ancient times, a very long time ago

the past, old times / ancient

once (in the indeterminate past)

olden days; former

he / distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that / boyfriend

distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon / particularly, male personal third person pronoun: he / by extension from he: boyfriend

he; boyfriend

(archaic, colloquial) a nickname of Ariwara no Narihira, Heian-period waka poet

just as in the old days, just as it used to be

(archaic) used in the beginning of narratives or story literature: once upon a time, long ago