noun:

• flute used to lure green pheasants (imitates the pheasant's song) - obscure term

expression:

• first; firstly; first of all; to begin with; in the beginning; at the beginning
• Introduction; Preface - as section heading of a book, etc. - usually written using kana alone

noun:

• eyes; expression of the eyes
• area around the eyes; skin round one's eyes - orig.meaning

noun:

• Democratic Party (formed in 2016 from the merger of the DPJ and Ishin) ➜ 民主党【みんしゅとう】・維新の党【いしんのとう】
• Democratic Progressive Party (Taiwan)

expression / adjective:

• unable to read the situation; unable to pick up on the mood (e.g. of a conversation) ➜ 空気を読む

noun:

• Hakke Shinto (Shinto tradition transmitted by the House of Hakuo Shirakawa); Hakuke Shinto

adverbial noun / temporal noun:

• one season
• one year (esp. as an Edo-period duration of employment) ➜ 半季

noun:

• eight Japanese monks who visited China during the early Heian (Enchin, Engyō, Ennin, Eun, Jōgyō, Kūkai, Saichō, and Shūei) ➜ 八家

noun:

• the hill back of one's home; hill back from the seashore

godan ~る verb / transitive:

• to praise (to the skies); to sing the praises (of); to extol

noun:

• regional promotion coupons; merchandise coupons for the promotion of the local economy ➜ 地域振興

noun:

• genuine product; official product; accessory product from the manufacturer of the main product - IT term

noun:

• transcendent world; world outside of the material world; somewhere removed from the world

noun:

• avenue in the capital; busy main street of the capital; main thoroughfare

noun:

• method of patterning fabric by pounding on leaves (or flowers, etc.) placed on it, or by rubbing in dye made from these materials - obscure term
• coloring fabric by placing a paper stencil over it and brushing on the dye; fabric colored in such a manner ➜ 摺り込み染め

expression:

• it's always darkest before the dawn; the darkest hour is just before the dawn

noun:

• aligning one's chopsticks by tapping them on the table, a dish, etc. (a breach of etiquette)

noun:

• horse; block of rock completely separated from the surrounding rock either by mineral veins or fault planes - Geology term

noun / ~する noun:

• coming down from one's seat and prostrating oneself (to pay obeisance)

noun:

• musicians' box on the left side of the stage
• lower seat ➜ 下座【しもざ】

noun:

• principle holding that any matters left unresolved at the end of one Diet session are not to be carried over to the next

noun:

• mirror with a mythical Chinese bird carved into the back ➜ 鸞鳥
• (in Japan) 9th note of the ancient chromatic scale (approx. A sharp) ［らんけい］ ➜ 夷則・十二律

adverbial noun:

• in the first place; to begin with; from the start; originally; ab initio

conjunction:

• after all; anyway; actually; well, ...; ... on earth (e.g. "what on earth?"); ... in the world (e.g. "why in the world?") - used when bringing up something already mentioned

noun / ~の noun:

• beginning; start

noun:

• imperial memorial ceremony (held on the anniversary of the emperor's or empress's death, on fixed years) ➜ 式年

noun:

• nine traditional astrological signs in Onmyōdō, each corresponding to the year of a person's birth and used to create a horoscope ➜ 陰陽道・一白【いっぱく】・二黒【じこく】・三碧【さんぺき】・四緑【しろく】・五黄【ごおう】・六白【ろっぱく】・七赤【しちせき】・八白【はっぱく】・九紫【きゅうし】

noun:

• criminal, administrative and civil codes (forming the basis of ancient East Asian law; orig. Chinese); legal codes of the Nara and Heian eras based on Chinese models ➜ 律・令【りょう】