eda, shi The meaning of eda is a branch. Boughs, twigs and sprigs are all called eda. The nuances of these words are minor details you don’t have to care when you want to memorize the word “eda.” We call such minor details edaha or shiyō. The characters used for both words are the same. [...]

tsukue, ki Tsukue is a desk. Things either on or under a desk are not considered to be valuable. “Kijō no kūron” and “kijō ron,” which are literally theories on a desk, imply theories that are made up in one’s brain and that you cannot use in reality. Ron means a theory. Kika expresses your humility [...]

zai Materials and ingredients are zai, zairyō or sozai. If you remember yesterday’s character, it is easy for you to understand that zaishitsu means the quality of a material. Mokuzai is wood as a material. Zaimoku is wood ready to be used for a particular purpose such as building a house. Jinzai means human resources. [...]

kaku Somebody’s personality or character is seikaku. Somebody’s body structure is taikaku. Kokkaku is a bone structure. Jinkaku also means personality but we use it particularly when we want to talk about somebody’s virtue. Kaku means status or standard. If somebody says, “kaku ga chigau,” talking about somebody else, it means that their status is [...]

ki, ju Trees are called ki. This “ki” is not as common as another “ki.” Jumoku also means trees. The former character “ju” is today’s character; the latter is the simpler one. Some people prefer this character in names. Roadside trees are gairoju. Tree planting is shokuju, of which the shoku means to plant. If [...]

ne, kon We call roots ne or nekko. However, they are not equivalent. For example, ne does not mean origins as roots do. “Ne wo orosu” means to put down roots. The verb “nezuku” means to root. The verb “nezasu” means to root, to take root, or to be based on. The square root of [...]