noun:

• word to soften awkward topics (esp. refusal in business conversation, e.g. "I am afraid that ...") - e.g. 申し訳ありませんが、あいにく - obscure term - From English "cushion word"

noun:

• new constitution (in force from 1944); postwar constitution ➜ 大日本帝国憲法・日本国憲法

noun:

• kanji radical 35 when at the bottom (as in the character for summer)

noun:

• special purpose submarine (esp. Japanese midget submarines used in WWII)

noun:

• stream of water cascading onto one's back (in an onsen); pelting water; waterfall shower

noun:

• wand used when preparing gruel for the 15th of the first month (said to cure sterility in women)

noun:

• three non-rain light cards (high-scoring combination in hanafuda) ➜ 花札

noun / ~の noun:

• equal to the current record (in sports, etc.)

noun:

• self-introduction (of a character in noh theatre) ➜ 名乗り

noun:

• soft rice (cooked in a pot) - archaism ➜ 強飯

noun:

• reception hall (in a temple or palace)

noun:

• seasonal word (in haiku) ➜ 季語
• seasonal topic (in haiku); seasonal word used as a theme (at a haiku gathering)

noun:

• pool (in a river)

noun:

• shaku (flat wooden or ivory baton carried in the right hand when in ceremonial imperial or Shinto garb)

noun:

• cross-grips (situation in which each rikishi has an underarm grip on the other) - Sumo term
• kimono made for young children

noun:

• Okinawa soba (thick noodles served in a pork soup)

noun:

• Scoliodon (genus of requiem shark in the family Carcharhinidae whose sole member is the spadenose shark)

noun:

• mass start (esp. in speed skating) - Sports term

noun / ~する noun:

• female-to-male genderswap (in fan art and fan fiction) - slang ➜ 女体化

~と adverb:

• gently and clearly shining (like the sun in springtime) - onomatopoeia

noun:

• Holy Alliance (of Russia, Austria and Prussia in 1815)

noun:

• secondary mirror (in a reflecting telescope)

noun:

• (in a) preaching tone - four character idiom

noun:

• scat (in jazz); scat-singing - Music term

noun / ~する noun:

• first ride (in a new vehicle, in the new year, etc.)

noun:

• base-fare zone; starting fare; base fare