noun:

• scapulimancy (divination using the cracks in the heated shoulder blade of a deer); scapulomancy; spatulamancy; armomancy - archaism

noun:

• summer purification rites (held at shrines on the last day of the 6th lunar month) ➜ 茅の輪

noun:

• row of syllables on the Japanese syllabary table that ends with the vowel sound "a" - Linguistics term ➜ 五十音

noun:

• row of syllables on the Japanese syllabary table that ends with the vowel sound "i" - Linguistics term ➜ 五十音

noun:

• row of syllables on the Japanese syllabary table that ends with the vowel sound "u" - Linguistics term ➜ 五十音

noun:

• row of syllables on the Japanese syllabary table that ends with the vowel sound "e" - Linguistics term ➜ 五十音

noun:

• row of syllables on the Japanese syllabary table that ends with the vowel sound "o" - Linguistics term ➜ 五十音

noun:

• breaking up a match (on the decision of the referee, in boxing, etc.) - From English "referee stop"

noun:

• buildings on the east and west side of the southern pond (in traditional palatial-style architecture) ➜ 寝殿造り

noun:

• western citadel; west wing of the Edo castle (where the heir apparent or retired shogun would live) ➜ 江戸城

expression:

• third climate of spring (when the ice breaks and fish start appearing near the surface) ➜ 七十二候

noun:

• playing cards bearing proverbs in the traditional ordering of the Japanese syllabary

expression / noun:

• crowning glory (e.g. winning the last game of the season, creating a final spectacular art work)

noun:

• incense which supposedly allows the spirit of a departed loved one to be seen in the smoke

noun:

• calligraphy technique of holding the brush perpendicularly, lower arm raised, and elbow held away from the body ➜ 直筆【ちょくひつ】・懸腕

noun:

• way of holding a calligraphy brush, with elbow away from the body and arm in the air ➜ 懸腕直筆【けんわんちょくひつ】

noun:

• second half of the year; second half of the fiscal year ➜ 上半期

noun:

• first eastern wind of the year; first eastern wind of the spring

ichidan verb / intransitive verb:

• to take the form of (esp. in ref. to a spirit, fox, raccoon dog, etc.); to assume the shape of; to turn oneself into; to transform oneself into
• to disguise oneself as
• to change radically; to metamorphose
• to improve unexpectedly and dramatically (esp. of an actor, artist, rikishi, etc.)

noun:

• an offering of tea and hot water made to Buddha or the spirit of the deceased
• a tea infusion; tea and hot water
• tea ceremony ➜ 茶の湯

ichidan verb / transitive:

• to work (for); to be employed (at); to serve (in) - usu. 勤める
• to serve (as); to act (as); to fill (the position of); to play the role (of) - usu. 務める
• to conduct a religious service - usu. 勤める

noun / ~する noun:

• cheating on train fare by buying tickets covering only the first and last portions of the journey (so-called because traditional pipes had metal only in two short segments at the ends) ➜ 煙管乗り

expression / noun:

• backbiting of a coward; grumblings of a loser; the far-off bark of a retreating dog [literal] - idiom

noun:

• family registry (of the district); original of one's family register; archive of family registers

noun:

• the end of things (esp. used for one's last writings) - archaism
• one's dying hour (esp. used for the death of Confucius)