ripple; ring on the water; repercussions; Japanese slit drum; instrument made of iron with slits on top; makes a rippling sound
small cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae)
complaint; grumbling; objection; phrase; words; expression
text (of a book, document, etc.); body (of a letter); this passage; this sentence
Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (1871-2001)
eastern pale clouded yellow (butterfly, Colias erate)
ringed seal (Pusa hispida)
spell; charm; incantation; magic words
tiny amount of money; a penny; one letter; one character; one mon (unit of currency)
patterned (e.g. clothes, pottery); figured
crest (of a noble family)
consonant (in the Siddham script)
American cockroach (Periplaneta americana)
clown triggerfish (Balistoides conspicillum)
letter (of an alphabet); character; writing
order (for an item); request; demand; condition
scriptural text; scriptures; sutras
monme (unit of weight, 3.75 g); monme; Edo-period silver coin worth between 1/50th and 1/80th of a ryō
clothing (e.g. kimono) decorated with one's family crest
paltry amount of money; cheapness; worthlessness; three one-mon coins
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; MEXT
spots; speckles; spotted pattern; mottled pattern
formulaic; stereotyped; hackneyed
temper pattern of a sword blade
religious oath in writing; written vow to the gods
humanity; civilization; civilisation; culture
wind-wrought pattern on the sands
password; secret spell; secret phrase
written prayer for a shrine or Buddhist temple
shrine crest; shrine emblem
womb tattoo; inmon; stylized uterus-shaped mark below a female's navel (usu. in pornography)
illiteracy; illiterate person; an illiterate
woven pattern; background pattern (of lacquerware, printed materials, etc.)
soundprint; sound print; acoustic signature
crest of the Sanada clan (featuring six sen coins, trad. to pay for crossing the Sanzu River)
unpatterned (e.g. clothes, pottery); unfigured; plain
features of the Earth (rivers, mountains, etc.); topography
authentic text (as opposed to a copy or duplicate)
tattoo (esp. one of a flame-wreathed dragon wrapped around and swallowing the tip of an upright sword); person with a tattoo
crest-decorated habutae (silk fabric used as a cloth for lining high-quality kimono); figured habutae
Montoku Jitsuroku (fifth of the six classical Japanese history texts)
nasal pattern (used for identification); nose print
informal family crest; auxiliary crest
Nihon Montoku Tennō Jitsuroku (fifth of the six classical Japanese history texts)
coloured family crest (popular amongst people from Kaga)
Shuowen Jiezi (first comprehensive dictionary of Chinese characters; 121 CE)
European hornet (Vespa crabro)
titan triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens); giant triggerfish; moustache triggerfish
blackbelly triggerfish (Rhinecanthus verrucosus)
taotie motif (on ritual bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties)
closing recital that transfers the merit of the service to a buddha, a bodhisattva, or the dead
inscription of a fantastic birdlike creature found on Yin and Zhou dynasty bronze ware
dermatoglyphic pattern; dermatoglyphics
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
shrine crest; crest representing a Shinto shrine
shippō pattern (of overlapping circles)
eyespot (mimicry); ocellus
The Thousand Character Classic
writing (poetry); composing
tattoo (esp. one of a flame-wreathed dragon wrapped around and swallowing the tip of an upright sword); person with a tattoo; pattern; design