Vocabulary

stray (migratory) bird

ridiculous answer; absurd response; boner

fallacious argument; fallacy; absurd opinion

fish served whole (complete with head and tail)

crater wall

(head priest of) temple formerly led by founder of sect; temple in which resided a member of nobility or imperial family; (head priest of) Honganji (temple in Kyoto)

portrait

assistant instructor; substitute instructor

stairs

expiration of term of a vow

(constructed) shogi problem; shogi puzzle

stand-up collar

open access (in a library); open shelves

founding (of a temple or sect); founder

suburban districts (of a metropolis); within an urban-prefecture

pedant; worthless scholar

tally; check

rich or poor harvest

country; one's own country

daimiate; fief

nunnery; convent

measure taken too late; measure taken in haste

Japan and the Republic of China

First Sino-Japanese war (1894-1895)

sunshade; sunscreen; window shade; blinds

Russo-Japanese War (1904-5)

secret method; secret recipe; (prescription for a) secret medicine

comparison; similitude

peer; match; equal

instrument of ratification

object

copyist; amanuensis

stroke (dash) of the pen; (force of) brushwork

monomania; monomaniac

wooden floor

(Japanese-style) dining table

cooking rice; kitchenmaid; cook

trouble; pains; backbreaking exertions

complexity and simplicity

(whether at) peace or at war; in peacetime and at war; order and chaos