if you do a favor for somebody, you will get a return favor; (lit.) if a fish is friendly toward water, water will be kind to the fish too; you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours
something worn on the hip (e.g. sword, pill box, money pouch)
lowest-ranking guest at tea ceremony; tea master
(sitting) knee-to-knee; face-to-face
honorable post; honourable post
revere the Emperor; expel the western barbarians (19th century slogan)
arrow and target; arrow used for shooting marks
real sword (as opposed to a wooden practice sword)
government soldier; officers and other ranks; officers and enlisted
hereditary daimyo (whose ancestors supported Tokugawa Ieyasu prior to the battle of Sekigahara)
western citadel; west wing of the Edo castle (where the heir apparent or retired shogun would live)
the n-th generation head of a family
to be infatuated (with); to be hooked (on); to lose one's heart (on)
to suck up; to absorb; to squeeze (money)
exemplar; model; example; pattern
taking turns on duty (esp. daimyo's retainers on duty in Edo)
small build; small stature
deliberate hindrance; obstruction
substitution; replacement; shifting; change
to go into labor; to go into labour
teacher (to whom one owes a debt of gratitude); mentor; one's former teacher
strangely; oddly; miraculously; mysteriously
good fortune; luck; happiness; vipaka (retribution)
war renunciation; anti-war; bout cancelled due to absence of one of the wrestlers
to rub; to chafe; to strike (match); to lose (e.g. a match); to forfeit; to squander one's money (e.g. through gambling, Pachinko, etc.)
mortal enemy; sworn enemy; nemesis
wakizashi; short sword worn by samurai
usurer; usury; loansharking
Tokugawa shogunate (i.e. the Edo shogunate, 1603-1867)
to hear a rumor; to get wind of
main force; brute force; strong-arm
intimacy; familiarity; closeness
soiling; polluting; shame; disgrace; chopped fish, shellfish or vegetables, dressed with (miso or other) sauce
to dismiss (an employee); to discharge; to divorce one's wife; to give a holiday; to give vacation time