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CHAPTER ONE

KANJI #1—20

KANJI #1

山

MOUNTAIN

Meaning

Mountain. Our first kanji is one of those wonderful characters whose meaning is obvious at a glance. As kanji such as these are best learned from a simple picture, there is no need for an accompanying story. A number of characters in the book will fall into this category.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: SAN (サン)

Common kun reading: yama (やま)

This kanji has only one on-yomi and one kun-yomi (the pronunciation of which – together with all others in this book – can be heard on the accompanying To suggest these sounds, let’s use the word “SANDWICH” for SAN, and “yam appetizer” for yama. As “sandwich” will now be a permanent keyword for all kanji sharing the reading SAN, turn to the on-yomi table in the back of the book and write “Sandwich” in the space next to SAN. Remember that only on-yomi (not kun-yomi) should be entered in the table.

We now need to link the meaning of the kanji to its sounds by using the words “mountain”, “sandwich”, and “yam appetizer” in a sentence. Let’s try this: I had a yam appetizer and a SANDWICH on the Mountain. For future review, write this sentence in the box below.

Now for some common words that make use of this kanji. There’s no need to worry for the moment about being unable to recognize the other characters, as they will all be learned over the course of the book; at this stage, try to see how the meanings of individual kanji combine to form more complex words (look especially at the fourth example below). This is a useful skill, as it will help foster an intuitive feel for the meanings of unfamiliar compounds that you encounter in the future. It is also one of the most rewarding aspects of learning to read the language. Understanding the logic that went into the formation of a compound not only makes it easier to remember, but offers fascinating insight into the minds of the people who devised it hundreds – if not thousands – of years earlier.

Remember that the uppercase letters and katakana here indicate on-yomi, with lowercase letters and hiragana indicating kun-yomi. Recall as well from the introduction that this is our first instance of a character whose unvoiced reading can sometimes become voiced (in examples 3 - 4, where the on-yomi changes from SAN to ZAN). Note how the first kanji of the entry below is presented in bold face – indicating that this is a word you now know.

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
山	mountain	yama やま
一山	one + mountain = a pile of something	hito·yama ひと.やま
高山	tall + mountain = alpine	KŌ·ZAN コウ.ザン
火山	fire + mountain = volcano	KA·ZAN 力.ザン
山村	mountain + village = mountain village	SAN·SON サン.ソン

Each entry concludes with a sample sentence featuring the character under discussion; any unfamiliar kanji in these sentences are introduced later in the book.

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
山	に	木	が	ありません。
yama	ni	ki	ga	arimasen.
mountain		tree		are not
= There are no trees on the mountain.

KANJI #2

人

PERSON

Meaning

Person/Human being. Another visually simple kanji for which no story is required. When appearing at the end of country names, this kanji denotes an individual’s nationality.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: JIN (ジン); NIN (ニン)

Common kun reading: hito (ひと)

As mentioned in the introduction, 人 is a character that challenges every student of Japanese. As there are few patterns to its distribution of readings, words containing it often need to be memorized individually. JIN, however, tends to signify that a person belongs to a certain subgroup of humanity, while NIN indicates a person engaged in an activity specified by the kanji preceding it. Look for JIN in the first position and at the end of words signifying countries, and be aware that the kun-yomi is always voiced (changes from hito to bito) when it appears outside of the first position, as it does in the sixth compound below.

We now need our keywords and sentence for the three readings. For JIN and NIN let’s choose “JEANS” and “NINCOMPOOP”. As you did in the previous entry for 山, turn to the on-yomi table at the end of the book, but this time write “Jeans” in the space next to JIN and “Nincompoop” in the space next to NIN. For the kun-yomi “hito” we’ll use “heat open”. We can now throw everything together into the sentence “That Person is a NINcompoop because they heat open their JEANS”. For future review, write this sentence in the box below.

Here are our initial encounters with irregular readings. Note that the irregular reading in the first two examples belongs to 人; as you will learn in the next two entries, “一” and “二” are read with their normal kun-yomi. In the final compound, both readings are irregular. All three of these words are best thought of as special cases, and memorized individually.

IRREGULAR READINGS
一人	one + person = one person	hito.ri ひと.り
二人	two + person = two people	futa.ri ふた.り
大人	large + person = adult	otona おとな

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
人	person	hito ひと
白人	white + person = caucasian	HAKU·JIN ハク.ジン
人口	person + mouth = population	JIN·KŌ ジン.コウ
三人	three + person = three people	SAN·NIN サン.ニン
四人	four + person = four people	yo·NIN よ.ニン
村人	village + person = villager	mura·bito むら.びと
外国人	outside + country + person = foreigner	GAI·KOKU·JIN ガイ.コク.ジン

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
あの	人	の	手	は	小さい	です。
ano	hito	no	te	wa	chii·sai	desu.
that	person		hand		small	is
= That person’s hands are small.

KANJI #3

一

ONE

Meaning

One. It’s hard to find an easier kanji to remember than this!

Remembering this kanji

Despite its simplicity, we need to complicate things a little in order to make use of this character in other kanji. As a result, this character will mean the “top of a hamburger bun” when appearing over all other parts of another character, and the “bottom of a hamburger bun” when it shows up beneath them. But what of a horizontal line found in the middle of a character? Well, that would be the patty (which vegetarians may wish to picture being made of tofu).

“In the beginning, there was ONE shapeless… bun.”

Common Pronunciations

Common ON readings: ICHI (イチ); ITSU (イツ)

Common kun reading: hito (ひと)

Though this is the simplest kanji in a visual sense, knowing when to use which of its readings can be tricky. Now that we have some understanding of the difference between voiced and unvoiced consonant sounds, however, it’s much easier for us to make sense of it all. Basically, whenever this kanji appears as the first character in a compound it is almost always read with its on-yomi, and its pronunciation of ICHI or ITSU will depend on whether the initial sound of the following kanji is voiced or voiceless (look closely at the sixth compound of the common words section below to see how the sound of ITSU “doubles up” with the sound of the next kanji in this situation). Don’t worry if this sounds complicated for now; rest assured it will soon become intuitive as compounds begin sounding more natural with one reading or the other.

We now need a sentence with all three common readings together with the word “one”. To suggest the sounds ICHI and ITSU, let’s use “EACH EEL” and “EAT SOUP”. Write these in their respective places in the on-yomi table at the back of the book. For the kun-yomi “hito”, we’ll use “he told”. Let’s choose the following sentence: “One,” he to ld us, “EACH EEL must EAT SOUP.” As before, write this sentence in the box below for future reference.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: none

Less Common kun reading: none

Here is another irregular reading; the word “day” appears in brackets to make the logic behind the compound clearer by indicating a secondary meaning of 日 (Entry 6).

IRREGULAR READING
一日	one + sun (day) = first day of the month	tsuitachi ついたち

Note that the same compound is shown below with a different pronunciation and meaning. Context will determine which is the appropriate reading to apply; when 一日 is seen at the top of a newspaper page, for example, it clearly refers to the first day of the month and would thus be read “tsuitachi” (ついたち).

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
一	one	ICHI イチ
一つ	one (general counter)	hito·tsu ひと.つ
一日	one + sun (aay) = one day	ICHI·NICHI イチ.ニチ
一月	one + moon (month) = January	ICHI·GATSU イチ.ガツ
同一	same + one = identical	DŌ·ITSU ドウ.イツ
一回	one + rotate = once	IK·KAI イッ.カイ
一時	one + time = one o’clock	ICHI·JI イチ.ジ

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
一時	に	会いましょう。
ICHI·JI	ni	a·imashō.
One o’clock		let’s meet
= Let’s meet at one o’clock.

KANJI #4

二

TWO

Meaning

All things to do with two, including the ideas of “double” and “bi-”, etc. Note that the top line is drawn slightly shorter.

Remembering this kanji

On day TWO, things began to emerge in the form of a hamburger-like object.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: NI (ニ)

Common kun reading: futa (ふた)

After that bruising encounter with the pronunciation of 一, things become much simpler with 二, although as you can see below there are also three irregular readings that need to be learned with this character. To suggest our on-yomi, let’s use “KNEE”, and for our kun-yomi, “who ta ns”. After entering KNEE in your on-yomi table, write the following sentence in the box below: “Two KNEES? Who ta ns only those?”

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: none

Less Common kun reading: none

Here are three irregular readings that will be frequently encountered.

IRREGULAR READINGS
二日	two + sun (day) = second day of the month	futsuka ふつか
二十曰	two + ten + sun (day) = twentieth day of the month	hatsuka はつか
二十歳	two + ten + annual = twenty years old	hatachi はたち

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
ニ	two	NI ニ
ニつ	two (general counter)	futa·tsu ふた.つ
二月	two + moon (month) = February	NI.GATSU ニ.ガツ
二十	two + ten =twenty	NI.JŪ ニ.ジュウ
二百	two + hundred = two hundred	NI.HYAKU ニ.ヒャク
ニ時	two + time = two o’clock	NI.JI ニ.ジ
二週間	two + week + interval = two weeks	NI.SHŪ·KAN ニ.シュウ.カン

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
二月	の	オーストラリア	は	美しい。
NI·GATSU	no	ōsutoraria	wa	utsuku·shii.
February		Australia		beautiful
= Australia is beautiful in February.

KANJI #5

三

THREE

Meaning

Three/Triple/Tri-, etc.

Remembering this kanji

On day THREE, the full hamburger - in all its glory - came into being.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: SAN (サン)

Common kun reading: none

It’s now time to begin making use of our key shortcut for learning the on-yomi. As we have already created a keyword for SAN (recall the on-yomi for “山” in Entry 1), we will now use that same word here. Let’s keep things simple and have “Three SANDWICHES” as our phrase. As always, write this in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: none

Less Common kun readings: mi- (みっ); mi (み)

Here we have our first examples of some less common readings, in this case the two kun-yomi “mi-” and “mi”. Keep in mind that “less common” does not equate with “unimportant,” as to read Japanese fluently these pronunciations will all have to be learned in time. At this stage, however, it is far more useful to solidify the common readings in your memory and take up the others when they are encountered in the future. When you reach that stage, the appropriate phrase for the respective kanji (e.g. “Three SANDWICHES”) can simply be extended to accommodate additional mnemonic words.

In the present example, the first kun-yomi appears in only two words, and always “doubles up” in the same way “ITSU” (the on-yomi for “一”) does when preceding voiceless consonant sounds (this is indicated by the short dash after mi). In a sense, this reading is unusual enough to merit the words being learned as if they were irregular readings: 三日 [mik·ka (みっ.か)] “the third day of the month”, and 三つ [mit·tsu (みっ.つ)] the general counter for “three”. The second less common reading is more typical of the pronunciations you will find in this section. The words in which it occurs are obscure; it is enough to be aware that such less common readings exist for some of the kanji in this book, but that you don’t need to worry about them for now.

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
三	three	SAN サン
三人	three + person = three people	SAN·NIN サン.ニン
三月	three + moon (month) = March	SAN·GATSU サン.がつ
三時	three + time = three o’clock	SAN·JI サン.ジ
三十	three + ten = thirty	SAN·JŪ サン.ジュウ
三千	three + thousand = three thousand	SAN·ZEN サン.ゼン

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
三人	が	早く	来ました。
SAN·NIN	ga	haya·ku	ki·mashita.
Three people		early	came.
= Three people came early.

KANJI #6

日

SUN

Meaning

This is a kanji with two primary meanings that are clearly related: “sun” and “day”. The character will become most familiar to you through its use in the days of the week, and as the initial kanji in the compound for Japan.

This is another character, incidentally, for which we do not need to make use of a story.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: NICHI (ニ チ); JITSU (ジツ)

Common kun reading: hi (ひ)

日 is another example of a simple-looking kanji that can cause a bit of trouble when it comes to pronunciation. As all three of these readings occur frequently, the best approach is to look for patterns: NICHI will be encountered overwhelmingly in the first position (hi makes only a few appearances), JITSU in the second, and hi in the third – where it becomes voiced and pronounced bi (び). A perfect example of this odd behavior can be seen in the word Sunday, the final example below. Note also that NICHI acts like ITSU (from 一) by doubling up any unvoiced consonant sounds that follow it, as can be seen in the more formal rendering of the pronunciation for “Japan”, NIP·PON (ニッ.ポン), from which the more common NI·HON (ニ.ホン) has been derived.

At this point we will now start building our own sentences to memorize pronunciations. First, think of a word to approximate the on-yomi NICHI (a German philosopher, perhaps?) and the on-yomi JITSU (a martial art, maybe?). Whichever words you decide to use, don’t forget to write them in the on-yomi table at the back of the book. When it comes to the kun-yomi, suggestions will be provided for each one ahead (they can be tough to dream up at times). Don’t hesitate, however, to use your own ideas if another word springs immediately to mind. For the present character, try “he lium”; use this together with “sun” and your on-yomi keywords to create the sentence you will write in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: none

Less Common kun reading: ka (か)

ka is used only to identify the days of the month from 2-10, 14, 17, 20, 24 and 27.

Here are four irregular readings (the most that will appear for any character in this book). You’ve already seen the first.

IRREGULAR READINGS
一日	one + day = first day of the month	tsuitachi ついたち
昨日	past + day = yesterday	kinō きのう
今日	now + day = today	kyō きょう
明日	bright + day = tomorrow	asu あす ashita あした

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
日	sun; day	hi ひ
一日	one + day = one day	ICHI.NICHI イチ.ニチ
日本	sun + main = Japan	NI.HON ニ.ホン NIP.PON ニッ.ポン
休日	rest + day = holiday	KYŪ.JITSU キュウ.ジツ
毎日	every + day = daily	MAI.NICHI マイ.ニチ
朝日	morning + sun = morning sun	asa.hi あさ.ひ
日曜日	sun + day of the week + day = Sunday	NICHI.YŌ.bi ニチ.ヨウ.び

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
毎日	日本語	の	本	を	読みます。
MAI·NICHI	NI·HON·GO	no	HON	o	yo·mimasu.
daily	Japanese		book		read
= (I) read Japanese books every day.

COMPONENT #7

Here we have our initial “component”. These will always be introduced directly before the first character in which they appear, and will be set apart in a separate text box to indicate that they are not themselves kanji on their own.

This little guy, incidentally, can appear at various places and on various angles in a kanji. It can also show up with not only one friend, as in Entry 60, but with two, as in Entry 25.

KANJI #7

白

WHITE

Meaning

White. To the Japanese, this color symbolizes cleanliness and purity (which helps explain the presence of so many white cars in the country!). As a result, the kanji can appear in words with this shade of meaning. The fourth compound is an example.

Remembering this kanji

As this kanji is composed of a separate character and a component, our first story will help you to memorize it:

I think it’s safe to say that any jelly bean, no matter what color it is, will turn WHITE if thrown into the sun.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: HAKU (ハク)

Common kun reading: shiro (しろ)

kun-yomi suggestion: “she wro te”

Create your on-yomi keyword and enter it in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: BYAKU (ビャク)

Less Common kun readings: shira (しら)

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
白	white (noun)	shiro しろ
白い	white (adjective)	shiro.i しろ.い
白人	white + person = caucasian	HAKU.JIN ハク.ジン
明白	bright + white = obvious	MEI.HAKU メイ.ハク
白鳥	white + bird = swan	HAKU.CHŌ ハク.チョウ
白米	white + rice = polished rice	HAKU.MAI ハク.マイ

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
この	白い	馬	の	名前	は	“雪”	です。
kono	shiro·i	uma	no	na·mae	wa	“yuki”	desu.
this	white	horse		name		“snow”	is
= This white horse’s name is “Snow”.

KANJI #8

口

MOUTH

Meaning

Along with the literal meaning of “mouth” and things oral, the kanji also relates to openings in general, from caves and harbors to taps and bottles, for instance.

Remembering this kanji

Has there ever been a more famous MOUTH than that of Dracula? We will use this image of a vampire to suggest the word “mouth” in our stories from now on; a few other simple characters will be treated like this as well.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: KŌ (コウ)

Common kun reading: kuchi (くち)

Note how the kun-yomi for this kanji can become voiced when it appears in the second position, as it does in the fifth example below.

kun-yomi suggestion: “coochie coochie coo”

Create your on-yomi keyword and enter it in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: KU (ク)

Less common kun readings: none

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
口	mouth	kuchi くち
人口	person + mouth = population	JIN.KŌ ジン.コウ
早口	early (fast) + mouth = rapid speaking	haya.kuchi はや.くち
口語	mouth + words = colloquial language	KŌ.GO コウ.ゴ
出口	exit + mouth = exit	de.guchi で.ぐち
口先	mouth + precede = lip service	kuchi.saki くち.さき

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
この	国	の	人口	は	少ない。
kono	kuni	no	JIN·KŌ	wa	suku·nai.
this	country		population		few
= This country has a small population.

COMPONENT #9

Though it looks similar to the kanji for “mouth”, this component is larger and always completely surrounds whatever happens to be inside it (like a prison should!); this difference can be seen clearly in Entry 9.

KANJI #9

回

ROTATE

Meaning

Here we see the difference between the “prison” component and the kanji for “mouth”. Note that the interior part of this kanji is written following the first two strokes of the prison walls, and becomes enclosed by the final stroke at the bottom. All characters of this type have the same pattern.

The general sense of this kanji relates to the ideas of rotation and going around in both space and time. It can also refer to the vicinity of things (neighborhoods and surroundings, etc), and is well-known to Japanese baseball fans as the character used to denote innings.

Remembering this kanji

It was a great relief for everyone when the vampire was finally put in prison. It soon became obvious, though, that he could not be kept with the rest of the cons; his offer to “ROTATE the blood” of everyone made them suspicious. The end result, as might be expected, was solitary confinement, a bad enough development for the vampire that became even worse when he turned into a bat; flying in endless ROTATIONS apparently brought on some nasty dizzy spells.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: KAI (ヵイ)

Common kun reading: mawa (まわ)

kun-yomi suggestion: “lla ma wa gon”

Create your on-yomi keyword and enter it in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: none

Less Common kun reading: none

This is a good place to highlight another important aspect of Japanese: the difference between intransitive (intr) and transitive (tr) verbs. Basically, an intransitive verb does not require an object, whereas a transitive verb does. This can be more easily understood by comparing the first two examples given below; a person or thing “goes around” on their own (intransitive), but must have an object to “send around” (transitive). As many Japanese verbs come in such intransitive/ transitive pairs (the same kanji accompanied by different hiragana attached to the end), it is worth noticing how certain endings often indicate the type of verb; for “-ru/-su” pairs such as in the example here, the -su verb will always be the transitive.

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
回る (intr)	to go around	mawa.ru まわ.る
回す (tr)	to send around	mawa.su まわ.す
一回	one + rotate = one time	IK.KAI イッ.カイ
二回	two + rotate = twice	NI.KAI ニ.カイ
引き 回す	pull + rotate = to pull around	hi.ki mawa.su ひ.きまわ.す
言い 回し	say + rotate = (turn of) expression	i.i mawa.shi い.いまわ.し

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
私	は	二回	カナダ	へ	行きました。
watashi	wa	NI·KAI	Canada	e	i·kimashita.
I		twice	Canada		went.
= I went to Canada twice.

COMPONENT #10

We’ll be using this component to mean anything to do with the world of ballet.

KANJI #10

四

FOUR

Meaning

Four/Quad-, etc. Recall what was noted in Entry 9 regarding the proper stroke order for such characters: the inner part is written after the first two strokes of the prison walls, and enclosed by the final line at the bottom.

Remembering this kanji

Look, I’m not able to say for certain why they threw the ballet dancer into prison, but I do know one thing: they didn’t break him. How could I tell? Well, every afternoon during our exercise period, while the rest of us inmates were either pumping iron or sharpening our shivs, there he’d be, dancing to the FOUR corners of the prison walls. We all respected him for it, I suppose; not a single con in those FOUR corners ever laughed at his tights.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: SHI (シ)

Common kun reading: yon (よん); yo (よ)

Do not choose the word “SHE” for your on-yomi, as we will be needing it far more for kun-yomi, and a word less abstract (try to think of things, places or people) will always be more memorable and make your sentences easier to create. As you can see from the examples below, this character has a tendency to appear in compounds having a mix of kun-yomi and on-yomi; this makes it a little trickier than the other kanji for numbers.

kun-yomi suggestions: “try only”; “yodel”

Create your on-yomi keyword and enter it in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yumi readings in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: none

Less Common kun reading: yo- (よっ)

This reading is like the Less common kun-yomi for “three” in that it appears in only two words: 四日 [yok·ka (よっ.か)] “the fourth day of the month”, and 四つ [yot·tsu (よっ.つ)] the general counter for “four”. These words are best memorized as is.

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
四	four	SHI シ
四人	four + person = four people	yo.NIN よ.ニン
四月	four + moon (month) = April	SHI.GATSU シ.ガツ
四時	four + time four o’clock	yo.JI ょ.ジ
四十	four + ten = forty	yon.JŪ よん.ジュウ
四百	four + hundred = four hundred	yon.HYAKU よん.ヒャク

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
四月	に	は	雨	が	多い。
SHI·GATSU	ni	wa	ame	ga	ō·i.
April			rain		many.
= There’s a lot of rain in April.

KANJI #11

月

MOON

Meaning

As with the kanji for “sun”, this character carries two meanings that are clearly related, in this case “moon” and “month.” You will become very familiar with this kanji through its use in the names of the months. This is another visually simple character for which no story is required.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: GETSU (ゲツ); GATSU (ガツ)

Common kun reading: tsuki (つき)

Like ITSU (with the kanji “一”) and other readings ending in “-TSU”, the two on-yomi double up any unvoiced consonant sounds that follow. You will encounter GATSU primarily in the names of the months.

kun-yomi suggestion: “bought Sioux kee psakes”

Create your on-yomi keyword and enter it in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: none

Less Common kun readings: none

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
月	moon; month	tsuki つき
一月	one + month = January	ICHI.GATSU イチ.ガツ
二月	two + month = February	NI.GATSU ニ.ガツ
三月	three + month = March	SAN.GATSU サン.ガツ
四月	four + month = April	SHI.GATSU シ.ガツ
先月	precede + month = last month	SEN.GETSU セン.ゲツ
月見	moon + see = moon viewing	tsuki.mi つき.み

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
九月	に	月見	に	行きました。
KU·GATSU	ni	tsuki·mi	ni	i·kimashita.
September		moon viewing		went
= I went moon viewing in September.

KANJI #12

明

BRIGHT

Meaning

Bright/Clear/Light.

Remembering this kanji

“I’m far more BRIGHT than you are,” said the moon.

“Really?” answered the sun, smiling. “I find that hard to believe. I’m so BRIGHT people have to wear shades; how many people do you notice wearing moonglasses.”

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: MEI (メイ)

Common kun reading: a (あ); aka (あか)

kun-yomi suggestions: “apt”; “stack a…”.

Create your on-yomi keyword and enter it in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: MYŌ (ミョウ); MIN (ミン)

Less Common kun reading: aki (あき)

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
明るい	bright	aka·rui あか.るい
明かり	clearness	a·kari あ.かり
明白	bright + white = obvious	MEI·HAKU メイ.ハク
不明	not + bright = unclear	FU·MEI フ.メイ

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
月	は	明るい	です。
tsuki	wa	aka·rui	desu.
moon		bright	is
= The moon is bright.

KANJI #13

木

TREE

Meaning

Tree/Wood. No story required.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: MOKU (モク); BOKU (ボク)

Common kun reading: ki (き)

This is another kanji that will require patience to learn. Look for MOKU to show up in the first position, however, and BOKU in the second. ki occurs less often, but appears with equal frequency in the first or second position.

kun-yomi suggestion: “keel” (do not use “key”, as this will have far more value as an on-yomi keyword).

Create your on-yomi keywords and enter them in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: none

Less Common kun readings: ko (こ)

Here is a common irregular reading you will often see on clothing tags, etc. The second kanji, incidentally, is not covered in this book.

Such characters will be included only when they form common words in which the pronunciation of the character we are considering has an irregular reading. Irregular readings containing these kanji will be identified with an asterisk (*).

IRREGULAR READINGS
木綿*	tree + cotton = cotton (cloth)	mo.MEN も.メン

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
木	tree	ki き
木曜日	tree + day of the week + sun (day) = Thursday	MOKU·YŌ·bi モク.ヨウ.び
木星	tree + star = Jupiter (planet)	MOKU·SEI モク.セイ
大木	large + tree = large tree	TAI·BOKU タイ.ボク
土木	earth + tree = civil engineering	DO·BOKU ド.ボク

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
あの	高い	木	の	名前	が	分かります	か。
ano	taka·i	ki	no	na·mae	ga	wa·karimasu	ka.
that	tall	tree		name		understand
= Do you know the name of that tall tree?

KANJI #14

五

FIVE

Meaning

Five.

Remembering this kanji

This is how most people feel when their work day ends at FIVE o’clock.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: GO (ゴ)

Common kun reading: none

Create your on-yomi keyword and enter it in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi reading in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: none

Less Common kun reading: itsu (いつ)

As you might expect, this reading is of most use because of its appearance in two words: 五日 [itsu·ka (いつ.か)] “the fifth day of the month,” and 五つ [itsu·tsu (いつ.つ)] the general counter for “five.”

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
五	five	GO ゴ
五人	nve + person = five people	GO.NIN ゴ.ニン
五月	five + moon (month) = May	GO.GATSU ゴ.ガツ
五十	five + ten = fifty	GO.JŪ ゴ.ジュウ
五時	five + time = five o’clock	GO.JI ゴ·ジ

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
五十人	で	山	へ	行きました。
GO·JŪ·NIN	de	yama	e	i·kimashita.
fifty people		mountain		went
= Fifty (of us) went to the mountain.

KANJI #15

目

EYE

Meaning

The general meaning is eye. An important secondary usage of the character, however, can be seen when it comes at the end of a number compound such as in the third example below. In these instances it is read with its kun-yomi and indicates the “-th” suffix in words such as “fourth” and “seventh” (it also expresses the related endings of “first”, “second” and “third” in such compounds).

Remembering this kanji

In the interests of full disclosure, it should be said that the Cyclops lobbied long and hard to be this book’s representative for “EYE”. Well, it looks like his efforts—which included a few thoughtfully chosen gifts—have paid off. Cyclops, you have been placed on an equal footing with Dracula!

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: MOKU (モク)

Common kun reading: me (め)

me is the more common of the two readings. Remember to use the keyword for MOKU that you entered into the on-yomi table earlier (from the kanji “木”, Entry 13).

kun-yomi suggestion: “metric”

Write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: BOKU (ボク)

Less Common kun reading: ma (ま)

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
目	eye	me め
目玉	eye + jewel = eyeball	me·dama め.だま
八回目	eight + rotate + eye = the eighth time	HACHI.KAI·me ハチ·カイ·め
目立つ	eye + stand = to stand out	me da.tsu めだ.つ
注目	pour + eye = notice	CHŪ·MOKU チュウ.モク

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
王子	の	目	は	青い	です。
Ō·JI	no	me	wa	ao·i	desu.
prince		eye		blue	is
= The prince’s eyes are blue.

KANJI #16

女

WOMAN

Meaning

Woman/Female. No story required.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: JO (ジョ)

Common kun reading: onna (おんな)

kun-yomi suggestion: “own NA SA”

Create your on-yomi keyword and enter it in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: NYO (二ョ); NYŌ (ニョウ)

Less Common kun reading: me (め)

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
女	woman	onna おんな
女王	woman + king = queen	JO.Ō ジョ.オウ
少女	few + woman = girl	SHŌ.JO ショウ.ジョ
女心	woman + heart = a woman’s heart	onna.gokoro おんな.ごころ
雪女	snow + woman = snow fairy	yuki.onna ゆき.ぉんな
男女	man + woman = men and women	DAN.JO ダン.ジョ

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
女	の	人	は	木	の	下	で	止まりました。
onna	no	hito	wa	ki	no	shita	de	to·marimashita.
woman		person		tree		under		stopped
= The woman stopped under a tree.

KANJI #17

大

LARGE

Meaning

Large/Big. The meanings of “important” and “great (not always in a positive sense)” can also be implied in words containing this kanji.

Remembering this kanji

Not many things are LARGER than a sumo wrestler, so we’ll use this image as our connection to the character from now on.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: DAI (ダイ); TAI (タイ)

Common kun reading: ō (おお)

As DAI and TAI occur with equal frequency (ō much less often) when this kanji appears in the first position, this character presents a special challenge for students of Japanese. When it occupies other positions in a compound, however, DAI is far and away the more common reading.

kun-yomi suggestion: “o boe”

Create your on-yomi keywords and enter them in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: none

Less Common kun reading: none

Here is the irregular reading we met earlier in Entry 2.

IRREGULAR READINGS
大人	large + person = adult	otona おとな

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
大きい	large	ō·kii おお.きい
大木	large + tree = large tree	TAI·BOKU タイ.ボク
大好き	large + like = to really like	DAI su.ki ダイす.き
大体	large + body = in general	DAI·TAI ダイ.夕イ
大雨	large + rain = heavy rain	ō·ame おお.あめ
大切	large + cut = important	TAI·SETSU 夕イ.セツ
大学	large + study = university	DAI·GAKU ダイ.ガク

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
あの	森	には	大木	が	多い。
ano	mori	ni wa	TAI·BOKU	ga	ō·i.
that	forest		large trees		many
= There are many large trees in that forest.

COMPONENT #18

KANJI #18

中

MIDDLE

Meaning

A versatile character that expresses the ideas of “middle”, “medium”, and “average”, etc. This kanji can also serve as an abbreviation for China; “日” is used as the equivalent with respect to Japan.

Remembering this kanji

I approached the sleeping vampire with the pole shaking in my hands: it was now or never. Raising the weapon over his feet I prepared to bring it down, but at the last moment the master’s words came back: “How many times must we go over this? Drive it through the MIDDLE of the vampire! The MIDDLE!” Yes, I thought, placing the pole over the vampire’s stomach, it would all go perfectly now.

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: CHŪ (チュウ)

Common kun reading: naka (なか)

kun-yomi suggestion: “knack ’a”

Create your on-yomi keyword and enter it in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: JŪ (ジュウ)

Less Common kun reading: none

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
中	middle	naka なか
中心	middle + heart = center	CHŪ.SHIN チュウ.シン
中米	middle + rice (America) = central America	CHŪ.BEI チュウ.ベイ
中国	middle + country = China	CHŪ.GOKU チュウ.ゴク
中立	middle + stand = neutrality	CHŪ.RITSU チュウ.リツ
中古	middle + old = secondhand	CHŪ.KO チュウ.コ
水中	water + middle = underwater/in the water	SUI.CHŪ スイ.チュウ

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
車	の	中	に	なに	が	あります	か。
kuruma	no	naka	ni	nani	ga	arimasu	ka.
car		middle		what		is
= What is in your car?

KANJI #19

八

EIGHT

Meaning

Eight.

Remembering this kanji

This is another kanji in the manner of “one” and “mouth” for which it is useful to assign an external meaning, in this case, a volcano: “I can’t be sure, but I think the Krakatoa volcano (which erupted in the 1880’s) was one of the EIGHT wonders of the ancient world.”

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: HACHI (ハチ)

Common kun reading: none

Create your on-yomi keyword and enter it in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi reading in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: none

Less Common kun reading: yō (よう); ya- (やっ); ya (や)

Interestingly, the first two kun-yomi readings are like the Less common kun-yomi for “three” and “four” (Entries 5 and 10, respectively), and are found in only one word each: 八日 [yō·ka (よう·か)] “the eighth day of the month,” and 八つ [yat·tsu (やっ·つ)] the general counter for “eight.”

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
八	eight	HACHI ハチ
八月	eight + moon (month) = August	HACHI·GATSU ハチ.ガツ
八人	eight + person = eight people	HACHI·NIN ハチ.ニン
八円	eight + circle (yen) = eight yen	HACHI·EN ハチ.エン
八時	eight + time = eight o’clock	HACHI·JI ハチ.ジ

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
八月	に	秋田	へ	行きましよう。
HACHI·GATSU	ni	Aki·ta	e	i·kimashō.
August		Akita		let’s go
= Let’s go to Akita in August.

COMPONENT #20

Note how the barbed hook on the bottom of this component distinguishes it from the pole (Component 18).

KANJI #20

小

SMALL

Meaning

Small/Little.

Remembering this kanji

The dwarf spoke, his words SMALL comfort: “If you be going after the miniature lava whale,” he said, “you’d best toss your harpoon in that volcano over yonder. Your chances of landing him are SMALL, though, given that he’s so… SMALL.”

Common Pronunciations

Common ON reading: SHŌ (ショウ)

Common kun reading: chii (ちい); ko (こ)

SHŌ and ko are the readings most often found in compounds, chii only being used in the first example below.

kun-yomi suggestions: “cheeee se!”; “co at”

Create your on-yomi keyword and enter it in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings in the box below.

Less Common Pronunciations

Less common ON reading: none

Less Common kun reading: o (お)

COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS
小さい	small	chii·sai ちい.さい
小春	small + spring = Indian summer	ko·haru こ.はる
小国	small + country = small country	SHŌ·KOKU ショウ.コク
小高い	small + tall = slightly elevated	ko daka.i こだか.い
最小	most + small = smallest	SAI·SHŌ サイ.ショウ

SAMPLE SENTENCE:
あの	車	は	とても	小さい	です	ね。
ano	kuruma	wa	totemo	chii·sai	desu	ne.
that	car		really	small	isn’t	it
= That car is really small, isn’t it?

CHAPTER 1 REVIEW EXERCISES

A. Please match the following kanji to their meanings.

1. 人	a. Rotate
2. 女	b. Large
3. 月	c. Woman
4. 木	d. Mouth
5. 大	e. Person
6. ニ	f. Two
7. 回	g. Moon
8. 小	h. Three
9. 三	i. Tree
10. ロ	j. Small

B. Please match the following meanings to their kanji, and these to their on or kun-yomi

1. Bright	a. 白	1. yama (やま)
2. Five	b. 目	2. ICHI (イチ）
3. White	c. 山	3. me (め）
4. Four	d. 八	4. hi (ひ)
5. Eye	e. 日	5. GO (ゴ）
6. Middle	f. 一	6. HACHI (ハチ)
7. Mountain	g. 明	7. SHI (シ)
8. One	h. 中	8. aka (あか）
9. Eight	i. 四	9. naka (なか）
10. Sun	j. 五	10. HAKU (ハク)

C. Please choose the best answer(s) to the following questions.

1. Which of the following readings apply to the kanji 人?

a. Ō (オウ)

b. hito (ひと）

c. NIN (ニン）

d. JIN (ジン)

e. hi (ひ)

2. Where is the most appropriate place to go in a spaceship?

a. 人

b. 目

c. 月

d. ロ

e. 木

3. Which of the following readings apply to the kanji 女 ?

a. ZEN (ゼン）

b. SHUN (シュン）

c. uchi (うら）

d. JO (ジョ)

e. onna (おんな）

4. Which of the following readings apply to the kanji 口 ?

a. KŌ (コウ）

b. haru (はる)

c. SHI (シ)

d. kuchi (くち）

e. Ō (オウ）

5. Which of the following readings apply to the kanji 日 ?

a. hi (ひ)

b. to (と)

c. KOKU (コク）

d. JITSU (ジツ）

e. NICHI (ニチ）

D. Please answer the following questions.

1. Which is the correct reading of 回る ?

a. mi.ru (み.る)

b. sube.ru (すべ.る）

c. haka.ru (はか.る）

d. mawa.ru (まわ.る）

2. What is the reading for 一日 when it indicates the first day of a month?

a. tama (たま）

b. kuni (くに)

c. uchi (うち）

d. kuchi (くち）

e. tsuitachi (ついたち）

3. Given that hitori (ひとり) is the reading for 一人, what is the reading for 二人?

a. hatsuka (はつか）

b. futari (ふたり）

c. hatachi (はたち)

d. futsuka (ふつか）

4. Which of the following does not belong with the others?

a. 一

b. 八

c. 四

d. 小

e. 三

5. Which is the correct reading of 白い?

a. furu.i (ふる.い）

b. shiro.i (しろ·い）

c. maru.i (まる.い）

d. hiro.i (ひろ.い）

E. Please match the following compounds and words to their meanings and pronunciations.

1. 三月	a. Twice	1. hito.tsu (ひと.つ)
2. 白人	b. Obvious	2. JIN.KŌ (ジン.コウ)
3. 二回	c. White	3. shiro.i (しろ.い）
4. 小さい	d. Five people	4. SAN.GATSU (サン.ガツ)
5. 明白	e. Small	5. chii.sai (ちい.さい）
6. 人口	f. March	6. NI.KAI (ニ.カイ）
7. 一つ	g. Large tree	7. GO.NIN (ゴ.ニン）
8. 五人	h. One	8. TAI.BOKU (タイ.ボク)
9. 白い	i. Population	9. HAKU.JIN (ハク.ジン)
10. 大木	j. Caucasian	10. MEI.HAKU (メイ.ハク）