Examples is the expression “血浓于水”

Which means blood thicker than water literally. This meas that family relationship at the end of the day is greater than any other relationship.

or the expressions “感情以便淡如水”

Which means that a relationship (usually a love relationship) has become as “bland as water”. Kinda implying that it has lost it’s flavor and thus not as intense as before.

That book sounds great!

The nostril hair one is awesome. I asked one Japanese person about it, and they weren’t familiar with the phrase, so maybe its not so widely known. It’s great though. We should bring it back!

Just got back from another Tokyo month … picked up another gem that happens to be of use here… Barrons Japanese Idioms. Found this one at Kinokunia in Shinjuku.

Pg 244
misukusai 水臭い distant unfriendly, too formal
[ lit. to smell like water ]
そんな水臭い話し方は止めよう。Let’s stop speaking so formally.

Wanna see a funny one?

Pg 74
hanage o nuku 鼻毛を抜く to fool someone
[ lit. to pull the hair out of someone's nostrils ]
彼は人の鼻毛を抜きかねない男だから、気をつけなさい。 Be careful of him; He can dupe anyone.

Cheers, hope all is well.

Rich

I put those job links up EONS ago, but I think most of the organizations they point to should still exist, so they’re not irrelevant. Hope you find something helpful!

Congrats on the JLPT 1!

I passed the JLPT level 1 last December, and graduated in June. I wavered back and forth between grad school and work too long, and am stuck now trying to find a job. I just wandered over to your Japan employment links. They look like they may be useful. :-D