[No.0034 Kanji] Indigo

This is a color. Indigo blue. The pronunciation is あい(ai), the same as 愛. Do you remember this kanji? If not, click [No.0031 Kanji ] Love.

I'll introduce you a song, named as 藍, sung by スキマスイッチ.

スキマスイッチ (Sukima Switch) is a very famous and popular artist in Japan. Especially their ballad songs are truly beautiful. The one above is one of them. Hope you like it. The following photo is the two of Sukima Switch.

#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

[No.0033 Kanji] Know/knowledge

This is a kanji meaning "to know" or "knowledge". I personally like it.


Example:
おばあちゃんには知恵（ちえ）がある。－ My grandma has knowledge.
(obaachan niha tie ga aru)

知らないの？－ Don't you know it?
(shiranaino?)


It is easy-to-write, but looks smart. That's why I like it.



#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com

[No.0032 Kanji] Crush

Continuing love romance related kanji, today I'm introducing above. Here you can check previous post.

Example:
わたし、彼（かれ）に恋（こい）しちゃったみたい。－ I seem to fall in love with him.
(watashi kare ni koi shichatta mitai)

恋愛（れんあい）って難（むずか）しいよね。－ Love romance is very difficult.
(renai tte muzukashii yone)


Do you understand the difference between 愛（あい/ai） and 恋（こい/koi）? 愛（あい/ai） is a feeling to love someone. 恋(こい/koi） is a situation to be fallen in love with someone. If you have not checked the previous post or want to find out more, click [No.0031 Kanji ] Love.


And 亦 part of 恋 expresses a person holding something both side. Can you see it?

Etymology:
In old days, 恋 was written as 戀.

戀 is made of 糸, 言, 糸, and 心, describing a mind(心：こころ/kokoro） which can't tell its feeling because it is getting entangled with line（糸：いと/ito). In that day, they were not allowed to love someone freely, and there were few communication ways.


It was first time for me as well to learn the origin of this kanji, but it was very romantic. The more I learn about the origin of Japanese kanji, the more I get attracted to Japanese culture and mind. I'm really proud of Japan.

[No.0031 Kanji ] Love

I think some of you have already known this kanji. Do you? This is a kanji meaning "love".

Example:
わたしはあなたを愛（あい）している。－ I love you.
(watashi wa anata wo ai shiteru)

儚（はかな）い愛（あい）。－A fleeting love.
(hakanai ai)

#The second one is a review for you. Do you remember the kanji meaning fleeting?


As for etymology, 愛 is originally come from 3 parts below.

・心（こころ）－ a mind
・夂（足をひきずる）－ appearance of a person dragging his/her feet.
・旡（人が胸をつまらせてのけぞったさま）－ appearance of a person bending backward.

In conclusion, appearance that someone can't walk ahead with a broken heart. It is really romantic origin, isn't it? Have your ever loved anyone like this?


There is other similar word, 恋（こい：koi）. If you can tell the difference between the two, visit this article,[No.0032 Kanji] Crush

[SPECIAL] How To Make Okonomiyaki

Hi everybody.
Today I will give you a special content, how to cook okonomiyaki which I got some requests about it.


<INGREDENTS>

☆Water - 200 cc
☆Flour - 140 ｇ
☆Soy sauce - a bit
☆Salad oil - a bit
・Cabbage - a half
・Bean Sprout - 1bag
・Green Onion - amont you want
・Pork - 100g
・Noodle - 2 bag
・Egg - 2
・Otahuku sauce
・mayonnaise



<HOW TO MAKE>


1) Mix the ingredients starred together and lay it on a pan or plate.









2) Put cabbage which is cut into stripes, bean sprout , and green onion.








3) Put pork on it, pour some water, and steam for 3 minutes








4) Fry up noodles with otahuku sauce








5) After bean sprouts are well-boiled, put the fried noodles on it









6) Put a row egg on the pan/plate







7) After the egg get cooked, turn okonomiyaki over and put on the egg.

8) Turning the okonomiyaki over again completes it.

Eat it with otahuku sauce and mayonnaise! Hope you enjoy Okonomiyaki at your house.

※Recipe by http://cookpad.com/recipe/1588129

[No. 0030 Kanji] Virtue

This is a 30th kanji on this blog. Let me first thank you all who read KANJI.COM. And this time I'll pick up the kanji above that won on the poll on Facebook page.

"徳" is pronounced as "とく toku" and means "virtue". It sounds a little bit serious, but I think Japanese regard it as very important.

Example:
あのひとは徳（とく）の高（たか）いひとだ。－ He is a person of virtue.
(ano hito ha toku no takai hitoda)

道徳（どうとく）は大切（たいせつ）だ。－ Ethic is important.
(doutoku ha taisetsu da)


As for etymology, this originally consisted of "直" and "心", meaning a obedient mind, which are right side of it. "彳" was added later, which means the appearance walking slowly.

Many Japanese like a person with beautiful mind. For instance, we often don't appreciate a person who is not modest even if he/she looks successful.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

[No. 0029 Kanji] Big

This looks very easy to write because this is a kanji for primary school students. I'll give you examples how to use it.first.

Example:

大（おお）きいケーキを食（た）べた－ I ate a big cake.

(ookii keki wo tabeta)

大画面（だいがめん）でテレビを見（み）る－ I watch TV on a big screen.

(daigamen de terebi wo miru)

As for etymology, the kanji expresses a person stretching his/her arms. Like this kanji is originally made from hieroglyph. I hope you get to enjoy kanjis more than before with this background knowledge.

#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com

[No.0028 Kanji] Sky

This is pronounced as "sora" or "kuu". And it means basically "sky" or "empty". Let me provide us some examples.

Example:
今日（きょう）は空（そら）がきれい。－The sky is beautiful today.
(kyou ha sora ga kirei)

その箱（はこ）は空（から）だった。－ The box was empty.
(sono hako ha kara datta)

The meaning of empty is translated to be wasted, meaningless, or something like that.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com

[N0. 0027 Kanji] Enjoy / Easy

This kanji has two meaning. The one is "easy", and the other is "to enjoy".

Example:
今日（きょう）のテストは楽（らく）だったね。－ Today's exam was easy.
(kyou no tesuto ha raku dattane)

昨日（きのう）は楽（たの）しかった！－ I had a great time yesterday.
(kinou ha tanoshikatta)


I think you are likely to meet this kanji in Japanese sentences. If you have good time with Japanese, please do say 「楽しかったよ」 to him/her. He/She would feel happy to hear that. Of course, I hope you enjoy KANJI.COM.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

[No. 0026 Kanji] Stomach

When you have trouble with your stomach, you would use this kanji. It is originally made from a hieroglyph expressing organ complex. And the "月", the left side of it, is sometimes included in a kanji related to a body.


Example:
先生、お腹（なか）が痛（いた）いです。 － Teacher, I have a stomachache.
(sensei onaka ga itai desu)

The examples I have written here have many phrases "痛い　いたい itai", but I haven't intentionally do so. This has happened by chance LOL.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com

[No. 0025 Kanji] Face

This kanji means a face, and is pronounced "かお kao" or "がん gan". It looks a little bit difficult to write down, but it is a kanji to be learned at second grade of primary school in Japan.

The reason why I chose it is that today I have had some conversation about "顔文字 かおもじ Kaomoji on Twitter. Do you know that? This is Japanese emoticon, and I heard that it is very popular in other countries. Some seem to have a kaomoji app for their smartphones.
You can find Kaomojis on here.


Example:
顔（かお）がはれてるよ。－ Your face gets swollen.
(kao ga hareteruyo)

顔（かお）が痛（いた）い。－ I have a pain on my face.
(kao ga itai)

#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

[No. 0024 Kanji] Outside

This kanji is pronounced "そと soto" or "がい gai". This is basic, so there are many kanji phrases with it.

Example:

今日（きょう）は外出（がいしゅつ）します。－ I'm going out today.

(kyou ha gaisyutsu shimasu)

外国（がいこく）に行（い）きたい。－ I want to go to foreign countries.

(gaikoku ni ikitai)

子（こ）どもは外（そと）であそびなさい。－ Kids should play outside.

(kodomo ha soto de asobinasai.)

That's all for today!

#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

[No. 0023 Kanji] Wish

Do you want to wish something would happen? This kanji means "to wish".

Example:
星（ほし）に願（ねが）いを－when you wish upon a star.
(hoshi ni negai wo)

よろしくお願（ねが）いします。－?? #there is no equivalent phrase in English.
（yoroshiku onegai shimasu)

お願（ねが）いがあるんだけど。－May I ask a favor of you?
(onegai ga arundakedo)

I think this kanji is a little difficult to write but basic and useful one. Let's try to remember.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.

[No. 0022 Kanji] Burn / Cook

"焼く　やく　yaku" means "to burn something". Some of you might have seen this kanji before.
You know what? Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki have the kanji.

Japanese foods:
たこ焼き－Takoyaki
お好み焼き－Okonomiyaki

Do you know Japanese foods above?
Takoyaki is like below.

Okonomiyaki is like this.

Especially about okonomiyaki, I got some responses that some people want to eat but there is no restaurant serving it. So someday we'll post how to cook.

Other than foods, we have another example.

Example:
それCDに焼くよ。－I will burn it to CD.
(sore CD ni yakuyo)
*

Also it has another pronunciation, "しょう shou". If you see "焼" next to other kanji, we need to pronounce it "しょう shou". However, if you see the kanji with hiragana like above, the pronunciation is "やく yaku". Here, we have new thing to learn. The hiragana is called "送り仮名　おくりがな　okurigana", meaning hiragana with Kanji.

Example:
焼　しょう shou: this is part of kanji combination like "燃焼 ねんしょう nenshou"
焼く やく yaku: this is a verb. The "く" is okurinagna here.

Did you understand?
There are some pronunciation on a kanji, and it's so confusing. But do please keep studying.


#Should you have any kanji you wanna know, please leave a comment or contact share.your.japan[at]gmail.com.