tatami mat (esp. as a measure of room size, either 1.82 sqm or 1.54 sqm)
narrow; confined; small; limited; narrow-minded; confining
apartment building; apartment block; apartment house; apartment
kotatsu; table over an electric heater (orig. a charcoal brazier in a floor well) with a hanging quilt that retains heat
to dive (into or under water); to get under; to get into; to hide oneself (esp. from the government); to conceal oneself
painful; bitter; tough; difficult; cruel; harsh
miserable; wretched; lonely; dreary; shabby; comfortless
even though; despite; when
to be seen; to be in sight; to look; to seem; to come
soup containing rice cakes and vegetables (New Year's dish)
to eat; to live; to make a living; to bite; to sting (as insects do); to tease; to torment
tear; tears; lachrymal secretion; sympathy
to run (of liquid); to spread; to blur; to blot; to ooze; to well up (of tears, etc.)
university; college; former central university of Kyoto (established under the ritsuryo system for the training of government administrators); the Great Learning (one of the Four Books)
leaving school during a term
20 years old; (arch.) twenty
without an occupation; unemployed; jobless
to sink deeply into one's mind; to come home to; to go to one's heart; to pierce one's body (e.g. of wind, cold, etc.)
tobacco; cigarette; cigaret; tobacco plant (Nicotiana tabacum)
odour; odor; scent; aura; whiff; smacks of ...
wall; partition; barrier; obstacle; Chinese "Wall" constellation (one of the 28 mansions)
to be indelibly stained or ingrained; to be dyed in deeply
to strip and leave clothes lying around
floor; stage (for the narrator and the shamisen player); dining platform built across a river
dispersion; scattering; spreading out; diffusion
such; that sort of; that kind of; no way!; never!
dirty; filthy; disordered; messy; indecent (language, etc.); dirty
room; chamber; apartment; flat; stable
middle; centre; center; midpoint; heart
how many times; how many degrees (temperature, angle, etc.)
to sigh; to breathe a sigh
yes; indeed; ha!; what?; huh?; sigh
this sort of; this kind of; like this; such
to have been decided (so) that; to have been arranged (so) that; to be the result (of); to be the outcome; to be the reason (for)
endorsing and questioning the preceding statement; lamenting reflections on the preceding statement
only; merely; approximately; about; just (finished, etc.); as if to; (as though) about to
slowly; quietly; steadily; soon; momentarily; before long
present condition; existing state; status quo; current state
breaking down; defeating; abolishing
perfect; complete; flawless