09

Bundle 9: Making the Rounds

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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傘
umbrella
JOK: 1310
Find out how paper umbrellas are made and why they're rare. Discover why one type of Western umbrella (which is named after a blind animal!) was banned in the Osaka area. Also see why one kind of umbrella has 蛇 (snake) in its name. Learn to say "overprotected," "subsidiary," and "mushroom cap" with 傘, and read about the role of umbrellas in kabuki dances and in young love.
浜
seashore
JOK: 1743
Why did the Japanese once cling to poles in the sea in hopes of curing disease? Where can you ride camels in Japan or nest in a hole on a hot beach in order to heal? Find out about all this, plus beach rituals, beach-inspired literature, and a sandbar-inspired pattern that has influenced designs of everything from tables to cakes. Also enjoy photos of the prettiest beaches in Japan.
鎌
sickle
JOK: 1980
You may not need to talk about sickles, but knowing 鎌 helps you discuss crescent-shaped things; the “hammer and sickle” flag; sickle-wielding weasels; certain weapons; and Kamakura, a city where armies once battled for control of Japan. Kamakura is also associated with a giant Buddha, pigeon-shaped cookies, a painful part of canine history, and a word for “emergency.”
梨
Japanese pear tree
JOK: 2086
The Japanese pear is tough and spotted, inspiring fun terms that implicitly compare rough-hewn or polka-dotted entities to this fruit. (For example, a word for "avocado" breaks down as "alligator + pear"!) Moreover, 梨 pops up in words for pear-shaped things. See why this occurs even though a Japanese pear is round. Also find out why {search梨園} means something extremely different from "pear garden."
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