noun:

• expression suggesting that the pace of change makes ten years back seem like ancient history - four character idiom

noun:

• the whole village
• all the villages (in an area)

noun / ~する noun:

• memorial to the throne

noun:

• one of the six administrators of a Zen temple who substitutes for the chief priest - Buddhism term ➜ 六知事

noun:

• the kalpa of destruction (the third aeon of the universe) - Buddhism term ➜ 四劫

noun:

• sprout of a plant shooting from under the soil

noun:

• way of sitting by placing both knees on the ground and standing upright

noun:

• the seven great temples of Nara (Daian-ji, Gango-ji, Horyu-ji, Kofuku-ji, Saidai-ji, Todai-ji, Yakushi-ji)

noun:

• getting free admission on the strength of one's name; being let in somewhere because one is recognized

noun:

• on the rocks

noun:

• on the chopping board

noun / noun or verb acting prenominally:

• not the norm
• foolish
• stupid

noun:

• member of the House of Councillors

expression:

• better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion; better be first in a village than second at Rome; better to be the mouth of a chicken than the rear end of a cow [literal] - proverb

noun:

• bales forming the steps to climb onto the ring - Sumo term

noun:

• grasping one's chopsticks the same way one might hold a walking stick (a breach of etiquette)

expression:

• the future is unpredictable; unscrutable are the ways of heaven; the irony of fate - proverb ➜ 人間万事塞翁が馬

expression:

• off the top of one's head; from thin air
• from memory

noun:

• 25th of the month
• 25 days

noun:

• straight-from-the-pot udon; udon noodles pulled straight from the pot and served in the hot water used for boiling (traditionally without being soaked in cold water), eaten by dipping in sauce - Food term ➜ うどん

noun:

• having free time to spare in the midst of busyness; leisure in the intervals of one's work - four character idiom

noun:

• three secondary Tokugawa branch families (Tayasu, Shimizu, and Hitotsubashi) ➜ 御三卿

noun:

• the three worms (in Taoism, worms that inhabit the human gut and, on the eve of the 57th day of the sexagenary cycle, ascend to heaven during one's sleep to report on one's wrongdoings) ➜ 庚申待

expression / ichidan verb:

• to be below the cost; to sell below cost

expression / noun / ~する noun:

• eating the food of the dead (which prevents return from the underworld) ➜ 黄泉国【よもつくに】