whirl of busyness; flurry of activity; being rushed off one's feet; having a very busy time (doing)
early retirement program; early retirement programme
mandatory retirement system; age-limit retirement system
First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
setting aside; leaving to one side
right or wrong; good or bad; quality; having both merits and demerits; having both advantages and disadvantages
unemployment insurance; employment insurance
just when (one is about to ...); just as; the very moment when; on the point of
centralized management; centrally controlled system
award for distinguished service
isolation; sense of isolation; feeling of being isolated
saving a seat (e.g. by leaving something on it); holding a seat (for a friend, etc.); reserving a place
year on year; on the previous year
cost reduction; cost saving
first half of the year; first half of the fiscal year
rubbish heap; garbage dump
son of a distinguished family; son of a noble
kaiseki; sophisticated traditional Japanese cuisine brought in courses; simple meal eaten before tea is served
tool (esp. software, etc.); tour (e.g. Tour de France)
staff identity card; employee ID card
to put a thing on top of another; to cover; to lay something on
hooray; yay; whee; yowzer; whoopee; yes
My goodness!; Good lord!; Holy cow!
pilgrimage; travelling around (by a monk)
gift of money (contained in an envelope); money reward (for services rendered)
each field; various circles
jewels and ornaments; jewelry; jewellery
number on back of player's shirt; uniform number; shirt number
ominous; ill-omened; inauspicious; unlucky; sinister
division (of company); operations department
(compulsory) retirement (e.g. on reaching the age of 65); mandatory retirement; reaching retirement age
current year (fiscal, academic, etc.)