Vocabulary

actors; players; riverbank beggars

labourer or entertainer of the lowest social rank (in medieval Japan)

brown dipper (Cinclus pallasii)

anyone can make a mistake; even Homer sometimes nods

something easy to do; cinch; a kappa's fart

brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)

irritating; frustrating

opium addiction

Marten's pearl oyster (Pinctada fucata martensii); Akoya pearl oyster

red-throated loon (Gavia stellata)

large broad bean

mumps

ridiculous

mock Buddhist sutra; type of fast-paced humorous singing mimicking the chanting of a Buddhist sutra, usually with lyrics satirizing current events; ahodarakyō

ridiculous; stupid; foolish; absurd; laughable

Sukhavati sutra

wearing a hat pushed back on one's head

ghostleg lottery; ladder lottery; lottery in which participants trace a line across a lattice pattern to determine the winner

homely woman (esp. one with a small low nose, high flat forehead, and bulging cheeks); plain woman

bitch; shameless woman

amah (foreign maid or nursemaid working in east Asia)

greedy; ruthless; cruel; exploitative

flute mouthpiece

mood of a poem; poet's mood when writing

repertoire of 18 kabuki plays

dry season

cloth made from kudzu (Japanese arrowroot) fiber (fibre)

winding; meandering; sinuous; zigzag

kudzu starch gruel

kudzu starch cake; pudding-like arrowroot cake

kudzu sauce

ball of bean paste covered with a kudzu starch glaze

wicker clothes hamper

immigration (and emigration) control

fresh out of (college, high school, etc.); just out (e.g. of a book); first of the season (e.g. apples)

start; beginning

protruding buttocks; big butt

gadabout

horse entered in a race

uneven results