Affluence

by Nao

tomi, to-mu, fu, pu

This lucky character suggests richness. Tomi implies affluence, wealth, and a fortune. It is something you could bring to somebody or something you could attract, get, build up and enjoy. “Kyo man no tomi” is an immense fortune.

Tomu is a verb accompanying okurigana “mu,” but sounds like an adjective meaning affluent. A wit is described as “kichi ni tomu hito,” which means a person who is affluent with ability to use words and ideas in a sharp and imaginative way. You can see the Japanese “wit” -> here.

Taketomijima, the name of an island, includes this character. Jima is the voiced sound of shima, which means an island.

Taketomijima is a nice resort near Ishigaki Island in Okinawa.

1. Draw the dot on the top.
2. Draw the dot to the left.
3. Draw the hook.
4. Draw the horizontal line below the crown.
5. Draw the left side of the smaller rectangle.
6. Draw the upper and right sides of the smaller rectangle.
7. Draw the lower side of the smaller rectangle.
8. Draw the left side of the larger rectangle.
9. Draw the upper and right sides of the larger rectangle.
10. Draw the vertical stroke in the larger rectangle.
11. Draw the horizontal stroke crossing the previous stroke.
12. Draw the lower side of the larger rectangle.

Sun or Yang

by Nao

yō

Since “yō” is on’yomi, we cannot tell what it means just by hearing “yō.”

We would like to discuss some compounds today.

The sun is taiyō. Yōki is cheerfulness. They follow the ordinary on’yomi rules. In other words, we can separate each word into groups of syllables corresponding to each character.

Some words do not follow these rules.

Ajisai is hydrangea. Ajisai consists murasaki, yō (today’s character), and hana and we cannot separate syllables to show how they correspond to each character. It’s an interesting aspect of the Japanese language.

In the oriental philosophy, things generally have the bright part and the dark part. Yang is the bright part.

The left-hand side of this character consists of three strokes.

1. Draw the rotated chevron shape.
2. Draw the hook below it.
3. Draw the vertical line.
4. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
5. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
6. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
7. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
8. Draw the horizontal line under the rectangle.
9. Draw the sweeping stroke touching the horizontal stroke.
10. Draw the hook with a leftward turn.
11. Draw the sweeping stroke almost parallel to the ninth stroke.
12. Draw the sweeping stroke, which is also parallel to the ninth stroke.

Flower

by Nao

hana, ka

A flower is “hana.” A bouquet is “hanataba.”

The language of flowers is “hanakotoba.”

The names of some flowers and plants have today’s character. Sazanka (a sasanqua) is a Japanese camellia. Its name consists of yama, cha, and hana. “Hanamizu ki” is a flowering dogwood. A safflower is benibana, of which the bana is the voiced sound of hana.

Japanese flower arrangement is called “ikebana.” Again, bana is the voiced sound of hana. The art of Japanese flower arrangement is “kadō,” of which the ka means flower but is different from today’s character.

Fireworks are hanabi.

Flowers’ names and so on written in Japanese is -> here.

1. Draw the dot from the top left.
2. Draw the horizontal line crossing the first dot.
3. Draw the sweeping dot from the top right.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke under the grass radical. The above group of strokes is a radical called “kusa kanmuri.” Kusa is grass and kanmuri is a crown.
5. Draw the vertical stroke.
6. Draw the sweeping stroke from the upper right to the center.
7. Draw the curve with an upward turn.

Cat

by Nao

neko, byō

“Neko” is a cat and “koneko” is a kitten.

Like the English word “cat,” the Japanese “neko” has got idiomatic words and phrases. Here are some examples.

“Neko no hitai” is a cat’s forehead. It’s a small piece of land. People sometimes express their land as “nekono hitaihodo.” It means their property is as small as a cat’s forehead.

“Karitekita neko” is a cat you are borrowing from somebody. It means meekness. It’s about a person’s attitude. People sometimes describe somebody as “karitekita neko,” meaning somebody who is usually confident or often arrogant behave as gentle or weak as a cat. Such behavior may look so because they pretend as if they were weak. It is described by the phrase, “neko wo kabutteiru,” which literally means “in a cat suit.”

“Neko no te mo karitai” tells that you are very busy. You might need something as useful as a cat if you are extremely busy. In such a situation, you wish a cat helped you.

You can see the above phrases in Japanese -> here.

Draw the left-hand side of the character first.

1. Draw the sweeping stroke.
2. Draw the arch with an upward turn. The first and second strokes cross.
3. Draw the sweeping stroke from the middle of the arch.
4. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the dot from the top.
5. Draw the horizontal stroke crossing the previous stroke.
6. Draw the sweeping stroke crossing the previous stroke.
7. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
8. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
9. Draw the vertical stroke in the rectangle.
10. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
11. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.

Bird

by Nao

tori, chō

A bird is tori. A little bird is kotori. A migratory bird is wataridori. The dori of wataridori is a voiced sound of tori.

Torime is a bird’s eyes. It means night blindness. If somebody suffers from this symptom, they are as blind as a bird because of a lack of vitamin A.

A swan is hakuchō; a black swan, kokuchō. A bird’s-eye view is chōkanzu, of which the kan means to look down or look out over and the zu means a map or a picture.

“Is seki nichō” comes from the proverb “to kill two birds with one stone.”

You can see wataridori and chōkanzu written in Japanese -> here.

1. Draw the sweeping dot from the top. This dot goes toward the next stroke.
2. Draw the vertical line.
3. Draw the hook, which consists of the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
5. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
6. Draw the horizontal stroke.
7. Draw the hook with a leftward turn.
8. Draw the dot in the lower left corner.
9. Draw the second dot from the left.
10. Draw the second dot from the right.
11. Draw the rightmost dot. These dots are embraced by the hook.

Paper

by Nao

kami, shi

kami is paper, a material that you write on, print on, fold, tear, or recycle.

Something made of paper has a name with this character. “Kami” is added to the beginning of a word to form such a name. For example, a cup is “koppu” in katakana. “kami” is added to “koppu” to mean a paper cup. It is “kami koppu.” The same rule can be applied for “omutsu” (a diaper), “nin gyō” (a doll), “hikōki” (an airplane), and “fūsen” (a balloon).

Paper planes and paper balloons are toys for kids. They are known as origami. “Gami” of origami is a voiced sound of “kami.”

Oxford Dictionary of English Second Edition gives “origami.” It defines that origami is “the Japanese art of folding paper into decorative shapes and figures.”

We found some good websites showing clearly how to fold origami.

• Paper balloon, a.k.a. water balloon -> Origami_Instructions.com
• Paper airplane -> Alex’s paper airplanes
• Oribara (origami rose), a.k.a. The Fukuyama Rose -> Fukuyama Technical High School
  • The First Phase (10 Small Steps)
  • The Second Phase (17 Small Steps)
  • The Final Phase (20 Small Steps)

The Fukuyama Rose is just fabulous. It is developed through school club activities and intended for beginners – not for beginners in origami but for beginners in origami rose.

You can see some words written in Japanese -> here.

1. Begin to draw the left-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
2. Draw the short stroke from almost where you finished the last stroke.
3. Draw the stroke that parallels the first stroke.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke that is almost horizontal.
5. Draw the dot at the end of the previous stroke.
6. Draw the vertical stroke.
7. Draw the sweeping stroke on the left of the vertical stroke.
8. Draw the dot on the other side.
9. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
10. Draw the vertical stroke with an upward turn.
11. Draw the quasi-horizontal stroke.
12. Draw the curve with an upward turn.

In the dictionary, this is categorized as a 10-stroke character. When you write this character with a pen, connect the first and the second strokes, and the third and the fourth strokes.

Destiny or to Carry

by Nao

hako-bu, un

The verb “hakobu” means to carry, to convey, to transport, or to waft. The noun “un” means destiny, fortune, or luck. To remember these two words at the same time, the phrase “un wo hakobu” might be helpful. It means to waft one’s destiny. The particle “wo” between them indicates that the noun before “wo” is the direct object of the verb following “wo.” Something that brings you luck is “un wo hakobu mono” or “un wo motarasu mono.” Motarasu means to bring.

Notice the sound, by the way. The “u” of “un” sounds like “wu.”

“Un” can be “ii” (good) or “warui” (bad). If it’s good, “un ga ii” or “kōun da.” If it’s bad, “un ga warui” or “fuun da.”

“Un” may be quantitative. Some are rich in “un,” others exhaust “un.” You can describe the former as “un ni megumareta hitotachi” and the latter, “un no tsukita hitotachi.” Hitotachi means people.

“Unmei” also means destiny but it is associated with the destined future while “un” often implies instant luck.

“Undō” means sports, motion, or a campaign.

You can see some phrases written in Japanese -> here.

1. Draw the dot on the top.
2. Draw the hook.
3. Draw the horizontal line under the hook.
4. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
5. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
6. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
7. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
8. Draw the horizontal line under the rectangle.
9. Draw the vertical line piercing through all the horizontal lines.
10. Draw the dot in the upper left corner of the character.
11. Draw the crooked line. Change the direction of the brush three times.
12. Draw the sweeping stroke from the left to the right.

Around or All Around

by Nao

mawa-ri, shū

“Mawari” is a noun meaning circumference. If it’s specifically the edge of a circle, say “enshū.”

By putting a particle “ni,” you can change some nouns into adverbs.

Japanese adverbs come before verbs or adjectives. In other words, modifiers generally come before modified words.

“Mawarini” is such an adverb. It modifies verbs. For example, “mawarini shiraseru” and “mawarini shirashimeru” both mean to inform people around you. The latter sounds archaic but sounds intelligent. “Shūini shiraseru” also has the same meaning. The “i” of “shūi” means to surround.

Well-known things is “shūchi no ji jitsu.” “Shūchi no,” which modifies nouns, implies known among people all around.

In each of the phrases “mawarini shiraseru” and “shūchi,” today’s character means differently. The people indicated as “mawari” are closer to you than the “shū” of “shūchi.” “Mawari” is people you know or your acquaintance. In “shūchi,” “shū” means universally.

You can see some phrases in Japanese -> here.

1. Draw the sweeping stroke.
2. Draw the hook with an upward turn.
3. Draw the shorter horizontal stroke.
4. Draw the vertical stroke.
5. Draw the longer horizontal stroke.
6. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
7. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
8. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.

Old Customs or a Bad Accident (Sosho)

yue, ko

This style is called sō sho, a cursive style.

This character’s meanings can be summarized as old, solid, and therefore, dead. The kaisho style is here. We posted it three days ago. Some other information about this is also included there.

Old Customs and a Bad Accident (kaisho) -> here

Thin or Fine

by Nao

hoso-i, hoso-ru, hoso-meru, koma-kai, koma-ka, koma-yaka, sai

Thin or Narrow

The adjective futoi is the antonym of hosoi. Things that may be thin are strings, cables, and faces.

A thin string is “hosoi himo”; a thin cable is “hosoi kēburu”; and a thin face is “hosoi kao.” Some people are thin, too. “Hosoi hito” means a thin person. Things that may be narrow are streets, roads, and lanes. “Hosoi michi” means a narrow road. Eyes may be narrow, too. “Hosoi me” means narrow eyes.

While hosoi is an adjective, hosomeru is a verb meaning “to narrow.” To narrow one’s eyes and “me wo hosomeru” sound similar but have completely different implications. In Japanese,　“me wo hosomeru” means to smile because you are very happy. People show such a smiling face often when they are seeing somebody they adore very much.

Fine

The adjective komakai means fine or small. The adverb komakaku means finely.

More Sensitive Senses

“Komayakana” functions like an adjective and means tender or deep. “Komayakani” functions like an adverb meaning tenderly or sensitively. Sai in saishin has the same meaning. “Saishin no” means scrupulous. It always precedes a noun. “Saishin no chūi wo harau” means to pay a scrupulous attention. Chūi means attention. Harau means to pay.

To see this with Japanese, please click here.

1. Begin to draw the left-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
2. Draw the short stroke from almost where you finished the last stroke.
3. Draw the stroke that parallels the first stroke.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke that is almost horizontal.
5. Draw the dot at the end of the previous stroke.
6. Draw the vertical stroke.
7. Draw the sweeping stroke on the left of the vertical stroke.
8. Draw the dot on the other side.
9. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
10. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
11. Draw the vertical stroke in the rectangle.
12. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
13. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.

In the dictionary, this is categorized as an 11-stroke character. When you write this character with a pen, connect the first and the second strokes, and the third and the fourth strokes.