noun:

• earthenware toy portraying a monkey sitting on top of a deer (often a bell)

noun:

• decorating the alcove of a tea room with a hanging scroll and flowers (in more formal tea ceremonies, during only the first and second half respectively)
• style of decorating a traditional Japanese room (esp. a study) in which incense, a pair of vases and a pair of candlesticks are placed on a table in front of a trio of hanging scrolls - orig. meaning

noun:

• (being beholden to someone for a favor of) a night's lodging and a meal - four character idiom

noun:

• unauthorized travel; riding without a valid ticket (e.g. on a train); stealing a ride

noun / ~する noun:

• caricaturing
• turning a movie, novel, etc. into a manga; making a comic version of something ➜ 漫画

noun:

• (a) grain; (a) drop; (a) bead

adverb / noun or verb acting prenominally:

• a little; partially; somewhat; slightly; semi-; -ish; on the ... side; a short time; a while

noun:

• arranging a group of people so as to form a character or spell out a message

adjectival noun / noun:

• standing on formality; in a reserved manner; treating a friend as a stranger; unduly distant; formal - four character idiom

noun:

• batting eye; ability to judge whether a pitch will be called a ball or a strike - Baseball term

noun / ~する noun:

• forming a kong by adding a tile drawn from the wall to a declared pung - Mahjong term - From Chinese ➜ 槓

noun / ~する noun:

• entering a track (of a train); arrival of a train (at a platform)
• passing the post (horseracing); crossing the finish line

expression:

• a wise retainer chooses a great lord to serve; a wise bird chooses a good tree in which to roost [literal] - proverb

godan ~る verb / transitive:

• to operate (e.g. a machine); to handle; to manage; to control; to maneuver; to steer
• to have a good command of (a language); to play proficiently (of a musical instrument)
• to work (a puppet); to pull the strings of a puppet
• to manipulate (a person, public opinion, etc.); to pull the strings; to control from the shadows; to mastermind

expression:

• The world is a scene of constant changes (as a mulberry field changing into a blue sea). - Chinese legend - four character idiom

expression:

• The world is a scene of constant changes (as a mulberry field changing into a blue sea). - Chinese legend - four character idiom

noun:

• cheap wines and unpalatable dishes (a modest (self-deprecating) way of offering a meal to a guest) - four character idiom

noun:

• staff (esp. one used by a monk, e.g. as a walking stick during a pilgrimage)

noun:

• simultaneously running for a seat in a single-member constituency and a seat in a proportionally representated constituency

expression / noun:

• a man among the geese when the gander is away; a one-eyed king in the land of the blind; a bat in a village without birds [literal] - idiom

noun / ~する noun:

• entering a temple; visiting a temple
• joining a temple as a priest or head priest - obscure term

noun:

• lintel of the alcove in a tea room or a window in a shoin-style reception room
• cloud-shaped carving on the bottom of a transom
• metallic bowl used to hold the charcoal in a wooden hibachi ➜ 火鉢

expression:

• better to be the beak of a rooster than the rump of a bull; better to be the leader of a small group than a subordinate in a large organization; better to be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond - four character idiom

expression / godan ~う verb:

• to make up a shortfall; to cover a shortage; to compensate for a shortage; to fill a gap

interjection:

• heigh-hoh; heave-ho
• hold on!; just a minute
• used as a meaningless word in a song for rhythm