Hikaru Utada · Japanese · 20 words

Ultra Blue, Part 2

The rest of ULTRA BLUE. Wings is the plainest writing on the album and reads almost as spoken Japanese - 親友, お預け, 中途半端, 甘える, 向かい風 - while One Night Magic supplies the nightlife vocabulary and Passion the language of watching an era change: 看板, 移ろい.

Vocabulary

Word	Meaning	Example
ひとり占め	keeping something all to oneself (ひとりじめ)	話題をひとり占めしてしまった。I monopolised the conversation.
思わせぶり	suggestive, leading someone on (おもわせぶり)	思わせぶりな態度は困る。Leading people on is a problem.
海底	the seabed (かいてい)	海底に沈んだ船が見つかった。A ship sunk on the seabed was found.
舞い	a dance (まい)	神楽の舞を初めて見た。I saw a kagura dance for the first time.
芸術	art (げいじゅつ)	芸術には正解がない。There's no right answer in art.
一夜漬	cramming overnight (いちやづけ)	一夜漬では身につかない。Cramming overnight doesn't stick.
大胆	bold, daring (だいたん)	大胆な発想が求められる。Bold thinking is called for.
親友	a close friend (しんゆう)	彼とは十年来の親友だ。He's been a close friend for ten years.
お預け	being made to wait for something (おあずけ)	旅行はしばらくお預けだ。The trip is on hold for a while.
中途半端	half-hearted, half-finished (ちゅうとはんぱ)	中途半端に終わらせたくない。I don't want to leave it half-finished.
甘える	to lean on someone's kindness (あまえる)	お言葉に甘えます。I'll take you up on your kind offer.
疑う	to doubt, to suspect (うたがう)	その話を疑う理由はない。There's no reason to doubt that.
向かい風	a headwind (むかいかぜ)	向かい風で自転車が進まない。The headwind is stopping the bike.
備える	to prepare for, to be equipped with (そなえる)	地震に備えて水を置いている。I keep water in case of an earthquake.
想像	imagination (そうぞう)	想像していたより広かった。It was bigger than I'd imagined.
温度	temperature (おんど)	湯の温度をぬるめにした。I made the bath water cooler.
安心	relief, peace of mind (あんしん)	無事と聞いて安心した。I was relieved to hear they were safe.
作家	an author, a writer (さっか)	好きな作家の新刊を買った。I bought a new book by a favourite author.
看板	a signboard, a sign (かんばん)	店の看板が新しくなった。The shop has a new sign.
移ろい	change, transition (うつろい)	季節の移ろいを感じる。You can feel the seasons changing.