noun:

• Forgive me for dispensing with the preliminaries, but I hasten to inform you that... - formal salutation for a brief letter

noun:

• beheading followed by mounting of the head on a pike in front of the prison (Edo period)

noun:

• needle for the blind stitch

noun:

• add-on

noun / ~する noun:

• first shrine visit of the New Year ➜ 初詣

expression / godan ~く verb:

• to take the easy way out; to take the path of least resistance

noun:

• horse racing operated by the Japan Racing Association

noun / ~の noun:

• conveying the will of the governing to the governed; top-down (system) - four character idiom

noun:

• (high interest) loan forcefully imposed on the borrower

noun:

• infections or diseases of the ear

noun:

• portable stove for boiling water to make tea used for the tea ceremony during the summer

noun:

• education of the head and hand and heart

noun:

• air or vapour in the soil (vapor)
• electrical earth; ground

noun:

• Air Mosaic - IT term

noun:

• serviceman on patrol
• policeman (early Meiji era) - archaism ➜ 巡査

expression:

• the good and bad deeds cancel each other out; good deeds make up for the bad - idiom

expression / godan ~る verb:

• to make a ceremonial hand movement when receiving the monetary award - Sumo term

noun:

• pota pota yaki (var. of senbei (rice cracker) coated with a sweet soy-sauce glaze on top)

expression / godan ~つ verb:

• the prospects look brighter; there is hope of accomplishing (something)

noun:

• the kindness of a teacher

noun:

• 43rd year of the sexagenary cycle (year of the Fire Horse, renowned for disasters and the birth of women destined to kill their husbands)

noun:

• part of a lock that receives the latch; keeper; strike ➜ 掛け金【かけがね】

noun:

• imitation that looks identical to the original; fake causing the original to lose value - four character idiom

noun:

• direct planting of a cutting in the ground

noun:

• movement to overthrow the shogunate (mid-19th century Japan)