investigation; examination; inquiry; enquiry; survey
secret; private; surreptitious
foreign country; other country; another province; strange land; alien land
western direction; Western Pure Land (Amitabha's Buddhist paradise); western fighter in a match (e.g. sumo)
Warring States period (of Japanese history, approx. 1467-1568 CE); Sengoku period; Warring States period (of Chinese history, 403-221 BCE); era of vicious competition
like; similar to; as with; in the same way
supremacy (over a nation); hegemony; domination; championship; victory
to compete with; to vie for
group; bunch; crowd; group
to greet; to call out (to); to invite; to get in touch (with); to cheer (on); to give vocal support (to)
and the like; such as; or something; something like; I hear that ...; people say that...
to refuse; to reject; to inform; to give notice; to ask leave; to excuse oneself (from)
example; simile; metaphor; allegory
solidarity; banding together and working as one for a common cause
judging from; on the basis of; from the point of view of
considerable; great; important; significant; a big deal
to be silent; to say nothing
in that way; thus; so; so?
difficult; hard; impossible; unfeasible; fussy; particular; gloomy
indicates word or phrase being defined; used for quoting (thoughts, speech, etc.); with; (not) as much as; (not) so much as; the fact that
having a headache; racking one's brains; troubling over something
to pin down; to hold down; to cover (esp. a part of one's body with one's hand); to clutch (a body part in pain); to get a hold of; to obtain
language; dialect; word; phrase; speech; (manner of) speaking
how much; something over; and something; however (much); no matter how
to gather; to collect; to assemble
opponent; rival; adversary; menace; danger; threat
is not; am not; are not; isn't it?
a little; a bit; just a minute; for a moment; somewhat; rather; (not) easily
to glare at; to scowl at; to stare intensely at; to examine carefully; to estimate; to guess
to be able (to); to be possible (to)
that's the way it is; yes; is that so?; is it?
any more; any further; any better; any longer
to protect (someone); to look after (e.g. an injured leg); to defend; to cover for; to stand up for; to stick up for
authorization; authorisation; acknowledgment; acknowledgement; certification; recognition
putting into operation; invocation
to think; to consider; to think (of doing); to plan (to do); to judge; to assess; to imagine
ace up one's sleeve; trump card; secret skills; secret; (arch.) left hand
no; nay; well; er; you're welcome; not at all