chief; main; principal; important
reason of being; raison d'être; meaning of one's existence
peers; friends; fellow workers; comrades
natural extinction; dying a natural death; coming to a natural end
barely; narrowly; only just; with difficulty
duration; continuance; survival; persistence; retention
decrease; reduction; decline
or; either ... or; maybe; perhaps; some ... and others ...; sometimes ... and at other times ...
big; large; drastic; full-width cloth (approx. 72 cm wide for traditional Japanese clothing; approx. 140 cm wide for Western clothing)
rivalry of local warlords; a number of powerful (talented, influential) persons standing by themselves in a given field
to divide (into); to split (into); to share; to distribute; to distinguish; to discriminate; to break up (a fight)
classification; categorization; sorting
erasure; denial; obliteration; ignoring (an opinion)
standing together in a disorderly fashion; standing close around; crowding together; flooding in (applicants, election candidates, etc.)
to play a central role; to take a leading part
bloody; gory; covered in copious amounts of blood; desperate; frantic
inevitable; necessary; certain; inevitability; necessity
to give one's heart to; to fall in love; to turn one's mind towards; to think of
to pull from both ends; to pull from both sides; to play tug of war
order; observance; discipline; rules; law; regulations
disorder; chaos; confusion
man (esp. one who is well-respected); samurai; person (in a certain profession, esp. licensed); member
collecting; accumulating; collection (of art, stamps, insects, etc.); garbage collection; waste collection
to inherit; to succeed; to take over
several; various; divergent; conflicting; different; diverse
seat; place; position; status; gathering; party; stand
quiet; dependable; uniform; (politically) moderate
to have a lewd look on one's face; to ogle
to plan; to plot; to attempt (e.g. suicide, murder); to undertake (e.g. business); (arch.) to stand on tip-toes
to take offense; to take offence; to get angry; to lose one's temper
disgust; hate; repugnance; loathing
heaven's punishment; divine punishment; well-deserved punishment; just punishment
(preliminary) skirmish; prelude; preliminary encounter; warm-up match (e.g. before a final)
to take aim (at); to set one's sights (on); to zero in (on)
to win fame; to be widely-known; to be well known; to make a name for oneself