economic slump; hard times; poor (business); dull; gloomy; cheerless
detached house; single house; single building; isolated house; house in isolated location
house; residence; family; household; lineage; family name
at the most; at best; to the utmost; as much as possible; as much as one can
remote region; frontier (district); border(land)
person concerned; people involved (in an event); those concerned; staff
to greet; to call out (to); to invite; to get in touch (with); to cheer (on); to give vocal support (to)
a lot; lots; enough; sufficient; enough; too many
to attract attention; to come into the limelight
inspection; study by observation; field trip; sitting out (e.g. PE class)
to be sacrificed; to fall victim to; to fall prey to
to threaten; to menace; to frighten (into doing)
way of saying (something); way of putting it; wording; phrasing; language; expression
to pass judgment (judgement); to make a decision
to open (a door, etc.); to unwrap (e.g. parcel, package); to open (for business, etc.); to empty; to remove; to move out; to clear out
coffee shop; tearoom; coffee lounge; coffeehouse; cafe
impressions; thoughts; feelings; reactions
the good old days; halcyon days
floor; stage (for the narrator and the shamisen player); dining platform built across a river
wall; partition; barrier; obstacle; Chinese "Wall" constellation (one of the 28 mansions)
past middle age; nearing old age; near-elderly; age 40
married couple; husband and wife; man and wife; his and hers; pair of objects, one larger (for man), one smaller (for woman)
to run (a business); to operate; to carry out; to perform; to hold (a Buddhist or Shinto ceremony)
chair; stool; post; office; position
counter; service counter (e.g. at a bank); counter (at a bar, cafe, etc.); automatically responding with an upload slot to someone who allows you to download (e.g. in P2P systems)
flavor; flavour; charm; appeal; experience; taste (e.g. of victory)
set meal; special (of the day)
very popular; highly favoured
weekday; ordinary days (i.e. non-holiday); kanji radical 73
suited figure; person in a suit
office worker; company employee; company man; salaryman (stereotypical Japanese office worker)
to visit; to call on; to arrive (season, time, situation, etc.); to come; (arch.) to make a sound; (arch.) to send a letter
daydream; fantasy; fancy; vision
interior design; interior; upholstery
to stuff one's cheeks; to fill one's mouth (with food)
everyone; anyone; no one; nobody
you could say; you might say; verging on the
the eighties (age, years, etc.)
discourtesy; impoliteness; excuse me; goodbye; to leave; to be rude
polite; courteous; civil; careful; close; thorough
to ask; to enquire; to inquire; to search; to look for; to look into
tone (of voice); manner of talking
to leave (behind); to leave (undone); to not finish; to save; to set aside; to leave (to someone, esp. after one's death)