noun:

• white sandbar; white sandbank
• area in a garden or entrance of a house laid with white sand or pebbles
• gravel separating a Noh stage from the audience
• court of law in the Edo period, in which the parties sat on white sand - archaism ➜ お白州

adverb / ~と adverb / ~する noun:

• exactly; precisely; punctually; on the dot - onomatopoeia
• closely; tightly; (fitting) perfectly - onomatopoeia
• properly; without fail - onomatopoeia

noun:

• story; topic (on everyone's lips); (the stuff of) legend

noun:

• neo-Confucianism (based on the teachings of Zhu Xi and his followers) ➜ 陽明学

noun:

• being unable to make up one's mind; sitting on the fence - four character idiom ➜ 首鼠

noun:

• usu. the drop between collar and bottom hem on kimono, yukata, etc.

noun:

• sending food to someone's house on the night of a wake

noun:

• sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway (Mar. 20, 1995)

noun:

• neo-Confucianism (based on the teachings of Wang Yangming and his followers) ➜ 朱子学

noun:

• Song-period neo-Confucianism (based esp. on the teachings of Zhu Xi) ➜ 朱子学

noun:

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

noun:

• quiver (worn on the right hip; post-Nara period)

noun:

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

noun:

• low class samurai, who guarded the shogun on outings (Edo period)

noun:

• upstage left pillar (on a noh stage), next to the flute player

noun:

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

noun:

• memorial ceremony held on the 100th day of a person's death - Buddhism term

noun:

• being unable to make up one's mind; sitting on the fence

noun / ~する noun:

• doing something separately (from the group); going off on one's own Antonym: 団体行動

expression:

• start with the first step; when embarking on a great project, start with immediate steps ➜ 隗より始めよ
• he who first suggests it should be the first to do it ➜ 隗より始めよ

noun:

• type of red brocade originally from the ancient Chinese country of Shu and passed on in Japan
• type of brocade made in Sichuan during the Ming period

expression:

• start with the first step; when embarking on a great project, start with immediate steps - proverb
• he who first suggests it should be the first to do it - proverb

godan ~つ verb / transitive:

• to hit; to strike; to knock; to beat; to punch; to slap; to tap; to bang; to clap; to pound - also written as 拍つ, 搏つ, 撲つ, 擣つ
• to strike (noon, etc.); to sound (cymbals, etc.); to beat (a drum, etc.)
• to beat (rhythmically, e.g. pulse, waves, etc.)
• to move; to impress; to touch
• to drive in; to hammer in; to put in; to inject
• to type; to send; to transmit
• to insert; to write in; to mark
• to make (noodles, etc.); to prepare
• to till (soil)
• to sprinkle; to throw; to cast
• to do; to carry out; to play; to perform; to engage in (gambling, etc.)
• to pay (a deposit, etc.)
• to visit (on a pilgrimage)
• to line (a coat)
• to bind (a criminal)

noun:

• all of creation following their original natures, living and enjoying themselves freely; the kites fly and the fish leap [literal] - four character idiom - obscure term
• Heaven's will that all of creation shall follow their original natures and live freely - four character idiom - obscure term
• as a ruler's benevolence spreads, the people will find their places in the land based on their abilities - four character idiom - obscure term

expression / godan ~る verb:

• to carry around
• to be roundabout (speech, actions, etc.); to be indirect