noun:

• French paradox; paradox of relatively high health levels in France despite smoking, consumption of alcohol, meat, etc.

noun:

• being forced to commit seppuku
• to be forced to bear responsibility and resign from one's position ➜ 詰め腹を切らされる

expression:

• the student has become the master; blue dye comes from the indigo plant and is bluer than indigo [literal] - proverb

noun:

• four beasts (tiger, leopard, black bear, and brown bear)
• four gods said to rule over the four directions ➜ 四神

noun:

• former residence status in Japan for foreign students in Japanese language schools and vocational schools (abolished in 2010)

noun:

• empowering women; promoting women's contribution; removing obstacles to women's full participation in society and the workplace

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 / ~の noun:

• the two views (of an object) referring to the same thing; being inseparable like the two sides of an object; two sides of the same coin - four character idiom

expression / ichidan verb:

• to run out of breath; to be short of breath; to lose one's breath
• to run out of steam; to be unable to continue; to collapse
• to die

noun / adverbial noun:

• every day and every night; day after day; daily

expression / ichidan verb:

• to be brief and to the point; to be succinct

godan ~る verb / intransitive verb:

• to chat enthusiastically; to chatter; to talk on and on

noun:

• water god; rain and snow god; dragon god; dragon king - obscure term

adjective:

• black
• dark; blackish; sun-tanned (skin)
• suspicious; criminal; illicit
• darkened and dirty; sooty; covered in dirt
• evil; wicked; black-hearted
• inauspicious; ill-boding; unlucky

noun:

• fallen scraps; scatterings
• leftovers; remainder; pickings; odds and ends

noun / ~の noun:

• student who cannot keep up in school; dropout (from school, society, a movement, etc.) - colloquialism - sensitive

expression:

• one should not rush to make a profit; business is best run when sales flow like a cow's drool: long and thin - obscure term

noun:

• anniversary that celebrates author Dazai Osamu's birthday, and incidentally, the day his body was found after he was involved in a double suicide - 太宰治

noun:

• year in which an imperial memorial ceremony is held (the 3rd, 5th, 10th 20th, 50th & 100th years after death and every 100 years thereafter) ➜ 式年祭

noun:

• Operation Tomodachi; United States Armed Forces assistance operation to support Japan in disaster relief following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

noun:

• event where young men and women paint each others' cheeks with black ink or soot during Little New Year in the San'in region ➜ 小正月

noun:

• large hole
• great deficit; heavy losses
• big and unexpected winnings; a killing (e.g. on a race)
• dark horse (horse racing)

noun:

• with no one upon whom to depend; utter loneliness; the lonely and the helpless; people who have no kith or kin - four character idiom

noun:

• bamboo shoots boiled, sliced, fermented, dried or preserved in salt, then soaked in hot water and sea salt - From Chinese "mianma" ➜ 支那竹

noun:

• bamboo shoots boiled, sliced, fermented, dried or preserved in salt, then soaked in hot water and sea salt - sensitive ➜ 麺媽

noun:

• stance with legs in an L-shape, with one leg bent in front and other extended behind (martial arts, traditional theater)