frank; direct; plain; straightforward; point-blank; concise
to explain; to dispel doubts
drawing a katana and attacking in the same stroke; doing (something) suddenly and without warning; doing without prior notice
check; plaid; checking; monitoring; check (banking); cheque
to have a feeling (that); to have a sensation (that)
as ... as one can; as ... as possible; as much as possible
to give (someone) a treat; to be extravagant; to live luxuriously; to be proud; to be haughty
cost of a ticket; price of a ticket
New Year's gift (usu. money given to a child by relatives and visitors)
putting money aside; savings; deposit (e.g. in a bank); accumulated surplus of wins; wins in the bank
prefecture (Japan); county (China, Taiwan, Norway, etc.); department (France); province (Italy, Spain, etc.)
fine food; high-quality food; gourmet; epicure; gastronome
interior; backwoods; hinterland; back regions
buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum); soba; Japanese buckwheat noodles
having a high threshold (for entry); difficult to approach; feeling awkward to go to (of someone's home)
goosefish (any fish of family Lophiidae); monkfish; (arch.) fool; curved gutter
saucepan; pot; stew; hot pot
soy sauce ramen; soy ramen; ramen in clear brown broth flavored with soy sauce
all over Japan; throughout Japan
to taste; to savor; to appreciate; to enjoy; to experience; to go through
floor; stage (for the narrator and the shamisen player); dining platform built across a river
preference; priority; precedence
one's father; one's old man; middle-aged (or older) man; old man; one's boss; proprietor (of a restaurant, store, etc.)
to entangle; to entwine; to pick a quarrel; to find fault; to be involved with; to be influenced by
shifting (the burden) onto; ill effects; negative consequences; burden
brown envelope; manila envelope
to crush (with one's hands); to kill a proposal; to shelve; to table (remove from consideration)
to choke; to have trouble breathing
to beat fast (of a heart); to hammer
to go along; to walk along; to follow
dive (e.g. into water); (underwater) diving; dive (of an aircraft)
hey!; over here!; OK; gotcha; yep
intelligence; intellect; brains
sticking; clinging; with a smack (e.g. sitting down); hard; all over; thickly
it was, wasn't it?; must have been; I think (it was); how might it have been?
reaction; recoil; kick; backlash
brother complex; excessive attachment to one's brother; black contemporary (music)
to raise; to rear; to train; to teach; to promote the growth of; to nurture
thundering; purring; something large and heavy starting to roll; scattered about; common; idleness; idling about
to be sensible; to be smart; to be tasteful; to be thoughtful; to be tactful; to be sensitive
to get angry; to snap; to blow one's top; to lose one's temper; to flip