beginning; start; first (in line, etc.); origin; such as ...; not to mention ...
Satsuma and Chōshū (clan alliance)
successive generations; hereditary daimyo (whose ancestors supported Tokugawa Ieyasu prior to the battle of Sekigahara)
day and night; around the clock
money order; draft; exchange (e.g. foreign)
Sunpu (old name for Shizuoka City)
scattered; separated; dispersed
Urashima Tarō; (a) Rip van Winkle; fairy-tale fisherman who, after visiting the underwater Palace of the Dragon King, returns centuries later
to fail to die (e.g. after suicide attempt or accident); to survive; to outlive
Emishi; historical term for non-Yamato peoples in northern Japan; Yezo (northern part of Meiji-era Japan, esp. Hokkaido, but also Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands)
undoubted; unmistakable; definite
dismissal (from a position); discharge
new government; new administration
to think about; to send one's heart out to; to give more than a passing thought to; to think of something far away; to think nostalgically upon (esp. one's hometown)
cheap; rubbishy; shoddy; roughly made
traditional; from ancient times; formerly
rumour; rumor; hearsay; report
imperial court; shogunate government; authorities; public affairs; official; government
primness; prim person; clear soup; water for rinsing sake cups (at a banquet, etc.)
government forces; loyalist army
construction worker; laborer (labourer); navvy
destruction by fire; losing in a fire; being burnt down
should do; ought to do; must do
to throw away; to abandon; to give up; to relinquish; to lay down (one's life)
disorderly crowd; mob; rabble
central figure; pillar (e.g. of the nation); chief; boss; master carpenter; beams and ridge supports of a roof
transfer (trains, buses, etc.); change; switch (to another ideology, party, system, method, etc.); change; switching (stock); chromosomal crossover
utmost limit; extremity; result
having an audience with someone of very high social standing (e.g. the emperor)
important post; important office; key position
allegiance; obedience; submission
filial piety; showing devotion (to someone)
(bank) president; greenroom manager (in a theater)
to take by storm (e.g. a castle); to assault; to capture; to reduce
to count on one's fingers; to count down the days (in anticipation); to look forward to
new land; new world; new sphere of activity