headquarters; base

staid face (facial expression)

Obsolete spelling of サイパン (“Saipan (an island, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands)”)

new face (person); newcomer

(literary) steps

introducing oneself to a group

(literary) sea route

carve / engrave / chisel

bay, inlet

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).