pretext; history; past; according to ...; ... says
impressiveness; impact; force; intensity; appeal; strength
fighting (against); taking on (an opponent); facing; confronting; competing (with); battle
one's turn; one's shift; one's turn on stage; screen time; screentime
honest; respectable; respectable occupation (i.e. not yakuza, prostitute, etc.); person in a respectable occupation
calling out to someone with love or good will; phone call to a loved one; fervent request; heartfelt appeal
part; part-timer; part-time (work)
to be at a loss; to be puzzled
long; drawn-out; very long
relatives; one's family; friends; members of the same organization; followers; henchmen
one's house; one's home; one's family
tangent point; point of contact; contact (electrical, etc.); point of agreement; common ground
postwar period; period after Second World War
national railway; Japan National Railways (1949-1987)
cherry tree; cherry blossom; fake buyer; paid audience; hired applauder; horse meat
tree; shrub; bush; wood; timber
occupying forces (esp. of the Allies in Japan after World War II)
all over Japan; throughout Japan
boy; bellboy; porter; waiter
no, not like that (but like this)
glaringly; dazzlingly; blazingly
pure; innocent; naive; unspoilt; pure-hearted; ingenuous
junior high school student; middle school pupil
(United States of) America; United States; US; America (land mass); the Americas
inquisitively; pryingly; nosily; thoroughly; persistently; through-and-through
(field) marshal; (fleet) admiral; general of the army
foreigner (esp. one of European ancestry); gaijin; (arch.) outsider
with a whack; with a thump; openmouthed; with one's mouth wide-open; vacantly; blankly
boarding (a train, bus, etc.); getting into (e.g. a taxi)