to be effective; to be fruitful; to be worthwhile; to be worth; to be rewarded; to pay off
hypothesis; supposition; assumption; tentative theory
labyrinth; maze; mystery; dungeon
striding; swaggering; strutting; lording it over others; acting as though one owns the place; throwing one's weight around
starting point; point of departure
circumference; girth; tour; pilgrimage; circulation (e.g. of blood)
if you think about it; come to think of it
no matter what it takes; by any means necessary; at all costs; by hook or by crook
to confuse (someone); to befuddle; to bewilder; to mystify; to throw up a smokescreen; (lit.) to surround with smoke
collateral family; subsidiary line; affiliate; coset
to manipulate (someone); to make (someone) dance to one's tune; to lead astray; to make (someone) dance; to let dance
distinction (e.g. between right and wrong, public and private, etc.)
reconciliation; amicable settlement; court-mediated settlement; (arch.) translation of a foreign language into Japanese
betterment; improvement; kaizen (Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement)
turning point; transition phase
Yamashiro (former province located in the south of present-day Kyoto Prefecture)
to speak; to talk; to mediate; to act as a go-between; to put in a good word (for someone)
undesirable friend; bad company; bad companion; partner-in-crime (i.e. good friend); close friend; buddy
taking an examination (esp. school and university entrance)
desperation; despair; self-abandonment
to throw oneself (into an activity)
to cause trouble (for someone); to annoy; to bother; to inconvenience
activity; action; occupation; business; sexual intercourse; sex
martial arts; military arts; wushu; modern sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts
predecessor; pioneer; ancestor
to build up; to establish (one's reputation)
system; organization; organisation; architecture
to make something one's own; to appropriate for oneself
everything; anything; nothing
one's own style; self-taught manner
unit; denomination; credit (in school); in units of (e.g. "in thousands"); in amounts of
very high; high up; aloft; only; merely; just
shallow thinking; superficial view; insufficient consideration
morpho (butterfly, Morpho sp.)
pigment; coloring; colouring; colorant; colourant
ultrastructure; ultra-structure; microstructure; fine structure