noun:

• groove in a shamisen player's fingernail caused by the friction of the string of the instrument
• someone's ability to play the shamisen

noun:

• doing things at one's own pace - From English "my pace"
• doing things one's own way

noun:

• pigtails; two plaits hanging about one's shoulders; two plaits hanging down one's back; queue

expression / ichidan verb:

• to make one's story to seem coherent; to adjust one's story to fit the situation ➜ ばつを合わせる

expression / godan ~る verb:

• to take a meal; to have a meal; to catch a meal; to get grub; to grub; to break bread; to chow down; to eat dinner; to have a bite; to strap on a feed-bag

noun:

• person who resorts to petty tricks; a person of small caliber who is only capable of petty tricks - four character idiom

noun:

• natural disaster reduction; reduction of the effects of a natural disaster

noun:

• circle ➜ ○【まる】

noun / prefix noun:

• entirety; whole; full; complete

noun:

• money; dough; moola - slang
• enclosure inside a castle's walls - esp. 丸
• soft-shelled turtle - Kansai dialect ➜ スッポン

suffix:

• suffix for ship names; suffix for names of people (esp. infants); suffix for names of swords, armour, musical instruments, etc.; suffix for names of dogs, horses, etc. - esp. 丸 ➜ 麻呂

noun:

• you are what you eat; slogan encouraging consumption of local seasonal foods for one's health; indivisibility of the body and the land (because the body is made from food and food is made from the land) [literal]

noun:

• hilly section of a city (usu. residential); Yamanote (hilly residential section of western Tokyo, incl. Yotsuya, Aoyama, Koishikawa, Hongo, Ichigaya, Akasaka, Azabu and surrounds) ➜ 下町・山手【やまて】
• place near the mountains ➜ 山手【やまて】

ichidan verb / transitive:

• to lick
• to taste
• to experience (esp. a hardship)
• to make fun of; to make light of; to put down; to treat with contempt; to underestimate - esp. ナメる - usually written using kana alone

expression / godan ~る verb:

• to have one's turn; to be on duty; to have one's inning

~する verb (spec.) / transitive:

• to stamp (one's mark, etc.); to seal
• to leave (one's footprints, etc.)

expression / godan ~る verb:

• to jerk one's chin; to nod toward; to point one's chin at ➜ 決る【しゃくる】

godan ~る verb / transitive:

• to put on (one's head); to wear; to have on; to pull over (one's head); to crown (oneself)
• to be covered with (dust, snow, etc.); to pour (water, etc.) on oneself; to dash on oneself; to ship water
• to bear (e.g. someone's debts, faults, etc.); to take (blame); to assume (responsibility); to shoulder (burden)
• to overlap (e.g. sound or color)
• to be similar; to be redundant

godan ~る verb / intransitive verb:

• to be fogged (due to overexposure, etc.) - of film
• to close; to come to an end - of a play, etc.
• to get a full house; to sell out - of a play, etc.
• to blunder; to bungle; to fail - of a play, etc. - archaism ➜ 毛氈を被る
• to be deceived - archaism

noun:

• special Diet session; special session of the Diet; Diet session required to be convoked within thirty days of a general election

noun:

• special Diet session; special session of the Diet; Diet session required to be convoked within thirty days of a general election ➜ 特別国会

noun:

• life; life force - sometimes written as 生命 ➜ 生命
• lifetime; lifespan
• most important thing; foundation; core
• paired tattoos of the "life" kanji on the upper arms of a man and woman (indicating unwavering love) - archaism
• fate; destiny; karma - archaism

expression / ~する verb (irregular):

• to be upset; to be flurried; to be frightened (out of one's wits)

noun:

• bed hair; hair disarranged during sleep
• habit of moving around in one's sleep; sleeping habit

godan ~す verb / transitive:

• to wield; to brandish; to flourish; to wave (about); to swing
• to display (one's knowledge); to show off
• to abuse (one's power)
• to manipulate someone

noun:

• the world; society; the universe
• sphere; circle; world

~の noun:

• renowned; world-famous; well-known outside of Japan

noun:

• realm governed by one Buddha; space - original meaning - Buddhism term

noun:

• thorn; spine; prickle
• splinter (esp. lodged in one's flesh); hard sharp item (esp. lodged in one's throat, e.g. fish bone)
• biting words

godan ~ぶ verb / transitive:

• to call out (to); to call; to invoke
• to summon (a doctor, etc.)
• to invite
• to designate; to name; to brand
• to garner (support, etc.); to gather
• to take as one's wife - archaism ➜ 娶る

godan ~す verb / transitive:

• to redeem; to take out of pawn
• to buy a geisha or prostitute out of bondage (by paying off her debt to her employer) ➜ 身請け