Hi everyone!
Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we’re going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That’s right – kanji seen and used everyday!

The theme for this week is more store signs. Let’s take a look!

①

寿司 (sushi): 寿司 means “sushi.” In Japanese, there is another kanji that means “sushi.” Do you know which kanji it is?

寿司 is a pair of kanji that are the phonetic equivalent of the word “sushi.” But another kanji, 鮨, is the real kanji meaning sushi. It is said 寿司 came to be used to mean “sushi” for good luck because 寿 has the meaning of longevity.

寿司 (sushi) = sushi
● 寿 (su) = longevity
● 司 (shi) = director

むらまつ is the name of the restaurant, and 赤坂 (Akasaka) is the name of the area that the restaurant is in.

②

焼きたてのパン (yakitate no pan): 焼 is a kanji that means “to bake.” Can you tell what kind of shop this is from the picture and the kanji?

焼きたて means “fresh from the oven” and パン means “bread.” As you may have guessed, this shop is a bakery! You’ll often see the word 焼きたて at a bakery.

焼きたて (yakitate) = fresh from the oven
● 焼 (ya-ki) = to bake

Extra:
たて (tate) – attaches to the masu stem of a verb and means that the action has just been completed.

③

くわな湯 (kuwana yu): 湯 (yu) generally means “hot water.” くわな is the name of the establishment. In what kind of place will you find a lot of hot water?

This place, which has 湯 in its name, is a public bath. In Japan, you can often find public baths. Recently, public baths that have not only a normal bath but also saunas, open-air spas or other relaxation facilities are getting more popular in Japan.

湯 (yu) = hot water, bath

営業時間 (eigyō jikan) = business hours
● 営 (ei) = perform
● 業 (gyō) = business
● 時 (ji) = time
● 間 (kan) = interval

平日 (heijitsu) = weekdays
● 平 (hei) = flat
● 日 (jitsu) = day

日曜 (nichiyō) = Sundays
● 日 (nichi) = day
● 曜 (yō) = weekday

定休日 (teikyūbi) = regular closing day
● 定 (tei) = fixed
● 休 (kyū) = rest
● 日 (bi) = day

毎週月曜日 (maishū getsuyōbi) = every Monday
● 毎 (mai) = every
● 週 (shū) = week
● 月 (getsu) = Monday, moon, month
● 曜 (yō) = weekday
● 日 (bi) = day

④

日本料理・甘味・茶処 (nihon ryori/kanmi/chadokoro): 日本料理means “Japanese cuisine.” Do you know what you can find there?

甘味 literally means “sweet taste” but when it is used at a certain kind of shop, it refers to a place where you can eat Japanese sweets. 茶処 literally means a place where you can have tea, but it usually indicates a Japanese-style tea room.

日本料理 (Nihon ryōri) = Japanese cuisine
● 日 (ni) = sun
● 本 (hon) = origin
● 料 (ryō) = material
● 理 (ri) = arrangement

甘味 (kanmi/amami) = sweets
● 甘 (kan/ama) = sweet
● 味 (mi) = taste

茶処 (chadokoro) = tea room
● 茶 (cha) = tea
● 処 (dokoro) = place

⑤

宝くじ (takarakuji): 宝 means “treasure.” You can often see small stands with this sign near stations. What is this place for?

宝くじ means “lottery.” This is the sign for a place selling lottery tickets. The sentence, 大きな夢へ運だめし means “Try your luck at a big dream!”

宝くじ (takara kuji) = lottery
● 宝 (takara) = treasure

大きな夢 (ōkina yume) = big dream
● 大 (ō) = big
● 夢 (yume) = dream

運だめし (undameshi) = try one’s luck
● 運 (un) = luck

★ If you think you can remember them all, try testing yourself with this video on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn4C9457w-I
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