expression / noun:

• group of independents; usu. informal grouping of independent politicians in the National Diet or in prefectural assemblies

expression:

• when it's important; when it comes to the crunch; when push comes to shove; when it comes to the point; in one's hour of need; at the critical moment ➜ いざ

noun:

• freedom of information; access to information; disclosure of information (e.g. by the government)

noun:

• last guest (tea ceremony); third guest of honour (honor); guest who sits in the seat furthest from the host and assists in various ways ➜ 詰め【つめ】・次客【じきゃく】・正客【しょうきゃく】

suffix noun:

• -like; pseudo-; mock ...; imitation ...; in the style of ...

noun:

• comical character who mocks or apes the main character (in Japanese performing arts)
• criticism; censure - archaism

adjectival noun / noun:

• light (of movements); nimble; sprightly; springy
• light-hearted; cheerful; buoyant; jaunty; casual (e.g. clothing); rhythmical (e.g. melody)

noun / ~する noun:

• taking a turn for the better (of an illness); receding of symptoms; recovery; convalescence

noun:

• true dharma; true teachings of Buddha - Buddhism term
• period of the True Law

expression:

• no one knows what the future holds; the future is a closed book; one sun (unit of measurement) ahead is darkness [literal] - proverb

noun:

• (in Japan) 3rd note of the ancient chromatic scale (approx. E) ➜ 十二律・太簇
• (in gagaku) scale similar to the Dorian mode on E ➜ 律旋・六調子

noun:

• Onokoro Island (in Japanese mythology, the island formed by drops of water falling from the heavenly jeweled spear); Onogoro Island - archaism ➜ 天の瓊矛
• Japan

noun:

• immersion; dipping; in microscopy, immersing both the objective lens and the specimen in a liquid to increase the numerical aperture; in photolithography, filling the air gap between the final lens and the wafer surface with a liquid to increase the resolution

noun:

• Imperial surname; title borne by a prince of the blood as a head of a house ➜ 宮家【みやけ】

noun:

• tune; tone; key; pitch; time; rhythm
• vein; mood; way; manner; style; knack
• condition; state of health
• impetus; spur of the moment; strain
• trend

noun:

• fool; oaf; airhead - Kansai dialect
• type of fast-paced humorous singing mimicking the chanting of a Buddhist sutra, usually with lyrics satirizing current events ［あほだら］ - abbreviation ➜ あほだら経

noun:

• curved wooden support on top of the main beam of a house, now mainly decorative (shape evocates an open-legged frog)

pronoun:

• he; she; him; her - derogatory or familiar

noun:

• samurai's attendant (in a var. of origami)
• type of popular song accompanied by dance from the Edo period

expression / godan ~う verb:

• (for a nobleman) to bestow one of the kanji in his name upon someone (e.g. meritorious retainer, boy coming of age, etc.) - archaism

noun:

• Chinese moonseed (Sinomenium acutum)
• complex inter-relationship (as in the struggle between two types of vine over one piece of land)

noun:

• yellowtail surgeonfish (Prionurus punctatus, species of Eastern Central Pacific tang found in reefs from the Gulf of California to El Salvador)

noun:

• being unable to read the situation; being unable to pick up on the mood of a conversation - from the initials of 空気（が）読めない - abbreviation ➜ 空気が読めない

expression / ichidan verb:

• to see the light of day; to be revealed (to the world); to be realized

expression / godan ~る verb:

• to be within the top five; to be one of the five best - idiom

noun:

• Meiji Constitution (Constitution of the Empire of Japan); Former Japanese Constitution - abbreviation ➜ 大日本帝国憲法

noun:

• fruit grown near the tip of the vine (hence stunted and unripe) ➜ 本生り
• weak-looking fellow; pale-faced man; pasty-faced man; pallid man

noun:

• cleaning dust etc. from rooms; housecleaning
• (the traditional Japanese end-of-the-year, 13th December) big house cleaning; spring cleaning (only not in spring) ➜ 煤掃き