Finger for medicine.

Do you know how you call each finger in Japanese?

First, finger is 指 (yubi) in Japanese.

Thumb : 親指 (oya yubi)
(parents finger)
Thumb is the biggest finger, so it’s like parents (…actually father).

Index finger : 人差し指 (hitosashi yubi)
(finger to point person)
When you point someone, you use this finger.
(Actually, this action is rude though!)

Middle finger : 中指 (naka yubi)
(middle finger)
Yes, middle finger is the middle of the fingers.

Ring finger : 薬指 (kusuri yubi)
(medicine finger)
When you use medicine (application), you should use ring finger, because you usually don’t use this finger, so the finger is the cleanest.

Little finger : 小指 (ko yubi)
(small finger)
Little finger is the smallest finger.

Also there is a different way for describing fingers for children.

Thumb : お父さん指 (otoosan yubi)
(father finger)

Index : お母さん指 (okaasan yubi)
(mother finger)

Middle : お兄さん指 (oniisan yubi)
(older brother finger)

Ring : お姉さん指 (oneesan yubi)
(older sister finger)

Little : 赤ちゃん指 (akachan yubi)
(baby finger)

These are cute, aren’t they? :)


How do you call fingers in your language?

His hand is fast...!?

There are a lot of idioms using a part of the body.
Today, I’m introducing you some idioms with “hand”.
Hand is "手 (te)" in Japanese.

① 手を貸す (te o kasu)
“To lend one’s hand”
This means…
“To help someone”.

“手を貸してくれない？”
(te o kashite kurenai?)
“Can you help me?”


② 手が早い (te ga hayai)
“The hand is fast”
This means…
“To have relationships with women right away”.

“彼は手が早いから気をつけて！”
(kare wa te ga hayai kara ki o tsukete!)
“He wants to have relationships with girls easily. Be careful!”


③ 手が焼ける (te ga yakeru)
“The hand is burnt”
This means…
“It’s difficult to take care of someone.”
“To have a lot of trouble to take care of someone”

“私の秘書は失敗ばかりで、手が焼けるよ。”
(watashi no hisho wa shippai bakaride te ga yakeru yo)
“My secretary makes mistakes very often. I have a lot of trouble with him/her.”


Do you have similar idioms or expressions in your language, too?

Today's kanji : 放

Today's kanji is 放.

The blue part describes
"dead person is hanged on tree for charm against evil spirits".

The red part describes "hit, knock, beat".

Dead person is hanged on tree and hit by people!
Hope the evil spirits will...

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

He might be a sakura.

It's the best season for 桜 (sakura, cherry blossoms) now in Tokyo.

In this season, a lot of people drink and eat under sakura trees in the park or river side.
It's getting warm but still quite cold outside especially in the evening, but people try to drink in the park with coat and scarf. (^ ^;)

The event is called 花見 (hanami).
(Just in case... 花見 (hanami) is seeing cherry blossoms and 花火 (hanabi) is fireworks.)
I did hanami last weekend with my friends, too.
Do you have similar event in your country?
Do you sometimes drink outside even if it's cold!?

By the way, there is another meaning for the word "Sakura".
Another sakura is usually written in katakana and describes people.
When people are trying to sell something, if there isn't any customer, people usually don't care about the shop.
But if there are many customers, you could be interested in the shop.
So shops sometimes hire people who pretend customers.
The people are called サクラ (sakura).
They are called sakura because sakura trees seem very gorgeous and the flowers fall soon.
The people try to do same thing.

The way of using the word "sakura" is popular in Japanese.
Try to use the word when you talk with your Japanese friends.
Like...
"Wow! That store is very crowded!"
"Well... maybe some of them are sakura, don't you think so?"