noun:

• marks written alongside characters in a classical Chinese text to indicate their ordering when read in Japanese

noun:

• endless argument; pointless argument; arguing over whose field to water (e.g. during a drought) [literal]

noun / ~する noun:

• locking sword to sword (in a duel) and pushing

noun / ~する noun / ~の noun:

• fierce, close-fought competition

noun:

• apprenticeship in the running of a household; prospective bride who undertakes an apprenticeship to learn housekeeping - four character idiom

noun:

• pushing back one's opponent while locked in close quarters - Sumo term

suffix:

• having a tendency towards; being close to

expression:

• even the hardest of hearts can be moved to tears; a tear in the ogre's eye [literal] - proverb

noun:

• quintessential enka; enka with age-old lyrical themes set to a haunting traditional-style melody ➜ 演歌

godan ~く verb:

• to have a facial tattoo (esp. one around the eye, one form of punishment in ancient Japan) - was v4k - archaism - obscure term

noun:

• sleeping quarters; bedroom (mainly refers to one used by a married couple)
• inner room; inner sanctum

noun:

• pit (of a fruit); stone - obscure term
• core
• tongue (piece of wood used to connect two boards)
• clitoris

noun:

• hand; arm - polite language ➜ 手
• handwriting; penmanship - honorific language

interjection:

• 'shake' (command to have a dog place its paw in your hand) ➜ お代わり

expression / noun:

• official history (e.g. a state-sanctioned account of history subject to revision when the government changes)

noun:

• spring "tsuchinoe" day that falls closest to the vernal equinox (a day of religious significance for harvests) ➜ 社日・戊【つちのえ】

noun:

• party to celebrate the successful completion of a project (job, concert, play, etc.); celebration party ➜ 打ち上げ会

expression:

• when kids get in a fight, their parents come to their aid; yelping curs will raise mastiffs - proverb

noun:

• roadside land prices; price of land adjoining a major road, used to calculate inheritance and gift taxes

noun:

• Edo-period proclamation issued by the shogunate (or a daimyo, etc.) usu. to the general populace ➜ お達し【おたっし】

noun:

• wooden ladle or rod used to stir the rice porridge used in a kayaura divination ➜ 粥占

noun:

• pushing away food one does not want to eat with one's chopsticks (a breach of etiquette)

noun:

• love that is motivated by job-hunting; using sex to get a job - From English "recruit love"

noun:

• incense which supposedly allows the spirit of a departed loved one to be seen in the smoke

noun:

• paid volunteer work (e.g. on a farm); work which is not done primarily to earn money - from ボランティア and アルバイト - abbreviation

noun:

• highest honorifics; honorific language mainly reserved for speaking of or to a member of the Imperial family - Linguistics term

noun:

• throwing of mochi to an assembled crowd, esp. during the framework-raising ceremony of a new building ➜ 棟上げ式【むねあげしき】

noun:

• throwing of mochi to an assembled crowd, esp. during the framework-raising ceremony of a new building ➜ 餅まき