local self-government, autonomy

(slang) person who lives outside of the major Japanese metropolitan areas (often in reference to hindered access to physical forms of cultural phenomena such as promotional events)

the Chūgoku region (western part of Honshu comprising the prefectures of Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Tottori, and Shimane)

the northeast region of Japan, specifically the northernmost six prefectures in Honshu (clockwise from the northermost): 青森県 (Aomori-ken), 岩手県 (Iwate-ken), 宮城県 (Miyagi-ken), 福島県 (Fukushima-ken), 山形県 (Yamagata-ken), 秋田県 (Akita-ken).

孫の手: backscratcher

犬小屋: doghouse

五つ子: quintuplets

万劫: an extremely long period of time; eternity

内語: native language; internal language

外語: foreign language; external language