noun:

• universal life force (the source of animation for all things)
• free spirit (i.e. a mindset unencumbered with worldly concerns)

noun:

• cordon bleu; dish of veal or ham with Swiss cheese - Food term
• high-class cooking
• prize-winning chef

noun / ~の noun:

• person with a lot of experience; old hand; veteran (in a particular field)

expression:

• Forgive me for dispensing with the preliminaries, but I hasten to inform you that... - opening formula of a brief letter

noun / ~する noun:

• omitting the beginning

noun:

• Southern Cross (asterism formed with the brightest four stars of the constellation Crux) - Astronomy term ➜ 南十字星【みなみじゅうじせい】

noun / ~する noun:

• ingratiation; pandering; catering (to); going along with (someone or something); accommodating oneself (e.g. to public opinion)

noun / ~する noun:

• submitting to (a demand, one's fate, etc.); putting up with; resigning oneself to; accepting (without complaint)

adverb / ~と adverb / ~する noun:

• toddling; with small, quick steps - onomatopoeia
• restlessly; in continuous motion - onomatopoeia
• quickly and easily - onomatopoeia
• often; frequently; now and then; occasionally - onomatopoeia

noun:

• Noraism; women breaking with family and seeking individual freedom (from heroine in Ibsen's "Doll's House")

noun:

• land which one visits; alien land; topsoil brought from another place to mix with the soil

noun:

• palanquin set with jewels
• money and social status gained by marrying a rich and powerful man ➜ 玉の輿に乗る【たまのこしにのる】

noun / ~する noun:

• no longer being fond of someone; spiteful words or acts showing that one is disgusted with someone

noun:

• ladies' bicycle (of a kind often used by housewives, usu. with a basket in front); granny bike ➜ チャリ

noun:

• compartment in a fishing boat with seawater for reviving or keeping alive fresh fish or bait

noun:

• dealing in rice speculating on the year's harvest while the paddies are still covered with snow - four character idiom

noun:

• tub-thumping preacher; preacher (priest) who is good at delivering a sermon; pulpiteer (usually with contemptuous implication) - four character idiom

noun:

• quintessential enka; enka with age-old lyrical themes set to a haunting traditional-style melody ➜ 演歌

noun:

• manga cafe; coffee shop with a manga library (usu. has Internet facilities and charges by the hour) - abbreviation ➜ 漫画喫茶

noun:

• pota pota yaki (var. of senbei (rice cracker) coated with a sweet soy-sauce glaze on top)

noun:

• skewering one's food with a chopstick in order to pick it up (a breach of etiquette)

noun:

• touching a food with one's chopsticks, then removing them without taking it (a breach of etiquette)

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