noun:

• speech used by the speaker to convey the social stature between the speaker and listener; language conveying that the speaker is of greater social status than the listener - honorific language

noun:

• probe into the truth (of the matter); dig into the real facts of the case; get at the root of a matter - four character idiom

noun:

• the way of the world in our time; the frame of mind of the people nowadays - four character idiom

expression / ichidan verb:

• to make the most of the present; to live for the moment; to seize the day

adverb:

• between the waves; in the waves; on the waves; behind the waves; beneath the waves ➜ 波間【なみま】

noun:

• the (fast) pace at which life passes, and thus the nearness of death; promptitude of the changes of the times - four character idiom

noun:

• land-tax rate during the Edo period (the government took 60 percent of the year's rice crop and the farmers kept 40 percent) - four character idiom

noun:

• Harvest festival held on the night of the tenth day of the tenth month (to send the rice paddy gods back to the mountains after harvest)

noun:

• Dynastic period (the Nara period and esp. the Heian period, characterized by the rule of the emperor as opposed to shogunate) ➜ 武家時代

noun:

• an ideal topography for the four Taoist gods, with a river in the east, a broad avenue in the west, a basin in the south, and a hill in the north - four character idiom

noun:

• land-tax rate during the Edo period, in which the government took 70 percent of the year's crop and the farmers kept 30 percent - four character idiom

expression / noun:

• collecting herbs and pulling out young pine trees by the roots (annual event held on the first Day of the Rat of the New Year)

noun / ~の noun:

• the best in the land; the best of its kind in the country; par excellence in the whole country - four character idiom

noun:

• splitting the bill so that the others end up paying the whole amount; wheedling the others into paying the whole bill - four character idiom

noun / ~する noun:

• selling on the market (in the marketplace, in stores, etc.); making something commercially available

~の noun:

• commercial (e.g. software); over-the-counter; off-the-shelf; store-bought

noun:

• collecting herbs and pulling out young pine trees by the roots (annual event held on the first Day of the Rat of the New Year) - obscure term ➜ 子の日の遊び

noun:

• small opening in the side of some traditional Japanese clothing for women and children (e.g. kimono, yukata) (located where the sleeve meets the bodice, below the armpit)

expression:

• trying to straighten the horns of a bull, and killing it in the process; trying to correct a small defect and ruining the whole thing; The cure is worse than the disease - four character idiom

noun:

• the concerned government agencies; the ministries and agencies that are relevant to the matter at hand; the relevant authorities - four character idiom

noun:

• the two leading actors (in a play); the two star players; the two distinctive features; the two main items (attractions) - four character idiom

noun:

• Edo Castle (residence of the Shogun during the Edo period, now the site of the Tokyo Imperial Palace)

noun / ~する noun:

• scoring the first point; winning the first game ［せんしょう］

noun:

• lucky day in the morning, but not in the afternoon ➜ 六曜

noun:

• double slap in the face (second slap administered by the return motion of the back of the hand)

noun / ~の noun:

• eventful times for the nation; the nation being in turmoil; the storm clouds gathering in the land - four character idiom

expression:

• starting something in the eleventh hour; have not thy cloak to make when it begins to rain; don't lock the stable door after the horse has been stolen; braiding the rope only after the thief is caught - proverb ➜ 泥縄【どろなわ】・泥縄式【どろなわしき】