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 kanji found on packaging of Japanese chocolate. Let’s take a look!

①

きなこおはぎ味 (kinako ohagi aji): 味 (aji) means “flavor”. The word that comes before 味 specifies what kind of flavor something is. Do you know what kind of flavor きなこおはぎ is?

きなこ is soybean flour and おはぎare rice balls coated in sweet bean paste. You can see what it looks like in the picture on the packaging. The light brown powder is きなこ, which is a very traditional Japanese flavor.

● 味 (aji) = taste

Sample Sentence:
わたしは、りんご味のアメが好きだ。
Watashi wa, ringo aji no ame ga suki da.
I like apple-flavored candies.

②

梅ソーダ仕立て (ume soda shitate): 梅 (ume) means “plum” and ソーダmeans “soda.” So, this chocolate is plum soda flavor. Do you know what 仕立て (shitate) means?

仕立て means “making”, or “to make up.” So, this chocolate is made so that you can feel like you are drinking plum soda when you eat it.

●梅 (ume) = plum

仕立て (shitate) = making up, preparation
● 仕 (shi) = attend
● 立 (ta(-tsu) = stand up

Sample Sentence:
そのテキストは、マンガ仕立てなので、読みやすい。
Sono tekisuto wa, manga jitate na node, yomiyasui.
That textbook is easy to read because it’s made up of manga.

③

充実野菜 (jūjitsu yasai): 充実 (jūjitsu) means “fulfilling” and 野菜 (yasai) means “vegetable.”　Can you imagine what this chocolate tastes like?

充実野菜 is the name of a famous brand of vegetable juice in Japan. It’s a very healthy juice which has a lot of vegetables, such as carrots, spinach and so on.

充実 (jūjitsu) = fulfilling
● 充 (jū) = fill
● 実 (jitsu) = fruit

野菜 (yasai) = vegetable
● 野 (ya) = field
● 菜 (sai) = vegetable

Sample Sentence:
野菜を食べる代わりに、野菜ジュースを飲む。
Yasai o taberu kawari ni, yasai jūsu o nomu.
I drink vegetable juice instead of eating vegetables.

④

和栗 (waguri): 和 (wa) means “Japanese” and 栗 (kuri) means “chestnut.” In Japan, you will find many chestnut-flavored snacks and sweets in autumn, when chestnuts are in season.

渋皮入り (shibukawa iri) means “containins astringent skin.” 渋皮 means “astringent skin” and 入り means “contains.”

和栗 (waguri) = Japanese chestnut
● 和 (wa) = Japanese
● 栗 (kuri(guri)) = chestnut

渋皮入り (shibukawa iri) = contains astringent skin
● 渋 (shibu) = astringent
● 皮 (kawa) = skin
● 入 (i(-ri)) = contains

Sample Sentence:
茨城県は、和栗の産地で有名だ。
Ibaraki-ken wa, waguri no sanchi de yūmei da.
Ibaraki prefecture is famous as a production area of Japanese chestnuts.

⑤

酢っきり(sukkiri): 酢 means “vinegar.” Seeing this kanji gives you the image that this chocolate tastes kind of sour.

酢っきり is read as “sukkiri” which is usually written in hiragana as すっきり and means “refreshing.” The word すっきりis not normally written with the kanji 酢, but here it is used in place of す as a kind of play on words to emphasize the sour taste.

● 酢 (su) = vinegar

● 梅 (ume) = plum

Sample Sentence:
酢は、すっぱいです。
Su wa, suppai desu.
Vinegar tastes sour.

★ If you think you can remember them all, try testing yourself with this video on Youtube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9QO0eu6VgQ
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