black-market lending; illegal loan
collection (of fees, taxes, etc.); levy
many people; a large number of people
annulment; abolition; repeal; rescission
underworld; underside of society
Don (Spanish honorific); bigwig; important person
headquarters; head office; main office
bad guy; villain; evildoer; scoundrel
fate; destiny; connection; tie; pretext; justification
to beat; to attack (an enemy); to do away with; to finish off
without touching; no touching; not participating in; not being concerned by; without being involved in
to look after (often medically); to take care of
to remove; to deinstall; to take away; to set apart
to lend someone one's shoulder; to support with one's shoulder; to help carry a load; to lend a hand; to come to someone's aid
earnest apology; humble apology; apologizing profusely
complete failure; debacle; fiasco; disaster
one cause; one reason; one factor
swing; shake; appearance; behaviour; pretence; pretense; (a customer) coming to restaurant, ryokan, etc. without a reservation or introduction
to a greater or lesser extent (degree); more or less
Financial Services Agency; FSA
judging; inspection; examination; investigation; review
custom; general rule; convention; usually; generally; normally
remarkable; striking; obvious
overthrow of the shogunate
Satsuma and Chōshū (clan alliance)
approval; license; licence; permission
to descend; to go down; to be handed down (of an order, judgment, etc.); to pass (of time); to surrender; to capitulate; to be less than
north-east; Tōhoku (northernmost six prefectures of Honshu); Tohoku
when it comes to; concerning (an area of expertise)
pre-war days; before the war
(political) administration; political power
Tōhoku region (northernmost six prefectures of Honshu); Tohoku region
continent; continental Asia (esp. mainland China); continental Europe
even if; even though; although one might say; although called
to distinguish oneself; to stand out
to come from; to have roots in
slow to act; slow in starting work
to succeed; to relieve; to take the place of; to substitute for; to be exchanged; to change (places with)
inevitable; necessary; certain; inevitability; necessity
normalization (of a social problem, of a situation, etc.)
ancestral; hereditary; handed down from generation to generation; for generations; from generation to generation