welcome rain; beneficial rain; blessed rain; rain that comes after a drought
to kick; to refuse; to reject; to stamp (on the ground); to firmly press one's feet (against something)
great; excellent; very troublesome; awful; tiring; tough
dear me!; good gracious!; well; let me see; now
wrasse (any fish of family Labridae)
one's future; one's fate; one's way; one's path
it cannot be that...; it is highly unlikely that...; it is impossible that...
severe criticism; damnation
ability; gift; talent; sai; traditional unit of volume, approx. 1.8 ml
to be soaked in; to be flooded; to be submerged; to be immersed in (joy, memories, alcohol, etc.); to give oneself over to; to bask in
January; first month of the lunar calendar
New Year's Day; New Year's morning; morning of New Year's Day
river; stream; River; the ... river
cloistered emperor; ex-emperor who has become a monk
despotic government; autocracy
duck; easy mark; sucker; sitting duck
race game (board game where the object is to reach the goal first); trad. Japanese board games played with dice, esp. ban-sugoroku
kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa); Japanese flowering dogwood
priest soldier; warrior monk
such ... as; or some such
contrary to one's wishes; gone awry; gone amiss; short of money; in financial difficulty
by the way; meanwhile; on the other hand
the person in question; prominent figure; distinguished person; that person
office of a retired emperor
favorite; favourite; pet (e.g. teacher's pet); bookmark (in web browser)
engine; agency; organisation; system; facility
advance (into a new market or stage of progress); launching (a new career or venture); expanding (into a new market); stepping forward; emerging
foothold; footing; toehold; stepping stone
imperial command (decree); decree of cloistered emperor
protection; safeguard; guardianship; preservation; conservation
carrying out one's duties; ruling a fief; ruling a territory given by one's liege; territory given by one's liege; fief
frequency; popularity; currency; to perform well; to be successful in an activity
one country; whole country; hotheaded; stubborn
right of control; supremacy; sovereignty
Emperor Horikawa; Horikawa Tenno (1079-1107 CE, reigning: 1086-1107 CE)
direct ancestors; ascendant
father's side of family; paternal (grandfather, uncle, etc.)
to operate (e.g. a machine); to handle; to have a good command of (a language); to play proficiently (of a musical instrument); to work (a puppet); to pull the strings of a puppet