burying one's head in the sand (while leaving other parts of one's body exposed); exposing one's weak point while attempting to protect oneself; (lit.) hiding one's head without hiding one's bottom
personage; person (deserving of respect)
complete darkness; total darkness; pitch darkness
nocturnality; nocturnal habits
outstanding; excellent; exceptional; distinguished; unrivaled; surpassing (e.g. beauty)
nonstandard; out of spec; irregular; exceptional; extraordinary; unbelievable
only; merely; just; at most; no more than
regrettable; unfortunate; disappointing; vexing
punishment (of children); spanking; smacking; criminal punishment (esp. execution; Edo period)
to see to it that ...; to make sure that ...; to try to ...; to make an effort to ...
top and bottom; high and low; going up and down; rising and falling; going and coming back; upper and lower classes; ruler and ruled
gentle; quiet; mild; quiet (color, pattern, etc.); sober
to do what one is told to (esp. of a child); to take someone's advice; to listen to what someone says; to do what one wants something (one's body, legs, etc.) to do; to work as expected (e.g. of a machine); to obey (one)
headgear (esp. one made of cloth); hood; kerchief; tokin (headgear worn by yamabushi)
to cut and even up; to cut several pieces to the same size
refreshingly; with a feeling of relief; shapely; neatly; cleanly; without trouble; clearly
smallish; on the small side
androgynous; gender-neutral
to say; to be called; to do
disappointed; dejected; disheartened; indignant; angry
background; scenery; background (of an incident, situation, etc.); circumstances; backing; support (from behind the scenes)
to the end; entirely; in full
if that's the case ...; if so ...; that being the case ...
sounding each other out; probing each other
core; heart (of the matter); point; crux; kernel
straightforwardly; in an outspoken manner
to employ; to hire; to take on; to charter (a car, boat, etc.); to hire
surreptitious glance; looking furtively
generally; on the whole; general; rough; outline; main points
secret information; intelligence
darkness; the dark; bewilderment; despair; hidden place; secrecy
sharp-eyed; keen-eyed; easily awakened
smell; scent; aura; whiff; faint, mist-like pattern along the temper line of a Japanese sword
to sniff out; to get wind of
imagination; supposition; guess
just to make sure; just to be sure; for confirmation; just in case; for caution's sake; by way of precaution
management; (executive) staff; leaders; leadership; top brass; upper echelons
series; sequence; keiretsu (group); conglomeration of businesses linked by cross-shareholdings; affiliated; subsidiary
possibly; by some possibility; perhaps
some; few; a number of; somewhat; to a certain extent; a bit