what do you think about オコメ for 13 across (坊さんの大きな収入源)?
27 across is シダ (both plants mentioned in the clues are ferns)
Oh. I liked this post, but followed up on it.
Could you explain?
(I’m starting to wonder if it’s オフセ)
That’s the down clue, and it was one of the first clues I solved in this puzzle. 
Think 14-down is ウチ (as in, 鬼は外、福は…)
24-across ホシン
I’m not sure anymore 
perhaps I was going too far off piste and thinking of 収入源 for a monk as alms = rice
Oh man how did I not see that, I just deleted the across one I filled in 
11-across イチイタイスイ (a yojijukugo as expected…)
29-down is probably カデンインスイ
Makes 27-across シデ, but I’m not too clear on why. I’m not sure I even understand the clue.
The remaining clues feel kinda tricky…
I thought that was just me…
19-across is some technical sumo wrestling term, and I finally worked out what it is. キュウキン.
幽霊の正体見たり枯れ尾花 is apparently an expression, so 25-down is ショウタイ
23-across is thus ？シダン, and I’ve been thinking it’s some kinda staircase for a while, so maybe イシダン. Is こつこつ the sound of walking on stone?
Of everything you wrote that’s the only thing I’ve even heard of - yes, that’s definitely one use of コツコツ
Welp, for the annual resurrect the thread before I need to necromance it for real, I’ve finished off the current puzzle. One or two of the missing words I understood the clue but couldn’t come up with the right vocab for the answer, but for many of them I just don’t really get it even knowing the answer.
I couldn’t understand any of the rest. Onward to the next one!
The next one! Number thirty-two!
Where to start, then. The very first clue seems a good a place as any.
1-across, Googling suggests that まな板の上の鯉 is the Japanese equivalent of the English phrase “like lambs to the slaughter”, so I’ma go with マナイタ
1-down, had to Google again, but マシコヤキ. Never heard of that before.
2-across シミ
9-down ナミダ - this one I’ve actually heard of: it’s from a 1961 song called 上を向いて歩こう, which was released in the West with the inexplicable title of “Sukiyaki”.
(Are these all gonna be ことわざ or other cultural terms? That could be a bit painful if so…)
7 across would be たき I guess? Unless I didn’t catch some hidden meaning…
Ooo, in that case, 12-down is レキ - I learnt that from Haibane Renmei. 
After consulting a woodblock printing glossary, 6-across could be バレン
So 5-down is, uh… ロバタヤキ
4-across キシ
10-down シマ, I suppose
11-across マイ
15-down イモン, I suspect
3 across should be コダマ but then I’m stuck…
Edit: Oh, 24 across is ゴウ according to jisho.
Some wild guesses:
31 down could be シノブ?
30 down could maaaaybe be フユ??
But then the solution word is ユマブレ which doesn’t make too much sense… (smeared with hot water?? 
)
Thought some more…
29 across could be ブンコウ
21 across might be シンコン
But then my 31 down from above is wrong…
I’ll stick to my cryptics
It took me an embarrasingly long time to remember what the connection between ひかり and こだま was…
Could you run your logic past me here, please?
I see how this works for コタツ and スキー, but not so much for カマボコ
I’m inclined to go with your 21-across idea over your 31-down idea mostly because the answers are always nouns. And also, as you observed, it makes the super secret magic word all weird.
Just think of this as a cryptic too, except the cryptic part is that it’s in Japanese.
13-down マツ is what springs to mind when I think of bonsai
40-down the shrine in Mie Prefecture is Ise Jingu, so イセマイリ
35-across サマ
The says that the origin for “pen-name” stems from a name for a type of things. Asking jisho for “pen-name” then yields
which I thought was a good match for the description 
Yes true, I hoped it was maybe a seasonal food or something 
OK let’s scratch it then.
Ah that’s a very good hint. I also think the 21-across idea is a much better match and so more trustworthy even for me.
With these, 31 across could be ヤマイ and finally 31 vertically could be ヤング (meaning “young person”) - my reasoning is that the young people in Japan are more and more inclined to not stick out, judging from what I hear from my Japanese language partners…
Which would then turn our magic word into _マグレ which sounds like a very decent word for a solution so far. Looking at Jisho this might be 気まぐれ which would turn our 30-down into _キ
Think 37-across is キロ (as in 帰路)
41-down ロテンブロ
39-across カブ
That might make 29-across ナナイロ rather than ブンコウ
So 28-down could be カナ, but I’m not completely sure what’s so 優れた about that…