noun:

• tiles used to cover nail holes in cypress bark roofing for the purpose of waterproofing

noun:

• Sunni Triangle (area of Iraq bounded by Baghdad, Ramadi and Tikrit)

noun / ~する noun:

• beginning one's studies with something familiar and gradually increasing the depth of learning - four character idiom

noun:

• (of a website) being delisted or censored by the Google search engine

noun:

• obfuscated style of Japanese text, used particularly by young women in keitai emails

noun:

• off-flavor; bitterness or other unpleasant taste that detracts from the flavour of a drink

noun:

• person appointed by an electoral nominee to be in charge of their campaign-fund accounting

noun:

• romanization (representation of foreign words using the Roman alphabet); romanized spelling

noun:

• large-scale, long-running TV series (esp. of period pieces produced by NHK) ➜ 大河小説

noun:

• Potsdam Declaration (July 26, 1945 statement establishing the terms of a Japanese surrender)

noun:

• women's volunteer corps; groups of young female workers organized on Japanese territory during WWII

noun:

• second life (esp. that of a retiree)
• SecondLife (online virtual world)

noun:

• Piltdown man (manufactured fossil of a fraudulent ape-human missing link, Eoanthropus dawsoni)

noun:

• twelve words used to mark the old calendar as indicators of lucky and unlucky activities

noun:

• twelve words used to mark the old calendar as indicators of lucky and unlucky activites - obscure term ➜ 十二直

noun:

• vijnapti-matrata (theory that all existence is subjective and nothing exists outside of the mind) - Buddhism term

noun:

• implements used to enhance the effect of a play (e.g. props, costumes, etc.)

noun:

• Shudra; Sudra (member of India's worker caste)

noun:

• thin, dried strips of daikon soaked in vinegar and other flavorings

noun:

• Malayo-Polynesian (family of languages) ➜ オーストロネシア語族

noun:

• Asteraceae; Compositae; family of flowering plants comprising the asters, daisies, sunflowers, etc. ➜ 菊

expression:

• undesirable state brought about by (my) lack of virtue; feeling morally responsible; mea culpa - with an apologetic tone

noun:

• The Five (circle of Russian composers: Balakirev, Cui, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Borodin)

noun:

• (in China) 9th note of the ancient chromatic scale (approx. A sharp) ➜ 十二律・鸞鏡
• seventh lunar month

noun:

• (in China) 5th note of the ancient chromatic scale (approx. F sharp) ➜ 下無・十二律
• third lunar month