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夏を代表する花、「向日葵」。この漢字が読めますか？　ヒントは、太陽のような黄色の花ですよ。 そう、「ひまわり」です。 漢字の意味を一文字ずつ説明しましょう。「向」は「向く」、つまり「ある方向を見る」という意味です。「日」は言うまでもなく「太陽」ですね。「葵」は「アオイ」という花の種類を表わしていますが、ひまわりは植物学的にはキク科の花です。 ひまわりの特性として、花が常に太陽の方を向いていることが挙げられます。観察していると、朝のうちは東にある太陽に向かって咲いているひまわりは、お昼頃に頭上に移動した太陽を追いかけるように南を向き、午後には西に傾く太陽と同じように花を西側に傾けるのです。漢字は、このひまわりの動きに着目して用いられているのですね。 「向日葵は　金の油を　身にあびて　ゆらりと高し　日のちひ（い）ささよ」という短歌は前田夕暮（まえだゆうぐれ）という人の作品ですが、見事な黄色の花はまるで金色の油を浴びているようです。また、高さが約２メートルにもなるため、見上げていると太陽が小さく見えるほどの迫力です。 ちなみに向日葵の花言葉は「熱愛」「光輝」「あなただけを見つめている」。鮮やかな花にふさわしい情熱的なことばが当てられています。 ＝＝＝＝＝ "向日葵" This is the kanji for a well known summer flower, but can you read it? One hint is that this flower is yellow and it looks like the sun. That's right! This is the kanji compound for... Show more

The Kanji for this week are as follows: (Remember, each compound must use the Kanji in the brackets .) Kanji Scrabble #16, Key Kanji:　南 西、東、北、口、下、国、上、天、中、水 (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 南下 なんか (n,vs) going south/ 南中 なんちゅう (n,vs) crossing the meridian/ 南北 なんぼく (n) south and north/(P)/ 南南東 なんなんとう (n) south-southeast/ 南南西 なんなんせい (n) south-southwest/ 南口 みなみぐち (n) south entrance/(P)/ 南国 なんこく (n) southern countries/(P)/ 南天 なんてん (n) (1) the southern sky/(2) heavenly bamboo/nandina/Nandina domestica/ ... Show more

Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we 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! In this blog and on Twitter we'll be presenting pictures with kanji based on a theme, such as kanji seen on road signs, shop signs, restaurant menus, product packaging, and lots more! You can also see the kanji pictures everyday on Twitter if you follow us! We’ll be changing the theme of the pictures every week. This Everyday Kanji theme is Traffic Signs! 一方通行 (ippō tsūkō)：This means “One way.” But, if you’re on a bike, you can use this road. Do you see why? 一方 (ippō) = one way ● 一 (ichi) = one ● 方 (pō) = way ... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary If you saw the following word, what would you think it meant? 胸像 (kyōzō) As you may know, 胸 means "chest," and 像 often means "image," as in 心像 (shinzō: mental image, heart + image). The chest and heart are fairly interrelated concepts. So if heart + image means "mental image," what could chest + image be? A chest x-ray? A man's image of a woman's chest? A poor self-image, based on a less-than-robust chest? (This brings to mind comedian John Oliver, who says he has a concave chest and isn't fit for any sports, though he could always serve as a sail.) No, it's none of those things. Instead, here's the deal: 胸像 (kyōzō: bust... Show more

「日焼け顔　見合ひ（い）てうまし　氷水」　　　水原秋桜子 「（ひやけがお、みあいてうまし　こおりみず）」　（みずはらしゅうおうし） 高温多湿の日本では、七月から九月くらいまで蒸し暑い日々が続き、太陽もギラギラと照りつけます。そんな夏にひとときの涼しさを届けてくれるのが「かき氷」。氷を細かく砕いたものに、イチゴやレモンの味のシロップをかけて食べます。また、甘い小豆や白玉団子を乗せたり、抹茶の粉をかけたりといろいろなトッピングでも楽しめます。アイスクリームよりさっぱりとした食感で、日本の夏の風物詩です。 この俳句に登場しているのは、真っ黒に日焼けした友だち同士でしょうか。向かい合ってかき氷を食べています。「氷水」というのは、かき氷のことですね。 「ずいぶん日に焼けたな。どこかへ行ってきたのかい？」 「うん、海に。君も真っ黒じゃないか」 「あぁ。僕は川へ泳ぎに行ってきたんだよ」などと、 お互いの顔を見合わせながらおいしくかき氷を食べている様子を表現しています。 「うまし」というのは「うまい」「おいしい」という意味。 暑さが厳しい季節ですが、暑いからこその楽しみもあります。その一つがかき氷。ただし、おいしいからといって急いで食べたり、たくさん食べたりすると、キーンと頭が痛くなってしまいますけどね。 ＝＝＝＝＝ Tanned visages facing each other, delicious shaved ice By Shuoushi Mizuhara In Japan, the sun beats down hard during the humid days of summer from about July to... Show more

That’s right; we said it! We don’t think you can do it! Oh, don’t get us wrong, we believe you can do anything you set your mind to here at JapanesePod101.com… but how hard will you really try to bleed us of our money? Hmm… I guess we’ll see at the end of August. What are we talking about? Our $10,100 Summer Giveaway, that’s what! And what is THAT, you say? Well, first of all, we are giving away many, many, MANY free subscriptions - $10,100 worth of FREE Premium and 101 Basic subscriptions to be exact! And entering is a piece of cake! You can enter in JapanesePod101.com’s $10,100 Giveaway, by doing one or ALL of the following:  Follow JapanesePod101.com on Twitter  Become a fan of JapanesePod101.com on Facebook  Subscribe to... Show more

The Kanji for this week are as follows: (Remember, each compound must use the Kanji in the brackets .) Kanji Scrabble #15, Key Kanji: 車、中、上、道、高、足、金、水、火、目 (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 上下 うえした (n) high and low/up and down/unloading and loading/praising and blaming/(P)/ 上下水道 じょうげすいどう (n) water and sewer services/ 上中下 じょうちゅうげ (n) excellent-good-poor/first-second-third (class)/ 下下 したじた (n) the lower classes/the common people/ 下水 げすい (n) (1) drainage/ditch/gutter/sewerage/(2) sewage/black water/(P)/ 下水道 げすいどう (n)... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary You might think that, as an inanimate object, a rod would be incapable of doing much. But 棒 (BŌ: rod, pole, stick) pairs off with several actions, as in the following expressions: 棒読み (bōyomi)     rod + reading 棒を引く (bō o hiku)     rod + to pull 棒立ち (bōdachi)     rod + standing Any ideas what these might mean? If I were guessing blindly, I might interpret 棒読み as a divining rod, an instrument to detect water or metal. Meanwhile, 棒を引く could refer to pulling a sword from a stone. As for 棒立ち, it could be a telephone pole. Wrong in every case! Let's take 'em one by one.   Reading Like a... Show more

Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we 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! In this blog and on Twitter we'll be presenting pictures with kanji based on a theme, such as kanji seen on road signs, shop signs, restaurant menus, product packaging, and lots more! You can also see the kanji pictures everyday on Twitter if you follow us! We’ll be changing the theme of the pictures every week. This week's theme was kanji seen on caution and prohibition signs. ① 駐車禁止(chuusha kinshi) This means “NO PARKING”. “禁止” means “prohibited”, so you should watch out for these kanji! 駐車・chūsha = parking -  ... Show more

The Kanji for this week are as follows: (Remember, each compound must use the Kanji in the brackets .) Kanji Scrabble #14, Key Kanji: 火、目、牛、車、道、大、中、生、出、口 (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 中水道 ちゅうすいどう (n) gray-water system/grey-water system/recycled waste-water/ 出水 しゅっすい (n,vs) flood/freshet/inundation/ 大水 おおみず (n,adj-no) flood/(P)/ 水中 すいちゅう (n,adj-no) underwater/(P)/ 水口 みずぐち (n) a spout/(P)/ 水火 すいか (n) fire and water/ 水牛 すいぎゅう (n) water buffalo/(P)/ 水生 すいせい (n,adj-no) aquatic (life)/living in the water/ ... Show more