When presenting a topic in Japanese as a ‘starting point’,
を始(はじ)め will often be used to show any logic (or planned) progressions from that point. This is often translated as ‘not only (A), but (B)’, or ‘starting with (A), (B)’.
To use
を始(はじ)め, one noun will be highlighted as the starting point, before another (or several others) will appear in part (B) of the sentence.
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この会社(かいしゃ)は車(くるま)を始(はじ)め、ロケットなども作(つく)っている。
Not only does this company make cars, but it also makes rockets.
私(わたし)の近所(きんじょ)には、公園(こうえん)をはじめ、博物館(はくぶつかん)など、プラネタリウムがある。
Not only is there a park in my neighborhood, but also a museum, and a planetarium.
Due to sentences featuring
をはじめ placing emphasis on (A) as a starting point, additional expressions such as
として (or とする) will sometimes be paired with it. These structures function to further emphasize (A), and are similar to ‘with (A) as the starting point, (B)’.
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ストリートファッションはアメリカを始(はじ)めとして、世界中(せかいじゅう)に進出(しんしゅつ)していく。
With America as the starting point, street fashion spread all over the world.
この商品(しょうひん)には卵(たまご)をはじめとする多(おお)くのアレルゲンが含(ふく)まれている。
Starting with eggs, there are many allergens in this product. (Eggs being the primary allergen)