Speak and Read Japanese

by Larry Herzberg

  byooki 病気 / びょうき sick; ill

  Sometimes BO (body odor) is a clue that you may be sick.

  Literally: “sick-air.”

  病 This kanji means “sickness; illness.” The right side looks like a person enclosed in a room wearing a nightcap. The left and top parts of the kanji show the body as a structure that houses us, with a roof and sidewall. The two little skewed lines on the far left show germs assailing the body. In reality, the kanji has the “sickness” radical 疒 on the left, which some of my students describe as a bed, with the two feet of the patient sticking out on the far left and a hot water bottle on the very top. 丙 is the phonetic on the right, which actually depicts an axe-head turned upside down.

  気 This kanji, meaning “air,” shows air rising (气) from a certain place (㐅).

  chichi ちち my father [humble]

  Chee, chee, go the chimps. Monkeys, according to Darwin, are the father of us all. [O.K., a distortion of Darwin, but we’re after a mnemonic device here!]

  父 This kanji, which by itself means “father,” shows the father’s two hands raised above his head in a gesture of authority.

  chiisai 小さい / ちいさい small; little

  Little pieces of cheese are just the thing to catch mice.

  小 The kanji actually shows a person with arms at their side, looking small.

  chikai 近い / ちかい near; close

  You have to be near to your dance partner to dance cheek to cheek.

  近 The kanji has the “walk” radical ⻌ on the left. The phonetic on the right, an axe, contributes to the meaning. It refers to ancient combat, in which the warrior had to get close enough to his enemy to hew him with an axe.

  chotto ちょっと a little … [adverb]

  It’s always fun to have a little chat with a friend.

  chuumon 注文 / ちゅうもん order (something)

  We order something in a restaurant so we’ll have something to chew on.

  Literally: “annotating-language.” Often used with suru.

  注 This kanji has the “water” radical氵on the left. On the right, as a phonetic, is the kanji 主, meaning “ruler.” The ruler in ancient China was a king 王 who rose like a flame above his people, visible to all. The top stroke is the flame. 注 means “to annotate,” i.e., to make a note of something. The ruler and his officials were responsible for managing and making a record of canals, irrigation projects, etc.

  文 This kanji shows a series of lines representing written language.

  These two kanji in combination came to mean “to order something by making a note of something in writing.”

  chuushoku 昼食 / ちゅうしょく lunch

  Japanese chew shocking things for lunch sometimes, including octopus and squid!

  Literally: “noon-food.” Formal word for hirugohan.

  昼 This kanji means “noon.” It shows the sun 日 rising high enough in the sky at noon to shine in the doorway (户) pictured on top, which is a separate radical created by borrowing only the left half of the “gate” radical 門 and distorting it a bit.

  食 This kanji means “to eat.” It shows a hand on top reaching in to a rice bowl in the middle and scooping up the rice with a spoon, pictured on the bottom.

  daijoobu 大丈夫 / だいじょうぶ O.K.; all right; fine

  “Die, Job!” is what Satan wanted, but God made sure Job was O.K. in the end.

  Literally “big-strong-fellow.” When a woman has a big, strong fellow to protect her, she should be all right. (Hey, fellow feminists, just looking for a mnemonic device here!) It may be amusing for you to know that 丈夫 means “husband” in Chinese.

  大 This kanji means “big.” It shows a person with his arms outstretched. “How big was that fish that got away?!”

  丈 This character means “man.” It shows a man striding forward confidently.

  夫 This character also means “man,” and like the character 丈 implies manliness. 夫 portrays a man who, to all appearances, has two sets of arms, emphasizing strength and robustness.

  danna だんな husband

  Donna’s husband, Danna, is a fine man. He goes by “Dan.”

  Danna is used as an honorific if -san is added.

  dare 誰 / だれ who?

  Who would dare question their Japanese teacher’s knowledge of the language?

  誰 The kanji has the “speech” radical訁on the left, since asking “who?” is something we say. The phonetic on the right is the “short-tailed bird” radical 隹; this is a common phonetic in many Chinese characters but does not work as such in Japanese for this word. Instead think of a short-tailed owl, whose hoot sounds like it’s calling “who, who?”

  denwa 電話 / でんわ telephone

  When telemarketers call you on the telephone, a Scandinavian-American might say “Den what is it you want?!”

  Literally: “electric talk.”

  電 This kanji contains the “rain” radical 雨 on top, under which is a cloud with a tail of lightning coming out of it. The original meaning of the kanji was “lightning,” from which people derived the idea of electricity. The kanji is now used as a common prefix for “electric.” The simplified version shows the cloud with the tail of lightning, looking a bit like Ben Franklin’s kite being struck by lightning.

  話 This kanji, meaning “talk” or “speech,” has the “speech” radical訁on the left, showing a mouth (口) on the bottom with what appear to be sound waves coming above it, but what is actually breath rising. On the right of the kanji is a picture of a tongue protruding from a mouth (舌). The tongue serves as a phonetic that contributes to the meaning of the kanji as a whole, since speaking involves use of the tongue.

  donata どなた who?

  Who’s got the donuts?

  Formal for dare.

  doo itashimashite どういたしまして “you’re welcome”

  When the Japanese say “you’re welcome” or “don’t mention it,” it sounds like they’re saying “don’t touch my mustache.” It’s nice that you’re grateful, but touching my mustache is going too far!

  doobutsu 動物 / どうぶつ animal(s)

  When you’re around animals like deer, it’s best to wear your doe boots!

  Literally: “moving-thing.”

  動 This kanji means “to move.” It has the “energy” radical 力 on the right, with the kanji 重 for “heavy” on the left as the phonetic. 重 seems to show weights piled up, as they would be at a gym. The metaphor in the kanji 動 is to use a lot of energy to move something heavy.

  物 This kanji means “thing.” It has the “cow” radical 牛 on the left, with the kanji 勿 on the right as the phonetic. 勿 means “to stop” and shows a banner that in ancient warfare was held up before the troops to order them to halt. However, 勿 looks like a hand milking the cow (牛).

  In combination the two kanji 動物 literally mean “moving/animate things,” i.e., animals.

  doroboo どろぼう thief

  Thieves do rob us, if we’re not careful.

  eigo 英語 / えいご English language

  Many Japanese language teachers insist that their students use no English in their classrooms. They want you to “leggo my eigo.” However, the ego of some students makes them reluctant to leggo of their eigo.

  Literally: “English-language.”

  英 This kanji originally meant a type of flower. It has the “grass/flower” radical 艹 on top. The phonetic below shows a rectangle encircling the middle of a person (大) and means “center.” It was used by the Chinese in the 19th century to transliterate the first syllable in “England.” To remember this kanji, think about how well flowers grow in the mild, rainy climate of England, as an English gardener stands there proudly under his flowery trellis.

  語 This kanji means “language.” It is never used by itself, but is the suffix added to the names of the countries of the world to mean the language of that particular country. It has the “speech” radic
al 訁 on the left. The phonetic 吾 on the right side was used for the pronoun “I” in classical Chinese. It has the “mouth” radical 口 on the bottom and the kanji for “five” 五 as the phonetic on top.

  eki 駅 / えき train/subway station

  If you have to stand on a station platform for a long time in the cold, you’ll start to feel very achy.

  駅 The kanji has the “horse” radical on the left, since in ancient times the stations were not for trains but for horsedrawn carriages. The phonetic on the right looks like a person leaning on a cane, waiting at the station for the carriage to arrive.

  fun 分 / ふん minute

  You can have a lot of fun in a minute!

  分 This kanji as a verb means “to divide,” but as a noun it means a small division of time, i.e., a minute. It shows a knife (刀) dividing something up by cutting it into two pieces (八).

  furui 古い / ふるい old

  When our car gets old and breaks down, we say “phooey!” Or words to that effect.

  Used for things, not people.

  古 The kanji is a composed of the kanji for “ten” 十 above the kanji for “mouth” 口. The Shuowen Jiezi, written nearly two millennia ago, explains that when something is passed down by word of mouth through ten generations, it is very old. The number “ten” is used metaphorically to mean a large number.

  futoi ふとい thick; fat

  A futon is really thick, which makes it comfortable to sleep on.

  太 The kanji adds an extra stroke to the kanji for “big” 大 to create the kanji for thick, since when you have something that’s already large and add to it, you make it even thicker.

  futsuu 普通 / ふつう common; usual; ordinary

  It’s common for human beings to walk around on two foots, unlike animals, which get around faster on four foots. [Sometimes you have to sacrifice grammar in the interest of a mnemonic device!]

  Literally: “general-pass through.”

  普 This kanji means “general; common.” It has the “sun” 日 on the bottom. Certainly there is nothing new under the sun. The top part of the kanji is a symmetrical kanji 並 that shows two people lining up, as soldiers will do. Both the figures on the left and right are identical, contributing to the idea of “common; ordinary.”

  通 This kanji means “to pass through.” It has the “walk” radical ⻌ on the left. The phonetic on the right might be thought of fancifully as a person wearing a plaid shirt, which is common enough in the U.S., although not in Japan.

  fuufu 夫婦 / ふうふ husband and wife

  When a husband and wife go out for a fancy dinner, they may put on some foo foo (cologne).

  Literally: “husband-wife.”

  夫 This kanji for “husband” shows a man with arms outstretched, displaying his strength.

  婦 This kanji for “wife” has the “woman” radical 女 on the left. The right side shows a hand on top holding a cloth duster (巾) under the roof of the home, doing her wifely duties. Remember that old Chinese men made up these kanji two to three millennia ago.

  gakkoo 学校 / がっこう school

  The Geico gecko obviously studied business in school, or he wouldn’t know so much about car insurance.

  Literally: “learning-building.”

  学 This kanji means “study; learn.” It’s a simplification used in Japan and China after WWII of the original kanji 學 still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong and by Chinese in the West. The top part of the original kanji shows two hands on either side of two Xs, which represent what is being taught, and passing the knowledge to the student below, who is like a child (子) in his or her ignorance. The roof over the child’s head symbolizes the confines of the student’s mind. The purpose of study is to hopefully remove the roof, i.e., the barrier to learning, and allow true knowledge to enter. The simplified version reduces the entire top half of the character to three simple strokes, which you can think of as strings of knowledge entering the student’s mind.

  geri 下痢 / げり diarrhea

  When the steel mills of Gary, Indiana still belched out tons of polluting smoke into the air, I would imagine many inhabitants of Gary experienced bouts of diarrhea, among other ailments.

  Literally: “downward-drip.”

  下 This kanji means “down; falling.” Here it describes the falling of waste from one’s rear when suffering diarrhea. The vertical and slanted lines in the kanji point downward from the horizontal stroke on top, which represents the ground.

  痢 This kanji means “drip.” The left and top parts of the kanji are the “sickness” radical 疒, which shows the body as a structure around us, with a roof and sidewall. The two little skewed lines on the far left show germs assailing the body. Some of my students describe the “sickness” radical as a bed, with the two feet of the patient sticking out on the far left and a hot water bottle on the very top. The phonetic for 痢 is 利, which by itself means “benefit” or “advantage.” It is composed of two radicals, namely the “grain” radical on the left and the “sword” radical on the right. The actual etymology is that when you cut down the grain with a sharp instrument like a scythe, you reap the benefits. In the context of diarrhea, think of the body releasing the waste from eating grain, with the knife symbolizing the pain of this condition.

  ha 歯 / は tooth

  When a dentist asks a patient to open wide to look at a troublesome tooth, the Japanese may say “ha” (tooth!) while we Americans say “ah.”

  歯 The kanji used in Japan after WWII is a simplification of the traditional kanji 齒 still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong and by Chinese in the West. Below the phonetic, which is the foot at rest (止), is a depiction of two rows of teeth. The simplified kanji used in modern Japanese substitutes the kanji for “rice” 米 for the two rows of teeth—appropriate enough, since it is often rice that gets stuck in the teeth of Japanese people when they eat.

  haha 母 / はは my mother [humble]

  Quit that “ha, ha”! My mother is no laughing matter!

  母 The kanji shows a mother’s two breasts, turned 90 degrees to make it easier to write. The breasts refer to a mother nursing an infant.

  hajime 初め / はじめ beginning

  “Ha, Jimmy, this is only the beginning!” is what Jimmy Stewart’s agent must have said to him after his first movie was a hit.

  初 The kanji has the “clothes” radical 衤 on the left and the “sword” radical 刀 on the right. When you begin to make clothing, you must first cut the cloth, explained the 2nd-century Chinese etymological text Shuowen Jiezi.

  hajimeru 始める / はじめる (to) begin

  The annual pilgrimage made by Muslims to Mecca, called the Hajj, may begin on various dates depending on the year, since it’s based on the lunar calendar.

  Hajimeru is the transitive form; hajimaru is intransitive.

  始 The kanji has the “woman” radical 女 on the left, symbolizing that life begins for all of us in the womb of a woman, namely our mothers. The right side shows a nose on top of a mouth. When we’re in the embryonic stage we’re only a little nose and mouth, etc.

  hakken 発見 / はっけん discovery

  When Barbie made the discovery they had created a boyfriend for her, she must have exclaimed “Ha, Ken!”

  Literally: “send forth-see.”

  発 This kanji is one of the most common prefixes for verbs that are kanji compounds. It has the meaning of “to send out; emit.” It looks like a crossbow on the bottom (开), shooting out arrows at the top. This is a modern simplification of the original kanji 發, still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong and by Chinese in the West. It shows two hands on the bottom right, holding out a bow on the bottom left, with the top part symbolizing a hunter striding forward to shoot some prey.

  見 This kanji means “to see” and simply shows an eye (目) on two legs.

  hanashimasu 話します / はなします speak

  Hannah [Montana], she must speak to the press all the time.


  話 The kanji has the “speech” radical訁on the left, showing breath rising up from a mouth (口). The phonetic 舌 on the right is the kanji for “tongue.” It shows the tongue sticking out of the mouth. When the Japanese speak and you haven’t studied the language, they seem to be speaking “in tongues.” In any case, like all of us, they are speaking with their tongues.

  hantai 反対 / はんたい oppose

  Should your boss oppose your idea, you are hand-tied, i.e., your hands are tied.

  Literally: “upside down-facing.” Often used with suru.

  反 This kanji means “upside down” or “turned over.” It shows a hand (又) being turned over (厂).

  対 This kanji means “to face” someone or something. The original pictograph 對, still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong and by Chinese in the West, shows a hand on the right (寸) facing a thicket of dense vegetation. After World War II, when some kanji were simplified to promote literacy, the thicket on the left was changed to what appears to be a hand (又) opposing the hand on the right. In mainland China it’s now written as 对, but the Japanese add an extra stroke on the top of the hand on the left.

  harau 払う / はらう pay

  When you owe creditors money, they often harass you until you pay.