Japan Corner

The Japanese Kanji 入 means “Enter (to enter),” “Putting in,” and “Insert.” Various contexts for the usage of 入: The kun’yomi (Japanese reading) pronunciations of the Kanji 入 are hai-ru (はい-る), or ‘i‘ (い) as in the words “ireru” (い-れる) and “iru” (い-る), and the on’yomi (Chinese reading) pronunciation of 入 is “nyu” (ニュウ). The Kanji 入 appears in 1284

The Japanese Kanji for “Gold” is 金. Moreover, because of the historical and practical associations between the precious metal (Gold) and monetary systems, the Kanji 金 also means “money.” However, the primary meaning of 金 is “metal” in general though it denotes the metal gold more specifically. The kun’yomi (Japanese reading) pronunciations of the Kanji 金 are “kane” (かね) and

The Japanese Kanji 全 means “all,” “whole,” “entire,” or “complete.” The Kanji 全 is used in the following contexts: The kun’yomi (Japanese reading) pronunciations of the Kanji 全 are “matta-ku” (まった-く) and “sube-te” (すべ-て), and the on’yomi (Chinese reading) pronunciation of 全 is “zen“ (ゼン). The Kanji 全 commonly appears in Japanese names and is used in 457 names. However,

The Japanese Kanji for “Now” is 今. The kun’yomi (Japanese reading) pronunciation of the Kanji 今 is “ima” (いま), and the on’yomi (Chinese reading) pronunciations of 今 are “kon” (コン) or “kin” (キン). Apart from the literal meaning of “Now”, the Kanji 今 is also used in the following contexts: The Kanji 今 quite commonly appears in Japanese names and

The Japanese Kanji for “East” is 東. The kun’yomi (Japanese reading) pronunciation of the Kanji 東 is “higashi” (ひがし), and the on’yomi (Chinese reading) pronunciation of 東 “tō” (トウ). 東 is used extensively in Japanese for indicating direction (east), and it’s a common component in place names, including 東京 (Tokyo), which means “Eastern Capital.” 東 quite commonly appears in Japanese

The Japanese kanji 生 means Kanji for “Live (life),” “Be Born,” “Raw.” The kun’yomi (Japanese reading) pronunciation of the Kanji 生 is u (う), as in the words umu (うむ) and umareru (うまれる); o (お) as in ou (おう); ha (は), as in hayasu (はやす) and ha-eru (は-える); i (い) as in ikeru (いける), ikiru (いきる) and ikasu (いかす); nama

The kanji 後 means “after,” “behind,” or “later.” The kun’yomi (Japanese reading) pronunciation of the Kanji 後 is ato (あと), meaning “after,” “ushi-ro” (うし-ろ), meaning “behind,” “nochi” (のち), meaning “later,” and “oku-reru” (おく-れる), meaning “be late.” The on’yomi (Chinese reading) pronunciation of 後 is ko (コウ) or go (ゴ). The meaning of the Kanji 後 extends from relating to time

The kanji 間 means “Between (in-between),” “Interval,” or “duration.” The kun’yomi (Japanese reading) pronunciation of the Kanji 間 is “ma” (ま) or “aida” (あいだ). The on’yomi (Chinese reading) pronunciation of 間 is “ken” (ケン) or “kan” (カン). The meaning of the Kanji 間 extends from relating to time intervals to space or gap between physical objects or places. 間 quite

The Japanese kanji for “Close” (“shut”) or “to close” is 閉. The kun’yomi (Japanese reading) pronunciation of the Kanji 閉 is “to” (と), as in words “to-jiru” (と-じる) “to-zasu” (と-ざす) “shi-meru” (し-める). The on’yomi (Chinese reading) pronunciation of 閉 is “hei” (ヘイ). 閉 is used in 58 Japanese names, and in names, it is pronounced as “he” (ヘ). The Kanji