教授：卒論書けてよかったね。
学生：ありがとうございます。でも、時間が足りなくて、これで通るかどうか一抹の不安は残るんですが。
Ichimatsu no fuan
Kyooju: Sotsuron kakete yokatta ne.
Gakusei: Arigatoo gozaimasu. Demo, jikan ga tarinakute, kore de tooru ka doo ka ichimatsu no fuan wa nokorundesu ga.
Professor: So you managed to finish your thesis.
Student: Thank you. But I didn't really have enough time, so I'm a bit concerned whether it's going to be good enough to get me a passing grade.
Ichimatsu no fuan means a vague feeling of uneasiness, anxiety or concern. Ichimatsu used to refer to a single stroke of paint applied to gradate the colors of a painting.
That "one stroke" has come to have the meaning of "a tinge," "a shade" or "a little." Human beings can rarely be 100% sure of anything. For example, I'm sure there are a lot of people who, having applied to a university that they feel sure will accept them, still find that ukaru ka doo ka, ichimatsu nofuan ga ant. (They have lingering doubts about whether they will get in.)
Similarly, when the economy is doing badly as it is now, we hear a lot of talk about companies going bankrupt, cutting their payrolls and making redundancies. Jibun no kaisha ga toosan suru koto wa nai to wa omou ga, ichimatsu nofuan wa nokoru. (You assume that your own company won't go bankrupt, but there's always a faint sense of anxiety at the back of your mind.)
On a more global scale, Russia may be a case to cause many Russia-watchers anxieties about its future. Dokusai seiken ni naru no de wa nai ka to, roshia no kongo ni ichimatsu nofuan ga nokoru. (I feel slightly concerned that Russia might become a dictatorship hi the near future.)
The 21st century is said to be the age of China. As the nation with the world's largest population posts a more than 10% growth rate in its GNP, it recalls Japan's own period of rapid economic growth.
But kongo donoyoo na kuni ni natte iku no ka ichimatsu no fuanga nokoru. (I have a vague feeling of uneasiness about what kind of country it will turn out to be.)