Kanji - Level 6 - Kanji Flashcards
(42 cards)
全
All
Radicals: 𠆢 hat + 王 king
Kings with hats. Did you know that all kings wear hats?
Reading: ぜん
But, as you’re going through all the kings, it turns out not all of them have hats after all. The last one you come to does not have a hat. He is the king of Zen (ぜん) Buddhism. He has simple clothes and a shaved head, unlike all the other fancy kings standing around nearby.
後
Behind
Radicals:彳loiter + 幺 poop + 夂 winter
If you loiter around to poop in winter you never know what could be happening behind you. After you’re done you could turn back to see something really crazy that you missed because you took so long to poop in the cold.
Readings: ご, こう
You finally look behind you and see Godzilla (ご) and a giant こういち having a violent battle back there!
血
Blood
Radicals: 血 blood
The blood radical and blood are the same in looks as well as in meaning.
Reading: けつ
To remember the reading けつ, we use the word “ketsup.” The perfect mix of ketchup and catsup!
The radical is technically blood, but you know that radical is just a drop (of blood) on a plate. So, you ask yourself… Is that really blood on the plate? Could it be? You decide to take a gamble and lick it off. When you taste it, it’s definitely not blood. No, it’s ketsup (けつ).
両
Both
Radicals: 一 ground + 冂 head + 山 mountain
Under the ground, which you dug into, you found two great finds. You found both a mountain and a head, two strange things to find underground.
Reading: りょう
But, you dig too deep and water flows into where you are. Your only hope is a row (りょう) boat floating off in the distance.
明
Bright
Radicals: 日 sun + 月 moon
The sun AND the moon are out? With both their light-powers combined, it’s incredibly bright outside.
Readings: めい, みょう
When do things start to get bright outside? I’d say when things start getting sunny, and that is the month of May (めい). If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s bright in May because of all the snow, or because that’s when all the streetlights come on.
京
Capital
Radicals: 亠 lid + 口 mouth + 小 small
There is a lid covering all the mouths that are too small to feed themselves, forming the capital. All of the small mouths come together and create a place where everyone can support each other.
Reading: きょう
To remember the reading きょう we use the Japanese city, Kyoto, which is spelled きょうと. It was once the capital of Japan! It was soooo full of mouths that came together that it was the capital for a long, long time.
化
Change
Radicals: ｲ leader + 匕 spoon
A leader with a spoon is a powerful thing. Even something like a spoon when given to the right man or woman can make great change in the world.
Reading: か
Then, this hero of yours takes their spoon and says some magic words into it, changing it into a car (か).
国
Country
Radicals: 口 mouth + 王 king + 丶drop
The mouth of the king extends all the way around him (like in this kanji). Where his mouth reaches, that is his country, give or take a few drops.
Reading: こく
Turns out the king of this country loves drinking Coke (こく). Every morning that big mouth of his swallows a whole 2-liter bottle of Coke for breakfast.
死
Death
Radicals: 歹 yakuza + 匕 spoon
If the yakuza hands you a spoon, death is coming for you. It’s the death spoon, a sign that the yakuza is coming to cause your death.
Reading: し
Death comes in the form of a sheep (し). The death sheep works for the yakuza, and kills anyone who has their spoon.
亡
Death
Radicals: 亡 death
The radical death and the kanji death are the same.
Reading: ぼう
Your death will be because of a bowling (ぼう) accident. Oh, you didn’t know? You’re going to be hit by a giant bowling ball and crushed flat.
画
Drawing
Radicals: 丆 leaf + 田 rice paddy + 凵 box
There’s a close-up of a leaf in a rice paddy inside of a box. Wait, it’s not a box, this whole thing is just a drawing.
Readings: が, かく
The drawing seems to have something else in the rice paddy, behind the leaf. You realize the drawing is actually of a gargoyle (が) and a cock (かく). You see the cock sitting on top of the gargoyle, crowing into the sky.
地
Earth
Radicals: 土 dirt + 也 alligator
A dirt alligator lives in the earth, not the water. They can swim through the earth itself! Which is pretty scary.
You can think of this word as ground too, because that’s kind of what earth is made of.
Readings: ち, じ
The only way to keep this dirt alligator from dragging you under the earth and eating you is to feed it cheese (ち). That way it won’t lead you to a horrific death under the earth by dragging you under and spinning you around until you eat dirt (literally).
東
East
Radicals: 木 tree + 日 sun
Behind that tree the sun is rising in the east. The sun always rises in the east, so if you head that way, past the tree, you’ll be going east too.
Reading: とう
You walk east for a few hours until you finally come to a city. It’s とうきょう. Oh! とうきょう is in the east. I get it now!
食
Eat
Radicals: 食 eat
The radical for eat and the kanji for eat are the same! Lucky you.
Reading: しょく
Thank goodness, you finally get to eat your meal. You’re so hungry. Someone has been starving you and now they’ve finally given you food. Unfortunately, though, every time you take a bite, you get a shock (しょく) from somewhere.
直
Fix
Radicals: L lion [not visible here] + 十 cross + 目 eye
You accidentally stab your cross into the eye of a lion. This is a terrible thing you did and you need to fix it right now. I’ll be direct with you, this is something you have to fix on your own.
Readings: ちょく, じき
As you try to fix the lion’s eye, it starts to choke (ちょく) and make what can only be described as a jikijikijiki sound (じき). Through its choking jikijiki sounds, it coughs up a gear. Wait. Is this a machine lion?
前
Front
Radicals: 丷 horns + 一 ground + 月 moon + 刂 knife
There are some horns on the ground and a moon knife in front of you. When you try to move, they always rotate around with you, staying right in front. You can’t escape these objects, for some reason.
This kanji means before too. Something that’s in front of you is before you, after all.
Reading: ぜん
You’re going crazy with these things in front of you all the time. You finally seek the help of a Zen (ぜん) master, who tells you that meditation will save you from this curse. You try it out, and sure enough, the objects are gone! It worked!
有
Have
Radicals: ナ narwhal + 月 moon
A narwhal and a moon is all you have. Imagine one of each under your arms.
Readings: ゆう, う
Everything you have (except the narwhal and the moon) were taken from you by a roving gang of youths (ゆう).
私
I
Radicals: 禾 grain + ム private
Your private grains are meant to stay private! You shouldn’t be sharing them with the whole town, they’re just for you.
This kanji also means I. Why? Because what’s more private than you? I mean, I! Basically, some things are only the business of you (I) and those things should be private.
Reading: し
You’re getting into the zone, thinking about yourself (I) and how much you love having things that are private and just yours, when you realize there is a sheep (し) in this grain bag. And it’s eating all of your (I’s) private grains. No!
知
Know
Radicals: 矢 arrow + 口 mouth
Just before saying something important, you take an arrow to the mouth which seals your lips together, making it so you can’t talk. Someone doesn’t want you to share what you know with someone else.
Reading: ち
To remember the reading ち we use the word “cheese.”
One of the things you know is actually very strange but very important. The president’s cheese (ち) has been poisoned and only you know. If you could just say something then maybe you could save her… but… you have an arrow in your mouth.
活
Lively
Radicals: 氵tsunami + 舌 tongue
A tsunami of tongues is coming at you. As it washes over you, you feel each individual tongue moving around on your body, licking you. They make you feel so… lively!
Reading: かつ
This lively feeling isn’t just happening to you, the tongue tsunami is licking it into all of the cats (かつ) in your neighborhood too!
長
Long
Radicals: 長 long
The long radical and the long kanji are the same!
This kanji also means leader, because the longer a person is, the better a leader they’ll be. Or maybe it was… the longer they’ve been somewhere? Whatever, longness = leaderness, you know?
Reading: ちょう
You see a very long person. It’s Mrs. Chou (ちょう), who has made herself long, like her street. “I made myself long so I can watch more of the street, my domain. I’m the leader of these streets. Watch yourself not-long person,” says Mrs. Chou.
曲
Music
Radicals: 口 mouth + 廾 twenty
Twenty mouths are together. That’s a lot of mouths. What do they do? They sing beautiful music together.
Reading: きょく
The twenty mouths make so much music that they literally cloak you (きょく) with it. They cloak you with the music.
首
Neck
Radicals: 首 neck
The radical neck and the kanji nect are exactly the same!
Reading: くび
The only thing you do with your neck is use it to swallow lots of cool beans (くび). Mm mm. Feel those cool, cool beans sliding down your neck. You don’t really taste them, but you know they’re there.
次
Next
Radicals: 冫ice + 欠 lack
You lack ice. So you go to the store and see if they have any. Nope, no ice. So, now you go to the next store. Is there ice here? Nope. Next!
Readings: じ, し
To remember the reading じ, we used the word “Jesus” - Finally, when you’re at the last store in existence, you decide it’s time to pray to Jesus (じ), asking for a miracle. He comes down from the heavens with ice in his hands.
