The Joy o' Kanji Essays

菓

Japan produces desserts from the world over, but its traditional confections offer the most surprises. Find out how a Japanese "sweet" may not be sweet at all and how even a fried vegetable could qualify! Also learn about the connection between 菓 and the tea ceremony, a recurring confection fair in Japan, gift cakes and gift horses, and what gods in Japan like to eat and drink.

暇

Find out which famous author called himself Godzilla's egg! See how two terms for "to give vacation time" can also mean "to fire" and "to divorce one's wife"! Learn to talk about filling free time, being unable to spare any time, killing time, not wasting a moment, and taking a paid day off. Also discover how to say "Firefighting is a feast-or-famine job" and "I was out of town on vacation."

靴

How did Japan come to make shoes from straw and wood? Why is the "leather" radical all but useless in 靴? How can you say "break in shoes," "tie shoelaces," and "wear two hats (actually shoes!)" in Japanese? How can "red shoes" not be shoes, and who in Japan famously wore red shoes? How have Japanese shoes indicated status? Find out all of these answers and much more!

箇

Have you been confused about -箇 versus -個 as a counter? If so, you're not alone. This problem has existed for millennia! To complicate matters further, the Japanese generally replace -箇 with -か, -カ, -ヵ, -ケ, or -ヶ. And one doesn't even pronounce -ケ as け! This essay sorts out all such muddles and puts 箇 "in its place," showing how to use it to mean "place" and how to count places.

稼

This Jekyll and Hyde character represents both hard work and thievery, and the samurai may have given 稼 its shady connotation! Learn to say, “I earn my keep,” “Losing their breadwinner was a shock to that family,” “I’ll make a little money, and Mr. White will never know,” “The factory is running at full capacity,” “It seems you're raking in the money,” and “I wish I earned more money.”

蚊

See what "mosquito pillar" and "shaking mosquito" represent. Discover how to use 蚊 in figurative terms. Learn about the "London Underground mosquito" and the striped "Asian tiger mosquito." And find out how to say, "The creature that kills the most humans is the mosquito," "The mosquito transmits many pathogens," and "Your punches don't affect me even as much as a mosquito (bite)."

皆

Find out about a kanji that invites you to make sweeping statements. Rich in sample sentences, this essay teaches you to say, "They were all confused," "Our professor paid for us all," "I don't like any of them," "How's everyone at the Hong Kong office?" and "May I please have your attention." See how 皆 connects to Buddhist thought, fabric dyeing, health insurance, and eclipses.

塊

If you're a 'lump' of something in Japanese, you have too much of one quality, as if you were actually made of that thing. When lobbing such criticism, people combine 塊 with abstract nouns. For instance, "利己心の塊 (りこしんのかたまり: lump of selfishness)" means that someone is the very incarnation of selfishness. Learn about lumps, from the literal to the metaphorical. Also find out how to talk about clusters in space and time.

涯

Do you consider the horizon to be far away or close to you? It seems that English and Japanese have opposite takes on this issue. Find out about that in this investigation of 涯, which means "horizon." It also means 'outer limits,' so this character gives a sense of the lines that circumscribe one's world. For instance, if it's your lot in life to be stuck living near dreadful relatives, you can convey that with 涯 (well, actually, with 境涯).

慨

News stories can make one feel despair laced with outrage, and 慨 represents that mix as no English word does. This kanji helps to express broad concerns about the state of the nation or the “evils of the times,” while also conveying one’s indignation about being mistreated. Learn to say, “He deplores the frivolous trends of modern society” and “He resented his friend's behavior.”