Hikaru Utada · Japanese · 32 words

First Love

First Love (1999) sold over ten million copies and remains the best-selling album in Japanese history. Utada was fifteen, and the writing is plain, modern and conversational - Automatic and Movin' On Without You are full of the everyday nouns of the late nineties (受話器, 枕元, 電波, 指輪), while Amai Wana works entirely in the vocabulary of being caught: 惑わす, 捕らえる, 鎖.

Vocabulary

Word	Meaning	Example
受話器	a telephone receiver (じゅわき)	受話器を置いてため息をついた。I put down the receiver and sighed.
こぼれ落ちる	to spill and fall (こぼれおちる)	袋の穴から豆がこぼれ落ちた。Beans spilled from the hole in the bag.
瞬間	a moment, an instant (しゅんかん)	ドアが開いた瞬間に猫が出た。The cat shot out the instant the door opened.
あいまい	vague, ambiguous	あいまいな返事しかもらえなかった。All I got was a vague answer.
秘密	a secret (ひみつ)	二人だけの秘密にしておこう。Let's keep it a secret between us.
枕元	one's bedside (まくらもと)	枕元に水を置いて寝る。I put water by my bed before sleeping.
面倒	troublesome, a bother (めんどう)	手続きが面倒で後回しにした。The paperwork was a bother so I put it off.
暇	free time, leisure (ひま)	今週は少し暇ができそうだ。I should have a little free time this week.
電波	radio waves, a signal (でんぱ)	山では電波が届かない。There's no signal in the mountains.
暴れる	to run wild, to thrash about (あばれる)	捕まえた魚が網の中で暴れた。The caught fish thrashed in the net.
指輪	a ring (ゆびわ)	指輪のサイズを直してもらった。I had the ring resized.
悔しい	galling, frustrating (くやしい)	あと一点で負けて悔しい。Losing by one point is galling.
廊下	a corridor, a hallway (ろうか)	廊下を走ってはいけません。You mustn't run in the corridor.
心地良い	pleasant, comfortable (ここちよい)	心地良い風が吹いている。A pleasant breeze is blowing.
香り	a scent, a fragrance (かおり)	コーヒーの香りで目が覚めた。The smell of coffee woke me.
偶然	by chance, a coincidence (ぐうぜん)	駅で偶然、旧友に会った。I ran into an old friend at the station by chance.
深まる	to deepen (ふかまる)	秋が深まってきた。Autumn has deepened.
惑わす	to bewilder, to lead astray (まどわす)	うまい話に惑わされないで。Don't be led astray by a good offer.
捕らえる	to catch, to capture (とらえる)	逃げた犬をようやく捕らえた。We finally caught the escaped dog.
鎖	a chain (くさり)	門に太い鎖がかかっている。A thick chain hangs on the gate.
ごまかす	to fudge, to gloss over	笑ってごまかそうとした。He tried to laugh it off.
はだし	barefoot	はだしで砂浜を歩いた。I walked barefoot on the sand.
目がくらむ	to be dazzled, to be blinded (めがくらむ)	強い光に目がくらんだ。I was dazzled by the strong light.
運命	fate, destiny (うんめい)	運命だったのかもしれない。Perhaps it was fate.
後悔	regret (こうかい)	言わなかったことを後悔している。I regret not saying anything.
口笛	a whistle (blown with the lips) (くちぶえ)	彼は口笛を吹きながら歩いた。He walked along whistling.
腕	an arm (うで)	腕を組んで考え込んだ。He folded his arms and thought.
記憶	memory, recollection (きおく)	その日の記憶が曖昧だ。My memory of that day is hazy.
矛盾	a contradiction (むじゅん)	話に矛盾がある。There's a contradiction in the account.
縛る	to tie, to bind, to restrict (しばる)	荷物をひもで縛った。I tied the luggage with string.
絆	a bond, ties between people (きずな)	家族の絆を大切にしたい。I want to value family bonds.
追い付く	to catch up with (おいつく)	先を行く仲間に追い付いた。I caught up with the others ahead.