Relax

Relax

kutsuro-gu, kan

The last character we would like to present to you in year 2010 is “to relax,” one thing most of our contemporary people forget to do no matter where you live in the world. Whether you think ourselves as productive or not, we are bound to be busy. Being busy has been almost virtue.

To be generous is another message. Kandai means generosity or having a large heart. This is the way I (it’s me, Alice) am trying to pursue but often find it difficult. In kandai, kan means large.

The verb kutsurogu means “to relax” or “to be relaxed.” Relaxing is kutsuroida, which always accompanies nouns. “Kutsuroida fun’i ki” is a relaxing atmosphere. “Fun’i ki” is an atmosphere. “Kutsuroida ki bun” is a relaxing feeling. “Ki bun” is a feeling. Find these words written in Japanese >>> here.

Wish you welcome the New Year with a relaxing feeling.

---

1. Draw the dot on the top.
2. Draw the dot to the left.
3. Draw the hook. The latter part is a sweeping stroke.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke.
5. Draw the left dot crossing the horizontal stroke.
6. Draw the right sweeping dot crossing the horizontal stroke.
7. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
8. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
9. Draw the upper horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
10. Draw the lower horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
11. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
12. Draw the sweeping stroke.
13. Draw the curve with an upward turn.

Young Buds or Charming

Young Buds or Charming

mo-eru, mo-e, hō

If you are otaku or a big anime fan, you probably know this word, “moe.” Moe is not a traditional word. This is a kind of affection toward particular anime characters.

The verb “moeru” means to bud. This word is hardly used these days. Hōga meaning young buds or portents is also formal.

---

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. Begin to draw the lower part. 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 sweeping stroke near the center.
9. Draw the hook with an upward turn.
10. Draw the upper horizontal stroke under the hook.
11. Draw the lower horizontal stroke.

A Long Time Ago

A Long Time Ago

mukashi, shaku

A long time ago, we watched kids’ TV series called “manga Nippon mukashibanashi,” which means cartoon Japanese folklores. Each episode lasts for about 10 minutes. Now you can watch them on YouTube. Try “Kaguya hime.” I wrote about this story the other day. My version is a little different due to my vague memory.

Mukashi means “a long time ago” or “ancient times.”

You will find the story begins with the word, “mukashi mukashi.” The phrase is equivalent to “once upon a time” in English folklores.

---

1. Draw the horizontal stroke.
2. Draw the vertical stroke from the top left.
3. Draw the vertical stroke from the top right.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke touching the vertical strokes.
5. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
6. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
7. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
8. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.

To Govern or to Cure

To Govern or to Cure

osa-meru, osa-maru, nao-su, nao-ru, chi, ji

Like yesterday’s character, this character means “to govern.” The verb osameru means “to govern” or “to settle a dispute.” The verb osamaru means “to settle down” or “to become stable.”

We have another verb with this. Naosu means “to cure disease.” Naoru means “to recover.” You can use Nao’s nao for naoru.

Major compounds can be categorized into two groups: governance and relief.

Governance

• seiji … politics
• tōchi … ruling
• jichi … self-government

Cure

• chiryō … treatment
• chiyu … healing

To see these compounds in Japanese, visit >>> here.

---

1. Draw the dot in the upper-left corner of the character.
2. Draw the dot below it.
3. Draw the upward stroke in the lower-left corner. This stroke is heading toward the next stroke.
4. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the chevron shape from the top. (In calligraphy, you had better divide this stroke into two.)
5. Draw the dot.
6. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
7. Draw the upper and right side of the rectangle.
8. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.

To Go Through

To Go Through

he-ru, kei, kyō

This character is used in many different ways because it has many meanings.

It is primarily known as a character meaning “to go through” and therefore keiyu means via. The verb heru also means “to go through” or “to experience.” If the subject of heru is time, the meaning is “to go by” or “to elapse.”

One of the most important words including this character is keizai, which means economy. Keizaitekina means economical. Keizaigaku is economics and keizaigakusha is an economist. In these words, kei means “to govern.”

Let me add etymological comment. Keizai comes from “keisei saimin” (Governing the country and saving the people). The kei of keizai is the kei of keisei. The zai of keizai is a voiced sound of sai, the sai of saimin.

---

1. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top, change the direction of the brush, and draw the short stroke. (In calligraphy, you had better divide this stroke into two strokes.)
2. Draw the stroke paralleling the first part of the previous stroke, change the direction of the brush, and draw the sweeping stroke that is almost horizontal. (In calligraphy, you had better divide this stroke into two strokes.)
3. Draw the dot at the end of the previous stroke.
4. Draw the vertical stroke.
5. Draw the sweeping stroke to the left.
6. Draw the dot to the right.
7. Begin to draw the right-hand side. Draw the hook.
8. Draw the sweeping stroke crossing the previous stroke.
9. Draw the horizontal stroke.
10. Draw the vertical stroke crossing the previous stroke.
11. Draw the horizontal stroke at the bottom.

To Split or 10 %

 

To Split or 10 %

wa-ru, wa-reru, wari, katsu

The verb waru means to split. In math, it means to divide.

If the object of the verb is a hard thing such as ceramics or glasses, waru means to break it or to crack it. The intransitive verb wareru is used when it breaks or it cracks.

The verbs wakeru and bunkatsusuru mean to divide or to share. Bunkatsusuru is formal.

Wari is a unit of proportion, meaning 10 percent. Ichiwari (1 wari) is ten percent; niwari (2 wari) is 20 percent; sanwari (3 wari), 30 percent; and so on.  Wariai means a ratio or a proportion.

---

1. Draw the dot on the top.
2. Draw the dot to the left.
3. Draw the hook.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke.
5. Draw the vertical stroke under the hook.
6. Draw the second horizontal stroke.
7. Draw the longest horizontal stroke.
8. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
9. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
10. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
11. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the shorter vertical stroke.
12. Draw the longer vertical stroke with an upward turn.

1. Draw the dot on the top.
2. Draw the dot to the left.
3. Draw the hook.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke.
5. Draw the vertical stroke under the hook.
6. Draw the second horizontal stroke.
7. Draw the longest horizontal stroke.
8. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
9. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
10. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.

Lucid Accounts of History

Lucid Accounts of History

reki

This character means history or lucidity. So the title roughly expresses its meaning.

As we mentioned here before, history is rekishi. Something historical is expressed by rekishiteki or rekishitekina. Both words modify nouns coming after the words. The noun rekishi sometimes modifies nouns. Historical novels are “rekishi shō setsu.”

Someone’s biography is sometimes called raireki but it sounds formal. Rireki is one’s personal history or career. Rirekisho means a résumé or CV.

The adverb “rekizento” means clearly. It’s rather formal. Writers use it to make their writings sound lucid. This word is for advanced learners.

---

1. Draw the horizontal stroke on the top.
2. Draw the sweeping stroke.
3. Draw the horizontal stroke near the center.
4. Draw the vertical stroke crossing the previous stroke.
5. Draw the sweeping stroke from the previous two strokes intersect.
6. Draw the dot on the other side of the vertical stroke.
7. Draw the horizontal stroke next to the previously drawn horizontal stroke.
8. Draw the vertical stroke crossing the previous stroke.
9. Draw the sweeping stroke from the previous two strokes intersect.
10. Draw the dot on the other side of the vertical stroke.
11. Draw the vertical stroke between the bottoms of two trees.
12. Draw the short horizontal stroke from the middle of the vertical stroke.
13. Draw the shorter vertical stroke.
14. Draw the horizontal stroke at the bottom.

A View, a Sight, or an Appearance

A View, a Sight, or an Appearance

kan

As you can see in the title, today’s character’s meaning is related to watching. See some compounds including the character to feel the meaning.

• kankō … sightseeing
• jinseikan … one’s theory on of life
• rakkan … optimism
• hikan … pessimism
• bikan … a sense of beauty
• gaikan … the appearance of something such as buildings
• sōkan … a spectacle view

---

The right-hand side of the character is miru (to look).

1. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
2. Draw the horizontal stroke.
3. Draw the sweeping stroke.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke crossing the previous stroke.
5. Draw the vertical stroke to the left.
6. Draw the small sweeping dot.
7. Draw the horizontal stroke touching the previous stroke.
8. Draw the vertical stroke paralleling to the fifth stroke.
9. Draw the horizontal stroke below the seventh stroke.
10. Draw the horizontal stroke below it.
11. Draw the horizontal stroke below it.
12. Begin to draw the right-hand side of the character. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
13. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
14. Draw the upper horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
15. Draw the lower horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
16. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
17. Draw the sweeping stroke.
18. Draw the curve with an upward turn.

A Needle

A Needle

hari, shin

Hari is a needle.

Clocks and watches have two hands. These are called hari. The longer one is chōshin; the shorter, tanshin.

Stitches can be counted by hari. Hitohari is one stitch; futahari is two stitches; mihari, three; yonhari, four and so on.

---

Start to draw from the left part of the character. The left part is kane (metal).

1. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the lower left. Make it narrower gradually.
2. Draw the dot from where you started the first stroke.
3. Draw the horizontal stroke close to the previous strokes.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke below the previous stroke.
5. Draw the vertical stroke.
6. Draw the left dot.
7. Draw the sweeping dot on the other side.
8. Draw the sweeping stroke from the lower left corner.
9. Begin to draw the right part of the character. Draw the horizontal stroke.
10. Draw the vertical sweeping stroke.

Knowledge or Discernment

Knowledge or Discernment

shiki

This character is used as part of compounds. Words are categorized into two groups: knowledge and discernment.

Knowledge

Chishiki means knowledge. Gakushiki means academic knowledge. Jōshiki means common sense. Jōshiki was coined when it is translated from English.

Discernment

Kenshiki means discernment. Ninshiki means cognition. Ninshikisuru means “to cognize.” Menshiki is acquaintance.

All of these words often accompany either aru (have) or nai (do not have). For example, “chishiki ga aru” means to have knowledge. If you say, “menshiki ga aru,” talking about somebody, you have met them before. You haven’t met them if you say, “menshiki ga nai.”

(Thanks to Leonardo Boiko) I forgot to mention two important words: ishiki and mu ishiki. These are categorized into the “discernment” group. Ishiki means consciousness and muishiki means unconsciousness.

---

The left-hand side of the character is gen (to say). Draw this part first.

1. Draw the dot on the top.
2. Draw the horizontal stroke below it.
3. Draw the shorter horizontal stroke below it.
4. Draw the horizontal stroke below it.
5. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
6. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
7. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
8. Begin to draw the right-hand side. Draw the dot on the top center.
9. Draw the horizontal stroke below it.
10. Draw the dot below it.
11. Draw the sweeping stroke next to it.
12. Draw the longest horizontal stroke.
13. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
14. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
15. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
16. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
17. Draw the long curve with an upward turn.
18. Draw the sweeping stroke crossing the previous stroke.
19. Draw the dot in the upper right corner of the character.