entering (government) service; attendance (at one's office); presenting oneself for duty
very small fraction (of); very small proportion; very small part; tiny bit
unrelated; irrelevant; unconcerned; unconnected
to be better (than); to be superior; to surpass; to excel; to be excellent
head; brains; intellect; understanding
origin; birthplace; descent; lineage; ancestry
distinction; differentiation; discrimination; discrimination (against people)
structure; construction; arrangement; plan; plot; contrivance
to prepare; to provide; to set up; to establish; to organize
to sit for an examination
use; adoption; acceptance; appointment; employment; engagement
that is to say; so that means
ratio of successful applicants; (examination) pass rate
the strait gate (in the Bible); the narrow gate; high barrier (to enter a highly competitive school, company, etc.); difficult hurdle; difficulty
educated; learned; schooled
establishment; opening; setting up; inauguration
temple elementary school (Edo period)
thanks to ...; owing to ...; because of ...
study; diligence; working hard; experience; knowledge; discount
life; living; I; me; student
to learn; to study; to take lessons in
success or failure; result
town; block; downtown; main street; street; road
riding together; fellow passenger; joint partnership
use; utilization; utilisation; application
to buy; to purchase; to value (highly); to think highly of; to incur (someone's anger, displeasure, etc.); to elicit (e.g. sneers)
to be oversized (overloud, etc.)
graduation; completion (of a course); moving on (from); outgrowing (something); leaving (a group, company, etc.); quitting
borrowing something already borrowed
very interesting; of great interest
exceeding what one had heard; beyond one's expectations
agricultural community; farm village; rural
each house; every house; many houses
solid; firm; stout; burly; strong; sturdy
(sense of) cleanliness; (sense of) freshness; clean impression
to overflow; to brim over; to flood
poverty; penury; need; shortage; lack; want
far away; far off; nowhere near; far cry
scale; scope; plan; structure
settlement; village; community; (bacterial) colony
castle wall; town walls; defensive wall; rampart
the four cardinal directions; north, east, south and west; surroundings; many countries; the whole world; all around; here and there
going in and out; entering and exiting; visiting regularly; frequenting; income and expenditure; incomings and outgoings; increase and decrease
straw-thatching; straw-thatched roof