midori, ryoku, roku The color green is midori. Kimidori is light green. We call spring leaves shinryoku whose literal meaning is new green. Ryokucha is green tea. Begin to draw the left-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top. Draw the short stroke from almost where you finished the last stroke. [...]

mizu, sui Water is mizu. Some Japanese sayings accompany the word, mizu. To leap ahead is mizu wo akeru. Akeru is the verb to open up. Mizu ni nagasu means to forgive and forget. Nagasu is to drain. Mizu no awa is failure. It literally means bubbles in water. Suidō means waterworks. Tap water is [...]

beni, kurenai, kō, ku The color crimson is beniiro or kurenai. A lipstick is kuchibeni. A lipstick brush is benifude. Fude is a brush. Red pickled ginger is called benishōga. It is sometimes served as a relish.   Kōcha is English tea. Kōhaku is red and white. It is a symbol of happy events. Kōhaku [...]

gin The color silver is gin. The gin of ginkgo is this character. The original word is ginkyō and it was mistakenly written as ginkgo before it became an English word. We call it ichō. Ginga is a galaxy. Ga is a big river. Ginkō is a bank. Kō means a store.   Start to [...]