noun / ~する noun:

• one step forward, many steps backward; little to gain and much to lose - four character idiom

noun / adjectival noun:

• with no physical defects; in perfectly good health; sound in wind and limb - four character idiom

noun:

• salt and pepper hair; dark hair streaked with gray

noun:

• for ever and ever; (through) eternity; countless ages; till the end of time - four character idiom

noun:

• one's dark days; the period during which one suffered misfortune and obscurity - four character idiom

godan ~く verb / transitive:

• to open one's mouth wide and eat heartily; to gulp down food ➜ ぱくぱく

expression:

• losing everything; coming to nothing; having lost the interest and the principal

noun:

• a doubt that lurks in one's soul and that cannot be resolved

noun:

• ponzu (Japanese sauce made primarily of soy sauce and citrus juice)

noun:

• State Minister in Charge of Issues of Okinawa and Northern Territories

expression / ichidan verb:

• to remain faithful to the memory of one's husband and never remarry

expression:

• there are exceptions to every rule; rocks will flow and leaves will sink [literal] - proverb - obscure term

noun:

• saros (period of approximately 18 years and 11 days between repetition of eclipses)

expression:

• children are a bond between husband and wife; children hold marriages together - proverb

conjunction:

• indicates two contrasting actions - form: ...つ...つ ➜ 浮きつ沈みつ・追いつ追われつ

particle:

• indicates possessive (often found in place names and compound words) - archaism

expression:

• see Nikko and die; don't say "wonderful" until you've seen Nikko [literal] - proverb ➜ ナポリを見てから死ね

noun:

• guardian deity of the three jewels (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) - Buddhism term ➜ 三宝
• three-person saddle

noun:

• Yoshida Shinto; fusion of Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism stressing traditional Japanese elements

noun:

• agency (government department between a ministry and a bureau under the ritsuryo system) ➜ 律令制

noun:

• (in hanafuda) a collection of the rain and three non-rain light cards ➜ 花札

noun:

• primula (any flower of genus Primula, which includes primroses, cowslips and cyclamens) ➜ プリムラ

expression / godan ~く verb:

• to fold one's arms; to stand and watch (without interfering)

noun:

• two-storied pagoda (with a square base, pent roof and a round top) ➜ 裳階

noun:

• Ksitigarbha statue erected to help deliver miscarried and aborted fetuses to buddhahood (foetuses) ➜ 地蔵

expression:

• one thing after another; out of the frying pan and into the fire - idiom