Questions tagged [kanji]

漢字. Chinese characters as used in Japanese writing as opposed to the two kana syllabaries and rōmaji (Latin letters).

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
0 votes
0 answers
106 views

Creating a Unique Japanese Name: Seeking Guidance on "てるかわ" for "Terukawa" [closed]

I have a question and I kindly ask for your patience, as my knowledge of Japanese is basic. I've been trying to create a Japanese name, and I came across the word "両側" (ryōgawa), which means ...
MindfulTraveler's user avatar
-1 votes
0 answers
37 views

Using AI to learn Japanese [migrated]

I've been using ChatGPT to learn Japanese specifically in getting vocab. My prompt is: Always answer in this format for Japanese Word Kanji(furigana) JLPT level: Commonness: Formality: Usually ...
Akira2k's user avatar
  • 73
1 vote
1 answer
95 views

When years are (or were) written using kanji numerals, what are the usual variants/options?

I believe that these days, years would be written almost always using western/Arabic numerals in either the Japanese era or Gregorian calendar. But it must sometimes be written using the kanji ...
hippietrail's user avatar
  • 15.2k
1 vote
1 answer
135 views

How cross-applicable were Classical Chinese second-person pronouns to Japanese kanji?

I'm fairly certain there's a certain stigma surrounding second-person pronouns in Japanese. Even in Chinese, it's generally considered polite to avoid them (and refer to a person by surname, title, ...
dreamforge's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
95 views

Abbreviations for weekdays

I was studying Japanese weekdays and I found something interesting: you can use abbreviations such us ゲッすい (月水) to indicate both Monday and Wednesday or 木土 pron. どぼく to indicate Thursday and Saturday....
MarcoT13's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
793 views

What are the three boxes? ロ, 口 and 囗

I was scrolling the Kanji Unicodes and spotted three box-like characters. I'm well aware that ロ is the katakana ro, as for which the other two are, I'm not sure. Among the three ロ (katakana), 口 (kanji)...
Anatoly's user avatar
  • 123
0 votes
0 answers
102 views

Should I memorize Kanji readings? [closed]

I'm almost done with recommended vocabulary and Kanjis for JPLT N5, also finishing up Genki 1. The most time consuming so far is memorizing Kanji readings (not all of them of course, but those that ...
Katherine's user avatar
  • 123
0 votes
1 answer
150 views

How to read this name "番藤茶太郎"?

Can anyone help me how to read his name and nickname? name: 番藤茶太郎 nickname: 番茶 Checking with AI seems to give "Fujito Chataro" as name but also "Bandou Chataro" and "Bancha&...
Sorakaranko's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
788 views

Why is 正 used for tallying instead of 五?

I feel like it would make more sense to use 五 since it literally means 5. I know that 正 has 5 strokes and 五 has 4, but you could still tally like so: I also know this question isn't just limited to ...
Daniel Baliki's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
95 views

Do we need to learn N4 and N3 kanji for JPLT N5? Most of recommended verbs using more advanced kanji than N5 ones [closed]

I want to try to my luck with JLPT N5 this December and I'm still not sure how much Kanji I supposed to memorize. I got the impression that for N5 I need to know around 100 Kanji, but I've already ...
Katherine's user avatar
  • 123
1 vote
2 answers
139 views

What does 亜字形図象 mean?

In particular I was not able to find 図象 in any dictionary; I wonder if it is perhaps a typo and the author meant 図像. In the case that the author meant 図像, would it then simply mean "icon made up ...
bocwulf's user avatar
  • 33
0 votes
1 answer
131 views

Given harakiri was once pronounced farakiri and, even earlier, parakiri, how do I write those two older forms, using kanjis?

In "The Unfolding Of Language" by Guy Deutscher, I've read that "harakiri" was once pronounced as "farakiri" and, even earlier "parakiri", thus reavaling the ...
Enlico's user avatar
  • 105
1 vote
1 answer
84 views

Pronouncing kanji numbers

ホグワーツには一四二もの階段があった。 There were as many as 142 staircases at Hogwarts. This is probably a daft question but I'd like to be sure. When you see a number written in kanji like 一四二 do you read it as ...
user3856370's user avatar
  • 29.4k
1 vote
1 answer
134 views

why does 先 means "ahead" and "previous" at the same time?

sometimes 先 (saki) means the future, but for ex 先月 means previous month 😳. why? how?
swetoch's user avatar
  • 13
0 votes
1 answer
83 views

kun and on reading

Hello I recently read the difference between the kun or on readings and understood it, now I know in which cases to use one or the other reading, but I still have a question. For example: the kanji 日 ...
OkayaOkayu's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
222 views

Which one is correct between 侘び寂び and 侘寂

I know that generally you use the hiragana "わびさび", and in the entry for "侘寂" in the chinese wikipedia "侘び寂び" is listed as the original japanese, but I still have my ...
Majest's user avatar
  • 25
0 votes
1 answer
90 views

"魂 燃え立つ 天の降るとも" having "魂" read as "こころ" and "天" read as ”雨"? (Bleach)

In Bleach Sennen Kessen-hen, at the end of each episode, an old poetic-style line or two is read to invoke the next episode. But I wonder whether it's actually some old poetic style of speech, or if ...
chausies's user avatar
  • 1,382
0 votes
1 answer
61 views

Can you suggest a name for an energy in a magic system that incorporates the kanji 真霊? [closed]

I have decided to choose a more flashy and direct title for my new work. Specifically, I am creating a magic system and I have chosen the name "Rei" (霊) for it, but I don't want to offend ...
MindfulTraveler's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
117 views

What are the 漢字 that aren't jouyou or jinmeiyou for?

When you search them up, they have readings, and meanings sometimes, but they're non standard and can't even be used anywhere, neither do I know if they were used in old Japanese.
Star Peep's user avatar
  • 170
0 votes
3 answers
111 views

Can I choose my own kanji characters for my middle name?

My middle name is Asano, named after my great grandmother, but my family has lost the ability to write Japanese and not sure exactly what kanji she used in her name. Am I able to decide my own ...
M Muramoto's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
55 views

What is this sign? [duplicate]

When i use Google Translate on my phone it translate it as either - or ! But my problem is that it looks nothing like the one in the the various Manga´s and such where i see it. So anyone know what ...
Gridlock's user avatar
  • 101
-2 votes
1 answer
172 views

I want to learn a lot about Japanese names for my stories [closed]

The title is pretty catchy on its own, but I'm already familiar with creating good Japanese names. I know about kanji and their meanings, but I'm at a loss. doubts about a few things. first of them: ...
MindfulTraveler's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

Are 神 and 神 the same?

My friend asked me if I know what 神仙 means so I tried to look it up and almost all the results I got were 神仙 instead of 神仙. Which appearently means something like a hermit or an immortal person that ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 141
4 votes
1 answer
174 views

What is the proper way to notate Japanese lyrics in sheet music?

I'm transcribing a song with Japanese lyrics as sheet music but am unsure how to approach using kanji. Here's an example: Currently, I front-load the kanji on the first note so that it is immediately ...
Monkeylordz's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
147 views

If 米 can be used to refer to America as a country (USA), can it also refer to America as a continent?

I am currently studying this Kanji. In addition to the original meaning of rice, it also has other meanings of meter (SI unit of length) and America. In English and my mother tongue Indonesian, "...
mawgumelar's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
163 views

Why is this reading like this?

Why is this reading like this? Looking this up I had to search the radicals individually on Jisho. The furigana reading... is it just flat out wrong? Furthermore, why is the word structured like this? ...
フィラシマカロト's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
96 views

How should I read 帖合・書店印 and what is it?

帖合・書店印 There are cards in my books called 注文カード and it's written on them. I can't type the first word automatically and I don't know how to read 印 since it has two pronunciations: しるし, いん. ちょうあい・...
Haragurodanshi's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
421 views

How to make sense of radicals that form a kanji

One thing that puzzles me, is how to guess a meaning of a kanji by deducting its radicals. For instance 神 (god), is constructed of | 日 礼 田 . What's the idea behind it? A stick combined with a sun ...
Thomas's user avatar
  • 38
1 vote
1 answer
104 views

Kanji with multiple readings of identical meaning

Are there other instances in Japanese where a kanji compound has two or more readings that all carry the same or very similar meanings, akin to the use of 明日 for tomorrow, which can be read as あした, あす,...
George's user avatar
  • 1,070
1 vote
1 answer
595 views

What does 次元を超越 really mean?

Unless it's rude to ask, I would like responses mainly from Japanese native speakers, please. There is this scan from the guidebook for the Dragon Ball Z anime with a translation that is generally ...
Profectus's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

How is Tsuyuri Kumin's name (五月七日くみん) read with 3 characters when it's made up of 4 kanji?

From the Chuunibyou anime, Kumin's last name is Tsuyuri (3 characters), but written as 五月七日 (4 kanji characters). How can this be? At first, I thought it might just be a chuuni thing, where you write ...
chausies's user avatar
  • 1,382
0 votes
1 answer
76 views

How do you type 啼く in the Japanese IME [closed]

I have tried looking online and messing with the settings to get it to display 啼く yet I can't get it to, as far as I am aware you should have to type なく(naku) to get it to appear, yet it does not. Any ...
ming3012's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
350 views

Why Kanji "Ichi tsu" pronounced hito?

As I was reading the book, I found the above table. Here, one thing=hito. Though Ichi ju made much more sense to me as an absolute beginner (Assuming, "hito" is another word to describe one ...
Istiak's user avatar
  • 125
1 vote
0 answers
67 views

Different radical for the same Kanji [duplicate]

Sometimes in social media, and especially in videogames, I found this kanji above (with the keyboard I can't type it, and copy and paste doesn't work either) with the same exact meaning of 終わる. Same ...
Jacopo Ziroli's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
436 views

Ghost word and Ghost Kanji in Japanese

In Japanese, are there any words/kanji that are written in dictionarys but actually don't exist at all? Like the "Ghost word" in English.
Jacopo Ziroli's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
408 views

Should I remember kanji of words that mostly use the kana version?

I tried playing a game the other day, I was surprised to see [面倒]{めんどう}くさい in kanji, because even Jisho says it's mostly written in kana. I also saw [貴方]{あなた} and [私]{わたし}[達]{たち}(not as rare), so it ...
Infernoboy's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
361 views

Does anyone know the deal with the compound 進捗?

I always found 進捗 to be an odd Sino-Japanese compound for two reasons: it involves the character 捗 which barely occurs in Chinese, except for one rare compound 捗攄 (bu4 shu1) "to vanish" in ...
jogloran's user avatar
  • 6,688
1 vote
1 answer
89 views

Differences in the meaning for 女子 [closed]

When I check 女子on google I have found two contrasting definitions: There is : https://jisho.org/search/%23kanji%20%E5%A5%BD Which states that the meanings are "fond, pleasing, like something"...
Marco Antonio Gomez Martinez's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
83 views

Dictionary searching for kanji readings and words

everyone, thanks for having me! So, i’ve just started studying kanji and vocabulary and searching for words and readings on dictionaries (Japanese app). However some cross information between my study ...
Dan's user avatar
  • 21
-1 votes
1 answer
207 views

Hito ki no pan meaning -- 「人気のパン」

Ive looked at multiple different searches for hito ki no pan meaning. It looks like "Urikireru" means sold out but I cannot find what hito ki means. Heres a picture. I dont know if this ...
FruitBasket's user avatar
6 votes
5 answers
1k views

Difference between ひらがな and 漢字 in this poetry

A friend of mine shared this poetry to me, and just for fun I decided to translate it in my first language, Italian. The author is 穂村 弘 Homura Hiroshi, a contemporary writer. あした世界が終わる日に あした世界が終わる日に ...
Jacopo Ziroli's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
141 views

Compound? how to read

Since every kanji has an inherent meaning when I do know to read a compound? Do I read each kanjis meaning individually or does it somehow make a new meaning? What if the the kanji happens to be next ...
Micky's user avatar
  • 1
8 votes
3 answers
5k views

Is it 日本人 or にほんじん?

I've been studying Japanese on my own for only three days. Why does the word "Japanese" sometimes appear like this 日本人 and also like this にほんじん?
PurpleInk 's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
382 views

Kanji for darkness: 暗 vs 闇, nuance? meaning? use cases?

In Heisig's book Remembering the Kanji, 16th edition, kanji #519 (暗) is named Darkness. In Yu-gi-oh however the darkness element uses 闇 According to the following link, 暗 does indeed mean dark, ...
Marco Antonio Gomez Martinez's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
189 views

Why do dictionaries differ so much in terms of spelling and is there an established standard for how a word should be written in contemporary text?

If we look at thee はまる, きこり, しじま and うつつ as three examples of many, they are spelt differently in different well known dictionaries. はまる has 填まる first in Kenkyusha and Daijisen, while Meikyo and Shin ...
timseb's user avatar
  • 301
0 votes
1 answer
71 views

On recurring pairs of alternate readings (e.g. せい/しょう for 生, 正, 青, etc.)

When learning to read Japanese one is taught from early on that not only can characters have both an ON (音) and a KUN (訓) reading, sometimes they can have multiple of either or both types of readings. ...
kjo's user avatar
  • 321
-1 votes
1 answer
76 views

Help identifying a character from a picture [closed]

I've tried using handwriting identification and building it from radicals, but no luck. The closest I found was き and I’m not sure if it’s that character but the source text uses both き and this one, ...
Luluiana23's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why are simple kanji sometimes written in hiragana?

I was playing a game and a little boy said, おにいさん. I was wondering why it was written in hiragana? Is it because the boy wasn't my brother, so putting it in hiragana changes the meaning?
Infernoboy's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
51 views

Understanding the reading of 川 in 品川区 [duplicate]

As of the resources I have consulted like romajidesu, 川 has only one kun'yomi reading which is kawa. If that is the case, why is it read as gawa in 品川区?
Btc Sources's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
158 views

Is 天火明命 read as 'ten-ka-mei-mei'?

I've been playing maimai, the Japanese arcade rhythm game for a while. It offers a song named 天火明命, which a few of my friends pronounce as 'ten-ka-mei-mei'. However, the official Twitter account of ...
Artic's user avatar
  • 13

1
2 3 4 5
31