The Joy o' Kanji Essays
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睦
intimate
JOK: 1949
This spiky character may not look the part, but it is the kanji of reconciliations, cease-fires, and peace treaties, as well as harmonious marriages and lovers' talk. The Japanese use 睦 most when referring to friendships, particularly those that are deepening. Practice reading 睦 terms with a description of the TV show 'Friends' and a summary of the British film '45 Years."
釜
iron pot; kettle
JOK: 1950
Pots look lifeless, but 釜 is full of fun. It plays a great role in a folktale and has connections to necessities in life, plus car crashes, cross-dressing, and demons who boil people in cauldrons. It pops up in colorful place names. And of course this kanji has a culinary side, appearing in terms for "rice cooker," the names of rice and udon dishes, a salty fish dish, a way of making tea, and more.
錮
tie
JOK: 1951
Take a walk on the dark side with 錮! Find out how to discuss the length and severity of prison sentences (possibly including hard labor) and punishments in the past that involved exile to remote islands. Along the way, learn several words for "imprisonment" and "judicial sentence," and read about spiral shells, tinkering with molten metal, and political unrest in ancient China.
賂
bribe
JOK: 1952
The Japanese are known for honesty, but there’s still a long history of bribery (especially in the Edo era) and plenty of ways of talking about it. Learn to say, “Did you or did you not accept the bribe?”, “Everybody suspected him of taking a bribe,” and “He is the last man to take a bribe.” Also find out about mnemonics involving Cairo and greasing someone’s palm with mayonnaise!
勾
capture
JOK: 1953
Discover why 勾 means both “hook” and “arrest.” Find out about an ancient bead (one of three sacred treasures) that may symbolize anything from a soul to the moon! Learn how the Japanese discuss steep streets and sloped roofs. Read about an important stone wall curved like a crescent moon, and see how that curve prevents the wall from bulging like a pregnant woman’s belly!
萎
lose strength
JOK: 1956
Learn to talk about withering and atrophy, as in "Flowers wither when exposed to frost," "The flowers wilted in the summer heat," "Old vegetables wilt and cannot be sold," and "Unused muscles will atrophy." On the figurative side, find out how to say, "I shrink in her presence," "I lost my motivation to work," and "Losing signal from the spacecraft dampened hopes for a moon landing."
椅
chair
JOK: 1957
Find out how to say, “The curve of this chair makes it feel luxurious,” “In the center stood a desk with a red leather swivel chair,” and “This easy chair is comfortable.” Learn to use “musical chairs” figuratively and see how 椅子 (chair) connects to “He is a shoo-in to win the presidency.” Read about what it really means when a restaurant worker offers seating in a chair or on the floor.
彙
compile
JOK: 1958
You likely know 単語 (たんご: vocabulary). One can think of 単語 as the equivalent of a single book in the library that 語彙 (ごい: vocabulary; lexicon) represents. The Japanese associate the size of a 語彙 with adulthood (whereas some in the U.S. correlate the size of something very different with manhood!). See how the Japanese use 語彙 and 語彙力 (“word power”) syntactically.
唄
song
JOK: 1962
Find out about 唄, which always plays second fiddle to 歌 but is more likely to represent Eastern songs, whereas 歌 is more for Western music. See why the Japanese prefer to see "Singin' in the Rain" in English. Discover a term that means "song sung by a blind person with the accompaniment of the shamisen, esp. in the Kamigata area of Kansai"! And learn a bit about Okinawa via its music.
怨
grudge
JOK: 1964
From the Japanese perspective, those who carry grudges into the afterlife (including emperors!) become vengeful, troublemaking ghosts. Find out about that and how to drive nails into an effigy to lay a curse on someone. Also learn to say, “He has a grudge against you,” “The resentment runs deep,” “He seems to have it in for me,” and “The cockroach and centipede are my sworn enemies.”
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