expression:

• right on the heels of yesterday, then today ...; soon after something, and yet now ...

expression / godan ~く verb:

• to be extremely thorough, focusing on even the finest of details

expression / noun:

• casting off the drudgery of everyday life and doing as one pleases; kicking back

noun:

• horizontally-wrapped fabric forming the bottom part of some traditional Japanese clothing

noun:

• Agent Orange (dioxin-laden defoliant used during the Vietnam War) ➜ 枯葉剤

noun:

• war started or ended with the push of a single 'launch' button - obscure term - From English "button war"

noun:

• creeper (plant that grows along the ground, etc. similar to a vine)

noun:

• Xi'an Incident (involving the arrest and confinement of Chiang Kai-shek, December 1936)

noun:

• loss of a match that is 'called' part way into the game

noun:

• immobiliser (electronic device that prevents an automobile engine from running without the key); immobilizer

noun:

• grand purification ceremony (so-called because it was overseen by the Nakatomi family) - archaism ➜ 大祓

noun:

• dazaifu (under the ritsuryo system, governmental office with jurisdiction over Kyushu, Iki and Tsushima) ➜ 律令制

noun:

• half lotus position (meditation posture); sitting with one foot placed on the opposite thigh - abbreviation ➜ 半跏趺坐

noun:

• Declaration of Humanity (wherein Hirohito renounced the imperial claim to divinity; Jan. 1, 1946)

noun:

• Meiji 27-28 Campaign (alternate name for the First Sino-Japanese war; 1894-1895) - obscure term ➜ 日清戦争

noun:

• complete state ownership of land and citizens (proclaimed by the Taika reforms) (Ritsuryo period) ➜ 私地私民

noun:

• ekayana (doctrine that only one teaching, usu. the Lotus Sutra, can lead to enlightenment) - Buddhism term

expression:

• there is no comparison between the two; it's not a same-day discussion [literal] - proverb

expression / godan ~つ verb:

• the prospects look brighter; there is hope of accomplishing (something)

noun:

• University Entrance Qualification Examination (establishes the equivalent of high-school graduation prior to 2005) - abbreviation ➜ 大学入学資格検定

noun:

• University Entrance Qualification Examination (establishes the equivalent of high-school graduation prior to 2005) ➜ 高校卒業程度認定試験

~たる adjective / ~と adverb:

• bright (esp. of the moon)
• broad and empty ［こうこう］

noun:

• style of recitative dance popular during the Muromachi period (often with a military theme)

noun:

• archer's glove (with a groove for pulling the string)

noun:

• Squamata (order of scaled reptiles, sometimes esp. the Sauria or Lacertilia) ➜ 有鱗類