Next

by Nao

tsugi, tsu-gu, ji, shi

This character means “next.” The noun tsugi is something coming after another. The verb tsugu means “to come after” or “to follow.”

At shop counters, clerks say, “next, please!” In Japanese, they say, “otsugi no kata dōzo.” The prefix “o-“ makes a noun polite. Kata meaning a person is used when you address somebody politely. Dōzo means please.

The next generation is called “jise dai.”

Ichiji often means primary and niji, secondary. Like these examples, today’s character makes ordinal numbers. But they are used in very formal occasions or for technical terms.

For geometry, two-dimensional is nijigen; three-dimensional, sanjigen, four-dimensional, yojigen; and so on. As for numbers, please see numbers etc.

In algebra, a linear function is ichijikansū and a quadratic function is nijikansū. Kansū means a function.

1. Draw the dot from the top left.
2. Draw the sweeping dot from the lower left.
3. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke touching the previous stroke. End the stroke with a leftward turn.
5. Draw the sweeping stroke from near the center of the previous stroke to the lower left.
6. Draw the sweeping stroke to the lower right corner of the character. Make it broader gradually.

Shellfish

by Nao

kai

Kai is shellfish, particularly an aquatic shelled mollusk such as a clam, an oyster, or a scallop. A scallop is called hotategai, of which the gai is a voiced sound of kai. Crabs and shrimps are NOT kai.

Prehistoric kitchen middens are called kaizuka, of which zuka means a mound. The most famous one is Omori kaizuka, which was excavated by Edward Sylvester Morse, an American zoologist, in 1877. Many artifacts of the Jōmon period (about 14000 – 1000 BCE) were excavated from this archeological site.

1. Draw the vertical line to the left.
2. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
3. Draw the upper horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
4. Draw the lower horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
5. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
6. Draw the sweeping stroke.
7. Draw the dot in the lower right corner of the character.

To Enter

by Nao

hai-ru, i-reru, i-ru, nyū, ju

A new school year will begin soon. In Japan, students enter a school in April. Admission to a school is called nyūgaku. By adding the suffix –suru, it becomes the verb nyūgakusuru, meaning to enter a school. Nyūgakushiki is an entrance ceremony. Shiki means a ceremony.

Inputting data into a computer is called nyūryoku. By adding –suru, it becomes nyūryokusuru, meaning “to input.”

Huge marshmallow-like columns of clouds you can see in summer are called nyūdō gumo.

The verb “hairu“ means to enter. The verb follows a particle called joshi when it takes an object. The particle that you can place after the object of the verb “hairu” is either “ni” or “e.” For example, “gakkō ni hairu” means “to enter a school.”

The verb ireru means to put something into a particular place or a container. The particle that you can place after the object indicating something to move is wo. And the particle that you can place after the destination is either “ni” or “e.” For example, “tegami wo fūtō ni ireru” means “to put a letter into an envelop.” Tegami means a letter; fūtō, an envelop.

The second stroke is longer than the first.

Equal

by Nao

hito-shii, tō, dō

The adjective hitoshii means equal. Shii is written in hiragana. “A to B wa hitoshii.” This sentence means, “A and B are equal.” Hitoshii is kun’yomi, and tō and dō are on’yomi. As for the difference between kun’yomi and on’yomi, I hope you find this useful.

One of the inflected forms of hitoshii is hitoshiku. It is adverbial so you can interpret it as “equally.” For example, hitoshiku wakeru means to divide equally. By the way, with the same characters and the suffix -suru, tōbunsuru also means to divide equally. I’m not sure whether calling –suru suffix is correct, but you can put –suru after nouns to change them into verbs. It is almost equivalent to the verb “do” although –suru always comes after nouns.

Byōdō is equality.

Japanese 10 yen coins are stamped with the Phoenix Hall of Byōdōin, which is a temple listed as a World Heritage Site.

1. Draw the sweeping dot from the top left.
2. Draw the stroke touching the first dot. This stroke is almost horizontal.
3. Draw the stroke touching the previous stroke.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke from near the top center.
5. Draw the stroke touching the previous stroke. This stroke is almost horizontal.
6. Draw the sweeping stroke touching the previous stroke.
7. Draw the horizontal stroke.
8. Draw the vertical stroke crossing the previous stroke.
9. Draw the longest horizontal line.
10. Draw the horizontal line below it.
11. Draw the vertical stroke with an upward turn.
12. Draw the dot.

Ability or Noh

by Nao

nō, Noh

When we studied “kan bun,” the Chinese classics, at school, we learned to interpret this character as a modal verb. It means “can.” In classical Japanese, there used to be a word meaning “cannot” with this character, that is, atawazu. The ata of atawazu is today’s character and has the same function as that in the Chinese classics. The wazu is in hiragana and denies the verb atau meaning “can.” These usages are obsolete. The point is that the character implies “can.”

The word nō means ability. The related compounds are sainō (talent) and honnō (instinct). The performing arts are called geinō. If you are interested in Japanese entertainment news, search for geinō nyūsu. Nyūsu is in katakana.

Noh is also a Japanese traditional performing art. It is sometimes called nōgaku. A Noh theater is called nōgakudō, of which the dō means a building. Noh can be performed in various ways like this example.

1. Draw the rotated chevron shape from the top left.
2. Draw the dot.
3. Draw the sweeping stroke to the left.
4. Draw the hook touching the previous stroke. Turn upward at the end.
5. Draw the horizontal stroke under the hook.
6. Draw the horizontal stroke below it.
7. Draw the horizontal stroke to the upper right. Nao draws it from the left to the right. Normally, it is a sweeping stroke drawn from the right to the left.
8. Draw the curve with a small upward turn from the top center.
9. Draw the horizontal stroke below the curve. Again, it is usually drawn from the right to the left.
10. Draw the curve with a small upward turn just below the upper curve.

Foot

by Nao

ashi, ta-ru, ta-riru, soku

In Japanese, feet and legs are called ashi.

There are some idioms including the word, ashi.

For example, “ashi ga deru” means that expense exceeds the budget. It literally means that a foot sticks out.

Taking the length of somebody’s foot, or finding somebody’s weakness, is expressed as “ashimoto wo miru.” The verb miru means to look at.

Getting your foot in the door, or gaining a foothold toward something, is expressed as “ashigakari wo tsukamu.” Gakari means hanging and the verb tsukamu means to get.

Setting foot in a place, or enter a place, is expressed as “ashi wo fumiireru.” Fumiireru consists of two verbs: fumu (to step on) and ireru (to enter).

You can count shoes and socks by soku. One pair of shoes or socks is issoku with a double consonant.

• 2 pairs … nisoku
• 3 pairs … sanzoku (soku becomes zoku, a voiced sound.)
• 4 pairs … yonsoku
• 5 pairs … gosoku
• 6 pairs … rokusoku
• 7 pairs … nanasoku
• 8 pairs … hassoku (with a double consonant)
• 9 pairs … kyūsoku
• 10 pairs … jissoku (with a double consonant)

Visit http://wp.me/PAlaB-1i3 for the basic readings of numbers.

1. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
2. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
3. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
4. Draw the vertical stroke from the center.
5. Draw the short horizontal line from the middle of the previous stroke.
6. Draw the shorter sweeping stroke.
7. Draw the longer sweeping stroke.

Cherry

Please click -> here to find information on this character and visit http://www.japanesecalligrapher.com
for more characters.

Insect or Worm

by Nao

mushi, chū

What we call “mushi” are insects, worms, and bugs. We also call them “konchū.” Both kon and chū have the same meaning.

Ordinary insects can be divided into two groups: harmful insect called gaichū and beneficial insects called ekichū. As you might guess, gai means harm and eki means benefit.

There are various kinds of “mushi” although we rarely see insects these days. Caterpillars are imomushi, of which the imo means sweet potato. They like to eat sweet potato leaves. Hairy caterpillars are kemushi, of which the ke means hair. Green caterpillars are aomushi. Yes, they are green. You might wonder why it is ao. Isn’t it blue? It’s a good question. Ao originally meant the green of grass. So we still express early summer leaves as “ao ba.”

A bookworm is called “hon no mushi.”

A tantrum is called “kan no mushi.” Kan means peevishness.

1. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
2. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
3. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
4. Draw the vertical stroke.
5. Draw the quasi-horizontal stroke at the bottom from the left.
6. Draw the dot.

To Guard

by Nao

mamo-ru, mori, syu, su

The verb mamoru is used in two ways. First, it means to guard, to protect, or to defend something from danger, harm, abuse, or attack. In this sense, we say, “… (ex. kōgeki = attack) kara mamoru.” The particle kara means from.

Second, it means to keep something such as the peace, the environment, the secret, the tradition, or promises. For this usage, we use the particle wo, and say, “… (ex. yakusoku = a promise) wo mamoru.” “Rūru wo mamoru” (To obey rules) can be, I think, considered as the same usage. Rūru is in katakana.

Let’s see a few compounds. Mori means to take care of somebody like usually a kid.  Komori means rearing a kid. Shishu means desperate defence. Adding the subsidiary verb –suru in hiragana, you can make verbs. Shishusuru means to defend to the death or to defend desperately.

1. Draw the dot on the top.
2. Draw the dot to the left.
3. Draw the hook.
4. Draw the horizontal line.
5. Draw the vertical stroke with an upward turn.
6. Draw the dot under the horizontal line.

Counterpart or Phase

by Nao

ai, sō, shō

I have mentioned before that there are two kinds of readings for kanji: kun’yomi and on’yomi. As a rule, kun’yomi tells us its meaning while we can’t catch the meaning by hearing only on’yomi. Every rule has some exceptions. The kun’yomi of today’s character is ai, which sounds like on’yomi to me. We can’t tell its meaning unless it is combined with other characters or words. On the other hand, sō, its on’yomi, means a phase when it’s not combined with other characters unlike the ordinary function of on’yomi.

The common meaning of this character is counterpart. Aite, aishō, aikata and sōshisōai are in this group. Let’s see the meanings one by one. Aite is either a companion or an opponent. Your aite can be your dance partner or your opponent in a game. Aishō is the degree how much two people can get along together. Aishō is either good or bad. If aishō between two people is bad, they just can’t get along together. A partner in a Japanese comic duo is called aikata. One of my friends is calling her best friend aikata. The state of thinking and loving each other is expressed as sōshisōai. It’s a romantic phrase.

The origin of this character is a tree paired with an eye, which symbolizes the motions of looking at a tree. Supporting a ruler or other people is one of the meanings derived from this origin. For example, the Prime Minister is shushō, of which the shu means a neck.

First, begin to draw the left-hand side of the character.

1. Draw the horizontal stroke from the left.
2. Draw the vertical line from the top to the bottom.
3. Draw the sweeping stroke from the previous strokes intersect.
4. Draw the small dot like a hanging brunch of the vertical stroke.
5. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
6. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
7. Draw the upper horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
8. Draw the lower horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
9. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.