Browsing the blog archives for August, 2010
niku This character also means “flesh.” To distinguish this from mi, meaning flesh, I excluded “flesh” from the title. Hearing niku or more polite oniku, we imagine that it is soft meat to eat. You might wonder what the difference between the two characters: niku and mi. The former is today’s character, which implies animal’s [...]
ue, uwa, kami, a-geru, a-garu, nobo-ru, nobo-seru, nobo-su, jō Yesterday’s post was the same character but it was in a kaisho style. Today’s work is written in a sō sho style, which more cursive than kaisho styles. You can find basic information about this character by clicking the images above.
ue, uwa, kami, a-geru, a-garu, nobo-ru, nobo-seru, nobo-su, jō You can find basic information about this character here. This character is written in gyōsho. Gyō sho is a cursive style of writing. <<< This is the kaisho style. Compared to the kaisho style, the starting point and the end of each stroke don’t look sharp [...]
ougi, sen This is a fan you can wave. Sensu and ōgi mean a folding fan. If you want to be fanned automatically to cool yourself, get senpūki. The ki of senpūki means a machine. A round and flat fan is called uchiwa, which consists of dan and today’s character. When we look up the [...]
nami, ha Summer is waning. The sound of the waves (namioto) carries the summer away. Waves are nami. It’s a noun. This character is included in some compounds. Namikaze is the waves and winds you had better not cause. It is trouble. Shūha is a wave cycle and shūhasū is a frequency. Draw the dot [...]
hiro-i, hiro-sa, hiro-meru, hiro-maru, hiro-geru, hiro-garu, kō You can derive a wide spread of vocabulary from this character. According to appearances and usage, the words can be grouped into seven, at least. A single kanji with okurigana Adjective -> hiroi (wide) Adverb -> hiroku (widely) Verb -> hiromeru (to spread something), hiromaru (something like news [...]
hi, kōri, hyō One of the most tempting refreshments I crave to take in summer is a bowl of shaved ice with syrup. It is called kakigōri. Gōri is a voiced sound of kōri meaning ice. Where can you eat it? Find this sign. >>>> (Thanks to maaco) In summer areas, it’s refreshing to talk [...]
to-maru, to-meru, shi If you drive on Japanese roads, you need to know what these signs mean. (Thanks to Wikimedia) (Thanks to daradaradara?) Both signs say, “tomare,” that is, “Stop!” The police often stay hiding behind the bush near the sign. Once you ignore the sign, they will rush out of the bush and you [...]
u-ku, u-kareru, u-kabu, u-kaberu, fu The first character of ukiyo-e is today’s character. The Oxford Dictionary of English explains that ukiyo-e is “a school of Japanese art depicting subjects from everyday life, dominant in the 17th-19th centuries.” You can read more details and see the pictures showcased at this exhibition – the Floating World of [...]
mi, shin Today’s character 身 can be contrasted with shin (heart). Shinshin means mind and body. Both shintai and karada means body. Shintai is more formal. Compared to karada meaning a body or an entity, today’s character has some contents. When you are talking about somebody’s story and you say, “mi ga aru” or “nakami ga [...]