54
Bundle 54: Fabulous Fabrics
絞
wring (out)
JOK: 1261
The 絞 kanji affords access to practical devices, such as juice squeezers and garlic presses. This kanji also introduces us to Japanese tie-dyeing. But 絞 really comes to life with its figurative uses, enabling us to put the screws on someone, squeeze money out of people, zero in on something, weed out applicants, and rack our brains. See what it means to strangle slowly with a silk cord.
麻
flax; flux
JOK: 1829
This essay will be totally rad, man. That is, it's about 麻, which means "hemp" and can serve as the "hemp" radical. The essay presents Japanese terms for "marijuana" and other opiates, as well as "drug addiction," "torpor," "anesthetic," and "paralysis." Oh, and there's also talk of sesame seeds and brown-nosing.
巾
turban; cloth
JOK: 1989
This versatile character helps you discuss anything from dishrags to the width of a waterfall. It's in {search巾着} (pouch), which has influenced both fashion and food (having lent its pyramidal shape to two dishes that are considered lucky). As a radical, 巾 pops up in scads of kanji, including some of the first ones you learned.
藍
indigo
JOK: 2130
Indigo became important in Japan partly because commoners couldn’t wear silk and instead chose cotton. Farmers’ indigo work togs shaped the creative inclinations of a contemporary dyer who loves to wrestle with indigo’s “persona.” A term for “temple” is inside a word for “pelican,” just as “cabbage” lies inside “kale” and “brussels sprouts.” The essay unravels all of these mysteries.
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