Kanji - Level 4 - Kanji

Question 1

竹

Answer 1

Bamboo
Radicals: 竹 bamboo
The bamboo radical and the bamboo kanji are exactly the same!
Reading: たけ
There’s a little bamboo shrub sitting there, holding onto a lollipop. Because you’re bigger than the bamboo shrub, you just take (たけ) it from the bamboo, causing it to cry.

Question 2

車

Answer 2

Car
Radicals: 車 car
The radical car and the kanji car are exactly the same.
Reading: しゃ
There’s a car. It’s the nicest car you’ve ever seen. Exquisite, beautiful. Wouldn’t you be surprised to learn it belongs to a shaman (しゃ)? Well it does. This shaman charges a premium for his shaman services so he can afford fancy cars like this.

Question 3

央

Answer 3

Center
Radicals: 大 big + 冂 head
If someone has a big head you have to try to focus on the center of it when you talk to them.
Reading: おう
This is the center of the 王’s (おう) head so you have to be extra careful not to look anywhere else.

Question 4

写

Answer 4

Copy
Radicals: 冖 forehead + 一 ground + 丂 beggar
The beggar is pointing his forehead up at you, his feet trapped in the ground. What diabolical scheme are you planning with this poor beggar you trapped? Turns out, you’re planning to copy him to have your own version of him.
Reading: しゃ
You finally decide on how you’re going to copy him. You hire a shaman (しゃ) and have the shaman perform a sacred shaman cloning ritual.

Question 5

仕

Answer 5

Doing
Radicals: ｲ leader + 士 samurai
The leader samurai didn’t become leader by sitting around not taking action. He got to where he is by doing.
Reading: し
He was doing things with sheep (し). He is the leader of the sheep clan, and he was able to do more with sheep than anyone else. That’s why he’s the leader.

Question 6

耳

Answer 6

Ear
Radicals: 耳 ear
The ear radical and ear kanji are the same in looks as well as meaning.
Reading: みみ
Put your hand to your ear and sing… “Mimimimimimiiiii!” (みみ) and listen to your tone with your ear.

Question 7

早

Answer 7

Early
Radicals: 日 sun + 十 cross
When the sun is over the cross it’s time to go to church… which is so darn early. And if you want to get to church early, you need to be fast, otherwise you’ll be too late.
Reading: そう
When you’re forced to get up fast and early you can feel it in your soul (そう). You’re so tired and it’s so early, your soul cries out, “Please don’t make me go this fast this early. I’m gonna leave your body if you keep this up!”

Question 8

気

Answer 8

Energy
Radicals: 气 energy + メ treasure
You’re looking for a treasure, but no normal treasure… a treasure that’s a stash of energy. Not gold, money, or anything like that. Imagine yourself finding it, and opening up a treasure chest. Out bursts a spirit ball of energy like you’ve never seen.
Reading: き, け
As you reach inside the energy spirit, you feel something hard inside. It’s a large key (き) that gives you access to another treasure.

Question 9

平

Answer 9

Flat
Radicals: 干 dry + 丷 horns
If you want to dry your horns you need to lay them flat. If they aren’t flat they’ll always be a little damp somewhere and you’ll never have a moment’s peace.
Reading: へい, ひょう, びょう
Being flat isn’t enough, so you cover the whole thing in hay (へい). Hay absorbs water, so you add a flat layer of it.

Question 10

花

Answer 10

Flower
Radicals: 艹 flowers + ｲ leader + 匕 spoon
A leader with a spoon is planting flowers so that one day this place may be full of beautiful flowers.
Reading: はな
The leader can’t stop planting flowers though. He’s going crazy. Maybe it’s the pollen? He comes up to someone named Hannah (はな) and starts planting flowers in her face, probably killing her in the process.

Question 11

足

Answer 11

Foot
Radicals: 足 foot
The radical for foot and the kanji for foot are exactly the same.
That being said, there’s also another meaning you should keep in mind, which is sufficient. If you think about it, one foot should be sufficient enough to walk around with if you hop.
Reading: そく
What do you wear on your foot? You wear a sock (そく).

Question 12

打

Answer 12

Hit
Radicals: 扌fingers + 丁 street
Take your fingers to the street to hit some people! Street fingers are for curling into a fist. And that street fist wants to do some hitting!
Reading: だ
As you hit one chump after another, suddenly your dad (だ) comes marching out of your house. Uh oh. Dad caught you hitting, which, honestly, isn’t a very nice thing to do, so he has every right to stop you.

Question 13

百

Answer 13

Hundred
Radicals: leaf + 日 sun
There is a leaf growing out of the sun! You fly out into space to check it out and when you get closer you see that it isn’t just one leaf, it’s a hundred! That makes sense, you wouldn’t be able to see just one leaf on the sun from where you were on earth.
Reading: ひゃく
You fly closer, counting all one hundred leaves when you hear a strange sound. You take off your space helmet and hear, “GUH HYUCK (ひゃく)!” You know that laugh… it’s Goofy! On top of the hundredth leaf is Goofy laughing and waving around. He must have built this leaf tower to get your attention.

Question 14

氷

Answer 14

Ice
Radicals: 丶drop + 水 water
Add a drop of something magical to water and suddenly it turns into big block of ice, just like that.
Reading: こおり
When you think of ice, I want you to think of someone frozen with ice. Do you know anyone named Corey (こおり)? Anyone famous named Corey, perhaps Corey Feldman? Imagine this Corey person frozen solid with ice.

Question 15

虫

Answer 15

Insect
Radicals: 虫 insect
The insect radical and insect are the same in looks as well as and meaning.
Reading: むし
It’s an insect! Get it! You squish it with your foot - what sound does it make? A mush (むし) sound.

Question 16

字

Answer 16

Letter
Radicals: 宀 roof + 子 child
The roof child stands upon the roof, holding up a single letter, a single character, a single symbol for the world to see.
Reading: じ
The character that is being shown is “J,” which stands for Jesus (じ). The kid wants everyone to see this letter and symbol.

Question 17

男

Answer 17

Man
Radicals: 田 + rice paddy + 力power
Rice paddy power comes from a man. One man, in fact. He’s running on a big wheel next to the rice paddy and providing all of the power for the rice to grow and be harvested.
Reading: だん, なん
A man can power an entire rice paddy until dawn (だん). Once dawn comes they need a little break, so they nap. But once dawn is over, they’re back at it again!

Question 18

主

Answer 18

Master
Radicals: 主 master
The radical master and the kanji master have the same meanings!
This kanji also means main because the master is the main person of a dojo or household or business.
Reading: しゅ
Do you remember back to the radical mnemonic, where the master is floating a water drop above his head? Imagine back to there. Once you do, the most amazing thing happens. The master sends the drop of water into a chute (しゅ) and it goes careening through an intricate series of them.

Question 19

名

Answer 19

Name
Radicals: 夕 evening + 口 mouth
What is the evening mouth? Imagine a mouth that’s up in the night sky. It’s just there, talking, and only comes out at night. It only appears in one area of the world (what area would you choose? Imagine yourself going to that place to see the “night mouth.”), and appears only one month out of the year (more on this in a second). The “evening mouth” is the most famous thing in the _____ area (this is the area you choose). He’s so famous that everybody knows his name (“Evening Mouth.”).
Reading: めい, みょう
So, when does “Evening Mouth” appear? Turns out, “Evening Mouth” only comes out to talk in May (めい). You know this because it’s just starting to be spring, and when you look around (you’re watching “Evening Mouth” again) you see some spring flowers come up.

Question 20

不

Answer 20

Not
Radicals: 不 not
The radical not and the kanji not are the same thing! That makes it easy… Not!
Reading: ふ, ぶ
Think of those jokes, where someone says something, then ends with a loud “NOTTTT!” Someone is doing that to you, over and over. What is that person? That person is a fool (ふ).

Question 21

号

Answer 21

Number
Radicals: 口 mouth + 一 ground + 勹 prison
There’s a mouth in the ground (in our case, it’s a hatch), and inside is some kind of prison you can’t quite get to. If you’ve ever seen Lost, this will sound familiar… on the hatch, there’s actually a series of numbers that you don’t understand.
Reading: ごう
“You want to know the number to the hatch?” yells an old voice from inside. You say “yes,” and the voice gives you the numbers and you’re in! You go down into the prison, where there is one prisoner: Grandpa ごういち.

Question 22

他

Answer 22

Other
Radicals: ｲ leader + 也 alligator
The leader of alligators… she’s no ordinary leader, that’s for sure. She’s not a politician.. she’s not a queen… She’s one of the Other Ones, a group of strange, eccentric people who become leaders of animals.
Reading: た
To remember the reading た, we use the word “Taco”
Then there’s the others of the others. These are the taco (た) worshipers. They’re really strange.

Question 23

去

Answer 23

Past
Radicals: 土 dirt + ム private
If someone tries to dig up private dirt on you, tell them no thanks, that stuff is in the past. Some things should stay in the past. Not everyone needs to know everything about your life and your past.
Reading: きょ, こ
To remember the reading きょ, we’ll use “Little Kyoto.” This will differentiate きょ from きょう, which is regular-sized Kyoto. Get it? You decide to bury all this private dirt from your past in Little Kyoto (きょ). That stuff is from when you were just a little 子 (こ) and you don’t like to think about it.

Question 24

皿

Answer 24

Plate
Radicals: 皿 plate
The plate kanji and the plate radical are exactly the same, like two matching pieces of china.
Reading: さら
The person washing all the dishes was named Sarah (さら). She was named that because of her large head, which was shaped like Sarah Jessica Parker’s head (very big).

Question 25

先

Answer 25

Previous
Radicals: 丿slide + 土 dirt + 儿 legs
Slide some dirt on your legs so you can feel like you’re from a previous time. Everything from the past is in the dirt. Dead people, dinosaur bones, your mom’s secrets in a box from her past life. All these things come back to you as you slide the dirt all over your legs.
Reading: せん
As you sit there, pretending you’re in a previous time you see a centaur (せん)! That’s right! Centaurs are from wayyyy in the past.

Question 26

赤

Answer 26

Red
Radicals: 赤 red
The radical for red and the kanji for red are the same thing!
Reading: あか
Think of Fozzie Bear. He says “Wakka wakka wakka” a lot. Now, think of an evil, red (and I mean totally red) Fozzie Bear. He drops the “w” and just says “Aka Aka Aka,” because he’s totally evil.

Question 27

休

Answer 27

Rest
Radicals: ｲ leader + 木 tree
The leader is next to the tree. What is he doing? He’s leaning against it, resting.
Reading: きゅう
As he rests, he suddenly gets hungry and pulls a cucumber (きゅう) off the tree and bites into it. A good rest isn’t complete without some crunchy tree cucumbers.

Question 28

申

Answer 28

Say humbly
Radicals: 十 cross + 口 mouth
There’s a cross in your mouth, so the things you say are very pious. Everything you say, you say humbly.
Reading: もう
As you’re saying all these humble things, you’re also mowing your neighbor’s lawn. Your neighbors love you so much, because you’re so humble, and you mow their lawn for them.

Question 29

見

Answer 29

See
Radicals: 見 see
The radical see and the kanji see are exactly the same!
Reading: み
You see something. It’s walking towards you, but you need to see better. When the person comes close, you realize “That person is me (み)!”

Question 30

貝

Answer 30

Shellfish
Radicals: 貝 shellfish
The shellfish radical and the shellfish kanji are the same! It can be just the shell part too.
Reading: かい
To get some shellfish, all you have to do is hop in your kayak (かい) and get some. Shellfish live in the water.

Question 31

石

Answer 31

Stone
Radicals: 石 stone
The stone radical and stone kanji are the same thing!
Reading: せき
You throw a stone through a window… and, now you can see something very sexy (せき).

Question 32

礼

Answer 32

Thanks
Radicals: ネ spirit + 乚 umbrella
What do you get if you lend a spirit your umbrella? Thanks, of course! Especially if that spirit is Totoro, the spirit of the forest.
Reading: れい
So what did you receive as a thanks? You open it up, and there’s a ray (れい) gun inside!

Question 33

糸

Answer 33

Thread
Radicals: 糸 thread
The thread radical and thread are the same in looks as well as in meaning.
Reading: いと
You have some thread… what’s the first thing you do with it? You take it and put it in your mouth, and start sucking it down like spaghetti. You have decided to eat (いと) the thread.

Question 33

町

Answer 33

Town
Radicals: 田 rice paddy + 丁 street
When you see both a rice paddy and a street in the same place, you have the makings of a whole town!
Reading: ちょう
You go to visit this nice little town. But then, there she is… Every time you walk down the street, the street-woman Mrs. Chou (ちょう) arrives to ruin your day.

Question 33

宝

Answer 33

Treasure
Radicals: 宀 roof + 王 king + 丶drop
Under his roof, the king stares into a drop of water containing his greatest treasure. Just kidding, the king has way more treasure than that. The drop of water is just reflecting what’s around him: mounds and mounds of treasure, stacked all the way up to the roof.
Reading: ほう
All of this treasure is kept in the king’s home (ほう). He can’t let other people see how much treasure he has, or they’ll get mad, or worse(!) ask him to share some with his people. Yuck. The treasure stays at home.

Question 33

村

Answer 33

Village
Radicals: 木 tree + 寸 measurement
Someone’s taking measurements of the trees… Why is someone taking measurements of trees? These people are planning to take the trees and cut them down to make their village.
Reading: むら
They take all the wood back to where they’re building their village and once they construct the village center they paint a mural (むら) on the side of it. The mural is of the forest where they got the tree from so they remember the building’s origins.

Question 33

世

Answer 33

World
Radicals: 世 world
The world radical and the world kanji are the same, but there is another really important meaning you need to know: generation.
Think of it this way: the world is just made up of many different generations of people, plants, and animals all getting along together.
Reading: せい, せ
It’s your job to protect the world and every generation with your special saber (せい). It was given to you to uphold correctness, and you’ll pass it on to the next generation when it’s time. Then they’ll watch out for the world when you’re gone.

Question 33

年

Answer 33

Year
Radicals: 𠂉 gun + 牛 cow
The cow part of this kanji is slightly altered, but I think you can see where it is. The gun looks just fine, though. Think back to a fake memory you have living on the farm. You have your gun, and you gotta use it on a cow (ruh roh). Once a year on New Year’s, you have to go out and shoot one of the cows. It’s only a yearly shooting, though, so at least there’s that respite.
Readings: ねん
It is New Years, though, so when you bring the dead cow back home, it’s time to celebrate. Using the cow’s organs and bones, you and your siblings construct a nendoroid (ねん). Nendoroids are Japanese toys - little plastic figurines (Google it if need be). You make a little cow nendoroid holding a gun. How cute.