Some Japanese words are written with a single kanji, but countless others are compounds comprised of two (the majority), three, or more kanji. These compound words (jukugo) are not composed randomly; a limited number of patterns govern their construction, and today we will explore one of these: two-kanji jukugo comprised of characters with opposite or contrastive meanings.

The meanings of opposite/contrastive-kanji combos are frequently transparent. In preparation for a medical exam in Japan, you may be instructed to remove 上下 (jōge, 上 top and 下 bottom; i.e., all of your clothing). Toilets in clinics are often marked 男女 (danjo, 男 men, and 女 women), meaning they are unisex.

出入 (deiri, coming and going), comprised of 出 (de, come out) and 入 (iri, go in) appears on signboards prohibiting entry to dangerous areas or private property: 出入禁止 (deirikinshi, come out/go in/prohibit); 飲食 (inshoku, 飲 drinking and 食 eating) is frowned upon on local trains and subways.