Hello from Joy o' Kanji!

No, it's not the last day of the month! I'm writing a bit early so I can take a break over the holiday weekend.

The theme for May turns out to be insects! I didn't expect that either!

First off, a new Joy o' Kanji member wrote this terrific entry about her favorite character:

Her comments now appear on the Great Wall of Kanji.

Then Lani Wiig (whom I've mentioned many times) sent me a wrapper from a sandalwood-scented soap called Bee & Flower Brand. The text was bilingual (in Chinese and English), and when he spotted 蜂 (bee) and several other details, he became quite excited. He recalled an anecdote in my book Crazy for Kanji about finding Chinese packaging in the street and scrutinizing the characters while my husband teased me about my kanji obsession. Lani described his sandalwood soap experience as a comparable Crazy for Kanji moment and said, "Just wanted you to know how this little piece of paper made me うれしい.

By the way, congratulations to the happy recipient of the Heisig flashcards for which Lani sought a new home, as mentioned in last month's newsletter!

After receiving Lani's note, I happened upon wonderful insect-themed art by Sharon Wheat, an artist here in Berkeley. Just look what she has created:

When I asked about her thinking here, she said she used to frequent a photocopy center where, in the trash can, she would spot incredible pieces of paper covered with mysterious scripts. Though she couldn't read the characters and didn't even know the correct orientation, she marveled at their beauty.

Back in the days when Sharon made paper, she would infuse it with specks or lines from characters in various scripts, including Arabic.

She can't provide an intellectual rationale for having mounted her insect collection on the pages she salvaged, but doing so seemed right to her. She felt drawn to the patterns of both the characters and the insects. Also, she says, "I do not like things to get too pretty, and some insects absolutely creep one out, and others are simply so bizarre."

Eventually, our exchanges about kanji brought us to the topic of tattoos, and she offered intriguing thoughts: "I am not fond of words planted on the human body like rubber stamps without any contemplation of form and pattern. I had a huge coffee table book of Japanese men's tattoos, and it was magnificent. I love tattoos and scarification if done purposefully. I want the dragon or carp to flow around the arm or leg or wherever. I would love to see kanji or any other script warped to the contours of where it was being placed."

Her artistic visions appeal to me tremendously, and they brought to mind these essays, which I shared with her:

• Essay 1590 on 彫 (to carve) because six pages feature pictures of Japanese men with full-body tattoos and a discussion of a documentary that my friend Alice Gordenker made on the topic.

• Essay 1899 on 竜 (dragon), which has dragon images throughout, including one wrapped around a pillar at a Tahitian temple.

Sharon immediately sent me this comment: "I have read through one and have been introduced to a whole new world." 

Hurray! I feel the same way about the idea of juxtaposing insects and kanji—and of seeing beauty in bugs!

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

• New Essays

• Radical Notes on 色 and 音

• Ulrike's Mnemonics

• Flexible Corpses

• Birdplay

• Previous Contest

• Crème de la Crème

• New Contest

• Revised Essays

• 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 Essays

The following essays came out this month:

May 6: "Funny Bones" on 骸 (1979: corpse; skeleton) 

May 12: "On the Sidelines" on 脇 (2112: side; aside; armpit; secondary)

May 20: "Compromising Positions" on 妥 (1538: compromise; appropriate)

May 26: "Food on Fire" on 辣 (2129: spicy; severe) 

The links go to the Character Home Pages, where you can purchase PDFs.

Here are sneak previews of the new essays: 

Radical Notes on 色 and 音

These Radical Notes posted in May:

Radical Note 139 on 色, the "color" radical:

See how the radical on duty in 色 (145: color) and 艶 (1966: glossy) represents something off-color!

Radical Note 180 on 音, the "sound" radical:

Find out what the radical contributes to kanji such as 韻 (1015: rhyme) and 響 (1171: echo), and learn how to see the bigger picture when it comes to this radical.

This first image, from Chris Acheson, enhances Radical Note 139:

A reader named Samuel captured this great shot in Germany, and I included it in Radical Note 180:

Ulrike's Mnemonics

Ulrike was off in May but will return very soon with more great memory tricks!

Flexible Corpses

Because one usually sees 骸 (corpse; skeleton) in connection with animate creatures, this book cover surprised me:

The work features photos of buildings in ruins, so 亡骸 (なきがら: remains; corpse; dead body) has been stretched here to represent structural "corpses." The title「亡骸劇場」translates as Ruins Theater.

The next book title reflects that 死骸 (しがい) can mean not only "(human) corpse" but also "(animal) carcass":

Here's how the title translates:

    「カラスの死骸はなぜ見あたらないのか  あなたの常識がひっくり返る本」

    Why Can't We Find Crow Carcasses? A Book That Defies Common Sense

For much more on 骸 (corpse; skeleton), see essay 1979.

Birdplay

Additional birds appear on this issue of Nikkei Business:

Here we have a play on the saying 老いては子に従え (おいてはこにしたがえ: Be guided by your children when you are old). The word 脇役 (わきやく: supporting role) helps to make the point.

For a detailed explanation of this cover and much more about 脇 (side; aside; armpit; secondary), see essay 2112.

Previous Contest

Congratulations to Tilak Bhattacharjee and Herwig Egghart for winning the last contest! Here again was the question:

Ancient tradition has it that if you smear a certain substance on your eyebrows, no one can turn you into an animal such as a fox! What is that all-important protective substance? Choose one:

    a. 泥 (mud)

    b. 酒 (saké)

    c. 唾 (saliva)

    d. 味噌 (miso)

Answer: c. 唾 (saliva). The following word reflects the idea that smearing saliva on the eyebrows prevents a supernatural transformation of that sort:

眉唾 or 眉つば (まゆつば: (1) dubious tale; cock-and-bull story; questionable information; (2) taking care not to be fooled)

Find out much more about this term in essay 2099 on 眉 (eyebrow)!

Crème de la Crème

These two ultra-confident people seem to be made for each other, though one is fictional:

The radiant woman is 岩下志麻 (いわした しま: 1941–), an award-winning actress who has appeared in about 100 films and many TV productions. She is the subject of the left-hand book, which features 妥協 (だきょう: compromise; giving in) in this title:

    「岩下志麻という人生 いつまでも輝く、妥協はしない」

    The Life of Shima Iwashita: Shining Forever Without Compromising

In the manga title to the right, 辛辣 (しんらつ: bitter (e.g., criticism)) characterizes グルメ (gourmet), which doesn’t mean high-faluting food here but rather the lofty critic who writes about it. Here’s the title:

    「辛辣なるグルメ」

    The Bitter Gourmet

The protagonist publishes harsh food reviews anonymously with the hope of making the gourmet realm “fair and square.”

Find out more about these keywords in essay 1538 on 妥 (compromise; appropriate) and essay 2129 on 辣 (spicy; severe) respectively.

New Contest

Which body part can you curl to be amazed in Japanese? Choose one option:

    a. hair

    b. tongue

    c. fingers

    d. toes

Bonus question: Which Japanese phrase do I have in mind?

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!

Revised Essays

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

444 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

Our partner Kanshudo sells joint subscriptions to Joy o' Kanji and Kanshudo. If you subscribe to both sites in one fell swoop instead of buying two separate subscriptions, it will save you considerable money. Monthly, annual, and lifetime subscriptions are all available. To learn more, check out subscription options.

Have You Gone Crazy for Kanji?

Signed copies of my book are available

exclusively on Joy o' Kanji!

Connect with Joy o' Kanji on these social media sites:

Have a wonderful, kanji-full June!

JOYOusly yours,

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