Vocabulary

interest; eagerness; enthusiasm

custom; common practice; habit

pure land (esp. the Western Pure Land paradise of Amitabha); (Buddhist) paradise

the Monkey (ninth sign of the Chinese zodiac)

serious look (on one's face); straight face

right above; just above; directly above; directly overhead

weakness; debility; breakdown; prostration

world war

conquest; subjugation

character and conduct

stratosphere

political opponent

constellation

biochemistry

earnest desire; eager hope; longing; yearning; hankering

breaking off relations (with); severing one's connections (with); breaking with (e.g. one's past)

being lost for words; becoming speechless

receiving in advance (e.g. wages, interest); taking before others

predecessor; pioneer; ancestor

plover

missionary

monopoly; monopolization; exclusive sales rights

shipowner

obstruction; impediment; hindrance; inhibition; blocking; check

prime of life

swift current; rapids

complete financial statement

survival; remaining; being extant; being left

allowance; remittance; sending (someone) an allowance

four and a half tatami mats; four-and-a-half-mat room

tributary; branch

personal opinion

trial; test; try

reagent

endurance; persistence

anachronism

healing; cure; recovery

loss of eyesight; loss of sight; going blind; blindness

copy; duplicate; facsimile; transcript

social life; social intercourse