Exploring the origins of kanji is a fine science
Many of us learn kanji by associating them with the pictographs on which they were originally based. What happens when scholars dispute those commonly held associations?
What would a 'kanji of the decade' say about the state of Japan?
This year's kanji of the year is "令," but writer Paul Dargan posits a guess as to what the kanji of the decade might be while looking back on the annual tradition and what the top picks say about the state of the country.
Rei (令), first character of Reiwa era name, picked as Japan's kanji of the year
The character "rei" (令) — as used in the era name of Reiwa, which has been translated to mean "beautiful harmony" — was chosen as kanji of the year, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation announced Thursday. The character garnered 30,427 votes, the largest share ...
Middle? Inside? Relax, the kanji for naka has this one in the bag
The kanji for "naka" is used in many different ways. A rectagle with a line cutting it in half, the kanji is also one of the easiest to remember.
Matching the ins and outs of two common kanji
From April 1, the 入国管理局 (nyūkoku kanri-kyoku, Immigration Bureau), which operated under the auspices of the 法務省 (hōmushō, Justice Ministry), was upgraded from a bureau to an agency. Its Japanese name changed to 出入国在留管理庁 (shutsunyūkoku zairyū kanri-chō), which can be interpreted as the agency ...
A few parting words in Japanese for when you retire
Japan needed to pass a special law before the Emperor was able to "retire," but for the rest of us the process is a bit easier — as long as you know the vocabulary involved.
Use 'shin' to make a new start in the Reiwa Era
Spring is the time for new life, the new school year, new coworkers and, in 2019, a new Imperial era.
Japan assures world that Reiwa is all about 'beautiful harmony' and has nothing to do with 'command'
The move is intended to dispel what the ministry considers erroneous reports overseas that the new era name has connotations of “command” or “order.”
Banna, Banpo, Eiko, Koshi and Kyuka: The Japan eras that could have been, beaten out by Reiwa
Five of the potential names for Japan's next era that were unsuccessful at the final stage came to light Tuesday, a day after the government selected Reiwa from the six finalists. The five other candidates were Eiko, Kyuka, Koshi, Banna and Banpo, sources with knowledge ...
What's in a name? Reiwa reflects today's politics, Japan's cultural history and a social philosophy
Media hype over Reiwa, the newly announced name for the upcoming era, continued unabated Tuesday. At the same time, a majority of people appeared to happily welcome the name, which means "auspicious" (rei) and "peace" or "harmony" (wa). However, the choice of the era name ...
Some in China baffled by Japan's era name, with regret that it wasn't inspired by a Chinese classic
Some citizens in Beijing on Monday evaluated Japan's new era name, Reiwa, as "strange" and expressed disappointment, saying it doesn't make sense in their language and was not derived from Chinese classics. On Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, many young people had tried to guess ...
Turn an 'H' on its side and look what kanji you get
If you turn an 'H' on its side, you get something that looks like the kanji kō or ku, and from there you can go all sorts of places.
