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Welcome to Forum Spotlight! Here we’ll be introducing interesting and useful posts made by members at our very own JapanesePod101.com Forum. This forum spotlight post contains the final part of a list of new proposed Jōyō Kanji, which comes from Psyさん. What are Jōyō Kanji? The answer to that question along with the first installment of the list can be found here! For the second installment, click here. Here is part 3, the final installment of the new proposed Jōyō Kanji list. Next to each kanji, you will find the reading (onyomi is in katakana, kunyomi is in hiragana), the character's meaning, and a sample word using that kanji. No Kanji Reading Meaning Sample Word 126 諦 テイ・あきら（める）... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary If I saw the following word out of context, I would puzzle over the breakdown: 大荒れ (ōare: great storm)     big + being wild Sample Sentence with 大荒れ ... I would wonder, exactly who or what is big and being wild? An untamed horse or a pro wrestler would come to mind. The breakdown even sounds illicit, like something in an ad for erotic services (not that I read those). But in this case, 荒 describes the weather. From the following compounds and their breakdowns, you might conclude that 荒 (KŌ, ara(i), ara-, a(reru), a(rasu), -a(rashi): rough, crude, natural, wild) generally refers to a force that whips natural elements into a state of frenzy:... Show more

古来、日本人が使っていたカレンダーでは六月のことを「水無月」（読み方は「みなつき」、「みなづき」）と呼んでいました。漢字の意味は「水が無い月」。しかし、日本では五月から七月にかけて雨続きの天候が続きます。これが「梅雨」（「つゆ」と読みます）ですね。雨がたくさん降る月ですから「水が無い月」ではなく、「水が有る月」と表現した方がよいのに、なぜ「水が無い」という名前がついているのでしょうか。 実は、「みなつき」の「な」は「～の」という意味なのです。つまり、直訳すると「水の月」。水に縁の深い一ヶ月を指しているのです。天候もそうですが、日本ではこの季節に主食の米を育てるため、田に水を引き入れます。ここからも、水との関連がうかがえます。 さて、水無月ほど有名ではありませんが、他にも六月を表わす月の呼び方があるのを知っていますか？　たとえば、「風待月」（かぜまちづき）。初夏の涼しい風を待つような一ヶ月、という意味です。ロマンチックですね。 ちなみに、「水無月」という名の和菓子もあります。これは、三角形の白い餅みたいな外郎（ういろう）の上に小豆が乗っているものです。見た目も涼しげ、甘さ控えめでおいしいですよ。 ＝＝＝＝＝ The sixth month of the lunar calendar : On the ancient Japanese calendar the sixth month of the year was called "Minatsuki" or "Minadzuki." The characters mean 'a month without water.' But in Japan, from about May to July... Show more

The Kanji for this week are as follows: (Remember, each compound must use the Kanji in the brackets .) Kanji Scrabble #07 　大、年、魚、多、水、出、新、長、気、天 (Learn How to Play Here) To start, all you need is a Twitter account and to follow our Twitter account @japanesepod101 (What’s Twitter you ask? Read our guide here.) Last week was tricky, so make sure you ファイト and make up for it with this week's! Answers: Kanji Kana English 出生 しゅっしょう (n,vs,adj-no) birth/(P)/ 多年生 たねんせい (n) perennial (plant)/ 多生 たしょう (n) (1) (Buddh) metempsychosis/(2) saving the lives of many/ 大生 だいせい (suf) (abbr) college student/ 天生 てんせい (n) naturally occurring/nature/disposition/vocation/calling/ 年生 ねんせい (n) pupil in... Show more

Welcome to Forum Spotlight! Here we’ll be introducing interesting and useful posts made by members at our very own JapanesePod101.com Forum. This forum spotlight post contains part 2 of a list of new proposed Jōyō Kanji, which comes from Psyさん. What are Jōyō Kanji? The answer to that question along with the first installment of the list can be found here! Here is part 2 of the new proposed Jōyō Kanji list. Next to each kanji, you will find the reading (onyomi is in katakana, kunyomi is in hiragana), the character's meaning, and a sample word using that kanji. No Kanji Reading Meaning Sample Word 65 采 サイ dice; die 拍手喝采（はくしゅかっさい） 66 塞 サイ・ソク・ふさ（ぐ）・ふさ（がる） ... Show more

The Kanji for this week are as follows: (Remember, each compound must use the Kanji in the brackets .) Kanji Scrabble #06:   口、上、時、円、飲、出、高、車、魚、見 Kanji Scrabble, a JapanesePod101.com original game. (Learn How to Play Here) To start, all you need is a Twitter account and to follow our Twitter account @japanesepod101 (What’s Twitter you ask? Read our guide here.) Answers: Kanji Kana English 上目 うわめ (n) upward glance/upturned eyes/ 出目 でめ (n,adj-no) protruding eyes/ 目上 めうえ (n) superior(s)/senior/(P)/ 目高 めだか (n) medaka ricefish (Oryzias latipes)/killifish/ 見目 みめ (n) appearance/looks/ 高目 たかめ (adj-na,n) on the high side/

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary To "strong-arm" someone, we use threats or intimidation to coerce that person into doing what we want. Well, maybe I shouldn't say "we." I like inclusiveness, but I'm not sure "we" serves me too well here. (I also like to be a bit more discreet about my use of threats and intimidation.) Turns out, the Japanese also "strong-arm" people to get their way. That is, the kanji for "threaten, coerce, intimidate" contains a strong arm, or several: 脅 (KYŌ, odo(su), odo(kasu), obiya(kasu): to intimidate, threaten, coerce) Although 力 (RYOKU, chikara) now means "power," it originally represented a bulging bicep. Henshall says that 劦 in 脅 means "strong arm" or "strength." The... Show more

昼食からしばらくすると、「少しお腹が空いたな」と間食をする人もいるのではないでしょうか。 日本では、この間食のことを「おやつ」と呼んでいます。 「おやつ」の「やつ」は「八つ」、つまり「８」を意味しています。昔の時刻で「八時」に当たる「八つ刻（やつどき）」は、現在の二時から四時ごろを指しているそうです。 江戸時代、人々は一日二食で暮らしていました。すると「八つ刻」くらいにお腹が空いてくるのですね。昔の人は夕食までの空腹を満たすために、果物や木の実、しだいに団子や煎餅などを口にするようになったとか。 ちなみに、「おやつ」の「お」は大切に思う気持ちを託した丁寧な表現です。それというのも、京都では「八つ」の時刻を告げていたのは人々の信仰が厚い本願寺の太鼓だったから。現在でも、「おやつ」が一つのことばとして使われ、「お」を省略して「やつ」とは言いません。 明治時代に入って新たに時刻制度が導入され、「お三時」とも言うようになりましたが、三時以外の時刻に食べる間食も含めて「おやつ」という呼び方が一般です。 私たちの脳は仕事に勉強に、と常に働いています。カロリーオーバーにならないように注意しつつ、リラックスタイムにおやつを楽しむのも良いですね。 ＝＝＝ Just a little while after lunch a lot of people say to themselves "I'm a little bit hungry…" and pick up a snack. In Japan, this snack is called "Oyatsu." The word "Oyatsu" comes from the word "Yattsu"... Show more

Thanks for following us on Twitter! We hope you have been enjoying the mini lessons we’ve been updating everyday. Our next theme will be "Bikkuri Adverbs"! Over the next couple of weeks we will introduce you to a new "Bikkuri Adverb" everyday on Twitter. "Bikkuri Adverbs" are set of adverbs that are interesting because they follow a certain pattern: they are all four syllables, and they follow the pattern of , as in: 「__っ__り」, where syllables go into the two blanks. The name "Bikkuri Adverb" comes from Tim in Takamatsu, who decided to call them this "because bikkuri means 'surprise' and is itself a good example of one". The Japanese language doesn't actually have a name for these kinds of adverbs, despite the large number of them.... Show more

Welcome to Forum Spotlight! Here we’ll be introducing interesting and useful posts made by members at our very own JapanesePod101.com Forum. Our second forum spotlight post containing a complete list of new proposed Joyo Kanji comes from Psyさん. The Jōyō Kanji (常用漢字) are a list of 1945 "daily-use" kanji characters established by the Japanese Ministry of Education in 1981. Japanese children will have studied all of these kanji by the time they graduate from junior high school. The Ministry of Education has reviewed the current Jōyō Kanji set and proposed 191 kanji to be added to the list.  These characters are still under review, and the final list of additions is expected to be announced in the fall of 2010. Due to the amount of... Show more