet (any flower of genus Viola, esp. the Fuji dawn, Viola mandshurica)

expression:

• quick to take a hint; very responsive; quick on the uptake ➜ ツーカー

noun:

• yunwei (secondary vowel or consonant following the primary vowel of a Chinese character)

noun:

• Three Alls Strategy; Japanese scorched earth policy during the second Sino-Japanese War - 三光 is a ref. to a Chinese phrase meaning 'kill all, burn all, loot all'

noun:

• professor specializing in the readings of kanji in classic Confucianist texts

particle:

• a sort of thing like; used after a phrase to modify the following noun

noun:

• collar; area around the collar
• counterclockwise (when seated in a circle); anti-clockwise

expression:

• losing oneself; on top of the world; walking on air; frivolous - idiom

expression:

• the smartest thing in a tight situation is to beat a retreat - proverb ➜ 三十六計

expression / ichidan verb:

• to remain faithful to the memory of one's husband and never remarry

expression:

• we meet only to part; meeting is the first step to parting [literal] - proverb