cruel; brutal; ruthless; merciless; inhuman
considerably; not a little; in no small numbers
ticktock; chinking (e.g. of a hammer against rock); knocking; dry and hard; (frozen) stiff; hidebound
mountain where old people were abandoned (according to legend); position or division in a company to which an old and ineffective person is transferred; women's college
The Little Match Girl (1845 short story by Hans Christian Andersen)
the place for; the time for; the level of
reducing the number of mouths one needs to feed (esp. by giving up children for adoption, apprenticeship, etc.)
pity; sorrow; pitiable; pitiful; alack; alas
older brother and younger sister
story; tale; narrative; account; fable; legend
to dribble; to spill; to suspend; to hang down; to slouch
tanuki (Nyctereutes procyonoides); raccoon dog; sly dog; sly old fox; sly fox
vine; bine; bow; temple arm; connections; contacts
paying back a favour; repayment (of an obligation, kindness, etc.)
death; (an) out; death penalty (by strangulation or decapitation; most severe of the five ritsuryō punishments)
depiction; description; portrayal
utmost limits; extremity; limit
appearing and disappearing; slipping in and out of view
mirror; looking-glass; barrel head; page added at the beginning of a document mentioning its purpose, date, author, etc.; mirror-shaped mochi
why; how; for what reason
to read aloud; to read to someone
to get to the main subject; to move on to the main topic; to get down to business
century; era; of the century (e.g. fight of the century)
beginning (of a century, etc.)
short story; short film; short poem
the way in which something came about; origin; structure; organization; the way something is constructed
various opinions; various theories; various rumors (rumours)
great famine; severe famine
historical; traditional; historic
origin; (arch.) appearance of an auspicious sign that one will receive a divine mandate to becoming emperor; (arch.) birth of an emperor or his ancestors
handing down (information); legend; tradition; folklore; transmission
interpretation; explanation; reading; construction
Middle Ages (in Japan esp. the Kamakura and Muromachi periods); medieval times; mediaeval times
warfare; the maelstrom of war; disorder brought about by war
incessant; constant; continuous; perpetual; everlasting
continent; continental Asia (esp. mainland China); continental Europe