Speak and Read Japanese

by Larry Herzberg

  shinshitsu 寝室 / しんしつ bedroom

  The bedroom is where we rest our shins on the sheets of our bed, along with the rest of us.

  Literally: “sleeping-room.”

  寝 This kanji has the “roof” radical 宀 on top, and below it seems to be a person on the left using his or her hands on the right to lay a child on the bed to sleep at night.

  室 This kanji also has the “roof” radical 宀 on top. The phonetic below the roof shows a bird nosediving down to a place on the ground (土).

  shiroi 白い / しろい white

  Those sheets are sheer white.

  白 The kanji shows the sun (日) at dawn, with the slanted stroke at the top showing the rising of the sun. Hence the whiteness of dawn.

  shita 下 / した under; below

  When something drops under the table, some of us may be heard to utter “oh, shita!”

  下 The vertical and slanted lines of this kanji point downward from the horizontal stroke on top, which represents the ground.

  shitsumon 質問 / しつもん question

  I don’t understand! Oh, shitsu! Mon dieu! I have a question!

  Literally: “quality-ask,” i.e., ask the quality of something.

  質 This kanji has two axes (斤) on top, used for their sound to represent the Chinese measurement fairly equivalent to the English “pound.” The bottom of the kanji has the “shell/money” radical 貝. The price a buyer pays for something is based on the quality or nature of the item.

  問 The kanji has the “mouth” radical 口 in the middle of the “door” radical 門 in this kanji that combines two radicals and has no phonetic. When someone knocks on our door, we ask “Who’s there?”

  shitsurei 失礼 / しつれい rudeness

  Saying “shit” sure is rude!

  Literally: “lose-etiquette)

  失 This kanji means “to lose.” It shows a person with arms outstretched (夫) having something drop from his hand, hence the meaning of “to lose.”

  礼 This kanji means “ritual; etiquette.” It has the “god” radical 礻 on the left, which looks like a man in a necktie headed to church but is really a distortion of an altar on which to lay sacrifices to the spirits (示). The right side is a hook, since God “hooks” us, i.e., draws us to Himself, through ritual. The truth is that this kanji is a simplification of the original kanji, 禮; on the right the two hands on top laying a ritual vessel on the altar are a phonetic that contributes to the meaning. This original kanji is still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong and by Chinese in the West.

  shokuyoku 食欲 / しょくよく appetite

  The huge appetite of some people will shock you.

  Literally: “eating-desire.”

  食 This kanji means “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.

  欲 This kanji means “desire.” The radical on the right side shows a person on the bottom, with breath rising up. When we really desire something, we tend to breathe heavily. The phonetic in this kanji is on the left side. The two sets of slanted lines at the top indicate the folds of a mountain valley, with the small box on the bottom not a mouth but rather the valley itself. However, it looks to me like a gentleman with slanted eyes and a mustache, with his mouth open in desire.

  shoobai 商売 / しょうばい business

  Business is all about showing the customer something, hoping he or she will buy it.

  Literally: “commercial-selling.”

  商 This kanji means “commerce.” It shows a merchant, with the top two strokes depicting his head; below this his two legs appear to be inside his store or place of business. The small mouth on the bottom (口) represents his calling out to passersby to attract their attention and get their business.

  売 This kanji means “to sell.” It is a simplification used after WWII for the traditional kanji 賣 still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong and by the Chinese in the West. The original kanji uses the kanji 買 meaning “to buy” on the bottom, since someone buying his product is the result the seller is seeking. The kanji 買 shows a net on the top, with the “shell” radical symbolizing money on the bottom. In ancient China, cowry shells were used as currency, so you would have to scoop up a bunch of them to go make a purchase. The top part of the traditional kanji 賣 shows the outstretched arms of the seller, changing the kanji “to buy” to the kanji “to sell.” In the simplified version of the kanji now used in Japan, 売, the seller with outstretched arms remains, but on the bottom his two legs are depicted below the roof of his store.

  shookai 紹介 / しょうかい introduction

  When introduced to a Japanese person, you ask yourself, “Should I bow or shake hands?”

  Literally: “introduce-introduce.” Often used with suru.

  紹 This kanji has the “thread” radical 糸 on the left. The phonetic on the right shows a knife (刀) above a mouth (口). When a new official was presented to the emperor, he was given bolts of silk, a sword, and congratulatory words.

  介 This kanji shows two people being introduced to one another under a slanted roof.

  shoorai 将来 / しょうらい the future

  “Show I the future,” says the grammatically challenged person to a fortune teller.

  Literally: “take [what’s] coming.”

  将 This kanji was the classical word meaning “to take.” The traditional version of the kanji is 將. It has the “left side” radical on the left, looking like a table or altar, but which actually shows the left half of a split log from which altars might be made. The right side shows a piece of meat (a deliberate distortion of the “meat” radical ⺼, which itself is a simplification of the kanji 肉 for “meat”) being placed on an altar by a hand (寸) as an offering to the spirits of the ancestors. In its simplified version 将, used since the 1950s in both Japan and mainland China, the altar on the left is rendered in a more skeletal outline and the piece of meat on the top right is replaced by a hand reaching in and supporting the hand on the bottom right.

  来 This kanji means “to come.” It’s the simplified form of the kanji 來, in which the “tree” radical 木 represents a large grain plant that has borne several ears of wheat or millet, represented by the two small 人. To the ancient Chinese who lived in a largely agricultural society, they thought of the idea of “coming” in terms of the coming of the harvest. The current form of the kanji, 来, used since the 1950s in both Japan and mainland China, replaces the two small “people radicals” with what appear to be two grains of wheat or millet.

  shoosetsu 小説 / しょうせつ novel

  A novel shows sets of characters to the reader.

  Literally: “small-talk,” showing the traditional contempt by Chinese scholars for fiction as opposed to philosophy, which they perceived to be much more profound.)

  小 This kanji means “small.” It shows a person with arms down by his or her side, looking small.

  説 This kanji means “speak.” It has the “speech” radical on the left, appropriately enough. On the right side is the classical Chinese word for “older brother,” 兄, with what resembles horns on top and represents authority. When older brother speaks, his younger siblings have to listen.

  shooten 商店 / しょうてん store

  Stores show ten, if not hundreds, of items for sale.

  Literally “commercial-store.” More common in writing, while mise is the more common spoken word.

  商 This kanji means “commerce.” It shows a merchant, with the top two strokes depicting his head, below which his two legs appear to be inside his store or place of business. The small mouth on the bottom (口) represents his calling out to passersby to attract their attention and get their business.

  店 This kanji shows the roof and side wall of a store (广). The phonetic under the roof shows at the bottom the mouth of a fortune teller, who reads the cracks in a tortoise shell to foretell the future (占). However, 占 loo
ks a bit like a sign pointing to women’s blouses or men’s slacks in the store.

  shukudai 宿題 / しゅくだい homework

  When I tell my students that doing a lot of homework won’t kill them, they reply, “Sure you could die!”

  Literally: “home-questions.”

  宿 This character means “to stay overnight; dwelling.” It has the “person” radical 亻 and the character 百 for “one hundred” under a roof. The original idea was an inn or similar lodging where a large number of people can spend the night. Think of the person on the bottom left of the kanji as being a student who has been assigned one hundred problems as homework.

  題 This kanji means “questions; problems.” It has the “head” radical 頁 on the right, which is the part of the body we use to figure out problems, after all. The phonetic 是 on the left side originally meant “correct” but is now used in modern Chinese as the verb “to be.” The kanji shows a person (人) under (下) the sun (日). When you’re a human being existing under the sun, you’ve inevitably got a lot of questions and problems, even if they’re not all in the form of homework!

  shumi 趣味 / しゅみ hobby

  So sue me, but I want to spend time on my hobby.

  Literally: “interest-flavor.”

  趣 This kanji means “interest” in something. It has the radical 走 on the left, whose original meaning was “to go.” 走 shows the foot in motion on the bottom, with the sole and heel of the foot raised in walking on the ground, pictured on top (土). On the right side of 趣 is the element 取, which depicts a hand on the right (又) seizing an ear of someone (耳) and means “to take; seize.” When our interest in something is aroused, it is as if we are seized by it, and our activities then go in that direction as we pursue it as a hobby.

  味 This kanji means “flavor; taste.” It has the “mouth” radical 口 on the left. The phonetic 未 on the right means “not yet” and shows a tree (木) whose top branch, represented by the top horizontal line, is not yet fully grown out. Every hobby has its own “flavor” that attracted us to it, even if our expertise in it has not yet grown to the level of an expert.

  shutchoo 出張 / しゅっちょう business trip

  Business people go on business trips to search out new clients.

  Literally: “go out-expand.”

  出 This kanji means “to go out.” It shows a plant coming out of the ground.

  張 This kanji means “to stretch; expand.” It has the “bow” radical 弓 on the left. The phonetic 長 on the right is the kanji for “long.” The top of this kanji depicts long flowing hair, tied by a hair ornament that is displayed on the bottom. The idea behind the kanji 張, therefore, is to expand or extend something, just as the archer stretches out his bowstring and makes it longer.

  shuukan 習慣 / しゅうかん custom; habit

  Sure you can do it, if it’s the custom.

  Literally: “learned-habit.”

  習 This kanji means “to learn.” On top it shows the two wings of a fledging bird (羽) just learning to fly. The bottom of the kanji looks like the pictograph 白 for “white” but originally showed the body of the little bird. A helpful mnemonic might be to think of the little bird learning to fly as a “white belt,” i.e., novice, at flying.

  慣 This kanji means “habit/accustomed to.” It has the “heart” radical 忄 on the left, which also represents “the mind” in so many kanji. Our habits are formed mentally, after all. The phonetic on the right shows a string of cowry shells (貝), which the ancient Chinese were accustomed to using as currency before the invention of copper coins and paper money.

  shuumatsu 週末 / しゅうまつ weekend

  We particularly need shoe mats on the weekend, when we go out in nature and get our shoes caked with mud and dirt.

  Literally: “week-end”!)

  週 This kanji means “week.” It has the “walk” radical ⻌ on the left, poetically suggesting time passing as if on swift feet. The phonetic on the right side of the kanji contributed to the meaning by originally showing concentric circles, suggesting the cyclical nature of time.

  末 This kanji shows a tree (木) with the top horizontal line representing a long branch at the top end of the tree.

  sora 空 / そら sky

  It’s a beautiful sight to see birds soar through the sky.

  空 This kanji literally means “empty,” as in the kanji compound 空手 “karate,” which literally means “empty hands.” The kanji has the “cave” radical on top, consisting of a roof with eaves, with the two slanted lines below the roof showing the concavity of the cave. The phonetic is 工, which shows a carpenter’s rule for drawing straight lines, with the vertical line in the middle being the handle.

  sore それ that (one)

  Hope you’re not sore about that!

  soto 外 / そと outside

  I always park my DeSoto automobile outside, since I don’t have a garage.

  外 The kanji shows the crescent moon on the left and cracks in a tortoise shell on the right. In ancient China, future events were predicted by burning a tortoise shell to see where the cracks formed. For the divination to be reliable, this had to be done outside of the nighttime hours when the moon was in the sky.

  subarashii すばらしい wonderful; terrific

  Subaru, she tells me, makes wonderful cars.

  sugoi すごい awesome; terrific

  Sigourney Weaver is an awesome actress!

  suki 好き / すき like

  In winter many of us like to ski.

  好 The kanji has the “woman” radical 女 on the left and the kanji for “child” on the right. Women, especially mothers, like children.

  sukoshi 少し / すこし a little

  Sometimes you can only squeeze a little juice out of a lemon.

  少 The kanji shows a slice being taken out of something already small (小), leaving only a little bit of it.

  suteki すてき fantastic; terrific

  A fine steak (ステーキ ) is pretty fantastic!

  tabemasu 食べます / たべます eat

  To eat in a civilized way, one must sit at the table.

  食 The kanji shows a hand on top reaching into a rice bowl in the middle and scooping up the rice with a spoon, pictured on the bottom.

  tabun 多分 / たぶん probably

  We humans are probably remotely related to the baboon, according to Darwin.

  Literally: “greater-part.”

  多 This kanji means “many; a lot.” It’s composed of two crescent moons, reminiscent of the phrase “many moons ago.”

  分 This kanji as a verb means “to divide,” but as a noun means “part.” It shows a knife (刀) dividing something up by cutting it into two parts (八).

  tachimasu 立ちます / たちます stand

  When you’re sitting down having a conversation with someone and they suddenly get touchy about something you say, they will very likely stand up and storm out of the room.

  立 The kanji shows a person standing. The top stroke is the head, the top horizontal line the arms, the two slanted vertical lines the legs, and the bottom line the ground.

  taihen 大変 / たいへん greatly; awful; tough

  Thai hens are awfully tough, and therefore rarely if ever used at KFC.

  Literally: “big-changes.”

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

  変 This kanji means “change.” The radical on the bottom shows two hands, in this case acting to change something. The top part looks like a person standing straight with arms held defiantly to either side, determined to change something. This top part is actually a simplification after WWII in both Japan and mainland China of what was really a phonetic in the traditional kanji, 變. This original kanji has the “speech” radical 訁 in between two silkworm cocoons. Perhaps this phonetic was even intended to contribute to the meaning, since silkworms underg
o an amazing change from caterpillar to chrysalis to moth, and because people’s words are often so changeable.

  The fact that the word for “awful” in Japanese, 大変, literally means “big changes” will have greater and greater significance to you as you grow older, since the older you get, the more you find any changes awful and tough to accept.

  taitei たいてい usually; generally

  English gentlemen generally wear a tie for afternoon tea.

  takai 高い / たかい expensive; high; tall

  Sometimes tacky things can still be expensive.

  高 The kanji shows a two-story building. The two small boxes represent the upstairs and downstairs windows, with a roof on top. Originally the kanji just meant “tall; high,” but in time came to also mean “high in price,” i.e., “expensive.”

  tako タコ octopus

  Be aware that when you order a tako in a Japanese restaurant, you will be served octopus rather than the Mexican taco you might crave.

  tame ni 為に / ために for the sake of …

  For the sake of Tommy, and especially for the sake of Tommy’s knees, his hockey coach gave his goalie, Tommy, extra thick knee pads.

  為 According to the 2nd-century Chinese etymological text Shuowen Jiezi, the kanji shows a mother monkey with one forepaw raised above her head. Below her forepaw is her head and breast. Her feet are on the very bottom. The explanation is that the mother monkey does a great deal for the sake of her child, just as a human mother does.

  tanoshii 楽しい / たのしい pleasant; enjoyable; fun

  Tan? Oh, she finds that most enjoyable out on the beach.

  楽 The kanji is a simplification of the traditional kanji 樂 for “music; joy” still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong and by Chinese in the West. It shows two bells surrounding a drum on top, placed on a platform made of wood (木), which constituted ancient Chinese music. Music is a great source of enjoyment, said Confucius, so this kanji also came to mean “enjoyable; pleasurable” when not in combination with other kanji. The simplification in modern Japanese replaces the bells on either side of the drum with what appear to be sound waves emanating from the drum.