expression:

• (good fortune and happiness will come to) the home of those who smile - on New Year's decorations hung over the front door - abbreviation ➜ 笑門来福

expression:

• good fortune and happiness will come to the home of those who smile - from Chinese 打開笑門福自來 - four character idiom ➜ 笑う門には福来る

noun:

• Islamic State (of Iraq and the Levant); IS; ISIL

noun:

• TeX; typesetting system designed and mostly written by Donald Knuth - IT term

noun:

• short, padded coat that covers someone and a baby on their back - abbreviation ➜ ねんねこ半纏

noun / ~する noun:

• sleeping; sleep - orig. meaning - children's language

noun:

• skewered sweet rice cakes served with soy sauce and miso

noun:

• ceremonial tasting of wedding cake by bride and groom - From English "first bite"

~の noun:

• sultry; muggy; steamy; sticky; hot and humid ➜ むしあつい

noun:

• 6th month of the lunar calendar

noun:

• post-retirement return to one's home town and carrying out agricultural pursuits

noun:

• one's second son ➜ 次男【じなん】
• man between 17 and 20 years old (ritsuryo system) - archaism ➜ 少丁

noun:

• flowers and water offered to Buddha - Buddhism term
• irrigation of a rice field during flowering

noun / ~する noun:

• prostration; placing knees, hands and forehead on the ground to show utmost respect - Buddhism term ➜ 五体投地【ごたいとうち】

noun:

• Wotan (god in German and Anglo-Saxon mythology); Wodan ➜ オーディン

noun:

• yu; free reed wind instrument used in ancient China and Nara period Japan

expression:

• there's but a fine line between genius and insanity - proverb

expression:

• life has its ups and downs; he who falls today may rise tomorrow - proverb

noun:

• interpenetration of spirit between the poet and nature in a haiku

noun:

• treating a metal surface to make it look worn and aged; antique finish

noun:

• keirin; cycle racing event, usu. 2km with a paced start and sprint finish - ケイリン is often used for the sport, and 競輪 is often used in the context of gambling

noun / suffix noun:

• feudal domain (Edo and early Meiji periods, precursor to current prefectures); fiefdom; province; clan

noun:

• onigiri; rice ball (often triangular, sometimes with a filling and wrapped in nori) - polite language

particle:

• although; despite; even though; and yet
• whereas; while
• if only; I wish
• in order to

particle:

• if ... then; when
• and - often ...も...ば...も...
• why don't you...?
• the more (one does something) - often ...ば...ほど
• because; since - archaism

noun:

• drawing a katana and attacking in the same stroke
• doing something suddenly, without warning

noun / ~する noun:

• being liberated from earthly desires and the woes of man; (reaching) nirvana; moksha; mukti