Today'a kanji : 鞄

Today's kanji is 鞄.

The blue part means "leather".
The red part means "to wrap / to fold".

The leather for wrapping your baggage.

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

mud on the face

There are a lot of idioms using a part of the body. Today, I’m introducing you some idioms with “face”.
Face is "顔 (kao)" in Japanese.

①　顔が広い　(kao ga hiroi)

"The face is wide."

This means...
"to know a lot of people having different background."

「彼は顔が広いから、いい人を紹介してくれると思うよ。」
(kare wa kao ga hiroi kara iihito o shookai shitekureru to omouyo)

"I think he will introduce you someone nice as he knows a lot of different people."


②　顔に書いてある　(kao ni kaitearu)

“something is written on your face”

This means…
“Your face is expressing your feeling. I know what you are thinking in your heart.”

「パーティー行きたくないって顔に書いてあるよ。本当に行くの？」
(patti ikitakunai tte kaoni kaitearuyo. hontooni ikuno?)

“Your face is saying “I don’t want to go to the party!”. Are you really going to the party?”


③　顔に泥をぬる　（kao ni doro o nuru）

“to apply (paint) mud on someone’s face”

This means…
“to loose someone’s face”

「お客さんの前で飲みすぎて、上司の顔に泥をぬってしまった・・・」
(okyakusan no mae de nomisugite jooshi no kao ni doro o nutteshimatta…)

“I drank too much in front of our clients and I lost my boss’s face…”


When I was checking my dictionary for this blog, I noticed something. Both in Japanese and English, “face” means “honor” and ”mood”, too. Interesting!
Do you know about other language?
What kind of expression using "face" do you have in your language?

Today's kanji : 宮

The blue part describes "roof"
The red part describes "rooms"

A house with a lot of rooms.

Can you guess the meaning?
See the comments page for the answer!

Who lives in a temple?

Today, let's try mathematical kanji exercise!

Q. Answer the following questions.

eg：イ(person) + 動 (to move) = 働 (to work)

①　イ(person) + 賞 (prize, award) =

②　イ(person) + 憂 (anxious) =

③　イ(person) + 夢 (dream) =

④　イ(person) + 寺 (temple) =

⑤　イ(person) + 為 (for, sake) =


Answer key：

①　イ(person) + 賞 (prize, award) = 償 (compensate, recompense)
　　Do we have to compensate when we win a prize!?

②　イ(person) + 憂 (anxious) = 優 (kind, gentle)
　　We can be kind because we feel anxious?

③　イ(person) + 夢 (dream) = 儚 (empty, fragile, frail)
　　Having a dream is empty… (T T)

④　イ(person) + 寺 (temple) = 侍 (samurai)
　　Samurai was in a temple?

⑤　イ(person) + 為 (for, sake) = 偽 (fake)
　　Doing something for someone is fake!??

These are interesting...
Some of them seem difficult kanji, but maybe not so difficult to remember because of the meanings?? ;)

How to read the kanji...
働く (hataraku) 償う (tsugunau) 優しい (yasashii)
儚い (hakanai) 侍 (samurai) 偽 (nise)

Today's kanji : 協

The blue part describes "to gather"
(It looks like "plus" (+), doesn't it?)

The red part describes "power + power + power"

To gether people's power


Can you guess the meaning?
See the comments page for the answer!

Today's kanji : 枯

The blue part describes "tree"
The red part describes "old"

When the tree becomes very old...


Can you guess the meaning?
See the comments page for the answer!

I'm a cat's tongue.

There are many idioms / expressions with animals.
Today, I introduce you some popular idioms using "cat".
Cat is 猫 (neko) in Japanese.


①　猫の手も借りたい
　　（neko no te mo karitai）

I want to borrow even cat's hands.

This expression means...
I'm very busy.

I know cats are not helpful at all for my work, but I'd appriciate if a cat helped me as I'm very busy now.

「忙しそうだね。」
「isogashisoudane.」
「うん、猫の手も借りたいほどだよ。」
「un. neko no te mo karitai hododayo.」

"You seem busy."
"Yeah, I'm extremely busy."


②　猫糞 / ネコババ
　　（nekobaba）

Cat's dropping (excrements)

This expression means...
To pocket, steal something and pretend not to know

Cats cover their droppings with sand.
They seem hide something bad and pretend not to know anything.

今日、公園で千円拾ってネコババしちゃった！
kyou kouen de senen hirotte nekobaba shichatta!

Today, I picked up 1000yen and I stole it!

Note:
This expression might sound dirty or disgusting.
But actually it doesn't.
Most of Japanese people know and use this expression, but lots of people don't know that ババ（baba） of ネコババ（nekobaba） means "dropping".


③　猫舌
　　（nekojita）

Cat's tongue

This expression describes...
Someone who cannot eat hot food

Cat's don't like hot drinks/food.

このお茶熱いね~！私、猫舌なんだ。
kono ocha atsuine! watashi nekojita nannda.

This greentea is hot, isn't it!
I'm a person who cannot eat hot food.


I've heard there isn't an English expression for 猫舌（nekojita）.
Is that right?
Don't you think it's quite useful expression? :)

Kanji for your country

As you may know, we usually use katakana for foreign words like "coffee" (コーヒー), "boots" (ブーツ), "Canada" (カナダ), "Julia" (ジュリア)...

But we also have kanji for some countries.
For example, we use 仏 for describing France.
仏 means "Buddha", but the meaning of the kanji is not relevant to the country's name at all.
The important point is the pronunciation.
We read 仏 "butsu" "futsu" "hotoke".
The sound "fu" of "futsu" is similar to "F" of "France".

Kanji for countries is often used for headlines of newspapers.
I'm posting some countries' kanji and the meaning of the kanji.
If you would like to know other kanji, let me know!

日 ： Japan (sun)
米 ： U.S.A (rice)
英 ： U.K. (English)
露 ： Russia (dew)
独 ： Germany (alone)
伊 ： Italy (a sage from a legend)
加 ： Canada (add)
豪 ： Australia (luxury)
印 ： India (stamp)


米大統領訪日
（bei daitouryou hounichi）
President of the U.S.A is visiting Japan

日英協会
（nichi ei kyoukai）
The Japan-British Society

伊ワイン
（i wain）
Itarian wine

Note:These phrases are usually used as written language.

Today's kanji : 兄

This kanji as a whole describes "a person who has huge head".

A Child who should have a "good brain" is...


Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

Today's kanji : 嫌

The blue part describes "woman".
The red part describes
"the hand + two rices = feel dissatisfaction".
(If it was just one rice, it should be easier. Why do I have to carry two rices? ...)

My girlfriend complains all the time!


Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!