noun / ~する noun:

• shoulder massage (performed by tapotement)
• tap on the shoulder (request to resign)

noun:

• on the wane (e.g. popularity of something); decline of one's fortunes

noun:

• human document; personal documentary; documentary on someone's life

expression:

• knock on wood; touch wood; heaven forbid; God help me; absit omen! - spoken to ward off misfortune

noun:

• ceremonial bonfire (seeing off the spirits on the final night of O-Bon)

noun:

• comments on current events; public sentiments of the day; current view; contemporary opinion

noun:

• fifty-three stations on the Tōkaidō (Edo-Kyoto highway in Edo-period Japan)

noun:

• welcoming fire for returning spirits (on the first night of the Bon festival) Antonym: 送り火 ➜ お盆

noun / ~する noun:

• accretion of snow (on power lines, tree branches, etc.); snow sticking to surfaces

noun / ~する noun:

• firmly bear in mind; have something engraved on one's mind (heart) - four character idiom

noun:

• emotional effect on pet owners from losing their pet - From English "pet loss"

noun:

• Engel's coefficient; proportion of one's income spent on food - Economics term

adverb / ~と adverb / ~する noun:

• flickering; flashing on and off; twinkling; glittering - onomatopoeia
• glaringly (bright); painfully (bright) - onomatopoeia
• prickling (pain) - onomatopoeia

noun:

• type of ribbon fastening used on wedding gifts, get-well gifts, etc.

noun:

• nursing care level (between 1 and 5 based on assessment of care requirements) ➜ 要介護

noun:

• medical checkup that focuses primarily on problems that worsen with age

interjection:

• yes; yeah; uh huh ➜ うん
• huh?; what?

auxiliary verb / suffix:

• not - negative verb ending used in informal speech; abbr. of negative verb ending ぬ ➜ ぬ

particle:

• 's - abbr. of particle の; indicates possessive ➜ の・の
• at (place, time); in; on; during - abbr. of particle に, used esp. when it precedes the verb なる ➜ に

noun:

• Kanda Festival (held at Kanda Myoujin Shrine in Tokyo on May 15)

noun:

• neo-Confucianism (based on the teaching of the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi) - obscure term ➜ 宋学

noun:

• school route; street for students going to and from school (esp. on foot)

expression:

• nothing comes of nothing; don't expect things to happen on their own - proverb

noun:

• incidentally; taking the opportunity; while (you) are at it; on the occasion ➜ 序でに

noun:

• water left in buckets on the roadside during the summer for travellers

noun:

• emergency volcanic alert (e.g. an eruption warning); urgent information on volcanic activity

noun / ~する noun:

• involving the audience (by talking to them, bringing them on stage, etc.)