Lesson 5

Question 1

fish guts
[75]

Answer 1

乙

The fishhook drags out the fish guts

*fishhook/hook

Question 2

riot
[76]

Answer 2

乱

In a riot, manners are laid aside and tempers get short, even in so courtesy-conscious a land as Japan. This kanji shows what happens to a rioting tongue: it gets “barbed” like a fishhook, and sets to attacking the opposition, to hook them as it were.

*tongue, fishhook/hook

Question 3

straightaway
[77]

Answer 3

直

The metal barb has been flattened out/ straightened out (and fixed) so it can pass through the eye of the needle straightaway.

*needle, eye, fishhook/hook

Question 4

P: tool

Answer 4

具　(Bottom half)

All the tools sit on top of the carpenter’s table

Question 5

tool
[78]

Answer 5

具

Every one of the carpenter’s tools had an eye that watched his meticulous work closely.

*eye, tool

Question 6

true
[79]

Answer 6

真

This is not just a regular needle. It is a tool used to see what is true or not true. If you look through the eye of a needle it will reveal the truth.

*eye of the needle, tool

Question 7

P: by one’s side

Answer 7

右　(top half)

It indicates where your hands (your ten fingers) fall when you let them droop: by your side.
OR
When you do really find a ten, they will stay by your side.

Question 8

craft
[80]

Answer 8

工

Like the shape of an I-beam.

*craft, I-beam, artificial

Question 9

left
[81]

Answer 9

左

The Left is traditionally considered the side full of people who do witch craft.

*by one’s side, craft

Question 10

right
[82]

Answer 10

右

Imagine a little mouth hanging down by your side (like a little voice of conscience) telling you the right thing to do.

*by one’s side, mouth

Question 11

possess
[83]

Answer 11

有

Think of it as an evil spirit in possession of one’s soul, who can be exorcized only by allowing fresh meat to hang by one’s side unit it begins to putrefy and stink so bad that the demon departs.

*by one’s side, meat

Question 12

bribe
[84]

Answer 12

賄

Those who are under “money possession” are easy to bribe with a few extra shells (money).

*shellfish/money, possess

Question 13

tribute
[85]

Answer 13

貢

A tribute has a kind of double meaning in English: honor paid freely and money collected by coercion. Simply because a ruler bestows a noble name on a deed is hardly any consolation to the masses who must part with their hard-earned money. Little wonder that this ancient craft of getting money by calling it a tribute has given way to a name closer to how it feels to those who pay it: a tax.

*craft, shellfish/money

Question 14

paragraph
[86]

Answer 14

項

The making of paragraphs is a craft done in the head.

*craft, head

Question 15

sword
[87]

Answer 15

刀

Looks like a sword handle.

*P: dagger (when in this shape), saber (when in stretched long form)

Question 16

blade
[88]

Answer 16

刃

Think of using a dagger as a razor blade, and it shouldn’t be hard to imagine cutting yourself accidentally. See the little drop of blood clinging to the blade?

*sword/dagger/saber, drop of something

Question 17

cut
[89]

Answer 17

切

It is hard to think of cutting anything with a knife without imagining one of those skillful Japanese chefs. Only let us say that he has had too much to drink at a party, grabs a dagger lying on the mantlepiece and starts dicing up everything in sight, starting with the hors d’oeuvres and going on to the furniture and the carpets…

*diced, dagger

Question 18

seduce
[90]

Answer 18

召

The circus performer seduced the woman by showing off their dagger juggling skills. Her mouth hung open in amazement and appreciation of their skills.

*dagger, mouth

Question 19

shining
[91]

Answer 19

昭

Let the key word suggest shining one’s shoes. The man’s shoes were shined to perfection. The sun was so seduced by the sight that it shone down on them, setting them shinning for everyone to see.

*sun, seduce

Question 20

rule
[92]

Answer 20

則

The character depicts a clam alongside a great and flashing saber. Think of digging for clams in an area where there are gaming rules governing how large a find has to be before you can keep it. So you take your trusty saber, which you have carefully notched like a yardstick, crack open a clam, and then measure the poor beastie to see if it is as long as the rules say it has to be.

*shellfish/money, saber

Question 21

P: wealth

Answer 21

畐

The over wealthy are also over fed. One single mouth devouring all the harvest of the fields.

*one, mouth, field

Question 22

vice-
[93]

Answer 22

副

The key word vice has the sense of someone second-in-command, like a vice-president. If you are the president of a company you own you will need to split the wealth with you vice-president.

*wealth, saber

Question 23

separate
[94]

Answer 23

別

In the Old East, the samurai and his saber were never separated. They were constant companions, like the cowboy of the Old West and his gun. This character depicts what must have been the height of separation-anxiety for a samurai: to be bound up with a rope and unable to get to his saber leaning only a few feet away from him. Look at that mouth bellowing out for shame and sorrow!

*mouth, bound up, saber

Question 24

street
[95]

Answer 24

丁

A pictograph of a street sign on a long pole.

*P: nail, spike

Question 25

town
[96]

Answer 25

町

This is a depiction of a rural town that is just streets and rice paddies!

*field, street/nail/spike

Question 26

can
[97]

Answer 26

可

Remember the story about the “Little Engine that Could” when you hear this key word. See the determined little locomotive huffing and puffing up the mountain - “I think I can, I think I can…” - spitting railroad spikes out of its mouth as it chews up the line to the top.

*street/nail/spike, mouth

Question 27

place on the head
[98]

Answer 27

頂

If you tried saying “hit the nail on the head” in Japanese some may take it to mean literally and try to actually place a nail some place on your head.

*Road/nail/spike, head