cake served with tea; teacake
sound of thin metal or plastic surface caving in and springing back; action of quickly bowing or lowering one's head; with a bob of the head
dear (old); fondly remembered; beloved; missed; nostalgic
hem; (trouser) cuff; bottom part; bottom edge; foot (of a mountain); tips (of hair)
fluttering; flapping; (arch.) flickering (light, flame, etc.); frill; piece of thin material
riddle; puzzle; enigma; enigmatic; mysterious
immediately; right away; at once; instantly
to be solved; to be worked out; to come loose; to come untied; to be removed (of restrictions); to be lifted (e.g. of a ban)
to learn; to acquire knowledge; to carry; to wear (clothes, etc.); to put on
hand-me-down; food offering to the gods; leftovers; trip from Kyoto to the provinces
uncomfortable feeling; feeling out of place; sense of discomfort; malaise; physical unease
frizzy (hair); wiry; sizzling; frizzling; stingingly (of heat or cold); painfully
resting one's chin in one's hands; brace (in construction); angle brace
to prick; to stab; to poke; to prod; to use (a cane); to prop oneself up with
reputation; respectability
carving; engraving; sculpture
to drive in (a nail, stake, etc.); to hammer in; to hit (a ball, etc.); to drive; to fire into; to shoot into; to input (data)
clicking; clopping; clacking
dull (e.g. a knife); blunt; thickheaded; obtuse; dull (sound, color, etc.); dim (light)
dangerous; critical; grave; uncertain; unreliable; dodgy
Obon; Bon Festival; Buddhist festival for honouring the spirits of one's ancestors, held in mid-August or in some regions, mid-July; tray
luggage; baggage; burden; payload (of a packet, cell, etc.)
unnatural; artificial; affected; strained
to look away; to avert one's eyes; to avoid facing (e.g. reality)
yikes!; eek!; ook; eek; customer
to stumble (over); to trip; to fail; to suffer a setback
to collapse; to flop (onto)
to place both hands on the ground (to express respect, apology or to present a request)
at this point; at this last moment; this late in the game
hearing (of a statement, opinion, explanation, etc.); asking; questioning (e.g. a suspect); listening (e.g. to the radio)
colourless; colorless; achromatic; neutral (position); impartial
puppeteering; practical effects
assistance; support; subsidy; supplement; spotting (in weight training)
summons; subpoena; citation; summoning (a spirit, demon, etc.); evocation; invocation
on the way; en route; in the middle of; midway; halfway
to spell; to write; to compose; to bind (e.g. documents); to patch