Rough

by Nao

ara-i, ara, so

Ara-i is an adjective meaning rough, and coarse. With this reading and meaning, there are some compounds. Arajio is unrefined salt. Arabiki is used to describe coarsely ground food, such as coffee, pepper, meat, and so on.

The single character, ara, means a fault, and a flaw. This kind of fault is often deliberately discovered in writings and sayings and criticized. There, therefore, are some expressions like the noun, arasagashi, meaning nit-picking, and the verb, ara wo sagasu, meaning to looking for faults. The verb, sagasu, means to look for. The noun, sagashi, is derived from the verb.

Another reading is so. Coarse things are described as somatsu. For example, somatsu na tabemono means coarse fare or a simple diet. Simply put, it is soshoku.

The left-hand side of this character looks similar to kome (rice). When some characters are used as radicals, they are smaller than the original. They are often tilted a little for the sake of balance.

1. Start drawing the left-hand side. Draw the dot on the upper left.
2. Draw the dot from the top center.
3. Draw the horizontal line.
4. Draw the vertical line.
5. Draw the sweeping stroke from the center of the cross to the lower left. Make it thinner at the end.
6. Draw the dot from the center of the cross to the lower right. This stroke is different from the last stroke of kome.
7. Start drawing the right-hand side. Draw the vertical stroke at the center.
8. Draw the right-angled hook. The horizontal part is thinner than the vertical part.
9. Draw the upper horizontal stroke inside the rectangle.
10. Draw the horizontal stroke below it.
11. Draw the longest horizontal stroke at the bottom.

Peaceful

by Nao

yasu-raka, yasu-ragi, yasu-ragu, yasu-i, an

Yasu-rakana means peaceful. Yasu-rakana ni means peacefully. The noun, Yasu-ragi, means peacefulness, and calmness. The verb, Yasu-ragu, means to have peace of mind. These words are the same kind as for the meanings, while the adjective, yasu-i, means easy or cheap. So, there are two kinds of words including this character: peace and ease.

Peace: Yesterday, I mentioned Heian jidai. The an of Heian is today’s character. Another meaning of heian is peaceful. Assisted suicide, anraku shi, is in this category.

Ease: Anyi is ease. Both an and yi means easy. The meaning, cheap, can be included in this group because something cheap is easy to buy. Kakuyasu means low prices. We call discount airline tickets kakuyasu kōkūken. Kōkūken is an airline ticket. Budget airlines are called kakuyasu kōkūgaisha. I have never thought what the kaku of kakuyasu means. Probably, it means a range or a class. Retailers’ ad sometimes loudly says, “gekiyasu” meaning super cheap.

The lower part is onna (woman).

1. Draw the dot on the top.
2. Draw the dot on the left.
3. Draw the hook.
4. Begin drawing the lower part. Draw the rotated chevron shape inside.
5. Draw the sweeping stroke heading toward the lower left.
6. Draw the horizontal line from the left to the right. This line is the center of this character.

Time

by Nao

toki, ji

When we ask the time, we say, “ima nanji?” Ima is now, and nan is what.

Time can be translated as jikan, toki, or jikoku.

Adding numbers to jikan, we express the numbers of hours: 1 (ichi) jikan, 2 (ni) jikan, and so on.

A timetable is jikokuhyō, of which hyō means a table.

Date and time is nichiji., which is often used to tell the date and time for an event.

Dōji means the same time. The dō of dōji means the same. Dōji ni means at the same time or simultaneously.

Jidai is time in history. The Heian period (794-1185) is Heian jidai. Anachronism is jidai sakugo. Sakugo means error.

The left-hand side is nichi (day), but this one is thinner.

1. Draw the vertical line on the left.
2. Draw the hook composed of short horizontal part and vertical part. Start this stroke from where you start the first stroke. Make a nice shoulder while changing the direction of the brush.
3. Draw the horizontal stroke inside.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke at the bottom.
5. Start drawing the right-hand side. Draw the horizontal line.
6. Draw the vertical stroke.
7. Draw the horizontal line in the middle.
8. Draw another horizontal line.
9. Draw the vertical stroke with a leftward turn.  It crosses the previous stroke.
10. Draw the dot.

Event or Thing

by Nao

koto, goto, ji

I should mention that all the meanings I am presenting here are not precisely from the dictionary. Please notice that the usages may be biased. I am focusing on how this character has been used, particularly in my life.

My first translation of this character was a thing, because I thought koto was a thing. On second thought, however, this thing is more related to events.

When an event happens, we say koto ga okoru. The okoru means to happen. The ga is joshi (a particle). As one of the technical terms in statistics, an event means jishō. The ji is this character. The shō means a state or a situation. The character ji is part of some compounds that imply to be a big event, such as dekigoto, jiken, yūji, and gyōji. Dekigoto is a general event. Jiken often means a crime. Yūji is an emergency. Gyōji is events that people attend. The de of dekigoto means to exit. The ki of dekigoto means to come. The ken of jiken is a case. The yū of yūji is to exist. The gyō of gyōji is to go.

(Follow-up posts -> dekigoto and gyōji – september 2, 2010)

The character ji that means a thing is also part of some compounds. Somebody who has much worldly knowledge can be described as seji ni takeru. Takeru means to show excellence. The ni is joshi (a particle). Conversely, those who don’t have worldly knowledge are seji ni utoi. Utoi means to be alienated.

A meal is shokuji. Some directors of some organizations have the title, riji. A governor of a prefecture is chiji.

The vertical stroke is the last.

1. Draw the top horizontal line from the left to the right.
2. Start to draw a rectangle (mouth), drawing the short vertical line at the left.
3. The upper horizontal part and the right vertical part of the mouth form one stroke. Start from the upper left of the mouth. Make sure to stop at the corner and change the direction of the brush.
4. Close the mouth drawing the horizontal stroke at the bottom.
5. Draw the stroke below the mouth. It is a right-angled hook.
6. Draw the longest horizontal line.
7. Draw the horizontal line. It touches the end of the hook.
8. Draw the long vertical line from the top. Change the direction of the brush at the end and make a neat leftward stroke like a thorn.

To Move

by Nao

ugo-ku, ugo-kasu, ugo-ki, dō, dō-jiru

Ugo-ku is an action when somebody or something moves, period. Ugo-kasu is an action when you move something. In this case, we need an object like a transitive verb. For example, if you move a chair, we say isu wo ugo-kasu. Ugo-ki is the noun, movement. Ku, kasu, and ki are okurigana.

With the negative suffix, na, ugo-kuna is an imperative sentence that means “don’t move!” or “freeze!”

On rare occasions, we hear somebody say yama ga ugo-ku. It means that something big happens. Its literal meaning is that the mountain moves. Some abstract things also move.

World … Yo no naka ga ugoku. Sekai ga ugoku. Both sentences mean that the world is changing.

Heart … Kokoro ga ugoku. This sentence expresses the moment we waver.

Price … Ne ga ugoku. It means the price changes. Price movement is called neugoki.

When a pair of terms use the same characters in different orders, they usually have different meanings. Let me tell you the difference between dōsa and sadō. While dōsa means an action or a movement, sadō means functioning or working. If your movement is quick, we say dōsa ga subayai. Something such as a machine works, we say kikai ga sadō suru. Suru is a versatile verb, which means to do. Although we can append suru to any words, it is considered colloquial.

Start drawing this from the left-hand side.

1. Draw the sweeping dot at the top. It heads toward the second stroke.
2. Draw the horizontal stroke from the left to the right.
3. Draw the vertical stroke, which is the left side of the rectangle.
4. Draw the right-angled hook from where you start the previous stroke. Make a nice shoulder.
5. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
6. Draw the horizontal stroke on the lower side of the rectangle.
7. Draw the vertical stroke from the top to the bottom.
8. Draw the second horizontal stroke from the bottom.
9. Draw the horizontal stroke at the bottom. This stroke heads toward the right-hand side.
10. Draw the hook. The latter part of the stroke is not vertical but slightly tilted. Draw a thorn-like stroke at the end.
11. Draw the long sweeping stroke from the top.

Color

by Nao

iro, shoku, shiki

Iro means color. Iroiro (twice iro) means many kinds.

Jūnin toiro literally expresses 10 people and 10 colors and therefore it means each individual has a different taste or everyone is different.

How many colors does the rainbow have? The answer in Japanese is nanairo (seven colors). Nanairo also means many kinds. Nanairo sounds happy and sometimes modifies the words meaning life. Nanairo no jinsei means happy life. Nanairo no hi bi is happy days. Each in-between no is joshi (a particle). Nanairo no jinsei and barairo no jinsei have a similar meaning. The bara is rose.

The numbers of colors are in general expressed with the reading shoku. The above-mentioned nanairo and toiro of jūnin toiro are exceptions. One color is isshoku. From two colors to ten colors are nishoku, sanshoku, yonshoku, goshoku, rokushoku, nanashoku, hasshoku, kyūshoku, and jisshoku.

1. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the lower left. Make the ending narrower.
2. Draw the hook. After changing the direction of the stroke, draw the sweeping stroke like the previous one. Make the ending narrower.
3. Draw the right-angled hook. Make a nice shoulder after changing the direction of the brush.
4. Draw the short vertical stroke in the rectangle.
5. Draw the horizontal stroke on the lower side of the rectangle.
6. Draw the long curve from where the second and third strokes meet. Finish it with an upward turn.

To Make

by Nao

tsuku-ru, saku, sa

The activity of making something is the verb, tsuku-ru, or the noun, sakusei. The suffix ru of tsuku-ru is okurigana. The sei of sakusei means either to form or to produce.

The activities of making something specific have names with this character. For example, writing is sakubun, of which the bun means a sentence. Making poetry is sakushi, of which the shi is poetry. Making music is sakkyoku, of which the kyoku means music.

Words relating to agriculture also accompany this character. Crops are sakumotsu, of which the motsu is stuff. A good harvest or a heavy crop is hōsaku, of which hō is rich. A very poor crop is kyōsaku, of which kyō is bad fortune. Rice farming is inasaku. Dry field farming is hatasaku.

Art works are called sakuhin, of which the hin is an object. A masterpiece is kessaku or taisaku. A work of great effort is rikisaku. A work of enormous labor is rōsaku. Both creation and a creative work are called sōsaku.

One more reading of this character is sa. Manner is sahō, of which the hō is manner or style.

The right-hand side of saku (yesterday) is the same as that of this character. Both have the same sound, saku. All the horizontal strokes are parallel.

1. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the lower left.
2. Draw the vertical stroke under the previous stroke.
3. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top center.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke touching the middle of the sweeping stroke.
5. Draw the vertical stroke touching the previous stroke.
6. Draw the upper horizontal stroke on the right.
7. Draw the lower horizontal stroke on the right.

Winter

by Nao

fuyu, tō

We call winter fuyu. Fuyubi is a cold day in winter. The Korean drama, Winter Sonata, was popular among Japanese women several years ago. The Japanese title of the drama is Fuyu no Sonata, which is called Fuyusona for short. The drama triggered Korean wave, which spread throughout East Asia. Some of my friends are big fans of Korean drama and music. A friend of mine recommends watching Korean dramas. According to her, although the words of Korean dramas may sound outdated to the Japanese, they make a deep impression because they are touching and moving.

This is the last character of four seasons. Shun ka shū tō means seasons. Tōji is winter solstice.

The Winter Olympics is called Tōki Gorin or Tōki Orinpikku. The ki of Tōki is a season. Gorin means five rings.

The upper part of the character is similar to the lower part of natsu (summer).

1. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the lower left. Make the ending narrower.
2. Draw the hook. After changing the direction of the stroke, draw the sweeping stroke like the previous one. Make the ending narrower. The first two strokes are almost parallel.
3. Draw the sweeping stroke heading in the opposite direction. Make the hem-like ending by spreading the brush.
4. Draw the upper dot whose shape shows how you put down the brush.
5. Draw the lower dot. These dots are the same in shape.

Autumn

by Nao

aki, shū

Today’s season is autumn. Late autumn is banshū. The ban means an ending. Shūbun is the autumnal equinox. The bun is to divide or split.

Senshū is a thousand years or extremely long time. Ichi nichi senshū, or ichi nichi senshū no omoi is used when you are waiting for something and feeling as if you are waiting forever. The no is joshi (a particle). The omoi means a feeling.  In this context, today’s character, shū, means time or years.

The last day of a sumo tournament or a play is called senshūraku.

Autumn is considered the best season for something or some activities. Here are examples.

Autumn, the time for reading … dokusho no aki
Autumn, the time for sports … supōtsu no aki
Autumn, the time for a good appetite … shokuyoku no aki
Autumn, the harvest time … mino-ri no aki

This character is composed of two part. Draw the left part first.

1. Draw the sweeping dot from the top.
2. Draw the horizontal stroke from the left.
3. Draw the vertical line from inside the first stroke to the bottom.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke from where the previous strokes intersect.
5. Draw the dot where the previous stroke begins.
6. Start drawing the right part. Draw the dot near the center of the character.
7. Draw the sweeping dot on the right.
8. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the center bottom.
9. Draw the sweeping stroke from the middle of the previous stroke.

Summer

by Nao

natsu, ka, ge

The next season is natsu. It’s summer. The summer holidays are natsuyasumi. The yasumi is holiday. Natsubi is a hot day in summer. Natsumatsuri is a summer festival. The matsuri means a festival.

Early summer is shoka. The sho means a beginning. The middle of the summer is seika or manatsu. The sei of seika means full, vigorous, or active. The ma of manatsu is true.

Summer solstice is geshi.

The upper part of the character looks like hyaku (hundred) but draw one more horizontal stroke inside. All the horizontal strokes are parallel.

1. Draw the top horizontal stroke from the left to the right.
2. Draw the dot. This dot goes toward the next stroke.
3. Draw the vertical line, which is the left side of the rectangle.
4. Draw the right-angled hook, making a nice shoulder.
5. Draw the upper horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
6. Draw the lower horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
7. Draw the horizontal stroke at the bottom.
8. Start drawing the lower part. Draw the sweeping stroke from below the third vertical stroke to lower left. Make the ending narrower.
9. Draw the hook. After changing the direction of the stroke, draw the sweeping stroke like the previous one. Make the ending narrower.
10. Draw the sweeping stroke heading in the opposite direction. Make the hem-like ending by spreading the brush.