altar

on a stage; on a platform; on an altar

flower bed

Common noun

platform; podium; rostrum; pulpit

Common noun

(ceremonial) mound

Noun, used as a suffix

world (of haiku, art, etc.); (literary) circles

Archaic; Common noun

mandala

Idiomatic expression

last moment; eleventh hour

Orig. meaning

platform made of dirt used to perform executions (decapitations) in the Edo period

(teacher's) platform; podium; dais

Buddhist (household) altar

to stand on a podium

to teach; to be a teacher

Word born of confusion between the kanji 擅 and 壇

field in which one acts unchallenged; unrivaled sphere of activity; one's monopoly

ebony