斜陽

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 斜陽(しゃよう) means slanting evening sunlight or a declining state of affairs.
• Basic usage: It depicts sunlight coloring a floor red or the decline of a once-prosperous industry.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Sunlight and figurative decline
  • In a landscape, 斜陽 means evening sunlight; 斜陽産業 means a declining industry.
  • Applied to an industry or a power, it focuses on decline after its peak.