emperor (of Japan); mikado
light; illumination; ray; happiness; hope; influence
junior high school; middle school; lower secondary school
that; the; part (as in "part two"); um ...; er ...
brilliant; glorious; glittering; bright; splendid (e.g. achievement, success); promising (e.g. future)
indicates possessive; nominalizes verbs and adjectives; substitutes for "ga" in subordinate phrases; (at sentence-end, falling tone) indicates a confident conclusion; (at sentence-end) indicates emotional emphasis; (at sentence-end, rising tone) indicates question
inside; interior; among; within; middle; center; during
but; however; even; however; no matter how; ... or something; either ... or ...
year; counter for years (e.g. of an era), grades (e.g. school); period of an apprentice's contract (usu. ten years)
at (place, time); in; to (direction, state); toward; for (purpose); because of (reason); for
one person; being alone; being by oneself; being single; being unmarried; by oneself
genius; prodigy; natural gift
indicates sentence subject (occasionally object); indicates possessive (esp. in literary expressions); but; however; regardless of; whether (or not)
coincident with; while; simultaneously
to be (of animate objects); to exist; to stay; to be ...-ing; to have been ...-ing
tire track; traces of a person or thing; path one has taken; locus
generation; the world; the age
both (hands, parents, sides, etc.); counter for carriages (e.g. in a train); counter for vehicles; ryō; tael; ryō; pre-Meiji unit of currency, orig. the value of one ryō of gold
to do; to carry out; to cause to become; to make (into); to serve as; to act as; to wear (clothes, a facial expression, etc.)
ought to have been; was ... right?; to do for (inferiors)
prefix for forming ordinal numbers
and; and then; thus; and now; and finally
indicates direct object of action; indicates subject of causative expression; indicates an area traversed; indicates time (period) over which action takes place; indicates point of departure or separation of action; indicates object of desire, like, hate, etc.
to intimidate; to frighten; to scare; to threaten (e.g. peace); to jeopardize; to endanger
truth; reality; sincerity; honesty; (arch.) that's right
cold; frigid; bracing; dignified
senior high school; high school
shadow; silhouette; reflection; image; ominous sign; light (stars, moon)
if; when; and; with; used for quoting (thoughts, speech, etc.); promoted pawn; indicates a question
he; she; this; this one; Hey, you!; You bastard!
indicates sentence topic; indicates contrast with another option (stated or unstated); adds emphasis
thing; object; one's things; possessions; things; something; quality
be; is; did; (have) done; please; do
to receive; to take; to get somebody to do something; to have in one's pocket (a fight, match); to contract (a disease); to catch
a short while ago; a moment ago; just now; some time ago