Joy o' Kanji Thematic Bundles

Welcome to Thematic Bundles!
Just as a strong bond between two people produces a whole that's greater than the sum of its parts, the same applies to thoughtfully grouped kanji essays. In this section you'll find bundles of four essays that have something essential in common. Considering thematically related essays in one fell swoop enables you to make connections that you might otherwise miss. It also illuminates the real differences between kanji that seem quite similar on the surface. Moreover, having these groupings creates a structure for your kanji studies. Rather than casting about aimlessly for your next interesting read, you can now proceed systematically. If you read one essay a week, then each bundle will provide a "flavor of the month."
Image credit: many thanks to graphic artist Keith Ikeda-Barry ⇗ for the vibrant images that jump off the page!
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Booze 101
酵 ferment
醸 brew
酔 drunk
酎 sake
22
The 酔 essay examines intoxication from every angle, including great Osaka bars, studies of drunkards, tipsy cats and wasted elephants, and hangover prevention. The other three essays detail the processes of making saké, shochu, and beer, exploring all of the following (and much more): the ingredients in alcohol, the intricacies of fermentation, modes of distilling and brewing, malt, an old method of making saké by chewing rice and spitting it out, saké as a living entity, the image problem saké once had in Japan, alcoholic offerings to gods, the health benefits of shochu, and using alcohol to make food.
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Do or Die
執 hold on to
遂 accomplish
徹 go through
粘 sticky
21
Tenacity binds these essays together, sometimes as the secondary sense of characters. The literal stickiness of 粘 (e.g., natto, clay, and snail mucus!) inspired the figurative meaning "tenacity," as in "stick-to-it-ness." Mainly, 執 involves performing tasks (often by wielding long, thin objects such as pens or batons), but as "tenacity" this kanji drives words about persistence, obsession, and grudges. The whole bundle showcases adherence to beliefs and goals, doing things thoroughly, and seeing things through (e.g., athletes who accomplish greatness). These essays also depict the dark side of such devotion—namely, obstinacy, self-centeredness, discord, monomania, ill health, and more.
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Concepts of Time
旬 season
昔 ancient; old
暦 calendar
頃 time
20
The sun, moon, and seasons are natural clocks, but time is also a construct. As this bundle shows, the Japanese divide time into units of 10 (days, months, or years), also perceiving 72 microseasons. Japan has observed lunar, solar, and other calendars, plus 60-year cycles and multiple era systems. For all this precision, people approximate time with "the good old days," "once upon a time," or "around the time." They also have a particular take on time when saying that a food is in season, "at your age," and "It's a great time" for a certain activity.
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Lofty Views
岳 mountain peak
峠 ridge
峰 summit
麓 foot of a mountain
19
Sometimes a mountain isn't just a mountain. See how the Japanese associate certain parts with the peak of a crisis or with a risky situation that leaves no room for error. Find out how most of the population reveres mountains as sacred and how they act on these beliefs. Discover a legendary rivalry between two great mountains, one that proved transformative for both. Learn how particular perceptions of mountains have inspired famous artwork. And see how, to the Japanese, the foot of a mountain appears to be the hem of its "skirt"!
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Intricate Systems
繭 cocoon
桑 mulberry
巣 nest
蜂 bee
18
These essays detail complex, interdependent systems, both natural and economic. Sericulture was once so essential to Japan's economy that mulberry (桑) fields are marked on maps, as silkworms eat only mulberry leaves. These animals laboriously spin cocoons (繭), producing filaments that become silk kimonos after many financial transactions. Similarly, Japanese apiarists oversee busy bees (蜂) that make not only hives and honeycomb but also honey to be sold and consumed in multiple ways. Animals build intricate nests and webs (both 巣) that inspire terrific Japanese figurative language. People even eat some nests!
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Windows of Time
午 noon
更 again
宵 early evening
旦 dawn
17
Rock around the clock with these four kanji. They might seem to represent mere points in a 24-hour stretch. But as 午 appears in terms for "morning" and "afternoon," it applies to a large chunk of the day. Then 宵 takes over, generally meaning "early evening" but also sometimes "evening." We find 更 in terms for the ancient Chinese system of night watches that ran from about 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Night ends with dawn (旦). These multipurpose kanji also symbolize parts of the year, from New Year's (旦) to late autumn (更).
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Corduroy Landforms
畝 furrow
堤 embankment
畔 paddy ridge
堀 ditch
16
The Japanese have long corrugated the earth, mounding and trenching it with grand plans. Embankments (堤) rise above rivers to prevent floods. Dug-out moats (堀), whether empty or full, contrast with higher bordering land for castle defense. An agricultural field features ridges (畝) and furrows, with plants in raised areas, irrigation in "valleys." A footpath is just high enough above a flooded rice field (畔) that 畔also represents "causeway, a raised road across low or wet ground." See how the Japanese have gone to great lengths to create "corduroy" landforms.
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In Hot Water
栓 plug
槽 vat
岡 hill
呂 spine; ロ sound
15
Bathing in Japan could mean communing with nature, following rigid procedures in a bathhouse, or soaking in water that other relatives have used. These essays cover all situations. They introduce practical terms for "bathtub," "turning on a faucet," and "overflowing." You'll learn where people bathed before owning bathtubs. You'll see how, in bathhouses, smaller, raised pools and larger pools below floor level respectively represent land and sea. You'll learn which "bathtub" term the Japanese associate with empty basins versus full pools at hot springs. And you'll discover how bathing has connected to religion, family bonds, prostitution, and a famous thief.
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Ups and Downs
凹 concave
丘 hill
凸 convex
岡 hill
14
This essay collection about hilly topography focuses in part on the physical world: bumpy surfaces, volcanic cones, lens curvature, embossed paper, and especially flat abs! But such topics are also rich in figurative possibilities. One essay first examines objects that stand apart from the rest, then demonstrates how being separated from the main action affords a clear vantage point. That essay also touches on unrequited love. Another illuminates how it feels to be overwhelmed and slightly depressed. A third addresses the ups and downs of life. Uneven ground proves to be fertile!
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Fruit Basket
桑 mulberry
桃 peach tree
梅 plum tree
柿 persimmon
13
This "fruit basket" has caused creative juices to flow in Japan. The trees and fruits connect to colors, haiku, proverbs, myths, folktales, and wordplay. People associate peaches with Shangri-la and instability, Japanese apricots with happiness, and persimmons with Mount Fuji and writing brushes. The Japanese fully use certain trees—the wood in furniture, the leaves in tea (and even in sushi!), and fruit, roots, and bark in dye, paper, and Traditional Chinese Medicine. The juice goes into drinks, alcoholic or tame. And the Japanese and ancient Chinese have viewed these fruits and their trees as warding off misfortune!
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Favorite Foods
芋 potato
寿 longevity
麺 noodles
拉 kidnap
12
Sushi comes in infinite varieties (as the 寿 essay shows). Noodles can take many forms and be made from a multitude of flours (as the 麺 and 拉 essays demonstrate). Sweet potatoes differ by region (as the 芋 essay makes clear). In Japan these favorite foods inspire not only cravings but also deep passion, nostalgia, arguments over origin stories, and hairsplitting about the preparation methods particular to certain locales. People also have strong beliefs about these dishes, eating certain noodles for longevity, treating sweet potatoes as guilty pleasures, and regarding uncut sushi as lucky.
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Flower Power
菊 chrysanthemum
丹 rust; vermilion
梗 blockage
藤 wisteria
11
In this bouquet of essays, flowers represent far more than beauty. Those showcased here (including the Chinese bellflower of the 梗 essay and the tree peony of the 丹 essay) symbolize everything from the emperor, nobility, and wealth to honor, love, and feminine beauty. The Japanese also associate some of these flowers with hardiness or with grief. People celebrate them in family crests, at festivals, with dolls, and in a range of artistic creations. Supposedly, the flowers even confer health benefits—curing headaches, cooling and invigorating the blood, and removing phlegm.
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Be Square
升 measure
井 well
坪 tsubo
斗 Big Dipper
10
As these essays amply demonstrate, squares delineate much of life in Japan. Two tatami mats placed side by side form a square, and those squares (坪) constitute units of measurements, whether of floor space or land area. Ceilings traditionally have lattice patterns. Students write in squares on grid paper. People drink saké from wooden masu boxes. Japanese wells are typically square, and the shape of a well ledge has inspired all kinds of hashtag-like designs from famous corporate logos to family crests to fabric patterns. These essays will have you thinking inside the box!
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Making the Rounds
傘 umbrella
浜 seashore
鎌 sickle
梨 Japanese pear tree
09
All four kanji symbolize curving objects that have inspired fascinating creative leaps. Umbrella designs made people connect 傘 with domes, mushroom caps, snake eyes, and swords. Land and sea meet in a curvy line, so 浜 helps represent "wavy design" in everything from raked gravel to furniture to dog dishes. As "sickle," 鎌 drives words for crescent-shaped things (e.g., hamachi kama, curving ridges, a dolphin fin, and a dental tool). And the pear influences terms for pear-shaped islands and certain rounded body parts.
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What Used to Exist
掘 dig
跡 trace
痕 scar
踪 footprint
08
All four essays involve digging into matters, examining physical evidence of the past (including ruins, footprints, or even handwriting), making discoveries, drawing conclusions about what happened, and then taking action. That could mean closing the case on a crime, declaring a missing person legally dead and doling out inheritance money, reconstructing a historic site, or pursuing someone who has disappeared. All four essays reinforce the idea that although a living creature can vanish or die ridiculously fast, we all leave marks on this world.
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Power Centers
京 capital
鎌 sickle
畿 city
阪 slope
07
Kyoto, Tokyo, Kamakura, Nara, and Osaka have, at various times, been the centers of political power in Japan, three serving as national capitals. These cities teem with history, some of it violent, thanks to battles for ascendancy centuries ago. Those vying for power even turned several temples into political strongholds. Nowadays, the cities pride themselves on culinary specialties, striking architecture, regional products, and prominent temples (one with a gigantic Buddha statue). Proverbs and stereotypes reveal the distinctive personality traits associated with each location.
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Prefectures Preserving the Past
媛 beautiful woman
埼 cape
栃 horse chestnut
阜 hill
06
All four kanji pop up in prefecture names, so these essays take us through four prefectures with scenic mountains, castles, connections to famous writers, and charming old architecture. Find out which city is known as Little Edo for its historic buildings and its traditional-looking warehouses, and see which location is known as Little Kyoto because it has retained its original appearance. Learn where traditional A-frame-like houses dominate the landscape, and discover a cultural theme park that re-creates the Edo era.
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Holding Space: Containers and Lids
缶 can
鉢 bowl
瓶 flower pot
蓋 lid
05
As all four kanji represent containers or lids, the essays abound in canning and bottling goods, whether jam or tuna, beer or shochu. Food preparation takes center stage, from grinding spices and kneading dough to cooking mushrooms in a teapot. Things heat up with hibachis, kettles, steam boilers, and the "cauldron of hell"! More unexpectedly, Buddhism keeps popping up, what with ritual vessels and mendicant priests who carry begging bowls. Body parts serve as metaphorical lids and pots. And with more figurative leaps we touch on opening the lid of one's mind and bottling youth.
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Steeped in Saké
酌 bartending
升 measure
斗 Big Dipper
杯 cup
04
Just one kanji in this bundle includes a "saké" radical (oddly enough!), but saké flows liberally through all four essays, which collectively soak you in Japanese drinking culture. They showcase containers of alcohol, from tiny "choko" cups and wooden "masu" boxes to barrels of saké, and ways of measuring these liquids. The essays focus on the role of alcohol in celebrations (especially at the new year) and in rituals to honor the dead. Japanese expectations around drinking become clear, including the importance of refilling another person's glass and even the ritual of exchanging cups. Kanpai!
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Sounds, Sanskrit, and Statues
刹 temple
那 what?
奈 Nara
弥 increasingly
03
To represent certain sounds with kanji, ancient people had particular go-to characters. Thus, these four kanji contribute yomi (rather than meaning) to many place names (including Nara, Kanagawa, Naha, a term for "China," and some mythical locations) and to plenty of religious words transliterated from Sanskrit. Buddhism takes center stage in all four essays, two of which contrast massive statues of Vairocana Buddha and Amitabha Buddha in Nara and Kamakura respectively. Surprisingly, three kinds of noodles pop up along the way!
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I’ve Got the Blues
紺 navy blue
紫 purple
藍 indigo
瑠 lapis lazuli
02
A deep dive into dyeing gives you the blues in the best of ways, also illuminating the clothing of commoners versus that of the elites and priests. Speaking of priests, three of the essays connect to Buddhism. More unexpectedly, sea creatures, achievement medals, the colors of the rainbow, birds, gems, and vegetables all prove to be common ground. See which color the Japanese associate with uniforms and which one they think of when seeing soy sauce and cigarette smoke.
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Color Me Surprised!
褐 brown
彩 to color
朱 scarlet
丹 rust; vermilion
01
Nature abounds in these essays, including blood-red sunsets, brightly colored birds, and fall foliage. Logically, art forms such as painting, calligraphy, and lacquering also emerge as central themes. But who would have guessed that color ties in with many body parts: blood, the eye, lips, skin, cells, and even a point where energy is concentrated. Mental states also matter here with faces flushed with rage, diligence in work, depression and lifelessness, and vitality. Moreover, multiple essays touch on religion, minerals (including one ingested for longevity), and old forms of currency (one of which was chocolate!).
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