05

Bundle 5: Holding Space: Containers and Lids

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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缶
can
JOK: 1095
The yomi most often used for 缶 is KAN. How perfect is that for a kanji that means 'can'?! That isn't entirely a rhetorical question. Really, why is the yomi such a perfect match for the English word? This seemingly straightforward question has anything but a straightforward answer. Find out about this, as well as ways to speak about canned food, canned beverages, and "canned" people (which is not to say that they've been fired or that they're trite!). Learn about 缶 as a radical, too!
鉢
bowl
JOK: 1705
Is a hibachi really what you think it is? If begging is illegal, why can priests carry begging bowls? Find out! See how skulls and an Iwo Jima mountain are figurative pots or bowls. Learn to talk about bumping into someone. And discover ways to say, "He formed the clay into a bowl," "The flowerpot crashed to the sidewalk and broke," and "This antique hibachi isn't actually used these days."
瓶
flower pot
JOK: 1747
Find out about peering through alcohol bottles to understand history! See why people might call a bottle rectangular even if the base is round! Explore Ramune bottle design, a mushroom dish cooked in a teapot, a plant with leaves resembling water pitchers, and a genie who lives in a bottle in a classic anime. Learn to say, "The vase broke into fragments" and "The wine is bottled at this factory.”
蓋
lid
JOK: 1978
Learn which body parts have lids! See why "to open a lid" figuratively means "to see how things turn out." Learn to say, "I’m looking for a trash can with a lid," "Please lower the lid gently," and "reinforced glass lid." Back on the figurative side, find out how to say, "Tanaka's remarks started an argument," "You don't beat around the bush!" and "There is a suitable spouse for everyone."
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