[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.

[No. 0021 Kanji] Fleeting

Do you remember the post, [No.0014 Kanji] Dream? If you do so, you might think this Kanji is very similar to the kanji, "夢 ゆめ yume", meaning a dream.

So, what do you think of the meaning of the kanii above? Similar meaning to a dream? The answer is no. The meaning is "fleeting", and it is pronounced, "はかない hakanai".

The interesting story I've mentioned on the article above is the following.
This Kanji, "儚", consists of 2 parts, "亻" and "夢".  "亻" means human beings, as I've told you on this post, and "夢" is a dream.

Here, we can make the equation as below.

HUMAN BEINGS +  A DREAM = FLEETING

In other words, a dream of human is fleeting.
Japanese dream might be a fleeting thing that we will never achieve as opposite to American dream that they can surely achieve.

I think this is a Japanese traditional mind because there were very similar concepts in the past, like "諸行無常 しょぎょうむじょう shogyou mujyou". If you got interested in it, do please visit this or this. The two explain about it, and it would be very useful to you.



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

[No.0020 Kanji] Like

If you want to tell your feeling to someone, you might use this Kanji. This kanji basically indicates "to like".

Example:
あなたのことが好き(すき)です。　－ I like you or I love you.
(anata no koto ga suki desu.)

彼(かれ)/彼女(かのじょ)、好み(このみ)なんだよね。　－ He/She is my type.
(Kare/kanojo, konomi nandayone.)

It has other ways to pronounce, but we'll tell you next time.

As for etymology, it seems that there are some streams. What I like is most: the kanji expresses that a mother taking care of her kid.

Looking for an origin of kanji is very interesting, isn't it? Most of Japanese don't know much about it. So you must be familiar with kanji more than Japanese if you could keep learning about kanii at KANJI.COM ;)


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

[No.0019 Kanji] Hot

I have visited Indonesia for business last week. Comparing to Japan in winter, it was very hot in Jakarta.

"Hot" in kanji is "暑い あつい atsui". You can write it by combining "日 ひ hi " and "者 もの mono".

As a matter of fact, it was very cold in a hotel because the air conditioner worked too much in every room LOL.


Examples:
今日(きょう）は暑（あつ）かったねー。 － It was hot today.
(Kyou ha atsu katta ne.)



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

[No.0018 Kanji] Cold

This means "cold". You pronounce it "さむい samui" or "かん kan".
In Japan, it has been less than 10 degree Celsius lately. It is cold for Japanese. How about your country? Do you think it is cold? Or is it still warm for you?


Example:
今日ちょー寒くない？－ It's so cold today, isn't it?
冬だしね。 － It's because of winter.

Do you remember the kanji "冬"? If not, review the previous post.


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

[No.0017 Kanji] Winter

This kanji stands for a winter, and is pronounced "ふゆ huyu" or "とう tou".
It originally came from hieroglyph which expresses a situation hanging foods for storage, and it turned out the kanji indicating a season when we store foods.

Example:
もう冬だねぇ。　－ It's almost winter.
冬眠したい。    － I want to have a winter sleep.

Personally I love the phrase "もう冬だねぇ。" because it can indicate variety kinds of feeling of the person who say it. That unclear but implicit phrase is beautiful. I think most of Japanese think so. This non-direct expression is Japanese culture.


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

[No.0016 Kanji] Luck/Bring

This kanji has mainly 2 meanings, "luck" and "to bring". "辶 しんにょう shinnyou" express a movement of legs, and "軍 ぐん gunn" express a position surrounded by tanks. This combination means circling. By further extension, it means luck because it is said that luck circles around and gets brought from somewhere else. Also it means to bring something.

Pronunciation:
Luck: うん unn
To bring: はこぶ hakobu

There are some phrases including "運". Here are some of examples. If you can say some to Japanese friends, it would be very surprising for them. Learn here and use it in a real conversation.

Example:
運も実力のうち-Being lucky is a part of your ability.



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

[No.0015 Kanji] Fragrant

Today's kanji is very difficult, and I'm sure there are many Japanese people who don't know this itself and how to pronounce it. So this is a big chance to make your Japanese friends surprising;)

"馨しい" means "being fragrant, scentful", and is pronounced "かぐわしい kaguwashii". As you can see, this kanji include "香　かおり kaori" and "声　こえ　koe". I guess that you might tell this kanjis is related to smell if you know the meaning of "香".


And, here is a photo of Japanese unique beer.

The name is KAGUA, 馨和 in Kanji. I personally love this symbol and font. Of course the taste is very nice. KAGUA has 2 flavors, red and white.

KAGUA is a unique ale, unlike anything you have tasted before.
From the moment you pour it in your glass, you will be mesmerized by its distinctive and exceptional aromas.　(http://www.nipponcraftbeer.com/kagua)

If you are in Japan, KAGUA is waiting for you in "factory" ( http://www.the-silver-factory.com/ ) where is located in Shibuya. It's a highly recommended product to enjoy Japan.




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

[No.0014 Kanji] Dream

This kanji means a dream, is pronounced "yume", and wrtitten as "ゆめ" in hiragana.
I was trying to explain about etymology for it, but I changed my mind, and will give you a short introduction.

The upside of it has 2 parts visually, "艹 kusakanmuri" which indicates that it is related to a plant, and "目 eye". I heard that the two originally meant horns and eyes of a sheep.
The downside of it is "夕 yu" meaning evening, sunset, or something.

Now, there is a interesting to tell you about it.
In Japan, a dream is thought to be a thing that people want to achieve but basically it won't come true. On the other hand in USA, a dream is a goal which is likely to come true, right? I think this idea reflects each mind.

Anyway, this kanji is used in other kanji, and that story is also interesting. I'll post about it next time.


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

[No.0013 Kanji] Rest

This Kanji stands for a rest, and is pronounced "きゅう kyu", or with "む mu" "やすむ yasumu".
This is divided to "亻" and "木", but do you know the both? "亻" is called "にんべん ninnbenn" which is a part of a kanji describing about human beings.
And, I think you know "木". How do you pronounce it? Yes, it is pronounced "き ki" or "もく/ぼく moku/boku" and means basically a wood.
Also, you can see "木" on a Japanese calender. Then "木" is an abbreviation of "木曜日　もくようび" meaning Thursday.
We Japanese often say "もくよう mokuyou", like "木曜は？(How about Thursday?"). The symbol is very simple. So remember it, or you can find it everywhere.

By the way, we'd like you not to 休む your school lesson or something, but we are curious to know about culture or habit of a rest.
In Japan, taking a rest is basically not a nice thing at our workplace. Even if you are sick, it is usual to keep working. How about your country? Actually the number of company which can flexibly manage employees gradually increases in Japan, but I think it is still very few. Please leave a comment below.

EXAMPLE:
明日は学校を休む。　- I will miss school tomorrow.
木曜日は？　- How about Thursday?

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

[No. 0012 Kanji] Life

This kanji stands for "life", and is pronounced "いのち inochi". I'll explain etymology of this kanji.
"命" is divided to two parts, "令" and "口".

"令" is visually expressing "a person with a sacred hat, dropping on the knee".
"口" is visually expressing a container which a pray is set.
So we pray, and the God provides us our lives. This is ancient thought of life.


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

[No.0011 Kanji] Victory

This kanji stands for a victory, and is pronounced "しょう shou" by itself. As a verb, we say "勝つ　かつ katsu" meaning "to win".

Mr.Obama won the election as you know. That's why I selected this kanji today. It has its etymology, but it is a little bit difficult to explain. So remember at least the symbol, and use it like "Mr. Obama won!" meaning  "オバマ氏が勝った！(obama-shi ga katta!)"


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

[No.0010 Kanji] Rain

This Kanji stands for rain, and is pronounced "あめ ame". You might tell this kanji means rain by the look.
And this kanjis is very useful because it is used to other kanji related to rain. Google the words, "fog", "snow", and "cloud". Finished? Like this case, there are many kanjis including other kanjis. Then we can suggest what a kanji mean by them.


As for etymology, I just found out one 3D epic video explaining "雨". Visit and watch 3D epic video!!
Kanji expressing nature has such etymology particularly.


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

[No.0009 Kanji] Head

This Kanji stands for a head, "あたま atama" in hiragana. It has other pronunciation, "ず zu". If there is only "頭", you can pronounce it "atama", but it is next to other Kanji, for example, "頭上", you cannot say "atama". "頭上" is pronounced "zu-jyo", meaning "over the head".

And it has another exception.
Do you know Japanese sweet, "manjyu"? It is written lik "饅頭 まんじゅう". I think this is confusing, but please do not hate Kanji haha.


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

[No.0008 Kanji] Eat/Meal

This Kanji stands for a meal by itself, and is pronounced "shoku". Moreover, you can also say "食べる taberu" meaning "to eat". You might have seen "日本食 nihon-shoku" or "和食 wa-shoku" meaning Japanese meals.

The older you get, the more you love Japanese dishes because it has various ingredients to be used, not to mention but it is healthy, and it has not only protein but also vitamin or something.


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

[No.0007 Kanji] Japanese Dragon

This kanji stands for Japanese dragon, and is pronounced "tatsu". Foreign dragon is stated as "龍 ryu" by the way.

You can learn here about animal symbols. The "辰" is  often used in Oriental Zodiac. It is 5th animal. One of animal symbols is given to us by the year you were born.

The photo below is a picture of "辰". It's similar to snake while foreign dragon is similar to dinosaur. Both of Japanese culture and other cultures have the same creature in myth. It is surprising, isn't it?

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

[No.0006 Kanji] Fish

This stands for fish, and pronounce "sakana". There are many kanji including this symbol. By  putting "魚" to it, a kanji get to have a meaning that it is related to fish.

We, Japanese eat row fish, sashimi or sushi, but I heard that people in other countries don't. If you came to Japan, you should get to be able to eat row fish before the trip to enjoy Japan more.



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

[No.0005 Kanji] Rich

We pronounce it "tomi", meaning rich. And this kanji doesn't necessarily mean money, but also indicates abundance of something.

And, this kanji is a part of "富士山(fuji-san)". You know what? It is Mt. Fuji. So I guess Mt. Fuji was a symbol of being rich at the time when it got the name.

Note that kanji has some pronunciation. "富" is called "tomi" or "fu". These are only pronunciation as a noun. "富む(tomu)" is  a verb, for example. Please don't get confused.



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

[No.0004 Kanji] World

This kanji means "world" in Kanji and it is pronounced "sekai".
"世(yo)" means "An environment around you". "この世(kono-yo) means "a real world" and "あの世(ano-yo)" means "heaven"."界(kai)" indicate "a border".
 So we might say a world is a environment around us separated apart from heaven/universe.


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

[No.0003 Kanji] Mobile phone

This kanji means a mobile phone as a noun, and also you can say "携帯する(keitai-suru)" meaning "to bring something".
A mobile phone is "携帯電話(keitai-denwa)" correctly. But in the most case, we skip "電話(denwa)" which means "a phone".
"携(kei)" means "to hold something". "帯(obi)" means "a strip" or  "something to wear". In sum, "携帯(keitai)" is something to bring around your body, equals to a mobile phone.


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

[No.0002 Kanji] Alcohol

This kanji means alcohol.
"氵" stands for　liquid and "酉" stands for a pot.
A Japanese style bar is called "居酒屋(izakaya)".You can understand somehow what "居酒屋" mean from now on.


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[No.0001 Kanji] Japan

This kanji stands for Japan.
"日(nichi)" means "a day", and "本(hon)" means "a book". You can say "nihon".
The two kanji are very basic, so you may see many times when you read Japanese.


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

KANJI.COM has started.

Today, KANJI.COM has started.
We are going to share information about kanji to you.
Hope you enjoy our contents!


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