ball; sphere; bead (of sweat, dew, etc.); drop; ball (in sports); pile (of noodles, etc.); bullet
fireball; ball of fire; will-o'-the-wisp; jack-o'-lantern
Saitama (city, prefecture)
magatama; comma-shaped bead from prehistoric Japan, usually made of jade
rolled egg; rolled omelette (omelet); fried egg; frying pan for making rolled eggs
Saitama prefecture (Kanto area)
drop of water; polka dots
guts; pluck; nerve; spirit
fine jewel; article of excellent quality; beautiful woman; beauty
Urashima's casket (in the story of Urashima Tarō); Pandora's box; one's closely guarded treasure
fly in the ointment; small flaw in otherwise perfect object; only trouble; only fault
ball-toss game, in which balls are thrown into a basket on a high pole (played at sports festivals)
branch of a sacred tree (esp. sakaki) with paper or cotton strips attached (used as an offering); sakaki (species of evergreen sacred to Shinto, Cleyera japonica)
black ball; black, round sigil; pupil; black candy
billiards; pool; serial collisions (of cars)
iridescent colour; equivocal (reply, statement, etc.); ambiguous; vague
bad character; bad person; villain; baddie
jeweler; (arch.) soap bubble vendor
white gem (esp. a pearl); rice flour dumpling; white-flowered camellia
man who marries a wealthy or upwardly-mobile woman; (male) gold digger
jewel beetle (esp. Chrysochroa fulgidissima); buprestid
steel made from iron sand or black sand (used in sword blades)
pebble; round stone; boulder
rolled Japanese-style omelette
dupion (double cocoon formed jointly by two or more silkworms); dupioni; cocoon
to marry into a family of rank; to marry money
palanquin set with jewels; money and social status gained by marrying a rich and powerful man
skin as beautiful as a gem; beautiful skin
Chinese dish with fried egg and crab
New Year ornament (usu. of straw, fern leaves, seaweed and bitter orange fruit, and hung at the entrance of a home)
soft-boiled egg marinated in soy and mirin
man marrying into wealth and power
egg boiled, peeled, and steeped in soy sauce marinade
bowl of rice topped with egg
(arch.) large jewel; (arch.) string of jewels; Yasakani no Magatama (the grand jewel or string of jewels; one of the three Imperial regalia)
ladle; tadpole; musical note
jet black; pitch dark; peyote (Lophophora williamsii); mescaline
udon with raw egg, and shoyu, dashi, etc.
refined rice flour; rice flour for dumplings
egg slow-boiled so that the yolk is hard but the white is still soft (traditionally cooked in a hot spring)
thread knot (end of the thread tied up to a knot)
cash offering made on the occasion of one's visit to a shrine; money offering dedicated to the Shinto gods; fees for offering a branch of the sacred tree to the gods
longevity stone (gemstone that gives its bearer long life)
round; spherical; globe type; lens shape
thin omelette cut into strips
to shrivel up in fear; to tremble in fear; (lit.) one's testicles shrivel up
broom (esp. one for sweeping a silkworm-raising room on the first Day of the Rat of the New Year); plant used for constructing brooms (e.g. kochia); liquor; alcohol
frying pan for making rolled eggs
street performance in which the performer transforms a specially made bamboo screen into various shapes while chanting an accompanying poem
soft-boiled egg marinated in soy and mirin (usu. topping on ramen)
kanji "jewel" radical at left (radical 96)
soup or stew over which a beaten egg is poured before serving; egg-bound soup
reverentially offering a branch of the sacred tree
you wish!; that's not going to happen; not a chance
miso ball; bean paste ball
white-flowered camellia (Camellia japonica var.)
bubble float (angling); bobber
love-letter; precious letter
tamago dofu; tamago-dofu; steamed egg custard with soup stock, cooked in a square mould
slinging (on cranes, etc.)
football (soccer); kick to the groin; kneeing in the testicles
sugidama; ball made from sprigs of Japanese cedar, traditionally hung in the eaves of sake breweries
dupion silk; silk that comes from a double cocoon formed jointly by two or more silkworms
half portion of noodles or fried rice; half ball (of noodles)
tamaryokucha; Japanese green tea similar to gunpowder tea
era at the turn of 1960s into 70s dominated by grand champions Kitanofuji and Tamanoumi
type of woolen fabric, esp. used for overcoats
Cintamani stone; wish-fulfilling jewel
short time; fleeting moment
soft-boiled egg marinated in soy and mirin
(cute) egg-like face; (lit.) eyes and nose on an egg
being held in suspense; being on edge; scared stiff; (lit.) one's testicles going up and down
silk brocade eggs; nishiki tamago; sweet steamed layered egg cake
even a woman of low birth can gain status by marrying rich (if she has the looks)
era at the turn of 1960s into 70s dominated by grand champions Kitanofuji and Tamanoumi
one should learn from other's mistakes; (lit.) stones from other mountains can be used to polish one's own gems
having nothing to do; idling
bead string; thread of life
alias for fox (from a statue in the Inarimae shrine)
globe valve; spherical valve; stop valve
lesser cuckoo (Cuculus poliocephalus)
Naticidae (family of molluscs comprising the moon snails)
ball of dried, ground, fermented dyer's knotweed leaves
Machilus thunbergii (species of laurel)
moon snail (Naticidae spp.); moon shell; Marten's pearl oyster (Pinctada fucata martensii); Akoya pearl oyster
painted snipe (Rostratula benghalensis)
scarab beetle; sacred scarab (Scarabaeus sacer)
Gomphina melanegis (species of Venus clam)
Michelia compressa (species of Japanese tree similar to champak)
Arenicola brasiliensis (species of lugworm)
tuberous sword fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia)
Parasenecio farfarifolius var. bulbifer (variety of Indian plantain)
tiger moon shell (Natica tigrina)
welcome (new year, new spring, etc.)
beautiful (as if adorned with jewels)
branch of a sacred tree (esp. sakaki) with paper or cotton strips attached (used as a Shinto offering)