Vocabulary

disintegration; degradation; decay

walking around aimlessly

splendid multistoried building

wanderer; drifter

all-encompassing mercy of the Buddha

Morus kagayamae (species of mulberry)

mulberry leaf

cheap everyday food that most people enjoy (e.g. ramen, curry); eating cheap delicious food; person who seeks out cheap delicious food

sake warmed to human body temperature (approx. 37 degrees C)

maid cafe; cafe with waitresses dressed in cute maid costumes

homemade bento containing food decorated to look like cute characters (from anime, etc.)

Tokyo Skytree (broadcasting and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo)

area of clear sky

private viewing; private showing; sneak preview

whole universe; total universe; all of creation

cubic close packing; cubic closest packing

Aspergillus kawachii; Aspergillus awamori var. kawachi; white kōji mould, used in shōchū production

deviation-value-oriented education; education focused on test results; education that stresses studying and passing exams to raise one's ranking; academic cramming

breakfast set (often a drink and toast); breakfast special; special breakfast offer

tomb of someone with no relatives to mourn their death

tomb of someone with no relatives to mourn their death

Mercurialis leiocarpa (species of mercury whose leaves can be used to produce an indigo dye)

Kintarō; Golden Boy; folklore boy hero and defeater of demons; usu. depicted with a bob cut, carrying an axe, and wearing a red apron

Kintarō candy; Kintarō-ame; hard stick-shaped candy made so that the face of folk hero Kintarō appears when it is sliced

variety of sweet potato with red skin and sweet yellow flesh (product of the Kawagoe region)

red

bowl of shaved ice with boiled adzuki beans

beniaka; variety of sweet potato with red skin and sweet yellow flesh; product of the Kawagoe region

Ninigi no Mikoto (Japanese deity; grandson of Amaterasu, great grandfather of Emperor Jimmu)

six sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind)

six objective fields of the senses (shape and colour, sound, scent, flavour, physical feeling, and mental presentation)

eighteen components of perception (six sense objects, six sense faculties, six sense consciousnesses)

1955 System; Japanese political alignment with the LDP in government and the JSP in opposition, which lasted until 1993

Japan Socialist Party (1945-1996; succeeded by the Social Democratic Party of Japan); JSP

optic tectum

attached document; attachment; insert

farmer's market

trial denture; wax denture

business entity; business unit

abdicated emperor