Level 5 Flashcards
角
angle, corner
On’yomi
かく
Kun’yomi
かど
meaning:
You have an enclosure trying to enclose the elephant. But, as you can see already, the elephant is way too big for it. No matter what angle you turn the elephant, you’re unable to get it inside the enclosure.
reading:
You finally figure out the right angle to get the elephant into the enclosure. Wow, this is great! But, the moment you start squeezing it in, you hear a big squawk. The enclosure is already filled with cocks (かく), and they’re all flying around fighting with each other, and scratching the elephant too.
青
blue
On’yomi
しょう, せい
Kun’yomi
あお
reading:
When we need to remember the on’yomi せい we think of Hard Gay (because he says “sei sei sei.” When we need to remember the on’yomi しょう we think of a shogun. In this case, Hard Gay is thrusting against a shogun. Think of something really blue… is it the Blue Man Group in Las Vegas? They’re putting on an event for the shogun (しょう), and they have a very special guest, Hard Gay (せい). He hops down from the stage and starts vigorously humping the shogun’s leg.
体
body
On’yomi
たい
Kun’yomi
からだ
meaning:
The real leader’s body is here… so who’s the other leader? Is he a fake?
reading:
How do you know this is the real leader’s body though, and not someone else’s body? Because the real leader always would wear a tie (たい) with monkeys on it, and this body has a tie with monkeys on it. Now you know the facts.
色
color
Kun’yomi
いろ
reading:
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.
来
come
On’yomi
らい
Kun’yomi
く.る
meaning:
There’s rice spread out all over the ground. This will cause the Predator to come because he loves kome (rice)
reading:
When they come, though, everyone is disappointed. It turns out it’s rye (らい) grains, and rye grains taste terrible. Yuck.
社
company
On’yomi
しゃ
Kun’yomi
やしろ
meaning:
There’s this mass pelican grave. Who on earth would kill all the pelicans? You look around, and see a giant building. It’s a local pelican hunting company. They’re obviously responsible for all these pelican graves.
reading:
The company hired a shaman (しゃ) to help them kill all the pelicans. The shaman does a shaman ritual that lulls the pelicans into a false sense of security and then the company kills them.
図
diagram
On’yomi
ず
meaning:
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.
reading:
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).
毎
every
On’yomi
まい
meaning:
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.
reading:
“That’s my window!!” someone screams at you, before they come at you with a hatchet.
羽
feather, wing
Kun’yomi
はね
reading:
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.
林
forest, woods
On’yomi
りん
Kun’yomi
はやし
reading:
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******!”
行
go
On’yomi
こう
Kun’yomi
い.く, おこな.う
reading:
Knowing the kanji’s meaning, you know you have to go somewhere. So, where will you go? You will go to こういち’s house.
金
gold
On’yomi
きん
Kun’yomi
かね
reading:
If you have a lot of gold your long lost kin will start appearing out of nowhere, pretending to be friendly.
草
grass, weed
On’yomi
そう
Kun’yomi
くさ
meaning:
Instead of a “cross” let’s say that 十 is “ten” for this time.
You expose your flowers to ten suns. They are instantly burned up, and all that remains is grass.
reading:
We’re going to combine a couple things here. When you need to remember く we use “cooties.” When you need to remember さ we use “saw.” So, くさ is a “cooties saw.”
You have plenty of grass in front of you, but you want to get rid of it. You take your cooties saw (くさ), which is a saw made out of cooties, and cut out a huge chunk of the grass and tear it up so that you can replant and get those flowers back again.
里
home village, home town
On’yomi
り
Kun’yomi
さと
meaning:
Turns out, your home village is known for all its beautiful sunflowers.
reading:
You were so excited to visit your home village this year that when you got home you put a saddle (さと) on your horse and rode around in the middle of the sunflower field and took in the smells. The saddle prevents unnecessary chafing. Good choice.
作
make
On’yomi
さく, さ
Kun’yomi
つく.る
meaning:
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.
reading:
You make a key for an underling, and he looks at it disapprovingly (even though you’re their leader!). He simply says, “this key sucks” (さく) and then walks off. How could this be?
多
many, much, lots of
On’yomi
た
Kun’yomi
おお.い
meaning:
How many evenings are there? There are many.
reading:
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 manytacos flying from the sky. For some reason it’s raining tacos, and of course you have no idea why.
肉
meat
On’yomi
にく
reading:
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 who’s meat it is. In this case, it’s Nick’s (にく) meat.
会
meet
On’yomi
かい
Kun’yomi
あ.う
reading:
To remember the reading かい we use the word coyote.
Do you remember how you remembered the radical? You had two hat piles meeting each other. You think it’ll be love. Finally, the date is set, and they are about tomeet for the first time. You have a good feeling about this. Just as they begin to meet each other, things are looking good… until a coyote (かい) jumps out from nowhere, grabs one of the hat piles, shakes it around, then runs off with it.
交
mix
On’yomi
こう
Kun’yomi
まじ.る
meaning:
Your father is in a kettle with a lid on top. This is a horrible situation. To make things worse, someone is forcing you to mix him with a big spoon. As you mix him, he tells you to mix harder, so that at least your life can be saved. “Mix me, child! Mix me!!”
reading:
Just before your father dies from you mixing him in a pot of boiling water, he has to tell you something. “I’m not your father! Your father is… こういち!
近
near, close
On’yomi
きん
Kun’yomi
ちか.い
meaning:
The water slide with axes flowing down it instead of water is near your house!
reading:
The problem with how near the axe water slide is to your home is that your kin (きん) are always wanting to come over to your house so they can go ride it - they don’t actually want to see you, they just want to ride the awesome axe water slide.
池
pond
On’yomi
ち
Kun’yomi
いけ
meaning:
The poor alligator was taken far inland by a tsunami. His only source of water is a tiny pond that barely fits his body, and doesn’t even provide much food.
reading:
Eventually, the alligator dies. You come upon it and think it’s alive. You shriek “EEEEK!” (いけ) when you see it.
雨
rain
On’yomi
う
Kun’yomi
あめ
reading:
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.
米
rice, america
On’yomi
べい
Kun’yomi
こめ
meaning:
The rice radical and rice are the same in looks as well as and meaning. This also refers to “America,” maybe because America is covered in rice or fields or something?
reading:
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!
当
right, success, correct
On’yomi
とう
Kun’yomi
あた.る
meaning:
The “right” for this kanji is like “correct” or something along those lines. It’s like when you get a question correct. “You’re Right!” You could also say it’s a success.
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 Jeopardy! One of them answers a question, and the host says “You’re right!”
reading:
When we need to remember the reading とう, we use the Japanese city, Tokyo. The last question in the Jeopardy match is the following: “The capital of Japan.” The triceratops answers first. “What is… Tokyo (とう)?” Right again!
走
run
On’yomi
そう
Kun’yomi
はし.る
reading:
To remember the reading そう we use the word “sew.”
You’re running and running and running. You can’t stop. In fact, you run so hard, your leg just falls clean off from overuse. You stop and grab it, then try to sew (そう) it back on again.
同
same
On’yomi
どう
Kun’yomi
おな.じ
meaning:
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:
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.
言
say
On’yomi
げん, こと
Kun’yomi
い.う
reading:
I want you to say this out loud. Really say it. What generation are you from? Gen Y? Gen X? Please say it out loud.
自
self
On’yomi
じ
Kun’yomi
None
reading:
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.
売
sell
On’yomi
ばい
Kun’yomi
う
meaning:
There’s a samurai with (just) his forehead and legs. Everything in between is missing. What happened to everything in between? He was low on money, so he had to sell it all, leaving him only the top and the bottom.
reading:
To remember the reading う we use the word うに (sea urchin).
After he’s sold half of his body, the Samurai starts trying to sell uni (う) as well. He keeps pushing the uni at you, trying to get you to buy it.
形
shape, appearance, form
On’yomi
かた, けい
Kun’yomi
かたち
meaning:
You discover something strange about a lantern. It’s totally covered in hair which is arranged in a very strange shape.
reading:
To remember the reading かた we will use the word “cutter” (like a box cutter).
You don’t like this surprising shape, so you take your cutter (かた) and you cut all the hair off so it’s a normal lantern again.
This kanji also has the reading けい. To remember this, just continue the story. When you cut off the hair, you find a strange marking. It turns out the KKK (けい) have been here, and they left their sign (a big “K”) on the lantern. Someone covered it up with their hair because they didn’t like seeing it.
空
sky
On’yomi
くう
Kun’yomi
そら
meaning:
You’re doing some construction under your legs, and you’re even wearing a helmet on top of that. Why do you need to build something under you and put something on top of you? You want to be able to reach the sky.
reading:
To remember the reading くう we’ll use the word “cooties.”
You finally make yourself taller. But once you reach the sky, you find it’s full of nasty cooties (くう) that knock you over and make you fall down.
音
sound
On’yomi
おん
Kun’yomi
おと
meaning:
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. It sizzles so much.
reading:
This sound is ridiculously loud. To counteract this, you turn on (おん) your noise canceling headphones.
学
study, learn
On’yomi
がく
Kun’yomi
まな.ぶ
meaning:
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:
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.
光
sunlight, light
On’yomi
こう
Kun’yomi
ひかり
meaning:
You see a triceratops in the distance… but notice something odd about it. It’s perfectly pi shaped (circular) It’s the pitriceratops! But the shape isn’t the strange thing about the pitriceratops. The weird part is that these creatures are made 100% out of sunlight.
This kanji can also simply just mean light as well, if you like.
reading:
Then you see it’s actually fighting someone (that’s what pitriceratops do best). He’s fighting こういち, shooting him with bolts of sunlight, melting him where he stands.
考
think, consider
On’yomi
こう
Kun’yomi
かんが
meaning:
We have a coffin and a beggar. How do these things go together? The person begging is in the coffin. He’s begging for his life, of course, but that’s not going to do him any good. So, after he realizes that, he 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:
As he’s being lowered into the grave in his coffin, conga (かんが) music begins to play. It interrupts his thinking, and he’s unable to think clearly anymore.
回
times, revolve
On’yomi
かい
Kun’yomi
まわ.＊
meaning:
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 for another time.
reading:
When we need to remember the reading かい we use the word “coyote”
At the very end… at the very last mouth… there’s a big surprise for you there, which causes you to fall back. There’s a tiny coyote (かい) that jumps out of the tiny little mouth and then gets bigger as it flies out at you, grabbing onto your face.
谷
valley
Kun’yomi
たに
meaning:
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.
reading:
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.
声
voice
Kun’yomi
こえ
meaning:
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:
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.
西
west
On’yomi
せい
Kun’yomi
にし
reading:
To remember the reading せい we use “Hard Gay” because he always says “sei sei sei!!!”
What’s to your West? Think about the globe, and just keep going West until you hit Japan. Imagine Hard Gay (せい) standing on top of the image of Japan, thrusting his hips and saying “SEI SEI SEI!!”
何
what
Kun’yomi
なに, なん
meaning:
Our leader has a lip ring. Wait, our leader has a lip ring? WHAT??
reading:
The leader with his lip ring is now eating some nan (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 nan and curry.
麦
wheat
Kun’yomi
むぎ
meaning:
The life radical is without the slide (as it sometimes is), but when you combine that with the winter you have life during winter. What gives you life during the winter? It’s the wheat you store away.
reading:
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).
弟
younger brother, little brother
On’yomi
だい
Kun’yomi
おとうと
meaning:
You have someone with horns, springs (on his feet), a stick, and is 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.
reading:
Unfortunately he goes down this slide too fast, bounces off the bottom with his spring shoes, and then falls right on his stick. It goes through him, causing youryounger brother to die (だい).
