Kanji - Level 5 - Kanji

Question 1

角

Answer 1

Angle
Radicals: 勹 prison + 用 task
Your task in prison is to bend things into different angles and then put them in the corner. No one will tell you why you’re doing this, but you get a couple cents an hour to do it, so you aren’t going to complain.
Reading: かく
To get the angle right you find that you have to cock (かく) your head to the side a lot. After cocking your head at weird angles so much you also start to hear cocks crowing in your head. Cock-co-cock-co-caww!

Question 2

斤

Answer 2

Axe
Radicals: 斤 axe
The axe radical and the axe kanji are exactly the same, with one minor difference. This kanji is also used as the bread loaf counter, probably because bread was so big and hard in the past that they had to use axes to slice them.
Reading: きん
You imagined being back in time too good and now you’re stuck using an axe to be a bread loaf counter for the King (きん) of England. You aren’t sure which king he is or when in time you are, but he’s mean and keeps eating all the bread you cut up with your axe.

Question 3

青

Answer 3

Blue
Radicals: 青 blue
The blue radical and the blue kanji are exactly the same.
Additionally, this can also mean young. You can remember this by the life radical inside of blue symbolizing the birth and growth of something new, and therefore young.
Readings: せい, しょう
You’ve been feeling really blue. Mostly because your skin, hair, and eyes have all turned blue. The Shougun (しょう) found out and now he’s back. He places his hand on your shoulder and then points at your saber (せい). It’s blue too! You aren’t alone!

Question 4

体

Answer 4

Body
Radicals: ｲ leader + 本 book
The leader has a book all about the human body. Knowing about bodies is a privilege. One that only leaders get—it helps them control all their subjects, like you.
Readings: たい, てい
The leader’s body book also taught her about something very body specific: how to tie a tie (たい). You can’t have a tie on your body, no no. Those are for the leader and her smart body.

Question 5

色

Answer 5

Color
Radicals: 色 color
The color radical and color are the same in looks as well as in meaning.
Reading: いろ
You already have color on the mind because you know the meaning of this kanji, so think of something colorful about yourself. Imagine your ear (いろ) being a weird color… green, purple, red, whatever. Just make it really bright and standing out.

Question 6

来

Answer 6

Come
Radicals: 一 ground + 米 rice
There’s rice spread out all over the ground. This will cause the Predator to come because he loves kome (rice). Then once he’s gone, the next Predator will come to eat.
Reading: らい
When they come, though, everyone is disappointed. It turns out it’s rye (らい) grains, and rye grains taste terrible. Yuck.

Question 7

社

Answer 7

Company
Radicals: ネ spirit + 土 dirt
Plant a spirit in the dirt before you start your company and it will be successful. That’s what all the great, old Japanese companies did back in the olden days. That’s why companies like Mitsubishi have been around for hundreds of years. They planted a spirit in the dirt to help their company grow, and grow it did!
Reading: しゃ
Where did you learn about this method of company growing? From a shaman (しゃ), of course. Shamans aren’t just spouting nonsense, they know what they’re talking about. And spirits are right up their shaman alley.

Question 8

当

Answer 8

Correct
Radicals: ⺌ triceratops + ヨ wolverine
There’s a triceratops and a wolverine. What are they doing together? You’d think they’d fight, but they took their battle to another venue… they’re competing in a game show! One of them answers a question, and the host says, “Success! You’re correct!”
Reading: とう
When we need to remember the reading とう, we use the Japanese city Tokyo. The last question in the game show match is the following: “What is the capital of Japan.” The triceratops and the wolverine scream the correct answer at the same time: とうきょう!

Question 9

図

Answer 9

Diagram
Radicals: 口 mouth + メ treasure + 冫ice
The treasures are in the mouth where there’s ice. How cryptic! You want to find the treasure, that’s for sure (treasure is great!). It is somewhere where there is ice, so maybe the arctic? What you are looking at is a diagram which will guide you there.
Readings: ず, と
What will you do when you find these treasures that are shown on the diagram? Well, you get there, and you find that the treasure is actually a wooly mammoth! What will you do with this wooly mammoth? You grab it and put it in your zoo (ず).

Question 10

毎

Answer 10

Every
Radicals: 𠂉 gun + 毋 window
You see some windows… you have a gun. What do you think you’re going to do with this gun? Of course, you’re going to shoot the windows… every single one of them. Each and every one.
Reading: まい
Now that each and every window is broken you feel pretty stupid because a bunch of mice (まい) come pouring in through them. You’ve made a way for them to get into your house. That wasn’t smart.

Question 11

羽

Answer 11

Feather
Radicals: 羽 feather
The feather radical and feather are the same in looks as well as in meaning.
Reading: はね, は, わ
All these feathers. You’re a bird man / woman, and you’re getting ready to fly. Just as you’re about to take off, someone dumps you with honey はね and you’re all goopy, unable to go anywhere.

Question 12

林

Answer 12

Forest
Radicals: 木 tree
You have a tree and another tree. You basically have yourself a forest!
Reading: はやし
So, now you have this forest and you want to cut it down (so much money!). But, you don’t have any tools, only your hands. You think… I’ve done karate for a while, so I can probably chop it down that way. You get in a chopping stance, then do your battle cry and hit: “HAYA … .SHI****!”

Question 13

行

Answer 13

Go
Radicals: 行 go
The go radical and the go kanji are exactly the same!
Readings: こう, ぎょう
“Oh, did he go again?” When こういち is not around, that’s what people often say because he goes to the gyoza (ぎょう) restaurant almost every day. こういち just loves gyoza so much, you always know where he is when he is not home.

Question 14

金

Answer 14

Gold
Radicals: 金 gold
The gold radical and the gold kanji are the same!
Readings: きん, こん
The most gold in the land belongs to the King (きん) of England. In fact, you’ve never actually met someone with gold, it all goes straight to the King whenever someone finds some. You just have a few pennies to work with.

Question 15

草

Answer 15

Grass
Radicals: 艹 flowers + 日 sun + 十 cross
You plant your flowers in the light of the sun in the shape of a cross, but it’s too hot—the sun is too strong—and you end up with grass. Flowers can’t grow in these conditions.
Reading: くさ
The grass on top is brown and burned from the sun, so you need to take a cool saw (くさ) and hack the tops off. The saw is actually physically cool to the touch, to help heal the grass’ sunburned bits. It just happens to look cool too.

Question 16

里

Answer 16

Hometown
Radicals: 里 village
The village you always think of first is your hometown.
Reading: さと
Your hometown is where you sat (さと), nostalgia tugging at your heartstrings amid the endless rice fields and dirt.

Question 17

作

Answer 17

Make
Radicals: ｲ leader + 乍 key
The leader’s key is the key that makes all the other keys. It’s sort of like the one ring to rule them all, the one ring to bind them… except with keys.
Readings: さく, さ
The leader makes all the keys and puts them in a sack (さく) to distribute them to the underlings, who then saw (さ) them into shape.

Question 18

多

Answer 18

Many
Radicals: 夕 evening
How many evenings are there? There are many.
Reading: た
To remember the reading た we use the word “Taco”
Let’s start with the kanji meaning: many. You go outside in the evening (because that’s what this kanji is made up of) and are surprised when you’re hit by many tacos flying from the sky. For some reason it’s raining tacos, and of course you have no idea why.

Question 19

肉

Answer 19

Meat
Radicals: 肉 meat
The meat radical and meat are the same in looks as well as in meaning.
Reading: にく
You know there’s people-eating going on here, with this kanji. So, when you think of this meat, you’ll have to think about whose meat it is. In this case, it’s Nick’s (にく) meat.

Question 20

会

Answer 20

Meet
Radicals: 会 meet
The meet radical and the meet kanji are the same!
Reading: かい
What better way to meet new people than to start kayaking (かい)! Get into your kayak and just float out into the water. You’ll eventually bump into someone else in a kayak and boom, you’re meeting someone new!

Question 21

交

Answer 21

Mix
Radicals: 亠 lid + 父 father
You put a lid on your father. But, he won’t taste good alone, so you mix in some other ingredients. They mingle inside the pot with him.
Reading: こう
With a mix of your father and other ingredients mingling in your cooking pot, you lift up the lid… your father pops up. Your father is こういち. He stares back at you with a big smile.

Question 22

近

Answer 22

Near
Radicals: ⻌ scooter + 斤 axe
Someone on a scooter has an axe, and they’re getting near to you really fast! Oh no, they’re so close now, you need to get out of here!
Readings: きん, こん
As they draw near, you recognize who is riding the scooter: the King (きん) of England! Behind him, a bunch of his guards also on scooters and wielding axes appear and move close to you.

Question 23

兄

Answer 23

Older brother
Radicals: 口 mouth + 儿 legs
Who’s someone who’s just a mouth with legs? That’s your know-it-all older brother, who won’t shut up about anything.
Readings: きょう, けい
You wish you could box your loud-mouth older brother up and send him far away to きょうと. きょうと is super far away from where you currently live, so just ship your older bro off so he can never bother you again.

Question 24

雨

Answer 24

Rain
Radicals: 雨 rain
The radical for rain and the kanji for rain are the same thing.
Readings: あめ, あま
What if the rain actually tried to aim (あめ) for you? As in, drops would move out of their normal flight path just to hit you on your head? You’d be a lot wetter, that’s for sure.

Question 25

米

Answer 25

Rice
Radicals: 米 rice
The rice radical and rice are the same in looks as well as in meaning. This also refers to “America,” maybe because America is covered in rice or fields or something?
Readings: べい, まい
You’ve got tons of dry grains of rice. You have no idea what you’re going to do with it. Then, you come up with a solution. All this dry rice could go towards filling up the bay (べい), so you have more land to farm on!

Question 26

走

Answer 26

Run
Radicals: 走 run
The radical run and the kanji run are exactly the same!
Reading: そう
You run and run and run and suddenly you feel your soul (そう) leave your body. Still running, you turn around and see your soul running a few steps behind you.

Question 27

同

Answer 27

Same
Radicals: 冋 mustache + 一 ground
There’s a mustache on the ground. Upon closer inspection, you see that the mustache on the ground is exactly the same as yours!
Reading: どう
When we need to remember the reading どう, we use the word “doughnut”.
While this is already strange enough, you notice something stranger. Over a couple feet away is a doughnut (どう) who also has the same mustache as you (and the one that fell on the ground). The doughnut looks at you for a moment, then scampers off. This doughnut must be a mutant because normally doughnuts don’t move.

Question 28

言

Answer 28

Say
Radicals: 言 say
The say radical and the say kanji are the same!
Readings: げん, ごん
If you aren’t sure what to say, just think about Genji (げん) and ask yourself, “What would Genji say?”

Question 29

自

Answer 29

Self
Radicals: 自 self
The self radical and self are the same in looks as well as in meaning.
Readings: じ, し
When we need to remember じ we use the word “Jesus.”
Who said you should always look at your self before tossing stones (or whatever) at others? Jesus (じ) did. So, make sure you look at your own self before being a jerk.

Question 30

形

Answer 30

Shape
Radicals: 开 lantern + 彡 hair
You’re walking at night when you discover a lantern covered entirely in hair, making it a very strange shape. In fact, this is a form you’d never expect a lantern to take.
Readings: けい, ぎょう
You stare at the shape until you finally recognize it: cake (けい)! Well, it’s hairy, glowing cake, but it’s still shaped like a big slice of cake.

Question 31

皮

Answer 31

Skin
Radicals: 丿slide + 支 branch
Slide down a branch and your skin will come off. Unlike what Tarzan will make you believe, you can’t just slide around on branches, they’re rough and painful and if you do it your skin will come sliding off and it will hurt.
Reading: ひ
Without your skin to protect you, you feel the full heat (ひ) from the friction of your body going down the branch slide.

Question 32

空

Answer 32

Sky
Radicals: 宀 roof + 儿 legs + 工 construction
Giving a roof legs is the kind of construction you do. You make it so a roof can be in the sky. In addition to meaning “sky”, this kanji often means empty. Think about it - there’s nothing more empty than the sky!
Reading: くう
The reason you want to put a roof in the sky is because it gets the roof away from all the cooties (くう) that are on the ground.

Question 33

音

Answer 33

Sound
Radicals: 立 stand + 日 sun
For some reason, you are standing on the sun. It’s obviously very hot, but the thing you notice most is the sound of you burning up.
Reading: おん
This sound isn’t just loud, it’s familiar. Finally you place it: onions (おん)!

Question 34

学

Answer 34

Study
Radicals: 龸 viking + 子 child
You have a wild viking child you have to take care of. He won’t do anything but study, surprisingly. You can’t get him to eat, use the bathroom, or anything else. He just wants to study.
Reading: がく
This crazy viking child who prefers study over pillaging (and other viking activities)… the other vikings just stop and gawk (がく) at him when they walk by.

Question 35

代

Answer 35

Substitute
Radicals: ｲ leader + 弋 ceremony
The leader for the ceremony can’t come so you need a substitute to replace them ASAP!
This kanji has another meaning too. The leader can’t come to the ceremony because they forgot what period of time it was. If they think they’re in the wrong age, they won’t come because they’re trying to lead some monkeys in the ceremony instead.
Readings: だい, たい
The substitute leader is wearing the wrong color clothes, so you have to dye (だい) them, like they did in the olden ages.

Question 36

光

Answer 36

Sunlight
Radicals: ⺌ triceratops + 兀 pi
You see a triceratops in the distance. But, it’s odd. It’s perfectly pi shaped (that is, circular). Some kind of piceratops, if you will. The reason they are this shape is because they want to absorb as much sunlight (or just light is fine, too) as possible. They evolved to be round so they don’t have any corners casting a shadow.
Reading: こう
As you watch this majestic beast absorbing sunlight, suddenly several dozen feral (こういち)s burst from various hiding spots, spears in hand. Oh no! Those こういちs are hunting this rare piceratops!

Question 37

考

Answer 37

Think
Radicals: 耂 coffin + 丂 beggar
In a coffin is someone begging. But, it won’t work. You won’t listen. So, the man in the coffin just begins to think: What could I have done better in my life? Why am I in this situation? How will I get out? Think, damnit, think!!
Reading: こう
What is the beggar thinking of? A thought bubble pops up into existence near his head. In it is a picture of こういち! He’s thinking that if こういち was here, he’d save him. Oh, if only こういち could save us all!

Question 38

回

Answer 38

Times
Radicals: 口 mouth
There’s a mouth inside a mouth. But if you look even closer (not actually, but we’re pretending), you can see another mouth inside that mouth… and another one inside of that one! It keeps going and going. Can you count the number of times there’s a mouth inside a mouth? This kanji also means revolve too. Think of each “time” a thing happens, it loops back around and comes back to the beginning, revolving around again another time.
Reading: かい
If you’re having a hard time wrapping your head around the infinite number of times these mouths revolve, just picture yourself in a little kayak (かい) going around and down through the mouths.

Question 39

谷

Answer 39

Valley
Radicals: ハ fins + 𠆢 hat + 口 mouth
There’s a hat decorated with fins and (presumably fish) mouths on it. Who wears strange hats like this? Turns out, the valley people are the ones who wear these. I’m talking about the “Valley Girls” of California, Hollywood / LA. They’re into the crazy fashion, and they’ll wear anything if it’s deemed “cool” or something like that.
Readings: たに, や
Hanging around with all the Valley Girls in the sunny area of LA is also a robot. It’s WALL-E’s distant (and lazy, lounging) relative, TAN-E (たに). He sits around getting a tan in LA with the Valley Girls while his cousin picks up trash.

Question 40

声

Answer 40

Voice
Radicals: 士 samurai + 尸 flag + | stick
You have a samurai with a flag on a stick. On his flag is this symbol, the kanji for voice. Why does he have that there? He feels like his Shogun isn’t giving him and his fellow Samurai a voice, so he’s brought a flag with the word “voice” written on it to protest.
Reading: こえ
Once you start asking the samurai more specific questions about how he wants more voice he starts playing coy (こえ) with you. He doesn’t really know what he wants, he’s just here for the sake of protesting.

Question 41

西

Answer 41

West
Radicals: 西 west
The west radical and the west kanji are the same. Isn’t that nice?
Readings: せい, さい
People are attacking from the West, so you pull out your saber (せい) and beat them back. You keep pushing further and further West until you reach the ocean and there’s nowhere left for them to run.

Question 42

何

Answer 42

What
Radicals: ｲ leader + 可 lip ring
Our leader has a lip ring. Wait, our leader has a lip ring? WHAT??
Readings: なに, なん
The leader with his lip ring is now eating some naan (なん) and curry. It’s delicious, of course… but then he gets it caught on his lip ring, and tears half his lip off. He screams: “Nannnnn eeeeeeeeeehhh!!” (なに) in anger at the naan and curry.

Question 43

麦

Answer 43

Wheat
Radicals: 生 life + 夂 winter
The life radical is without the slide (as it sometimes is), but when you combine that with the winter radical, you have life during winter. What gives you life during the winter? It’s the wheat you store away.
Reading: むぎ
You found your wheat. Thank God. You’ll survive. You have to take the wheat back to your house, though. On your way, you get mugged (むぎ).

Question 44

弟

Answer 44

Younger brother
Radicals: 丷 horns + 弓 bow + | stick + 丿slide
There is someone with a bow and a stick, wearing horns, going down a slide. What type of person do you imagine? I’d say someone who’s an immature boy. That would be your younger brother.
Readings: だい, で, てい
Your younger brother loves playing dress up so much that he’s now started dyeing his hair all kinds of colors. Imagine the bright red, blue, green and purple dye in his hair.