way, road TO
paint TO
answer TOU
ascend TO/TOU
The first three characters here all have a clear upward pointing arrow or triangle on top. If you were to fill in the area below it to encompass the component below, it would resemble a house. The shape of 登
is slightly different but it still contains a definite triangular shape, the angle of the ‘roof’ is just steeper. This group combined with the previous one confirms a strong association between triangle shapes and the TO
sound.
途上
TOJOU
on the way,
回答
KAITOU
answer, response
en route
前途
ZENTO
future
登山
TOZAN mountain
prospects,
climbing
outlook
塗装
TOSOU painting,
登場
TOUJOU
enter (on stage),
coating
appear
(on
screen)
塗料 TORYOU painting
登校
TOUKOU attendance
material
(at school)
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4 Composition
The characters in these groups are united not by the same components, but rather by the composition of those components. It could be three components arranged together in a certain way, or a square component placed beside a cresent-shaped one. Either way, the fact that the composition aligns with the ON reading can be used as a mnemonic.
V12 Three elements (KEI)
型 啓
type
disclose
契 警
promise
guard, warn
Each of the characters in this group is composed of a larger base component in the bottom centre, and two smaller components balanced evenly on top. In each case, the top right component is either the knife radical 刀 or the activity/strike radical ⺙ –
in both cases the far right stroke hooks toward the centre of the character.
原型
GENKEI prototype
模型
MOKEI model
契約
KEIYAKU contract
契機
KEIKI
opportunity, chance
啓発
KEIHATSU
enlightenment, development
啓示
KEIJI
(divine) revelation
拝啓
HAIKEI
dear …
(formal salutation in a letter)
警告
KEIKOKU warning
警察
KEISATSU police
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151
V13 Three elements (KEN) 堅
firm
賢
clever
懸
hang
As with the previous group, each of these characters is composed of two components on top, and one in the centre below. The first two kanji feature the KEN phonetic 臤 on the top. The last has a different component on top, but its top left component 県
is also stripy in appearance, like 臣.
堅固
KENGO solid, strong
堅実
KENJITSU
reliable, sound
中堅
CHUUKEN
backbone, mainstay
賢人
KENJIN
wise man
賢明
KENMEI
wise, prudent
一生懸命
ISSHOUKENMEI with utmost effort
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V14 Stack of books IN
隠
member
hide
韻 院
rhyme
institution
Apart from the first character, the focus of the visual connection of this group is on the right side of the characters – the side traditionally associated with phonetics. Each character (or the right part) contains a tall, narrow group of three components. The top element is wide and short or a horizontal line, and could be viewed as a book in profile.
The middle element is stripy and could be seen as a stack of books.
The bottom element contains two (or more) strokes that flare outward, which could be seen as the legs of a table. Together they account for nearly all the Joyo Kanji with the ON reading IN.
満員
MAN'IN
full house, no vacancy
社員
SHAIN employee
職員室
SHOKUINSHITSU school staff room
要員
YOUIN
personnel, essential person
韻律
INRITSU
rhythm, metre (poetry)
韻文
INBUN
verse, poetry
音韻
ON'IN
phoneme (linguistics)
隠語
INGO
jargon, secret language
隠居
INKYO
retirement, retired person
議院
GIIN
parliament, house, diet
病院
BYOUIN hospital
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153
V15 Square and crescent MEI
明
bright
名
name
命
life, destiny
鳴
bird cry
The characters in this group feature two components that sit side by side: a square or rectangle and a slightly larger, crescent-shaped component. Rather than the component details, it is their consistent composition and proportional differences that make them visually similar. The first character features the sun radical 日, while the other three contain the mouth radical 口. The crescent-shaped component ranges from 月 and 夕 – both representations of the moon – to the stamp ⼙ and bird ⿃ radicals. While far from identical, the crescent components all curve or hook slightly to the left. This group also covers off almost all the Joyo Kanji with the reading MEI, making it a reliable mnemonic.
説明
SETSUMEI explanation
名刺
MEISHI business card
証明書 SHOUMEISHO certificate
亡命
BOUMEI exile, seek asylum
鮮明
SENMEI
vivid, distinct 命令
MEIREI
command, order
氏名
SHIMEI
full name
運命
UNMEI
destiny, fate
有名
YUUMEI famous
悲鳴
HIMEI
shriek, scream
名作
MEISAKU masterpiece
雷鳴
RAIMEI
sound of thunder
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5 Line
Line is perhaps the most obvious and important visual characteristic of kanji. The type of lines in a character can define its look and feel and give a hint to its ON reading.
Simple characters, simple sound
In these groups, simple characters with few strokes are matched with short, simple sounds: SHI, SHU and KA.
V16 Simple and centred SHI
士
止
scholar
stop
市
史
market, city
history
子
氏
child
clan
With a maximum of five strokes, these characters are all very simple
.
They are also visually balanced, tending to be as high as they are wide. There is generally one central vertical line, which is crossed by one straight perpendicular line. The lines of the last two characters are slightly curved, but they share the simplicity of the others.
武士
BUSHI
samurai,
中止
CHUUSHI suspend,
warrior
interruption
市民
SHIMIN citizen 禁止
KINSHI prohibited
都市 TOSHI city
歴史
REKISHI history
子孫
SHISON descendant,
日本史 NIHONSHI Japanese history
offspring
女子
JOSHI
girl, woman 氏名
SHIMEI
full name
姓氏
SEISHI
full name,
family
name
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155
V17 Simple and off-centre SHU 主
main
手
hand
守
protect
As with the SHI group above, these characters are all simple, with a maximum of six strokes. They also have a single vertical line, which is crossed by one, two or three horizontal strokes. However, while the SHI group are centred and symmetrical, the SHU group has an off-centre look. This can be seen in the diagonal stroke on the top of 主, which has the effect of tipping it slightly off balance and the diagonal stroke on top of the hand character 手 that has a similar effect. In 守, the fact that the vertical stroke of the inch radical 寸
is crossed about two-thirds across, rather than right in the centre, produces an aesthetically pleasing asymmetric look.
主人
SHUJIN husband
主権
SHUKEN sovereignty
手腕
SHUWAN ability
選手
SENSHU
player (sport)
守備
SHUBI defence
保守
HOSHU
maintenance, conservatism
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V18 Simple and angular KA
下
down
可
can, passable
加
add
化
change
With five or less strokes, the characters in this group are also very simple. They also all have an angular look. The first two characters contain perpendicular lines, and the last two contain a stroke that bends halfway to create a shape that could be the corner of a square or a set square. As with the square and fan shapes above, the angular shape seems to fit the hard sound KA.
下流
KARYUU downstream
下降
KAKOU
descent, decline
可能
KANOU possible
追加
TSUIKA add
化学
KAGAKU chemistry
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157
Long look, long sound
In this group, long looking characters are matched with a long vowel sound: SHOU, SHUU and JOU.
V19 Long and centred SHOU
小
small
省
ministry
賞
prize
章
chapter
The characters in this group all have a long look, which matches their long vowel sounds. Like the shorter sounding SHI above, the look is symmetrical. The first three characters feature a central line with two symmetrically placed short strokes on either side. The last three contain a vertical stripy rectangle that elongates the overall shape.
Connotation: With the exception of small (which lacks the stripy rectangle element), they all have an official connotation, from government ministry to being awarded a prize by the authorities, to the official chapters in a book.
縮小
SHUKUSHOU reduce
省略
SHOURYAKU
abbreviation, omission
賞与
SHOUYO
reward, bonus
文章
BUNSHOU
sentence, writing
第一章
DAIISSHOU
Chapter 1
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CHAPTER 4 – THE VISUAL CODE
V20 Long and off-centre SHUU 州
state
修 practice
収
income
秋
autumn
Like the previous group, these characters all appear long, which matches their long vowel sound. Each contains at least two vertical parallel lines. In all but 収, the longer lines are set against two or three short, diagonal strokes. This juxtaposition of long and short strokes makes the long strokes appear even longer. Like the shorter sounding SHU, the look is slightly off-centre.
九州
KYUUSHUU
Southern Japanese island
州議会
SHUUGIKAI
state legislature
改修
KAISHUU
repair, improvement
修理
SHUURI repair
収集
SHUUSHUU
collect, gather
秋分
SHUUBUN
autumn equinox
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159
V21 Long with short strokes JOU
上
up
状
status
情
emotion
As with the 州 group, these characters all suggest height or length, which matches their long vowel sound. They each have one straight, vertical stroke that stretches the length of the character. This stroke has one or two smaller strokes around or extending from it. This juxtaposition makes the vertical line appear even longer.
上昇
JOUSHOU
rise, ascend
地上
CHIJOU
above ground
状況
JOUKYOU
situation, circumstances
状態
JOUTAI
status, condition
情報
JOUHOU information
愛情
AIJOU
love
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Balanced
The lines of these characters are well balanced, identical (or nearly identical) on the left and right side.
V22 Inkblot painting MI/BI 未
not yet MI
美
beautiful BI
The characters in this group remind me of an inkblot painting in the way they have a central line, then flare out in a symmetrical pattern, as if a piece of paper has been folded in half to create the design.
The readings also rhyme (MI/BI), and M and B tend to be ‘sister sounds’ in kanji (refer to The wool series). Since 未 also appears as a phonetic in taste 味, this group has a sensory connotation, tending to describe things that are beautiful to taste, or look at.
未満
MIMAN
less than
前代未聞
ZENDAI MIMON unprecedented
未完
MIKAN incomplete
味噌
MISO
miso, soy bean paste
美術
BIJUTSU art
美術館
BIJUTSUKAN
art gallery
美容師
BIYOUSHI
hairdresser, beautician (person)
美容院
BIYOUIN
beauty parlour, hair salon (place)
美人
BIJIN
b
eautiful woman
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161
V23 Clothes stand HAI 杯
cup
肺
lungs
拝 worship
俳
actor
The comments here refer to the right part of the character – the classical position of the phonetic. In all of these characters, there is a strong sense of balance in the component on the right. In the first three it is composed of a central vertical line with strokes that fan out to the left and right symmetrically. It reminds me of a folding clothes stand. It is similar visually to the inkblot group in the sense that if you were to fold it in half, each side would be roughly the same. In the final character, the central line seems to have split in two so we now have two vertical lines, each with lines fanning out to the left and right. This is the wrong/non- radical 非. This group accounts for a large proportion of the Joyo Kanji with the reading HAI.
The Kanji Code Page 15