noun:

• pounding down earth around the roots of a tree
• adding short branches of flowers to the base of an arrangement in ikebana

noun:

• (possession of) one feudal domain and one castle; being independent (acting without compromise or assistance) - four character idiom
• establishing only one castle in each feudal domain (edict issued by the shogunate in 1615)

noun:

• bamboo bundle
• bamboo shield used for defending against projectiles in battle

noun:

• scarecrow ➜ 案山子【かかし】
• person dressed in rags; shabby-looking person

noun / ~する noun:

• kun'yomi (native Japanese reading of a kanji)
• reading a Chinese text (kanbun) in Japanese

noun:

• palace examination (national Chinese civil servant examination based largely on classic literature); someone who has passed this examination ➜ 科挙
• examination for promotion in the Ministry of Ceremonies (based largely on political duties and Chinese classics); someone who has passed this examination ➜ 式部省

~する verb (spec.) / intransitive verb:

• to ripen; to mature
• to be ready for action; to be the right time (to act)
• to be in common use; to come to sound natural
• to become skilled

noun:

• maki sushi typically made from eel and cucumber, often with a face-like pattern when cut - from うなぎ and かっぱ
• mascot character used by Tajimi City in Gifu

noun:

• announcing meals (at a Zen monastery); meal announcer - Buddhism term
• noh mask resembling a young attendant who announces mealtimes in a Zen monastery

adverb:

• tightly; squeaking - onomatopoeia
• (drinking) all in one sweep - onomatopoeia

expression / noun:

• hard work gone unnoticed; thankless task; a dance under a veranda [literal] - idiom
• off-stage dance that used to be performed on the 22th of the 2nd month in the lunar calendar in Osaka's Tennouji - orig. meaning

noun:

• chief financial official (Edo period); commissioner of finance; chief treasurer; paymaster
• chief accountant in a daimyo's service (Muromachi period)

noun:

• flag

suffix:

• tag indicating a future role or status for a character in anime, games, etc. (e.g. death, love, survival) - slang

noun:

• someone from one's own province (China) ➜ 外省人
• someone whose ancestors had lived in Taiwan before the Kuomintang related immigration wave ➜ 外省人

noun:

• dung beetle; gold beetle; goldbug; scarab beetle ➜ 糞転がし【ふんころがし】・黄金虫【こがねむし】
• maggots in faeces (feces)

noun:

• rhinoceros hide
• Chinese lacquerware technique resulting in a mottled finish - abbreviation ➜ 犀皮塗り【さいひぬり】

conjunction:

• and then; besides; on top of that
• in that case; that being the case; if so

noun:

• national of a third country
• foreigner resident in Japan (esp. Chinese and Korean) - derogatory term

noun:

• homely woman (esp. one with a small low nose, high flat forehead, and bulging cheeks); plain woman - derogatory term ➜ お多福・ひょっとこ
• soba in soup with slices of boiled fish paste, shiitake mushrooms, greens, seaweed, etc. - abbreviation ➜ お亀蕎麦

noun:

• device with axle used to change the backdrop of a (kabuki) play - archaism ➜ 田楽豆腐
• turning something in the manner one would use to cook dengaku-doufu on both sides

noun:

• overnight stay when traveling (travelling) ➜ 旅寝
• sleeping on grass in an open field

noun:

• tea-drinking companion; crony; buddy
• spouse married late in life for companionship

auxiliary:

• seeming to be; appearing to be - usu. at sentence-end
• like; similar to ➜ ような
• in order to (e.g. meet goal); so that ➜ ように
• indicates hope, wish, request or mild command - as ように at sentence-end

expression / ichidan verb:

• to turn one's back on
• to be uninterested in

noun:

• insole ➜ 中敷【なかじき】
• perforated divider in a food steamer