Hello from Joy o' Kanji!

I'm back from the land of deep obsessive-compulsiveness, having completed 127 essay revisions since we last met here. I've also produced 6 Radical Notes—far more than in a usual month. And I posted essay 2030 on 袖 (sleeve; extension).

The intense immersion in the highly detailed revising process regularly challenged my sanity. And even though I lived it over and over, redoing six essays almost every day, the experience is hard to describe, much as a dream usually is. I could try to make you envision the strange tunnels I felt I was traveling through, aware of only the minutiae of dead links, formatting problems, and punctuation changes, but I don't see how you could possibly find that interesting, and anyway it's as over as a dream. So I'll simply show you the seven batches of kanji that I have now revised. Clicking the images takes you to identical displays on Joy o' Kanji. From there you can visit relevant Character Home Pages to learn about the changes.

Here are the 21 most recent revisions:

This batch involved anomalous changes; maybe I changed a sentence after considering it in a new light or perhaps I deleted one word. Five essays in this group had stubborn formatting problems that I conquered! (Woohoo!)

As you'll see on most other Character Home Pages, my notes about changes tend to be identical and short on detail. I have typically written only that I added the new Henshall etymology and linked to Kanshudo games.

But far more than that actually happened each time. I ran every essay through a checklist of possible issues. I updated definitions of all kanji in the Character Profiles (and elsewhere as needed). I reformatted older essays to resemble newer ones in most respects. And I expunged remnants of Henshall's former etymologies (the analyses he has since discarded in favor of entirely different explanations). That sometimes became quite involved because references to those original etymologies had a way of proliferating. One essay title draws on a now-jettisoned etymology! AUGH! All I can say is that the challenges were character building!

Ah, I said I wouldn't bore you with all this, and I won't anymore! Sorry for the lapse!

If you have bought any of those 127 essays or have a subscription, you can download new versions for free. Please do so—and if you find so much as a stray comma, just pretend you didn't!

Now that my graphic designer has returned from maternity leave, we are back to business as usual. The first new essay comes out this Friday! I'm excited to return to the normal world—or as normal as life can be with an ongoing craziness for kanji!

Here's what you'll find in the rest of this newsletter:

• New Essay

• Revision Batches 2 and 3

• Radical Notes 27 and 31

• Revision Batches 4 and 5

• Ulrike's Mnemonics

• Radical Notes 33 and 34

• New Contest

• Radical Notes 41 and 172

• Revision Batches 6 and 7

• Previous Contest

• The Joy o' Kanji Missions

• The Joy o' Kanji Goal

• Progress to Date

• What Joy o' Kanji Offers

• Joy o' Kanji + Kanshudo

• Have You Gone Crazy for Kanji?

• Connect with Us!

New Essay

The following essay came out this month:

February 11: "Something up Your Sleeve" on 袖 (2030: sleeve; extension)

The link goes to the Character Home Page, where you can purchase the PDF.

Here is a sneak preview: 

Essay 2030 on 袖 includes images of formal kimonos that only married women wear, such as this one:

And the essay introduces a term for "sleeveless (garment)," a word I found on Amazon Japan in a description of the following item:

See essay 2030 on 袖 (sleeve; extension) for more literal and creative uses of the kanji!

Revision Batches 2 and 3

Radical Notes 27 and 31

These Radical Notes posted in February:

Radical Note 27 on 厂, the "cliff" radical:

Find out about a radical that may seem ubiquitous but is on duty in just five Joyo kanji, including 原 (107: field) and 厚 (672: thick).

Radical Note 31 on 囗, the "enclosure" radical:

See what distinguishes this square radical from the other boxy one, and discover a fun pattern involving kanji such as 国 (123: country) and 囲 (422: to encircle).

Radical Notes are free! The following images are from Radical Notes 27 and 31 respectively, and the first is by Sui Feng:

Revision Batches 4 and 5

The revision tag on Joy o' Kanji lasts two weeks, so here you're seeing a mix of newer and older revisions:

Ulrike's Mnemonics

Ulrike has now completed mnemonics for 1,900 kanji! What's more, she has made them for all kanji numbered 1300 and up! In February she produced memory tricks for these characters:

These stand out for me, and in particular 1299 has stayed vivid in my mind:

Radical Notes 33 and 34

These Radical Notes also posted:

Radical Note 33 on 士, the “samurai" radical:

Discover several mysteries swirling around 士 (494: military man; samurai) and what body part that shape might represent. Also see photos showing how the Japanese use that kanji most.

Radical Note 34 on 夂, the “winter” radical:

See all the ways in which the radical in 変 (581: change) and 夏 (82: summer) subverts expectations!

Here is an image from each Radical Note, the first by Corey Linstrom, the second by Samuel:

New Contest

A dyer works with many colors. Why would 紺 (dark blue) be the first kanji in this word:

紺屋 (こうや or こんや: dyer) dark blue + suffix for a professional

Winners will receive $4 credit on Joy o' Kanji, and I'll announce their names in next month's newsletter, along with the answers. Good luck!

Radical Notes 41 and 172

Here are the final two Radical Notes from February:

Radical Note 41 on 寸, the “inch” radical:

If 寸 represents a Japanese inch, what is it doing in 寺 (133: Buddhist temple)? The etymology is illuminating, as is that of 導 (759: to guide).

Radical Note 172 on 隹, the "old bird" radical:

See what’s old about the “old bird” radical, and find out why birds have flown into kanji such as 雅 (1057: elegance) and 離 (1897: separate).

Enjoy a photo by Kevin Hamilton and then one by me, both from Radical Note 41, followed by another one of mine from Radical Note 172:

Revision Batches 6 and 7

Here are the last two batches of revisions:

Previous Contest

Congratulations to Herwig Egghart for solving the last contest—a tough one! Here again was the question:

Once upon a time, the following term literally meant "collar and sleeves":

    領袖 (りょうしゅう: leader; chief; boss)     collar + sleeve

Then it came to represent "leader; chief; boss." Why would that be? Choose one answer:

a. A leader wears fashionable clothes, particularly when it comes to a shirt.

b. A leader is tidy, with a starched collar and creased sleeves.

c. Just as a shirt is nothing without a collar and sleeves, an organization is nothing without a leader.

d. The collar and the sleeves are the most prominent parts of clothes.

The answer is d. The Japanese mainly use the common term 領袖 for political parties and factions.

This contest comes from a Quick Quiz in essay 2030 on 袖 (sleeve; extension). Find out much more about 袖 terms there!

The Joy o' Kanji Missions

• Helping you learn and love kanji through fun, photo-filled essays

• Giving you access to the deepest parts of the script, language, and culture

• Revealing the character of characters and the kanji (感じ) of kanji (漢字)

The Joy o' Kanji Goal

Writing 1 essay about each of

the 2,136 Joyo kanji

Progress to Date

432 essays posted

on the site

What Joy o' Kanji Offers

• Essays to buy individually (just $1.99), in bundles (from $9.45 to $39.99), or with a subscription ($85 for all content created to date!)

• JOKIA photo albums (just $.50) that bring characters to life through pictures

• Free JOK Notebook entries, which are blogs about my kanji discoveries

• Free Radical Notes about each radical, supplemented by Radical Terms

• More free explanations about kanji, such as Thematic Explorations, a Glossary, and Jim Breen's Writings

• Ulrike's Mnemonics, which are free memory tricks for each Joyo kanji

• Kaimono, selling eight styles of Joy o' Kanji T-shirts!

Joy o' Kanji + Kanshudo

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Have a wonderful, kanji-full March!

JOYOusly yours,

Eve (and the rest of the Joy o' Kanji team)