to investigate thoroughly; to examine closely; to probe into; to be obsessed with a thought; to brood over; to worry about
it cannot be that ...; it is highly unlikely that ...; it is impossible that ...
being amazed; being horrified; being taken aback
evolution; evolution; becoming more advanced; progress
god; deity; god-tier; incredible; (arch.) Emperor (of Japan); (arch.) thunder
mischief; prank; mischievous; naughty; pastime; hobby
to misperceive visually; to misread; to mistake for something or someone else
phantom; vision; something fleeting; short-lived dream; fabled item; mythical thing
reality; actuality; hard fact
to tell X from Y; to distinguish; to know (one thing) from (another)
that is not supposed to ...; that ought not to ...; that should never ...; that cannot possibly ...
to be convinced (that); to be under the impression (that); to make up one's mind; to set one's heart on; to be obsessed (with a thought, idea, etc.); to think about obsessively
present age; present day; contemporary; modern era; modern times; contemporary era
present day; modern times; recent times; early modern period (in Japan, usu. from the Meiji Restoration until the end of World War II)
recent past; recent times; early modern period (Azuchi-Momoyama to Edo in Japan)
Middle Ages (in Japan esp. the Kamakura and Muromachi periods); medieval times; mediaeval times
ancient times; distant past; antiquity
to go upstream; to go up (a river); to go back (to the past or origin); to date back (to); to trace back (to)
drawing; picture; diagram; sight; scene
picture; drawing; painting; image (TV, film, etc.); picture; footage
evil spirits of rivers and mountains
on and after; from ... onward; since
front stage; center stage (of politics, etc.)
science; to think about scientifically; to think in terms of science
progress; advance; improvement; development
industrialization; industrialisation; establishing a production system; putting into production
people; men and women; each person; everybody
enlightenment; illumination
(not) anywhere; nowhere; everywhere; anywhere
unenlightened; uneducated; ignorant
ancestor; forefather; foremother
darkness; the dark; bewilderment; despair; hidden place; secrecy
to remember; to recall; to call to mind; to imagine; to picture in one's mind; to visualize
bacterium; bacteria; germ
illness; disease; bad habit; weakness; fault
to scatter; to sprinkle; to spray; to lavish (money, charm, etc.)
demon; devil; evil spirit; monster; goblin; apparition
wolf (Canis lupus); wolf in sheep's clothing; womanizer
to bite; to chew; to gnaw; to fumble one's words (esp. during a play, broadcast, etc.); to falter with one's words; to crash against (e.g. of waves); to break onto (shore)
neighbour; neighbor; (people in the) neighbourhood; neighborhood
to be reduced to (e.g. poverty); to end up as
otherwise; or else; if not
cryptid (unidentified mysterious creature); mythical beast