noun:

• broadfin sawtail catshark (Galeus nipponensis, found in China, Japan, and the Kyushu-Palau Ridge)

noun:

• geisha; woman who entertains (e.g. by playing the shamisen) for her living - obscure term ➜ 歌妓

noun:

• room arranged for the summer (by removing screens and doors to improve air flow) ➜ 襖【ふすま】・障子

noun:

• small western mirror with mercury added to the glass (Edo period) ➜ 和鏡

noun:

• observatory for astronomy, cloud-watching, etc. - archaism
• astronomical expert - abbreviation - archaism ➜ 霊台郎・天文博士
• place where the soul is located - archaism

noun:

• seven boarding schools established in Kyoto by noble families during the early Heian period ➜ 大学別曹

noun:

• curtain separating a central room from the aisles around it (in palatial-style architecture) ➜ 母屋【もや】・庇

noun:

• low door used in bathhouses to prevent the hot water from cooling (Edo period)

noun:

• pompadour-like hair style, popular for unmarried women in the Edo period; shimada coiffure - abbreviation

noun:

• dark sweet liquid produced after the third heating in a thermal sugar-refining process

noun:

• blackback butterflyfish (Chaetodon melannotus, species found in the Indo-Pacific)

noun:

• downstage left (in noh), where the secondary actor is often seated ➜ 脇【わき】

noun:

• Forgive me for dispensing with the preliminaries, but I hasten to inform you that... - opening formula of a brief letter

noun:

• mushroom that springs up in the morning and withers by night; "something short-lived" [figurative] - archaism

noun / ~する noun:

• sitting on the floor grasping one's knees (as in a gym class) - Kansai dialect ➜ 体育座り

noun:

• sake lees with black or brown specks (from oxidation enzymes produced by the yeast) ➜ 酒かす

noun:

• economic downturn precipitated by the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008 - From English "Lehman Shock"

expression / noun:

• a long way off; matter for the future; not going to happen anytime soon

noun:

• PRISM; mass electronic surveillance program operated by the United States National Security Agency

noun:

• group dating; gathering for young people to socialize with the opposite sex ➜ コンパ

noun:

• cash gift from local government to the elderly (often on 77th and 88th birthdays)

noun:

• sitting on the floor grasping one's knees (as in a gym class) ➜ 体育座り【たいいくずわり】

noun / ~する noun:

• cutting off the edges (printing, sewing, cooking, etc.)

noun:

• snippets; trimmings; cuttings

expression:

• two people arguing and not letting the other express their opinions - idiom

expression:

• the line between good and evil is no wider than a razor's edge - proverb