expression:

• knock on wood; touch wood; heaven forbid; God help me; absit omen! - spoken to ward off misfortune

noun:

• ceremonial bonfire (seeing off the spirits on the final night of O-Bon)

noun:

• comments on current events; public sentiments of the day; current view; contemporary opinion

noun:

• fifty-three stations on the Tōkaidō (Edo-Kyoto highway in Edo-period Japan)

noun / ~する noun:

• stealing a march on; getting a head start; secretly acting before others

noun:

• welcoming fire for returning spirits (on the first night of the Bon festival) Antonym: 送り火 ➜ お盆

noun / ~する noun:

• accretion of snow (on power lines, tree branches, etc.); snow sticking to surfaces

noun:

• right of residence (i.e. right to go on leasing a house, etc.)

noun:

• log on the roof of a shrine set perpendicular to the ridgepole

noun / ~する noun:

• firmly bear in mind; have something engraved on one's mind (heart) - four character idiom

noun:

• emotional effect on pet owners from losing their pet - From English "pet loss"

noun:

• Engel's coefficient; proportion of one's income spent on food - Economics term

expression:

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

noun:

• type of ribbon fastening used on wedding gifts, get-well gifts, etc.

noun:

• medical checkup that focuses primarily on problems that worsen with age

interjection:

• yes; yeah; uh huh ➜ うん
• huh?; what?

auxiliary verb / suffix:

• not - negative verb ending used in informal speech; abbr. of negative verb ending ぬ ➜ ぬ

particle:

• 's - abbr. of particle の; indicates possessive ➜ の・の
• at (place, time); in; on; during - abbr. of particle に, used esp. when it precedes the verb なる ➜ に

expression / noun:

• perseverance prevails; three years on a (cold) stone (will make the stone warm) [literal] - proverb

noun:

• Kanda Festival (held at Kanda Myoujin Shrine in Tokyo on May 15)

noun:

• type of sushi with a variety of ingredients sprinkled on the rice - Kansai dialect ➜ 五目寿司

noun:

• sliding or moving along a smooth surface with continuous contact on that surface

expression:

• nothing comes of nothing; don't expect things to happen on their own - proverb

noun:

• incidentally; taking the opportunity; while (you) are at it; on the occasion ➜ 序でに

noun:

• slip-guard (on one side of the body of a shamisen)

noun:

• small mochi placed on top of a big mochi
• two things heaped together

noun / ~する noun:

• putting a name (self, company, etc.) on something (e.g. engraving, printing, etc.)