Truth

by Nao

ma, shin

This character means truth or reality. The noun shin and shinjitsu mean truth. Monosyllabic words like shin don’t feel unstable in any sentences. In mathematical theories, however, shin is preferred. Compounds such as shinjitsu feel stable.

As a general grammar rule, putting the particle no after a noun makes an adjective and putting the particle ni after a noun makes an adverb. With the noun shin, shinno is true and shinni means truly.

Both shinsō and shinri mean the truth. Let me add the nuances of the meanings. The facts having revealed or the true stories unraveled are called shinsō. It might be something you want to make clear (akirakanisuru). Verities are shinri. It might be something you want to pursue (tankyūsuru).

Another word accompanying this character is shinkū meaning a vacuum.

The other reading ma sounds colloquial. It is convenient to use it as a prefix when you want to exaggerate or to stress a word sometimes redundantly.

Here are some examples:

• man naka – the center of something
• maue – the right above of something or right overhead
• mashita – the right below of something
• mamizu – fresh water, often contrasting with seawater

Here is the drawing order.

1. Draw the horizontal stroke.
2. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
3. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
4. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
5. Draw the upper horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
6. Draw the lower horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
7. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
8. Draw the longest horizontal line.
9. Draw the sweeping stroke in the lower left corner.
10. Draw the dot in the lower right corner.

Elder Brother

by Nao

ani, nii-san, kei, kyō

When you are talking with somebody and talk to them about your own elder brother, call him “ani.” When you want to talk to your own elder brother and address him, call him “nīsan” or “nīchan.” Both “nīsan” and “nīchan” sound casual and friendly. When you call somebody’s elder brother, call him “onīsan.” Both the prefix o- and the suffix –san are polite expressions. “Onīsama” sounds more polite than “onīsan.”

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 sweeping stroke.
5. Draw the curve with an upward turn.

Tongue

by Nao

shita, zetsu

Shita means a tongue. Some expressions using this character are related to its functions: tasting and talking.

If you have a fat tongue (shita ga koeteiru), you are fussy about taste. If you have nekojita, you cannot eat very hot food or drink. Neko means a cat. Jita is a voiced sound of shita. When you beat the drum of a tongue (shita zutsumi wo utsu), you enjoy eating delicious food. Zutsumi is a voiced sound of tsutsumi, which means a drum. The verb utsu means to beat.

Talkativeness is expressed as jōzetsu, of which the jō implies affluence. Someone gifted with this talent has a tongue that whirls around (shita ga mawaru). The verb mawaru means to whirl.

1. Draw the sweeping stroke on the top.
2. Draw the horizontal stroke.
3. Draw the vertical stroke.
4. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
5. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
6. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.

Front or Outside

by Nao

omote, hyō, hyō-suru

Omote is a part of something and you can see it, or a part of something and people can see it.

A coin has a head and a tail. The head is omote and the tail is ura. The front that is one side of something thin is omote. The back that is the other side of it is ura.

Omote sometimes means outside, which is the place people see. “Omote ni deyō” means let’s go out. The verb omotedatsu means that people come to know something that has been secret.

Hyō is a table, which is a set of figures and information put in columns and rows.

1. Draw the top horizontal line from the left to the right.
2. Draw the vertical line from the top.
3. Draw the second horizontal stroke.
4. Draw the third horizontal stroke.
5. Draw the sweeping stroke from near the center of the previous stroke.
6. Draw the vertical stroke from the middle of the previous stroke. After shifting to the left a little, draw the upward stroke.
7. Draw the sweeping stroke from below the end of the longest horizontal line.
8. Draw the longest sweeping stroke. Spread the brush gradually.

Shape

by Nao

katachi, kata, gata, kei, gyō

Katachi is a shape. Some shapes are expressed with this character. They have the suffix –kei.

“San kakkei,” for example, is a triangle.

“Shi kakkei,” “go kakkei,” “rok kakkei,” and “hak kakkei” are a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, and an octagon, respectively.

Special quadrilaterals have special names.

“Dai kei” is a trapezoid like this one.
——–>

A pair of sides are parallel.

<———– A parallelogram like this is called “hei kō shihenkei”. The hen of “heikō shihenkei” means sides. Heikō means parallel.

<———– “Hishi gata” is a rhomboid like this. Only opposites sides and angles are equal.
The hishi of hishigata means a water chestnut whose fruit has 4 angles like a rhomboid.

Actors in the Japanese classical performing art kabuki are all men. In the kabuki play, those who take female parts are called onnagata.

Tegata is a bill you might draw, hand, get or discount. A bill drawn for a bogus transaction is called “kara tegata.” It’s a bad check. The kara of karategata means empty.

A doll is called ningyō, meaning a human shape.

1. Draw the horizontal stroke on the top.
2. Draw the longer horizontal stroke.
3. Draw the longest sweeping stroke crossing the previous stroke.
4. Draw the vertical stroke.
5. Draw the sweeping stroke from the upper right corner of the character.
6. Draw the sweeping stroke below the previous stroke.
7. Draw the sweeping stroke below the previous stroke.

Equal (Sosho)

by Nao

hito-shii, tō, dō

This style is called sō sho, which is more cursive than gyōsho.

This character means equality and rank. To find information about the former meaning, visit the kaisho style of this character here.

When this character means rank or class, it comes after words indicating numbers or height. The first class is ittō. In this case, tō comes after ichi, meaning the number one. The second class is nitō; the third class, santō, etc. Kōtō means high or higher. In this example, tō comes after kō, meaning high. Kōtō is put before some words. Kōtō kyōiku means higher education. Kōtō saibansho means a high court.

Equal (kaisho) -> http://wp.me/pAlaB-1ms

Equal (gyōsho) -> http://wp.me/pAlaB-1qx

Market or City

by Nao

ichi, shi

A market as a place you buy goods and food is called ichi or ichiba. The ba of ichiba means a field. In some towns, a traditional market is held regularly, usually in the morning.

A market where commercial dealings are conducted extensively is called shijō, whose letters are exactly the same as ichiba. Ichiba sounds softer than shijō. The sound “shijō” gives the impression of a systematic, businesslike and remote market. Here are some examples:

• kabushiki shijō = a stock market
• gaikoku kawase shijō = a foreign exchange market
• kinyū shijō = a financial market
• saiken shijō = a bond market
• saki mono shijō = a futures market
• urite shijō = a seller’s market
• kaite shijō = a buyer’s market
• rōdō shijō = the labor market

As has explained, shijō means market. The rest of each word corresponds to the category of the market. For example, kabushiki means stock.

All the names of cities end with shi.  5 big cities are Yokohama shi, Osaka shi, Na goya shi,  Sapporo shi, and Kō be shi.

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

Early

by Nao

haya-i, haya-meru, haya-maru, sō

Hayai is an adjective meaning early. Hayaku is an adverb meaning early.

To get up early can be said as “asa ga hayai,” which literally means that morning is early. The habit of getting up early is hayaoki. Oki comes from the verb okiru, meaning to get up. The proverb “the early bird catches the worm” is always translated as “hayaoki wa san mon no toku,” which means that the early riser earns extra three pennies. Toku means profit. I noticed that I haven’t mentioned that mon is an old unit of money. In ancient China, this coin weighed 3.75 grams.

Rapid talking is hayakuchi. Hayakuchi kotoba means tongue twisters.

1. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
2. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
3. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
4. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
5. Draw the horizontal line under the rectangle.
6. Draw the vertical line crossing the previous horizontal line.

Fond or Favorite

by Nao

su-ki, su-ku, kono-mu, kō

Suki means “be fond of” and “like.” “Watashi wa anata ga suki” means “I like you.”
The subject “watashi wa” means “I” but if you think this expression is too exaggerated, you can remove the subject and say, “anata ga suki” meaning “I like you.” In fact, Japanese people often forget to specify the subject of sentences. I would make excuse by saying, “the subject is obviously me when I am talking.”  Anataga, which is the object of the verb, means “you.” You can replace it with “kimiga.”

Sukina means favorite. When you ask somebody what is their favorite color, ask, sukina iro wa nandesuka? Your favorite food is “sukina tabemono” or “daikōbutsu.”

1. Draw the rotated chevron shape.
2. Draw the sweeping stroke heading toward the lower left.
3. Draw the quasi-horizontal sweeping stroke from the left.
4. Draw the hook from the top center.
5. Draw the curve with an upward turn.
6. Draw the horizontal line from the center to the right.

Happy

by Nao

shiawa-se, sachi, saiwai, kō

The noun “shiawase” is happiness. “Shiawase” can be used as an adjective in casual expressions. When I feel relaxed, I come to feel like saying, “shiawasē,” stressing the last vowel “e”. You can use this expression in various moments ranging from trivial time for relaxing to extensive happy occasions. A more proper way of meaning “I’m happy” is shiawaseda, which is considered as an adjective verb.

Kōfuku is also happiness. Fukō means unhappiness.

In the phrases below, sachi is food.

“Umi no sachi” means seafood; “yama no sachi” means food from the mountains. Umi is the sea. Read “u” like the “wu” sound. The particle “no” indicates belonging. When I memorized the word “of,” I grasped that “the A of B” is “B no A.”

Some letters’ concluding sentence is “gotakō wo oinorishimasu”, which means “best wishes.” The prefix “go” makes many words polite. Takō means great happiness. The word gotakō politely refers to “your great happiness.” The phrase “Oinorishimasu” means that I pray for something.

1. Draw the horizontal stroke.
2. Draw the vertical stroke crossing the previous stroke.
3. Draw the longer horizontal line touching the previous stroke.
4. Draw the dot with a small turn heading to the next stroke.
5. Draw the sweeping stroke.
6. Draw the horizontal line below it.
7. Draw the horizontal line under the previous stroke.
8. Draw the vertical stroke crossing the previous stroke.