Japanese Language Blog from Tokyo, Japan

Do you remember the post, [No.0014 Kanji] Dream? If you do so, you might think this Kanji is very similar to the kanji, "夢 ゆめ yume", meaning a dream.

So, what do you think of the meaning of the kanii above? Similar meaning to a dream? The answer is no. The meaning is "fleeting", and it is pronounced, "はかない hakanai".

The interesting story I've mentioned on the article above is the following.
This Kanji, "儚", consists of 2 parts, "亻" and "夢".  "亻" means human beings, as I've told you on this post, and "夢" is a dream.

Here, we can make the equation as below.

HUMAN BEINGS +  A DREAM = FLEETING

In other words, a dream of human is fleeting.
Japanese dream might be a fleeting thing that we will never achieve as opposite to American dream that they can surely achieve.

I think this is a Japanese traditional mind because there were very similar concepts in the past, like "諸行無常 しょぎょうむじょう shogyou mujyou". If you got interested in it, do please visit this or this. The two explain about it, and it would be very useful to you.



#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

If you want to tell your feeling to someone, you might use this Kanji. This kanji basically indicates "to like".

Example:
あなたのことが好き(すき)です。　－ I like you or I love you.
(anata no koto ga suki desu.)

彼(かれ)/彼女(かのじょ)、好み(このみ)なんだよね。　－ He/She is my type.
(Kare/kanojo, konomi nandayone.)

It has other ways to pronounce, but we'll tell you next time.

As for etymology, it seems that there are some streams. What I like is most: the kanji expresses that a mother taking care of her kid.

Looking for an origin of kanji is very interesting, isn't it? Most of Japanese don't know much about it. So you must be familiar with kanji more than Japanese if you could keep learning about kanii at KANJI.COM ;)


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

I have visited Indonesia for business last week. Comparing to Japan in winter, it was very hot in Jakarta.

"Hot" in kanji is "暑い あつい atsui". You can write it by combining "日 ひ hi " and "者 もの mono".

As a matter of fact, it was very cold in a hotel because the air conditioner worked too much in every room LOL.


Examples:
今日(きょう）は暑（あつ）かったねー。 － It was hot today.
(Kyou ha atsu katta ne.)



#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

This means "cold". You pronounce it "さむい samui" or "かん kan".
In Japan, it has been less than 10 degree Celsius lately. It is cold for Japanese. How about your country? Do you think it is cold? Or is it still warm for you?


Example:
今日ちょー寒くない？－ It's so cold today, isn't it?
冬だしね。 － It's because of winter.

Do you remember the kanji "冬"? If not, review the previous post.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

This kanji stands for a winter, and is pronounced "ふゆ huyu" or "とう tou".
It originally came from hieroglyph which expresses a situation hanging foods for storage, and it turned out the kanji indicating a season when we store foods.

Example:
もう冬だねぇ。　－ It's almost winter.
冬眠したい。    － I want to have a winter sleep.

Personally I love the phrase "もう冬だねぇ。" because it can indicate variety kinds of feeling of the person who say it. That unclear but implicit phrase is beautiful. I think most of Japanese think so. This non-direct expression is Japanese culture.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

This kanji has mainly 2 meanings, "luck" and "to bring". "辶 しんにょう shinnyou" express a movement of legs, and "軍 ぐん gunn" express a position surrounded by tanks. This combination means circling. By further extension, it means luck because it is said that luck circles around and gets brought from somewhere else. Also it means to bring something.

Pronunciation:
Luck: うん unn
To bring: はこぶ hakobu

There are some phrases including "運". Here are some of examples. If you can say some to Japanese friends, it would be very surprising for them. Learn here and use it in a real conversation.

Example:
運も実力のうち-Being lucky is a part of your ability.



#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

Today's kanji is very difficult, and I'm sure there are many Japanese people who don't know this itself and how to pronounce it. So this is a big chance to make your Japanese friends surprising;)

"馨しい" means "being fragrant, scentful", and is pronounced "かぐわしい kaguwashii". As you can see, this kanji include "香　かおり kaori" and "声　こえ　koe". I guess that you might tell this kanjis is related to smell if you know the meaning of "香".


And, here is a photo of Japanese unique beer.


The name is KAGUA, 馨和 in Kanji. I personally love this symbol and font. Of course the taste is very nice. KAGUA has 2 flavors, red and white.

KAGUA is a unique ale, unlike anything you have tasted before.
From the moment you pour it in your glass, you will be mesmerized by its distinctive and exceptional aromas.　(http://www.nipponcraftbeer.com/kagua)

If you are in Japan, KAGUA is waiting for you in "factory" ( http://www.the-silver-factory.com/ ) where is located in Shibuya. It's a highly recommended product to enjoy Japan.




#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

This kanji means a dream, is pronounced "yume", and wrtitten as "ゆめ" in hiragana.
I was trying to explain about etymology for it, but I changed my mind, and will give you a short introduction.

The upside of it has 2 parts visually, "艹 kusakanmuri" which indicates that it is related to a plant, and "目 eye". I heard that the two originally meant horns and eyes of a sheep.
The downside of it is "夕 yu" meaning evening, sunset, or something.

Now, there is a interesting to tell you about it.
In Japan, a dream is thought to be a thing that people want to achieve but basically it won't come true. On the other hand in USA, a dream is a goal which is likely to come true, right? I think this idea reflects each mind.

Anyway, this kanji is used in other kanji, and that story is also interesting. I'll post about it next time.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

This Kanji stands for a rest, and is pronounced "きゅう kyu", or with "む mu" "やすむ yasumu".
This is divided to "亻" and "木", but do you know the both? "亻" is called "にんべん ninnbenn" which is a part of a kanji describing about human beings.
And, I think you know "木". How do you pronounce it? Yes, it is pronounced "き ki" or "もく/ぼく moku/boku" and means basically a wood.
Also, you can see "木" on a Japanese calender. Then "木" is an abbreviation of "木曜日　もくようび" meaning Thursday.
We Japanese often say "もくよう mokuyou", like "木曜は？(How about Thursday?"). The symbol is very simple. So remember it, or you can find it everywhere.

By the way, we'd like you not to 休む your school lesson or something, but we are curious to know about culture or habit of a rest.
In Japan, taking a rest is basically not a nice thing at our workplace. Even if you are sick, it is usual to keep working. How about your country? Actually the number of company which can flexibly manage employees gradually increases in Japan, but I think it is still very few. Please leave a comment below.

EXAMPLE:
明日は学校を休む。　- I will miss school tomorrow.
木曜日は？　- How about Thursday?

#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

This kanji stands for "life", and is pronounced "いのち inochi". I'll explain etymology of this kanji.
"命" is divided to two parts, "令" and "口".

"令" is visually expressing "a person with a sacred hat, dropping on the knee".
"口" is visually expressing a container which a pray is set.
So we pray, and the God provides us our lives. This is ancient thought of life.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

This kanji stands for a victory, and is pronounced "しょう shou" by itself. As a verb, we say "勝つ　かつ katsu" meaning "to win".

Mr.Obama won the election as you know. That's why I selected this kanji today. It has its etymology, but it is a little bit difficult to explain. So remember at least the symbol, and use it like "Mr. Obama won!" meaning  "オバマ氏が勝った！(obama-shi ga katta!)"


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

This Kanji stands for rain, and is pronounced "あめ ame". You might tell this kanji means rain by the look.
And this kanjis is very useful because it is used to other kanji related to rain. Google the words, "fog", "snow", and "cloud". Finished? Like this case, there are many kanjis including other kanjis. Then we can suggest what a kanji mean by them.


As for etymology, I just found out one 3D epic video explaining "雨". Visit and watch 3D epic video!!
Kanji expressing nature has such etymology particularly.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

This Kanji stands for a head, "あたま atama" in hiragana. It has other pronunciation, "ず zu". If there is only "頭", you can pronounce it "atama", but it is next to other Kanji, for example, "頭上", you cannot say "atama". "頭上" is pronounced "zu-jyo", meaning "over the head".

And it has another exception.
Do you know Japanese sweet, "manjyu"? It is written lik "饅頭 まんじゅう". I think this is confusing, but please do not hate Kanji haha.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

This Kanji stands for a meal by itself, and is pronounced "shoku". Moreover, you can also say "食べる taberu" meaning "to eat". You might have seen "日本食 nihon-shoku" or "和食 wa-shoku" meaning Japanese meals.

The older you get, the more you love Japanese dishes because it has various ingredients to be used, not to mention but it is healthy, and it has not only protein but also vitamin or something.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

This kanji stands for Japanese dragon, and is pronounced "tatsu". Foreign dragon is stated as "龍 ryu" by the way.

You can learn here about animal symbols. The "辰" is  often used in Oriental Zodiac. It is 5th animal. One of animal symbols is given to us by the year you were born.

The photo below is a picture of "辰". It's similar to snake while foreign dragon is similar to dinosaur. Both of Japanese culture and other cultures have the same creature in myth. It is surprising, isn't it?



#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.