country in civil war; country disarrayed by war; Warring States period (Japan, China); competition in which there are several evenly matched participants; hotly contested game (match, market, etc.)
Bakumatsu period; closing days of the Tokugawa shogunate; end of the Edo period
master; expert; Meijin (professional title); Meijin (highest title for male players in competitive karuta)
Chiba Shūsaku (founder of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū; 1794-1855)
silence; stillness; without sound
user; consumer; master (e.g. of swordsmanship); prodigal; spendthrift
loser; defeated person; the defeated
(those) who are; (that) which is; in the capacity of
strongest ever; most powerful in history
secret swordsmanship (of a specific school); secret traditions of fencing
quickly reversed cut (sword technique); swallow counter (judo technique); swallow flight reversal; swapping one's hand with the bottom row of the nearest wall (cheating technique); completing a hand with an opponent's discarded riichi tile
Musashi (former province located in parts of present-day Tokyo, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures)
desire for revenge; vengeful thoughts
to be defeated; to be beaten; to be unsuccessful; to lose
absolutely; positively; decidedly
Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645)
to write down; to note down; to mention; to describe; to inscribe; to mark
Olympic Games; Olympics; Olympic rings
book; document; calligraphy (esp. Chinese); penmanship; handwriting; letter
sacred scripture; sacred book; holy book; writings of a sage
proof; evidence; sign; witnessing; testifying; testimony
yes; yea; aye; (arch.) to be so
the person in question; the person themselves; said person
to become stormy; to become rough (of the sea); to fall into ruin; to become neglected; to become rough (of skin); to get chapped
to be surprised; to be taken aback; to be amazed; to be frightened; to be startled; to be alarmed
still; much more; (not) yet; still a long way to go; still a long way off; not there yet
wave; billow; ups and downs; (something) advancing step by step; (something) surging forward inopposably; tendency
nth son; lang; official title in ancient China; (arch.) man; (arch.) young man; (arch.) my husband
deed (esp. negative); act; action; one's doing; one's work
this sort of; of this kind; of the sort; such
to pass through; to pass by; to pass (of time); to elapse; to have expired; to have ended; to exceed
to aspire to; to aim for; (arch.) to give a gift (as a token of gratitude, goodwill, etc.); (arch.) to perform a memorial service
to aim at (for, to do, to become); to try for; to have an eye on; to go toward; to head for
state (of mind); mental state; field (of activity); one's lot; circumstance; place
peerless; unequaled; unequalled
ancient time; age of the gods; mythological age; time before the ascension of Emperor Jimmu
table; chart; list; memorial to an emperor
point (of a sword, etc.); pointed verbal attack
feeling of tension; air of tension; tension; nervousness
remnant; fragment; fraction; odd sum; halfway; half-hearted