New Year (esp. first three days); first month of the year; January
Christmas Eve; holy night
shōchū; Japanese spirit distilled from sweet potatoes, rice, etc.
drinking bout; merrymaking
having a headache; racking one's brains; troubling over something
cacao tree (Theobroma cacao); cocoa tree
shopping district; shopping street; downtown
contest; comparison; competition
to burn completely; to consume (by fire); to burn to nothing; to burn to the ground; to reduce to ashes
present point (i.e. in history); at the present time
Ōshū (alternative name of the former Mutsu province)
longer type of wakizashi (short sword)
supreme; sublime; highest
thorny shrub; wild rose; briar; thorn; cusp
elevated walkway through the audience to the stage; honourable end to a career
Christmas carol; Christmas song
reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)
it's hard to tell a poor thinker from a sleeping one; they to whom only bad ideas come might as well be asleep; inadequate ideas are worse than none at all
to look away; to turn away
to come into contact with; to touch (each other); to have a brush with
bewilderment; perplexity; embarrassment; confusion
suddenly; in a flash; rapidly; nimbly; alertly
embarrassed smile; embarrassed laugh; bashful smile
to get into a panic; to be flustered; to panic; to get in a flap
to float; to rise to the surface; to stand out; to be visible; to be alienated
stain; spot; smudge; spot (on one's skin, e.g. chloasma, liver spot); blemish; discoloration
4th day of the month; four days
refreshing (e.g. feeling, scene, wind, morning air); brisk; bracing; fresh; refreshed
clear winter skies; clear winter weather
extermination; elimination; renouncing worldly desires (in order to concentrate on Buddhist teachings); curing (an illness)
(land) with a thump; slumping (of something heavy); (lying down) with a flop; effortlessly (throw onto); roundishly (shaped; of something large)