beast (i.e. any animal other than man); person reborn into the animal realm; brute (i.e. a contemptible human being); damn it; damn
stagnation; hindrance; delay
to fail; to blunder; to mess up; to be dismissed; to be fired
one large ...; a great ...
to bend many times; to turn and twist; to zigzag
(raised) footpath between rice fields; ridge between rice fields
influenced (by); under an influence
very; extremely; extreme; excessive; splendid; impressive
revitalization of a village; village renewal (project)
dispatch; despatch; deployment; temporary employee (esp. from an agency); temporary worker; agency temp
the point just before; the point of doing; the verge of happening
cartoonist; comic book artist; manga artist; manga author; mangaka
canned food; tinned food; confining someone (e.g. so they can concentrate on work); being stuck in a confined space
to till; to plow; to plough; to cultivate
hunting; harvesting (e.g. berries, fruit); picking; gathering
to fade (of a colour); to grow dull in color (colour); to lose vividness; to lose freshness; to grow stale
edge of the eaves; house frontage
to squat; to crouch down (completely, generally with face looking through knees)
branch; bough; limb; twig; sprig; spray
to hum (a tune); to sing to oneself; to croon
merchant; trader; tradesman; dealer; shopkeeper
afternoon refreshment; afternoon tea
traditional; conventional
children's song; nursery song
to sing; to sing (one's praises in a poem, etc.); to compose a poem; to recite a poem
New Year's holiday; period encompassing the close of the old year and the start of the New Year
theme; topic; subject matter; motif; project; slogan
(game of) catch-the-child
to palm off; to force a sale
quotient; dealing; dealer; second degree (of the Japanese and Chinese pentatonic scale); Shang dynasty (China, approx. 1600-1046 BCE); Yin dynasty
to read and understand; to take in; to sense from external cues; to read (someone's) mind; to read (calibration, tape, etc.); to scan (bar code)
to distort; to strain (interpretation); to force (meaning)
haiku; 17-mora poem, usu. in 3 lines of 5, 7 and 5 morae
a verse (e.g. in the Bible); stanza; paragraph; passage; a joint; section
heavenly body; celestial body; astronomical object
to have meaning; to be meaningful
two out; two down (and one to go)
to replace; to move; to change the position of
digging deeply (below the surface); mining deep; probing deeply (issue, problem); investigating thoroughly; deepening relations
immediately; as soon as possible; as quickly as possible