説明書

A child. Also the ending on a great many women’s names in Japan.

Half of 瑠璃, the deep blue stone. On its own it is used mostly for its sound and its colour.

The character in 武士道, the way of the samurai, and in 柔道. Read dō, and the head of it is taken for do.

上がる is to rise; 向上 is improvement — moving toward better, not just physically higher.

From Ryukyu, the old island kingdom in the south.