Vocabulary

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

related to the teachings of Buddha; able to be saved by Buddha

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

indescribable; defying description

optic tectum

attached document; attachment; insert

farmer's market

to haul in (e.g. rope, net, etc.); to pull in; to attract (e.g. stares)

trial denture; wax denture

to save trouble; to save effort; to save hassle; to save bother; to save time

business entity; business unit

abdicated emperor

ceremony in which an abdicated emperor puts on informal court clothes (i.e. a kariginu and eboshi) for the first time

preaching place

adjusting the height of eyeglasses (e.g. using nose pads)

Celsius

nose pad (glasses)

destroying; annihilating; eradicating

certain reasons; certain circumstances; professional constraints; adult matters

small book

hairpiece; hair filler; artificial hair; wig

low-rise (jeans, panties, etc.)

impaction

decay (e.g. charge, signal); trailing (e.g. edge); falling