一杯
IPPAI
full, to capacity
乾杯
KAMPAI
toast, cheers
肺臓
HAIZOU
lungs (medical)
拝啓
HAIKEI
Dear …
(formal salutation in a letter)
俳優
HAIYUU actor
俳句
HAIKU
poem, 17-mora poem with three lines
of three, five and seven syllables
162
CHAPTER 4 – THE VISUAL CODE
V24 Mirrored sparks KOU
公
public
交
mix
光
light
These characters all have two short strokes placed evenly on the left and right that appear to mirror one another. Between them lines intersect in various configurations: meeting in a point to make a katakana mu ム, crossing neatly in the middle to resemble a cartoon rabbit’s snout 父, which is also a neat ideograph of the idea of mixing.
In the third character, all the lines seem to emanate outward from the centre like a star – an apt representation of the meaning, light 光.
公園
KOUEN park
公私
KOUSHI
public and private
交通
KOUTSUU traffic
郊外
KOUGAI suburbs
光線
KOUSEN
ray of light, beam
光栄
KOUEI
an honour, privilege
観光
KANKOU sightseeing
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V25 Dissected line KYO
巨
Enormous
距
distance
居
dwell
許
permit
These characters all have one straight, vertical line that is crossed around the middle, which makes me think of dissection. The vertical lines are met at the top by a perpendicular horizontal line, and all but the last have another perpendicular line at the bottom. Some of these horizontal ‘lines’ are actually rectangles, or thick stripes. The width of the middle stripe in 巨 is an apt representation of the meaning Enormous – which I like to write with a capital E to echo the kanji’s shape. The character for dwell 居 looks like a dwelling of some sort. There aren't many kanji with the reading KYO so the idea of a dissected line is a strong association.
巨大
KYODAI
gigantic, enormous
距離
KYORI
distance, range
居住
KYOJUU residence
穴居
KEKKYO
cave dwelling
免許
MENKYO
licence, permit
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CHAPTER 4 – THE VISUAL CODE
Direction
In these groups, the kanji are united by the direction of their lines.
V26 Upward arrow TA/TAKU
多
many TA
他
other TA
宅
residence TAKU
These characters all contain an arrow-like line that sweeps from the bottom left to the top right. This line suggests movement and appears to be pointing to the top right. There aren’t many characters with the reading TA or TAKU, so this is another reliable mnemonic.
多分
TABUN
maybe, a great deal
多数
TASUU
countless, majority
他人
TANIN
another person
他国
TAKOKU
foreign country
宅急便
TAKKYUUBIN
courier service,
express home delivery
住宅
JUUTAKU residence
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165
V27 Hook KYOKU局
bureau
極
extreme, poles
The characters in this group contain a zigzag line that first extends horizontally to the right, then bends toward the bottom and hooks back to the left. Nestled within this hook is the mouth radical 口.
It is similar to the KA phonetic 可, but rather than two perpendicular lines, it contains one line that changes direction mid-flight. This movement to the right and then back to the left reminds me of the nine series, another group with a zigzag look and KY~ sound.
郵便局
YUUBINKYOKU post office
極端
KYOKUTAN extreme
極度
KYOKUDO maximum
極限
KYOKUGEN
utmost limits
積極的
SEKKYOKUTEKI positive, assertive, proactive 166
CHAPTER 4 – THE VISUAL CODE
Stripes and sparks
A large number of characters contain multiple parallel lines. They fall under the category of pattern in terms of the principles of art, and I have called them stripes to keep the language simple. The distance between stripes, and whether or not they are crossed, seems to correlate with certain sounds. I use the word sparks to refer to small strokes that emanate from a character.
V28 Stripy oblong SHU取
take
酒 alcohol
首
neck
The characters in this group all contain an upright oblong that is traversed by one or more stripes. In the case of 酒, the two outward curving lines at the top of the sake jar radical ⾣ resemble a third stripe from afar, and give the oblong a similar texture to the others.
取材
SHUZAI
news
飲酒運転 INSHU
drink driving
coverage
UNTEN
聴取
CHOUSHU listening
首相
SHUSHOU Prime Minister
取得
SHUTOKU obtain,
首尾一貫 SHUBI consistency
acquire
IKKAN
梅酒
umeSHU
plum liqueur 首席
SHUSEKI head, chief,
top of the class
酒宴
SHUEN
drinking party,
banquet
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167
V29 Wide stripes with legs KEN/GEN
原
original, field GEN
見 see KEN
現
appear GEN
元 origin GEN
These kanji all contain widely spaced parallel horizontal stripes. In the first three characters, the lines appear within a vertical oblong, either a sun 日 or an eye 目. In the fourth character 元 the lines appear on their own, in the form of the number two, 二. All of these characters have two strokes under the stripy element that flare down and outwards – in most cases the human legs radical ⼉.
Connotation: These kanji represent fundamental and miraculous/
essential concepts: origin, original, see and appear, so the sound GEN
carries these connotations.
源泉
GENSEN
source, origin
現実 GENJITSU reality
原爆
GENBAKU atomic bomb
現金
GENKIN cash
意見 IKEN opinion
元気
GENKI
in good spirits,
energetic
見学
KENGAKU study by
多元
TAGEN pluralism,
observation
multi-
現在
GENZAI current
168
CHAPTER 4 – THE V
ISUAL CODE
V30 Thin, uncrossed stripes SHIN
信
believe
真
true
身 body
振 shake
These kanji all feature thinly spaced parallel horizontal lines. The lines are uncrossed, creating a clean visual look. Each stripy element sits on top of another element and therefore occupies the upper or upper right position of the kanji.
信用
SHINYOU
confidence, faith
通信
TSUUSHIN
communication, transmission
自信
JISHIN self-confidence
写真
SHASHIN photograph
純真
JUNSHIN
purity, sincerity
身体
SHINTAI body
自身
JISHIN
by oneself, personally
振動 SHINDOU vibration
不振
FUSHIN
slump, stagnation
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169
V31 Thin, crossed stripes KEN
建
build
兼 and, concurrently
権
authority, right
県 prefecture
These characters all have a square overall shape and multiple horizontal lines spaced close together, or what I like to call ‘dense lines’. In the first three characters, these lines are pierced by one or two vertical lines, creating a crosshatch design, which suggests order, detail and busyness. At first glance, they resemble a ledger or a spreadsheet.
In the case of 県, the vertical line runs along the side, but the impression of order and detail remains.
建築
KENCHIKU construction, architecture
兼用
KENYOU
multi-use, multi-purpose
権利
KENRI
right, privilege
大分県
OIITA KEN
Oita Prefecture (Kyushu)
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CHAPTER 4 – THE VISUAL CODE
V32 Stripy border KAN
間
幹
interval
trunk
関
監
connection
supervise
環
circle
The characters in this group all feature a stripy outer element or enclosure. The first two have the gate radical 門 enclosure; a bold symmetrical border with two stripy oblongs at the top. The next kanji 環 has a stripy rectangle on the top. The character 幹 has a stripy border on the left, while 監 features a stripy element on both the left and the bottom. The tiny squares formed by the stripes give a sense of order and detail.
Connotation: Most of these kanji connote the idea of being in the middle or connection. An interval is the space between time or music, a connection joins two things and a circle connects many points. A supervisor is the intermediary between upper management and the lower echelons of a business. In Buddhist mythology, the trunk of a tree is said to connect heaven and hell, as represented by the Bodhi tree Buddha sat beside.
関係
KANKEI relationship
時間
JIKAN
time, hour
間奏
KANSOU
musical interlude
環境
KANKYOU
environment, circumstance
新幹線
SHINKANSEN
bullet train
監督
KANTOKU
supervision, director (e.g. film)
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171
V33 Three parallel lines JUN/SHUN
巡
patrol, go around
順
order
春
spring
These characters all feature three evenly spaced parallel lines. In the first character 巡, the three lines are vertical and bend in the middle.
This is the winding river radical ⼮, a visually appealing component with three identical lines that bend in unison, creating a zigzag pattern. The second character 順 also contains three vertical lines that mean river – this time they are straighter, in the form of the river radical 川. In the third character 春, the three lines are horizontal and look like the kanji number three 三 (SAN). There aren’t many characters with the reading JUN or SHUN, so it’s another strong visual-sound association.
巡回
JUNKAI
go around, patrol
順番
JUNBAN
turn, sequential order
順位
JUN'I
rank, position (in a race)
順序
JUNJO
order, sequence
春季
SHUNKI
spring (rare)
青春
SEISHUN youth
172
CHAPTER 4 – THE VISUAL CODE
V34 Two vertical stripes TOU
刀
sword, knife
到
arrive
灯
lamp
The first kanji in this group, the sword or katana 刀, is the model for the ones that follow. It has two parallel vertical lines that are widely spaced apart. The next character 到 contains the same sword component in its narrow form on the right. In addition, the overall shape of the left and right components echoes the idea of two parallel vertical elements. In the third character, both the left and right components feature a vertical line 灯 – one is a very narrow version of 火 fire, and the other is a narrow version of the TEI phonetic 丁. Apart from 至, none of the vertical lines in this group are crossed, so visually these kanji suggest length, matching the long sound TOU.
刀剣
TOUKEN sword
短刀
TANTOU
short sword, dagger
到着
TOUCHAKU arrival
周到
SHUUTOU
meticulous, careful
電灯
DENTOU
electric light
点灯
TENTOU
lighting, lamp
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173
V35 Sparks on top EI 栄
glory
営
camp, manage
英
England, hero
泳
swim
These characters all have two or three short strokes on top – I think of them as sparks. The first two characters are topped with the same combination of the katakana tsu radical ⺍ and the crown radical ⼍.
The third character has the grass radical ⺾ on top, and the fourth has a combination of the top water drop from the water radical and the top dash on the EI phonetic 永. In addition, they all have a square overall shape and are balanced between the left and right. Three of them also feature two strokes that flare down and outwards to the left and right on the bottom. There aren’t many characters with the reading EI, so this is a reliable mnemonic.
栄養
EIYOU nutrition
光栄
KOUEI
an honour, privilege
営業
EIGYOU
business, operations
経営
KEIEI management,
(business) operation
英雄
EIYUU hero
英語
EIGO
English language
水泳
SUIEI swimming
泳法
EIHOU
swimming style
174
CHAPTER 4 – THE VISUAL CODE
V36 Sparks and stripes SEN/ZEN
前
鮮
before ZEN fresh SEN
煎
禅
<
br /> roast SEN Zen ZEN
然
so,
ZEN
phenomena
The characters in this group all have a stripy element on one side, and two or more short strokes that seem to emanate like sparks from either the stripy element, or the character as a whole. The combination of stripes and sparks gives them a dynamic, striking appearance. The stripy feature includes the moon radical 月 and a stripy grid in the centre of the fish radical ⿂. The sparky element includes the fire radical in its bottom position incarnation ⺣ and the katakana tsu radical ⺍.
前回
ZENKAI
last time
午前
GOZEN
morning, AM
煎茶
SENCHA
green tea, tea leaves
自然
SHIZEN nature
The Kanji Code Page 16