zeni, sen One sen (issen) is one hundredth of a yen (ichien). Issen also means a small sum of money. Zeni means money but it sounds classical. “Yasu mono gaino zeni ushinai” is a proverb that says, “Penny wise and pound foolish.”

ka Today’s character is used when you count the number of places or articles in a legal document. Counting places goes like　“ikkasho (one place), nikasho (two places), sankasho (three places), etc.” Counting articles in a legal document goes like “sankajō (three articles), yonkajō (four articles), gokajō (five articles), etc.”

sei, shō This character has several meanings: energy, a spirit, detailed, white rice, etc. One of the most important words including this character is seishin, which means mind, spirit, or soul. If your seishinryoku is strong, you have a strong mental power or will.　Psychoanalysis is called “seishin bun seki.” Bunseki means analysis. Very fine and [...]

dō Dō 銅 is copper. Bronze, a mixture of copper and tin is seidō. A bronze medal is called dōmedaru. Medaru is written in katakana.

ryō The original meaning of this character is the nape of one’s neck. While the original meaning is obsolete, today’s character has two essential meanings: ‘a territory’ and ‘the essentials.’ A state’s territories are called its ryōdo. A consul is ryōji. A consulate is ryōjikan, where you might see a consul. Honryō means a feature [...]

fuku The character 複 implies ‘piling things up.’ Fukusū means plural. If things look fukuzatsu, they are complicated. Fukusha is a facsimile or a reproduction.

odo-ru, tō The verb odoru means ‘to dance.’ Odori is a dance. Festival dances you might see or join in the middle of August are called bon odori. Tokushima’s famous festival dance is called awa odori. If you visit Kyoto in April, you are able to see miyako odori danced by geisha.

fu-eru, fu-yasu, ma-su, zō The verb fueru can be used when something increases. The verb fuyasu can be used when you increase something. Masu is a verb that is used when something increases or the characteristics of something become more obvious. Zōka means an increase.