illusion; hallucination; misapprehension; misconception; misunderstanding
conviction; belief; confidence
chapter one; first chapter
one; 1; best; first; foremost; beginning; start
highway (esp. one existing from the Edo period); main road; highway (e.g. to success); path (to becoming ...); subdistrict (in China)
armpit; under one's arm; beside; close to; aside; to the side; off-track
to fold one's arms; to link arms with someone
healthy; robust; strong; solid; durable
cloth; fabric; material; bujian (spade-shaped bronze coin of ancient China)
to make; to produce; to prepare (food); to brew (alcohol); to raise; to grow; to till
(on a) closer look; closer scrutiny; second look
when it comes to; concerning (an area of expertise)
to tan (leather, hide, etc.); to dress
to wind around; to wrap around; to coil around
just like; exactly like; as if; (do) just like ...; (be) virtually like ...; as if it were ...
shape; form; appearance; style; state; situation
obi (kimono sash); obi (strip of paper looped around a book, CD, etc. containing information about the product); band; belt; cingulum; radio or television program broadcast in the same time slot on all or most days
sword (esp. Japanese single-edged); katana; scalpel; chisel; burin; knife money (knife-shaped commodity money used in ancient China)
substitute; replacement; stand-in; proxy; compensation; exchange
to fold (clothes, umbrella); to close (a shop, business); to vacate
height (of a person); stature
exactly; precisely; just; just (like); as if; as though
ratio; proportion; percentage
to blow fiercely; to rage; (arch.) to play (a flute, etc.) for fun
figure of a person; figures of people; shadow of a person
sparse; thin; scattered; straggling; sporadic
cold (e.g. weather); uninteresting (esp. joke); lame; dull
to deceive; to cheat; to falsify; to misrepresent; to evade (a question, taxes, etc.); to dodge
very hard; with utmost effort; as hard as one can; (of a samurai) devoting oneself to (the defence of) one's territory
of all (things, people, places, days, etc.)
for the first time; only after ... is it ...; only when ... do you ...; first time; (one's) first
combat; battle; action; active service; actual fighting
robber; mugger; robbery; burglary
imitation; copy; make-believe; doing something in a way that only superficially resembles the real thing
(surprise) attack; assault; raid; charge
robbery; pillage; seizure; hijacking; plunder; extortion
deed; act; conduct; behavior; asceticism
training; practice; discipline; ascetic practices