Questions tagged [kanji]
漢字. Chinese characters as used in Japanese writing as opposed to the two kana syllabaries and rōmaji (Latin letters).
1,373
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47 views
Kanjis read differently [duplicate]
I've been studying the song DAN DAN 心魅かれてく from Dragon Ball GT, and I learned that some kanjis are read differently in this song. For example, 景色 (keshiki -> scenario) is read as 場所 (basho -> ...
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564 views
What's 火垂る and why is it so rare?
I've stumbled upon the word 火垂る, meaning firefly, in the Japanese title for Grave of the Fireflies. The thing is, there's already a kanji (蛍), pronounced the same way. The other weirded thing is that ...
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28 views
Confused with the readings of the kanji 達 and the word 友達 [duplicate]
I'm trying to learn japanese and I'm confused about the readings of the kanji '達'.
If I go to a Japanese dictionary such as jisho, I can read all the on and kun readings, so far so good.
But, for ...
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1answer
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Is kanban (看板) really the same in Japanese and Chinese?
At my company we use a kanban in our software development process. I speak Chinese and I know the word in Chinese as 看板 (kànbǎn in pinyin), 看 meaning "look" and 板 meaning "board". ...
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78 views
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1answer
87 views
Help deciphering this Japanese artist's signature [closed]
I know this is a long shot but I came across this Japanese artist's signature and I was wondering if anyone could help.
Unfortunately I do not know the full name of the artist. The rightmost ...
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1answer
132 views
Why do authors choose to use obscure/old ways to write words?
To be clear, this is not a question on why alternate forms exist. Obviously there are a lot of historical reasons behind them. It is also not about why people use rarer alternate forms generally. ...
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1answer
111 views
"Good day" as "良い一日": Yoi ichi-nichi vs Yoi tsuitachi?
Do Japanese say "Good day" as the conventional way of their greetings (?):
良い一日。(?)
Furthermore, it seems that:
Google pronounced this as
Yoi ichi-nichi.
But the Google translator shows:...
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1answer
244 views
[発見]{はっ・けん} and [発明]{はつ・めい} difference
I'm trying to memorize the kanji 発 and a few of its most important usages in vocab.
Jisho says はっけん means discovery and はつめい means invention. Aren't these synonyms of each other? They are both used in,...
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3answers
229 views
What is the relationship between the jinmeiyōkánji/jōyōkánji and level 1 of JIS X 0208?
The combined number of jōyōkánji (2,136) and jinmeiyōkánji (863) is 2,999, while the number of kanji in level 1 of JIS X 0208 is 2,965.
What are the characters on the list of 2,999 that aren't on the ...
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2answers
996 views
What is the top component of the 益 kanji?
Please explain the origin/sense/meaning of the top component of the 益 kanji.
It doesn't seem to be any normal radical, nor any common "variation" thereof.
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1answer
120 views
What is this kanji in the image? [closed]
I have been trying to find the meaning of this kanji for 2 hours now.
What does it mean?
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1answer
85 views
How come this sentence そんなことでどうする？ takes on so many forms?
ロニキス
「はは。クロード、これしきの事で怯えているのか？少尉ともあろうものが、そんなことでどうする？
The context is that Ronixis is a commander who hands Claude a pistol and tells him to use it in case of an attack.
I'm confused at exactly what ...
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2answers
146 views
How do you tell the difference between 決行 and 欠航?
So apparently
決行-けっこう (to carry out)
and
欠航-けっこう (cancelled)
are pronounced the same way? Or does one of them have a different pitch accent pattern? At least Google translate pronounced them the same.
...
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1answer
104 views
Help me to translate this Japanese phrase [closed]
Greetings,
So this is what I am trying to translate. The problem is that the last character doesn't want to show up in any Kanji recognition, so I have two questions:
Does the last Kanji character ...
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1answer
81 views
What is the meaning of 火怨 in a title?
Back in 2013 there was an NHK drama series 火怨・北の英雄 アテルイ伝 .
In that title, I can't understand the meaning of the compound kanji "火怨", and I couldn't find any examples or reference online that ...
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1answer
221 views
Why is 株 used as variant for viruses, e.g. デルタ株?
I've noticed that Delta variant and so forth is translated using 株.
I've always understood this kanji to primarily deal with things regarding stocks, business, and so forth.
I also see from my ...
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2answers
188 views
What are the differences between 賠 and 償?
I am learning kanji with Heisig's method, and I have seen that 賠 and 償 means the same (compensation, indemnify), so I have been searching for examples in 'Yomiwa' and 'jisho.org' trying to clear my ...
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1answer
94 views
Does the construct: [verb]+るっちゃ[verb]るけど, make any sense grammatically?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2QAVNPdJso&t=2m39s
2年間ぐらい全然漢字使ってなくて、今なんか書こうと思えば、ま、ちょっと難しい。読めるっちゃ読めるけど...
I haven't used kanji at all for about two years, and if I want to write something now, it's ...
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5answers
607 views
Do I need to learn kanji to speak/write japanese?
I'm learning Japanese but do I have to learn kanji, because I don't want to learn 50,000 letters.
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63 views
Kanji after gairaigo pronunciation [duplicate]
For instance, in "アカウントにサインイン中です。" How is "中" pronounced?
At a purely mental level, I've always maintained the idea that how you read is up to you, which seems to be backed by ...
2
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1answer
498 views
Does Japanese have characters in small size and in capital size?
In English it's normal for the sentence to start with a capital letter. In German also. Additionally, there are classes of words that are written in German with an initial capital letter.
How is it in ...
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1answer
498 views
What is the correct reading of 火防女?
I was playing around in the Japanese version of Dark Souls, and i came across the word 火防女 , which in english they translated as "Firekeeper".
I have not been studying japanese for long, but ...
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1answer
103 views
Rules to leave spaces between words when using kanji and kana
I'm trying to understand when I should leave blanks (spaces) between Japanese words when using either kana or kanji.
My understanding is that blanks should be left when otherwise the text is confusing....
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1answer
132 views
Do all Japanese words that can be written with kanji have two ways of pronouncing them?
Since there are On and Kun readings for kanji, does it mean that every word that can be written with kanji has two ways of pronouncing it?
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1answer
159 views
Are there other examples of simplification like 稽→𥡴?
The adoption of almost 200 additional characters to the list of joyo kanji in 2010 introduced some discrepancies of simplifying certain radicals. According to an official supplement to the list(p.36-...
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1answer
91 views
Does anyone know if this is supposed to be some kind of expression これが憎めないんだなぁ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY3w8m7zZfs&t=2m5s
スリッピーはちょっと気が弱いが、これが憎めないんだなぁ。
Slippy is a bit faint of heart, ...
憎む 【にくむ】 to hate; to detest
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1answer
899 views
How important are these weirdly written kanji? [closed]
I don't know what kind of font this is which is why I had so much trouble searching for an answer online.
Is this how Japanese people usually write Kanji? If so, how can I re-learn Kanjis with this ...
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1answer
128 views
Is this a pun? (稀/希)
I'm reading a manga in which a character says, 「って稀！」 in response to another character doing something unusual. I understand that 稀 can be translated as "rare," "unusual," etc. ...
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1answer
159 views
Why the movies Space Battleship Yamato title don't use Kanji for Yamato but katakana?
The movies wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Battleship_Yamato
The movies title (宇宙戦艦ヤマト) write Yamato (ヤマト) as katakana. However, Yamato is Japanese word, which is available in Kanji (大和).
大和 ...
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0answers
140 views
Why is 苑 a particularly popular word for naming Yakiniku shops?
スタミナ苑, 清月苑, 叙苑, 京城苑, etc. are all real yakiniku places in Japan. I don't see the character 苑 in the names of any other type of cuisine there.
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109 views
What is the origin and meaning of the street names 一年坂, 二年坂 and 三年坂 in Higashiyama, Kyoto?
Obviously "1-year hill", etc., but what is the context of that?
And sometimes we see it spelled with 念 (nen) or 寧 (nei) instead of 年 (nen). Why is that, and which one would be correct?
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1answer
121 views
I heard this word/compound in an anime and I can't find a single example of it online, am I understanding it correctly? (参加出）
During an exchange in which a character asks another to participate in an event, the other character replies さんかで。(I'm writing it in hiragana 'cause I'm still not sure of the kanjis.) Context-wise the ...
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1answer
115 views
Why これは in the end of the 唆{そそ}るぜこれは！ statement?
唆{そそ}るぜこれは - is translated as "This is exhilarating" in anime. Though, various translations give "It's tempting" and google gives "I'll instigate this".
Why is "これは&...
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1answer
161 views
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1answer
74 views
恋 written as 恋ひ and 恋ふ?
A song in Final Fantasy 14 named Sunrise has a line listed as such, from an official source:
清らに優し 恋ひ恋ふ吾が君よ
⇒きよらにやさし こいこうあがきみよ
What are the purposes of the い(ひ) and う(ふ) being written outside of the ...
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1answer
110 views
Can 案が検討されまして also be used to mean "implemented"?
I'm not sure how to make sense of this section of text.
Either it says that buses were considered for use but ultimately left without stranded passengers, OR that sightseeing buses were used and ...
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1answer
67 views
How do I read this sentence? 「そこにいるのは、すでに死んだ先人達。」
The last part of the sentence is throwing me off because I'm not sure whether or not "死んだ先人達" should be read as "しんださきひとたち" or "しんだせんじんたち." Could it depend on context? ...
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2answers
220 views
Can you help me identify the kanji for the word くろあつがま{kuroatsugama}?
My rice cooker says “kuroatsugama” on its side.
I believe it refers to some kind of black Teflon coating.
The second kanji seems to be a writing of the kanji 厚 I’m unfamiliar with. Why is the top ...
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2answers
88 views
Can 総指揮 be used outside of a military context?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4JDxrrSGT0
「えーー、こんにちは、あるいはこんばんは。えー、糸井重里です。
今度、任天堂から、えー、マザーというタイトルで、えー、僕の、えー、組織、監督脚本というなんか大げさ が/な 触れ込みで、マザーという新しいロールプレイングゲームが出ます。
I'm not sure if its そうしき 総指揮 general ...
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1answer
181 views
波比不部保 ([B] sounds) → はひふへほ ([h] or [f] sounds)
Hiragana (平仮名 or 平假名) has its cursive form originated from the Chinese cursive form 草書. You can read from https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B9%B3%E4%BB%AE%E5%90%8D. Also https://www.hana300.com/aakana....
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1answer
1k views
Is Japanese に related to the Chinese character 仁?
Is Japanese に (pronounced as "ni") related to the Chinese character 仁 (pronounced as "ren" in Chinese mandarin)?
Does the に have the root from the Chinese character 仁?
They both ...
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1answer
234 views
Why is 江風 being translated to Kawakaze even though there's no Kawa in the kanji?
I am studying Japanese and I am also a bit of an Azur Lane fan (a gacha game). One of my favorite characters is called Kawakaze, based on the real-life IJN Kawakaze (a Shiratsuyu-class destroyer). The ...
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1answer
140 views
Irregular Kanji Readings
Question about all the irregular readings of kanji that seem to pop up plentiful in kanji dictionaries. Take for example the kanji 丞. According to the entry on kanji.jitenon, this kanji has following ...
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1answer
163 views
Why are some Jinmeiyou kanji missing from JIS 1?
Background
人名用 (Jinmeiyou) kanji are a list of ~800 kanji officially sanctioned by the Japanese government for use in names.
JIS-X-0208 is the major standard for encoding kanji on computers. It's ...
5
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1answer
529 views
Different writing of the kanji 誤?
Good day, I've just noticed that the kanji 誤, while displayed almost everywhere that way, when pasted in my Anki deck, suddenly changes into (see picture below)
I can't get it to display anywhere else ...
2
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2answers
192 views
What does the kanji '図' mean?
I'm a graphic designer and illustrator working on a personal character design project about animals made out of combining different asymmetrical figures.
I've been trying to choose a name for my ...
4
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1answer
350 views
Why are 关 and 复 half-width in Japanese?
关 and 复 are the simplified Chinese forms of 關 and 復複覆, respectively. Usually simplified Hanzi that don't exist as kanji don't get any special treatment and Japanese fonts might not even display them, ...
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1answer
101 views
What does 豪 mean?
What does 豪 mean in word 豪州 (Australia). I wanted to know the etymology of 豪 (I know what does 州 part means). Also I wanted to know if it is pronounced as "Gōshū" or not.
(I made a mistake ...
2
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2answers
101 views
Difference between 濠 and 堀
I wanted to know what is the difference between 濠 (gō) and 堀 (hori). I've only seen 濠 in context of 環濠 (kangō), 豪華な (gōkana) and 豪州 (gōshū). From what I know 環濠 and 堀 both means moat. Well, then, what ...