darkness; the dark; bewilderment; despair; hidden place; secrecy
inside; interior; among; within; middle; center; during
hole; opening; pit; hollow; burrow; den; deficit
one; 1; best; first; foremost; beginning; start
to open; to undo; to bloom; to unfold; to open (for business, e.g. in the morning); to be wide (gap, etc.); to widen
light; illumination; ray; happiness; hope; influence
one long straight object (e.g. strand of hair, beam of light, wisp of smoke); a single bloodline; earnest; resolute; (arch.) ordinary; (arch.) common
to be crowded; to be packed; to be complex; to go into; to put into; to do intently
to cause a loss; to make a hole (in)
may; might; perhaps; may be; possibly
to gather strength; to take heart
every day; daily; day after day; days (e.g. good old days)
military force; force of arms; strength of an army
now (while the time is ripe); while one still can
88 years old; (arch.) rice
mountain stream; valley; dale; wetlands; swamp; marsh
feudal domain (Edo and early Meiji periods, precursor to current prefectures); fiefdom; province
link; connection; filler; stopgap (job, budget, etc.); thickener (e.g. in cooking); thickening; hedging
to take; to pick up; to pass; to hand; to get; to obtain; to adopt (a method, proposal, etc.)
the number of people; many people; a large number of people; (counted as an) adult
Vermilion Bird (god said to rule over the southern heavens); seven mansions (Chinese constellations) of the southern heavens
second; number two; runner-up
distinction; difference; separate; different; exception; exclusion
anthology (of poetry, etc.); compilation; collection; selection
class (of students); group (of people); party; lot; bunch; crime family; organized-crime syndicate
other (place, thing, person); the rest; outside; beyond; nothing except; nothing but
elite; best; pick; cream of the crop
dawn; daybreak; event (e.g. "in the event of ..."); occasion; occurrence
to wait; to await; to look forward to; to depend on; to need
to launch oneself upon; to make one's debut
good; advantage; sake; purpose; consequence; result
to shine; to be visible; to be tinged with; to rise (of water levels); to flow in; to be felt (i.e. as an emotion); to come over one
congratulation; congratulations; celebration; congratulatory gift; present
to drink; to gulp; to smoke (tobacco); to engulf; to overwhelm; to keep down; to suppress
to excel; to surpass; to exceed; to outweigh; to preponderate
diligent; hardworking; healthy; fit; (arch.) faithful; (arch.) devoted
always; without exception; necessarily; certainly; without fail; positively
appearing ...; looking ...; way to ...; method of ...ing; form; style