mistress (of the house); hostess; landlady; proprietress
novel; story; (work of) fiction
thickheaded; insensitive; dull; thick-skinned
to do wholeheartedly; to put one's heart into something
key; mode (in gagaku); time; tempo; meter (of a poem); metre; style
and; moreover; besides; as well as; and on top of that; at the same time
stroke of the brush; touch; literary style
to delineate; to draw; to express; to imagine
slowly (but steadily); gradually; bit-by-bit; slowly soaking in; slowly permeating; oozing out
to remove obstacles in the way of one's objective; to take an indirect approach; (lit.) to fill in the outer moat
same row; same line; same file; same rank; same level; same category
suitor (e.g. for a woman); wooer
mutually; with each other; reciprocally; together; both
to feel deeply ashamed (of)
upper class; upper echelons of society; the rich and powerful; the elite
prop; stay; support; brace; fulcrum
physical work; manual labour (labor)
to drive away; to clear; to scatter; to disperse
expansion and contraction; elasticity; flexibility
to spend a fortune; to pay a high price
(stroke of) luck; (unexpected) good fortune; godsend; windfall
splish-splash; with a splash
setting up (a structure, building, camp, etc.); construction; preparation (e.g. of a venue); arrangement (of an event)
calculating; sly; cunning; flirty; flirtatious
distant look; faraway look
to often be the case; to occur frequently; to be common; to be popular
lesson; class; teaching; instruction; classwork; schoolwork
speaker; lecturer; lecturer (at a university or college); instructor; part-time teacher; tutor (at a cram school)
with profound (often hidden) meaning; pregnant with significance; meaningful; suggestive; interesting
a short while ago; a moment ago; just now; some time ago
to sit cross-legged; to sit at ease
sitting on the floor with one's legs tucked under to one side
to make a lovely picture; to be perfect for a picture; picture-perfect; picturesque
because of; owing to; due to
simple diet; plain food; simple food; frugal meal
unknown (e.g. in an equation); element (of a set); yuan (monetary unit of China); (Taiwan) dollar; Yuan dynasty (of China; 1271-1368); Yüan dynasty
pig (Sus scrofa domesticus); pork; fatso; fatty