declining birth rate and aging population
indicates possessive; nominalizes verbs and adjectives; substitutes for "ga" in subordinate phrases; indicates a confident conclusion; indicates emotional emphasis; indicates question
present age; present day; contemporary; modern era; modern times; contemporary era
many; much; majority (of); greater part (of); mostly; mainly
old person; elderly person; senior citizen
indicates the subject of a sentence; indicates possession; but; however; and; used after an introductory remark or explanation; regardless of ...
malicious; vicious; malignant; shoddy; inferior; poor-quality
fraud; swindle; graft; saying you're going to do something but in the end not doing it; making promises without keeping them; flaking out
event; affair; incident; case; plot; trouble
at; in; to; toward; to; for; because of
to do; to carry out; to cause to become; to make (into); to serve as; to act as; to wear (clothes, a facial expression, etc.)
but; however; (and) yet; nevertheless; still; for all that
rapid economic growth (esp. that of Japan in the post-WWII period)
period; epoch; the times; those days; oldness; ancientness
splendid; magnificent; utter (esp. defeat); total; (arch.) something worth seeing; (arch.) sight
technical prowess; technical ability; technical finesse; technological prowess; technological capabilities
if; when; and; as well as; with; together with; used for quoting (thoughts, speech, etc.)
sincere; honest; faithful
diligent; hard-working; industrious
-ness; indicates assertion; come (on); come now; er; um; indicates scrutiny, critique or mistrust
at; in; at; when; by; with; so
abundant; plentiful; rich; wealthy; open (mind); relaxed
contribution (furthering a goal or cause); services (to a cause); paying tribute; tribute
indicates sentence topic; indicates contrast with another option (stated or unstated); adds emphasis
unmistakable; evident; obvious; certain; beyond doubt
such; that sort of; that kind of; no way!; never!
boorish; unrefined; rustic; uncouth; clumsy; brusque
huge sum (esp. of money); enormous sum; massive amount
to fight against; to oppose; to face
good; advantage; sake; purpose; consequence; result
one person; being alone; being by oneself; being single; being unmarried; by oneself
girl (usu. between 7 and 17); young lady; (arch.) female between 17 and 20 years old (ritsuryō period)
to join hands together; to join forces; to collaborate
person; someone; human beings; mankind; human (Homo sapiens); (other) people; others
this; last (couple of years, etc.); these; you (as in "you liar")
indicates direct object of action; indicates subject of causative expression; indicates an area traversed; indicates time (period) over which action takes place; indicates point of departure or separation of action; indicates object of desire, like, hate, etc.
in that way; thus; so; the same; so?
to call out (to); to call; to summon (a doctor, etc.); to invite; to designate; to name; to garner (support, etc.)
to be seen; to be visible; to look; to seem; to come
yes; that is correct; understood; I see; present; here; pardon?
just (e.g. "just wait here"); come now; tolerably; passably; well ...; I think ...