a few years ago; some years back
collapse; crumbling; breaking down; (radioactive) decay; disintegration
to be stormy; to be rough; to be rough (of skin); to be chapped; to be ruined; to fall into ruin
affiliated with; under jurisdiction of; under the umbrella
remarkable; striking; brilliant; splendid; spectacular; wonderful
development; growth; development (of a situation, story, etc.); advancement; playing around; having an active sex life
style; manner; way; after (period of time) again (e.g. meeting again after a year); for the first time in (period of time)
peculiarity; uniqueness; characteristic
culture; civilization; civilisation; Bunka era (1804.2.11-1818.4.22)
each nation; many nations; many countries
exchange (e.g. cultural); interchange; interaction; alternating current; AC
to advance; to move forward; to carry forward (plans, work, etc.); to proceed with; to raise; to elevate
one way or another; in many ways; in various ways
to entertain; to make welcome
to address (someone); to accost a person; to talk (to someone); to begin to talk; to start a conversation
-ian (e.g. Italian); -ite (e.g. Tokyoite); -er (e.g. performer, etc.); person working with ...; man; person
accent (of one's speech); dialect; provincialism; corrupted form (e.g. of word); mispronunciation
to catch (someone's words); to make out; to follow; to ask about (a situation, circumstances, etc.); to inquire
difficult to ...; hard to ...
to cut into (a conversation); to interject
certainly; without fail; right and wrong; pros and cons
nationally protected chicken breed; free-range local traditional pedigree chicken; chicken meat from same
season (e.g. fruit, fish); in vogue; popular; fresh
local specialty; local special dish
simple; artless; naive; unsophisticated
cooking; cookery; cuisine; dealing with something; handling; administration
(the) mainstream; main course (of a river); main stream
(not) in any way; in no way; at all; terribly; awfully; hopelessly
fluent (in a language); flowing
to be helpful; to be dependable; to stand by (someone)
(for something) to have occurred; to have done (something); (for something) to happen on occasion
to instruct; to tell to do; to ask to do; to order
to be saved; to be rescued; to escape harm; to be spared damage; to be helped; to be saved trouble
studying abroad; travelling to study; traveling to study
on the occasion of; circumstances; juncture
bridge building; mediation; go-between; intermediary; (through the) good offices (of someone)