muka-eru, gei Mukaeru is a verb that means ‘to welcome.’ Kangei means ‘welcome’ and is seen at the entrance of some tourist sites. Yōkoso, which is written in Japanese, has the same meaning as kangei. The kan of kangei means delightful. Write the sweeping dot on the top. Write the vertical stroke and the sweeping [...]

gen If you eat brown rice, you might be familiar with the word genmai, which means brown rice or unpolished rice. Genkan is the entrance of a house or a building. Kan is a gate locking bar. Other well-known words including this character 玄 are kurouto (an expert or a professional) or yūgen (quiet beauty). [...]

son, zon This character 存 is almost equivalent to another character meaning ‘to exist.’ These characters make a word meaning existence: sonzai. Seizon also means existence but it’s related to living creatures. Hozon means preservation. To save files is expressed as hozonsuru. The ho of hozon means ‘to keep.’ Write the horizontal stroke. Write the [...]

ja Something using this character is evil. Jaakuna means evil and is a noun modifier. The aku of jaaku also means bad. Jadō is a bad way to do something. Jashin and janen mean an evil mind. Many people have a cold every year. This illness is called kaze, which is composed of ‘wind’ and [...]

kin Including the earth on the left-hand side, today’s character 均 depicts the earth leveled out. The right-hand side implies ‘to make something flat.’ The character and hitoshii have the same meaning. Kintō means equality. Heikin means average. Write the horizontal stroke. Cross the horizontal stroke. Write the sweeping stoke rising upper-rightward. Write the sweeping [...]

hada Hada 肌 is our skin. You can find this word in expressions such as “hada ga awanai” (difficult to get along with something or somebody). It literally means that something or somebody does not match your skin. In other words, hada is a channel through which you feel the atmosphere. Write the sweeping stroke [...]

ana, ketsu Our primitive ancestors lived in caves. This character 穴 depicts a house they lived. They lived in holes. Ana means a hole. Ana is a place where some people want to enter when they are ashamed or embarrassed. They say, “anaga attara (if there is a hole,) hairitai (I want to enter).” A [...]