Kanji - Level 14 - Kanji

Question 1

能

Answer 1

Ability
Radicals: ム private + 月 moon + 匕 spoon
You keep some private spoons on the moon and they give you a special ability. It’s the ability to predict the future! The moon spoons reflect the knowledge of time and space into your brain. Now that’s a cool ability!
Reading: のう
This ability to predict the future makes you famous and now everyone knows your name: Nostradamus (のう)! And now that people know about your name and special ability, everyone will love you!

Question 2

芸

Answer 2

Art
Radicals: 艹 flowers + 云 cloud
You put flowers on a cloud and call it art. Not everyone agrees that your flower cloud art is actually art, but you know it is.
Reading: げい
Your beautiful art is going to be displayed at a gay (げい) club. Imagine the pride you feel about having your art on display.

Question 3

雰

Answer 3

Atmosphere
Radicals: 雨 rain + 分 part
Part rain, part other stuff. I imagine this is what people thought the atmosphere was made out of thousands of years ago.
Reading: ふん
The reading for this kanji is actually the same as 分s. One trick about complicated kanji is they often take the reading of one of the pieces that they’re made from. In this case it’s 分, which is cool.

Question 4

骨

Answer 4

Bone
Radicals: 冋 mustache + 冖 forehead + 月 moon
If you have a mustache and you hit your forehead on the moon, you’re probably going to break a bone. Ok, so it doesn’t matter so much if you have a mustache, but if you’re travelling fast enough to make it to the moon, you’re definitely breaking a bone if you run into it.
Reading: こつ
Outer space is cold, and if you’re traveling to the moon, you’re going to need a lot of coats (こつ). All of these coats will keep you warm, even if you do end up breaking your forehead bone.

Question 5

束

Answer 5

Bundle
Radicals: 束 bundle
The bundle radical and the bundle kanji are the same!
Reading: そく
You should always bundle your socks (そく). If you don’t, there is a 100% chance you’ll lose all of the left ones.

Question 6

周

Answer 6

Circumference
Radicals: 周 circumference
The circumference radical and the circumference kanji are the same!
Reading: しゅう
Practice how to measure the circumference of an item by using your shoe (しゅう). Your shoe is kind of round, and it’s free. I mean it’s right there on your foot.

Question 7

閉

Answer 7

Closed
Radicals: 門 gate + 才 talent
The gate to talent is now closed. In fact, the gate to talent is always closed. It’s not like anyone can just waltz in and get themselves some talent. You have to work for it! You have to work hard to get through that closed gate to talent!
Reading: へい
Outside the talent gate that’s always closed, hay (へい) is piled up to make beds for the people who are still trying to get in. Who knows how long they’ll be there outside the closed gate, sleeping in the hay, but they’re all working hard to become talented.

Question 8

協

Answer 8

Cooperation
Radicals: 十 cross + 力 power
Next to the cross we combine our power power power so that we have cooperation. And with our powers combined, we become stronger than we ever could have been apart, lifting the cross above our heads!
Reading: きょう
Nowhere is the power of cooperation more apparent than in きょうと. When invaders are attacking, when the townspeople want to rebel, when there is a kitty up a tree, the people combine their power from all reaches of Japan and cross into きょうと to put a stop to the madness through cooperation.

Question 9

例

Answer 9

Example
Radicals: ｲ leader + 歹 yakuza +刂 knife
The leader of the yakuza shows you his knife. He says, “This is an example of a knife.”
Reading: れい
“This is an example,” the leader of the yakuza tells you. “Next time, I’ll show you an example of a ray (れい) gun.”

Question 10

折

Answer 10

Fold
Radicals: 扌fingers + 斤 axe
If your fingers are strong enough, you can take an axe and fold it in half. But be careful not to bend it too far, or you might just break it!
Reading: せつ
Unfortunately, as you fold these axes in half you realize they come in sets (せつ), so there are twice the axes you thought there would be. To compensate, you start folding them in sets too.

Question 11

基

Answer 11

Foundation
Radicals: 其 crab + 土 dirt
Crabs in the dirt make a great foundation for a seaside hut. It’s right on the seashore, where all the crabs dig their holes in the dirt. But as they get old and die, their bodies form a strong base. Perfect for the foundation of a building like this!
Reading: き
Remember, a good foundation is the key (き) to a good house. No, literally. You have to use a piece of the foundation to make the key to your house.

Question 12

性

Answer 12

Gender
Radicals: 忄soul + 生 life
Each life has a soul, and that soul determines what gender you are. It’s not so much about your body parts, it’s more about what’s inside that matters.
Readings: せい, しょう
Once you’ve decided what your gender is, the Shougun (しょう) comes to your house, lays his saber (せい) on your shoulders, and then it’s official! It’s in all the newspapers, there’s a parade, and everyone is patting you on the back because you did it!

Question 13

妥

Answer 13

Gentle
Radicals: ⺤ cleat + 女 woman
A woman with cleats is walking on someone’s back, but she doesn’t want to hurt him. She has to be very gentle. Cleats are sharp and pointy, and not designed for back walking, so she’s being extra, special gentle right now.
Readings: だ
Actually, the person she’s being gentle with is her dad (だ). No one would ever want to hurt their dad, especially if he’s asked you to walk gently on his back as a way of giving him a massage.

Question 14

卒

Answer 14

Graduate
Radicals: 亠 lid + 人 person + 十 cross
A person puts a lid on their cross after they graduate. It’s a symbolic gesture, putting the lid over the cross, but it’s just what you do when you graduate around these parts.
Reading: そつ
Oops, looks like you forgot your lid. Without the lid, you’ll be held back. So two (そつ) more years now until you can graduate. So two more years, eh? Just for forgetting a lid? Nonsense!

Question 15

固

Answer 15

Hard
Radicals: 口 mouth + 古 old
A mouth that is old is going to be hard.
Reading: こ
You touch the old man’s hard mouth and it crumbles away, revealing the face of a 子 (こ) inside.

Question 16

望

Answer 16

Hope
Radicals: 亡 death + 月 moon + 王 king
Causing death at every turn, the moon king sits inside his moon, getting ready to cause death on anything in his sights. Sounds a lot like the Death Star from a certain movie. One of which is “Star Wars: A New Hope.”
Reading: ぼう
The name A New Hope, as we all know, comes from the ending where the moon king’s son sends a bowling (ぼう) ball into that little opening and knocks it out of the sky.

Question 17

材

Answer 17

Lumber
Radicals: 木 tree + 才 talent
A tree with talent can become lumber. Not all trees can do this. Only the talented ones are able to turn themselves into lumber or material, to be used for a million different things.
Reading: ざい
Trees can be turned into all kinds of things, but this one wants to use its lumber and material to build a xylophone (ざい). It’s the most difficult instrument to create, so it suits the talent level of this tree!

Question 18

参

Answer 18

Participate
Radicals: ム private + 大 big + 彡 hair
You can’t keep big hair private, so you end up having to participate in everything. Can you imagine people asking for volunteers and you trying to look inconspicuous with your big hair sticking up and out and all over? Of course they’re going to notice you and make you participate.
Readings: さん, しん
You know who has big hair and loves to participate in everything? Santa-san (さん)! Well, his hair is more big on the bottom (it’s a beard) than whatever you have on your head, but hair is hair. And he participates in present giving in every house in the world! See? Big hair = participation!

Question 19

完

Answer 19

Perfect
Radicals: 宀 roof + 元 origin
The roof that became the origin of all roofs was perfect. It was tall and wide so it could fit and protect everyone. And the dimensions were perfect too.
Reading: かん
This perfect roof was commissioned by Genghis Khan (かん). We got all of the carpenters and home makers and construction workers he’d conquered together and tasked them with making the first roof, but only if they made it absolutely perfect.

Question 20

松

Answer 20

Pine
Radicals: 木 tree + 公 public
When climbing a tree in public, it’s best to choose a pine. Pine trees offer the most coverage, so you’ll be able to hide, even out in public.
Reading: まつ
In case you fall, someone has laid mats (まつ) out around the base of the pine tree. That way, you’ll land on the mats should something unfortunate happen.

Question 21

約

Answer 21

Promise
Radicals: 糸 thread + 勺 pool
You tie a thread on your finger before jumping in the pool to remind yourself of the promise you made to your mother. The thread represents the promise you made to mow the lawn after you finished swimming in the pool
Reading: やく
After you get out of the pool, you keep the promise you made to your mother. So you get on your yak (やく) powered mower and trim the grass. Yes, your mower is pulled by a yak. It’s very efficient.

Question 22

残

Answer 22

Remainder
Radicals: 歹 yakuza + 㦮 bar
Mnemonic
Yakuza bars barely exist. The remainder of them aren’t even in Japan.
Reading: ざん
The remainder of the yakuza bars aren’t in Japan. Strangely, they are all in Zanzibar (ざん).

Question 23

願

Answer 23

Request
Radicals: 原 original + 頁 geoduck
The original geoduck had a request. He wants there to be more geoducks in the world!
Reading: がん
The only person that would even hear the geoduck’s request was Gandhi (がん). Gandhi closed his eyes, sat down, and spread the geoduck’s request to the rest of the world.

Question 24

季

Answer 24

Seasons
Radicals: 禾 grain + 子 child
A grain’s child will grow with the seasons. In spring the grain is born, it grows in summer, is harvested in fall, and dies in winter.
Reading: き
All of the seasons have their own special key (き). As they change, that season’s key appears and unlocks the next step in the grain’s life.

Question 25

格

Answer 25

Status
Radicals: 木 tree + 各 kiss
If you kiss a tree, your status will change to, “In a relationship with a tree.”
Reading: かく
Regardless of the status, you need to let the tree know how you feel. Being a cock (かく), y’know, a male chicken, you cock-a-doodle-do your true feelings to the tree. You actually just want to be friends.

Question 26

苺

Answer 26

Strawberry
Radicals: 艹 flowers + 日 sun + 丶drop
If flowers are in the sun and they receive one drop and then another drop of water, they turn into a strawberry.
Reading: いちご
Believe it or not, a giant strawberry is the only cure for an itchy Godzilla (いちご).

Question 27

頑

Answer 27

Stubborn
Radicals: 元 origin + 頁 geoduck
The origin of the geoduck is a pretty stubborn one. The geoduck race is so stubborn that it refused to evolve into an animal that made any sense. Hence, the origin of the geoduck is one of stubbornness.
Reading: がん
You know who else was stubborn? Gandhi (がん). Gandhi believed in non-violent resistance and he was pretty stubborn about it.

Question 28

囲

Answer 28

Surround
Radicals: 口 mouth + 井 well
The mouth of a well will surround you if you fall into it. The mouth of a well is the opening of the well, and if you fall into that well, the mouth as well as the rest of the well will surround you.
Reading: い
The well walls surround you as you look up to the mouth once again. This time you see an eagle (い) flying overhead. You call out to the eagle to save you and the eagle comes swooping down into the well and flies you out to safety. What a nice eagle!

Question 29

的

Answer 29

Target
Radicals: 白 white + 勺 pool
A white guy jumps into a pool with a target painted on the bottom. He’s aiming for the bullseye.
Reading: てき
This white dude is a huge techie (てき) so he has electronic enhancements that make sure he hits the target. Being a techie has its advantages.

Question 30

念

Answer 30

Thought
Radicals: 今 now + 心 heart
If you live in the now, there’s a good chance your heart controls your thought process. You don’t have time to think with your brain, you need an answer now so you use your heart to make decisions and thought process.
Reading: ねん
You’re living in the now and letting your heart control all your thoughts. Why are you following your heart? You found you only have one 年 (ねん) to live, so you have to live for the now.

Question 31

希

Answer 31

Wish
Radicals: メ treasure + ナ narwhal + 巾 towel
There is a treasure on top of a narwhal who wears a towel that will grant your greatest wish.
Reading: き
In order to open the treasure and get your wish, you need the key (き). The narwhal knows where it’s hidden, so you’ll have to convince it to tell you where the key is.

Question 32

狼

Answer 32

Wolf
Radicals: 犭animal + 良 good
One animal that is particularly good is the wolf. Wolves have a bad reputation, but actually they’re very, very good animals.
Reading: おおかみ
A wolf might be good, but if you run into one, all you can do is scream Oh 神!” (おおかみ).