noun:

• opening of a pool (e.g. for the summer season)

noun:

• Law for the Protection of Personal Data Held by Administrative Organs (2003)

noun:

• class A river; specified waterways of special importance protected by the government

noun:

• battle standard raised next to the horse of a commander

noun:

• typical dress of the military class, usually worn together with a hakama ➜ 袴

expression:

• crying over spilt milk; counting the age of one's dead child [literal] - proverb

noun:

• spirit of someone on the first O-Bon after their death ➜ 新仏

expression:

• rub of the green

noun:

• Japanese medieval text that chronicles events of the Kamakura Shogunate

noun:

• suicide divers (part of the Japanese Special Attack Units during WWII)

noun:

• smalleye smooth-hound (Mustelus higmani, species of houndshark from the western Atlantic)

noun:

• spotless smooth-hound (Mustelus griseus, species of houndshark from the northwest Pacific)

noun:

• sapphire damsel (Pomacentrus pavo, species of marine damselfish from the Indo-Pacific)

noun:

• type of dyeing method or pattern; silk printed by the Yuzen process - abbreviation ➜ 友禅染

noun:

• Great Kobe earthquake of 1995 (the epicenter was located on Awaji island) ➜ 阪神大震災

noun:

• prostitute from the Yoshiwara district of a fairly high rank (Edo period)

noun:

• Maitreya (buddha appearing 5.67 billion years after the death of Gautama) - Buddhism term ➜ 弥勒・前仏

noun:

• double election (e.g. of the lower and higher chambers) ➜ 同時選挙

expression:

• the importance of creating an environment conducive to a child's learning

expression:

• the importance of creating an environment conducive to a child's learning ➜ 孟母三遷の教え

expression:

• time when moles transform into quails (second climate of the third month) ➜ 七十二候

noun:

• place on bridge passageway next to the rear of a noh stage - where the interlude kyogen actors wait ➜ 間狂言

noun:

• action taken to soften the impact of something - From English "one cushion"

noun:

• Elatostema umbellatum var. majus (variety of plant related to the nettles)

noun:

• decorated pottery container for storing the bones of one's ancestors (Okinawa) - called じ〜しか〜み or じ〜しが〜み in Okinawa ➜ 厨子