Vocabulary

opportunity cost

missing an opportunity; opportunity loss

autonomous republic

retaining fee; retainer

semi-European-style house; type of Japanese house incorporating Western elements that was made popular in the 1920s and 1930s

meeting place; open area for meetings, markets, etc.

dirt cheap; very cheap; worthless

whole temple complex; all the temples on a mountain

Rustication Movement; movement in China in 1957 to get people to move to the countryside

functionality

to narrow (e.g. eyes)

new ground (science, art, etc.); new front; new scope; frontier

other side; other party; other end (e.g. of phone connection); opposition

front lens element (of a camera lens assembly)

functional polymer

boat festival; festival with portable shrines carried on boats

to stimulate one's appetite; to whet one's appetite

practice meeting; practice group

please take care of yourself; please be careful not to ... (concerning one's health or well-being)

being terribly grateful

I am terribly grateful

eradication of corruption

to date; as of now

biggest; largest scale

Uji-cha; prized Japanese green tea cultivated around Uji, Kyoto

Shizuoka-cha; prized Japanese green tea cultivated in Shizuoka Prefecture

three greatest teas of Japan (Uji-cha, Sayama-cha and Shizuoka-cha)

the big two ...; two major ...; two main ...

to date; as of now

dyeing one's hair oneself (as opposed to having it done by a hairdresser)

wrapping; envelopment

hair elastic; hair tie; hair band; rubber band

spicy; piquant

espionage network; intelligence network

advertising fraudulent investment schemes with glossy brochures, phone calls, etc.

groove in a shamisen player's fingernail caused by the friction of the string of the instrument

freighter (aircraft); cargo plane

tamago dofu; tamago-dofu; steamed egg custard with soup stock, cooked in a square mould

robbery suspect

crema catalana