Hello from Joy o' Kanji!

October 31 brings not only Halloween but also a blue moon. I'm not talking about one of Ulrike's blue-tinged yomi mnemonics! Rather, the second full moon of this calendar month appears tonight, thereby constituting a "blue moon."

This month also happened to contain five Fridays—hence, five publication days. I used them to post three essays and two Radical Notes. It's rare for multiple Radical Notes to appear in a single month—almost like a blue moon! 

As if all those coincidences weren't spooky enough (get the Halloween reference?), the results of the previous contest include a fun lunar connection!

The three October essays suddenly seem like a good fit for these themes (though I certainly didn't choose the characters with that intention):

• Essay 1372 on 瞬 (moment; to blink, wink; twinkle) focuses on time—that is, moments, instants, and things (like the phases of the moon) that pass in the twinkling of an eye.

• Essay 2132 on 慄 (to tremble) mainly has to do with shaking from fear. That is of course the point of Halloween, though all of 2020 has terrified many of us sufficiently!

• Essay 1964 on 怨 (grudge) showcases vengeful, troublemaking ghosts (also fitting for Halloween), some of whom were emperors before they died. The spirits have carried grudges into the afterlife and feel determined to raise hell for those who are still living.

Speaking of grudges, I'll give you a glimpse behind the scenes, divulging something I didn't include in that essay. My inspiration for writing about 怨 came this summer when a high school acquaintance (I'll call him Neil) found me on Facebook. We began exchanging friendly messages, but before long I had to admit that I've resented him for 37 years.

Back in the day, he had a friend I'll call Lester. (I've given him the ugliest name I can think of at the moment, and if your name is Lester, I'm sorry that it is.) Anyway, Lester knew I liked Neil and kept hinting to me that Neil liked me back. At last Lester informed me (within earshot of my friends) that Neil had never felt that way about me and that both of them had only been messing with me.

I've spent decades hating both of them when, as I've now learned, Neil knew nothing about Lester's cruel behavior and is actually a great person. (Neil has taken a great interest in my kanji writing and engaged deeply with essay 1964. It feels gratifying when the former object of a grudge likes what one has written about grudges!)

As for where things stand with Lester, essay 1964 explains how to drive nails into an effigy to lay a curse on someone, and I'm still giving that idea some consideration!

This image depicts the nails-into-an-effigy ritual. That's helpful, but the sleeping cow is so cute that it softens the anger I need to feel before laying a curse!

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

• New Essays
• Two New Radical Notes
• Trash Talk
• The Avengers
• Ulrike's Mnemonics
• In a Flash of Light
• Capturing an Angelic Moment
• Postcard Perfect
• Our Collaboration with Kanshudo: What's New
• The Japanese in India
• Previous Contest
• A Dreamy Kanji
• New Contest
• Black and Tan Dog at the Beach
• Special Deal for November
• The Joy o' Kanji Missions
• What Joy o' Kanji Offers
• Have You Gone Crazy for Kanji?
• Become a Socialite!

New Essays

The following essays came out this month:

October 9: "All Aquiver" on 慄 (2132: to tremble) 

October 16: "In the Blink of an Eye" on 瞬 (1372: moment; to blink, wink; twinkle)

October 23: "To Have It in for Someone" on 怨 (1964: grudge) 

The links go to Character Home Pages, where you can purchase the PDFs. Here are sneak previews:

Two New Radical Notes

Here's the scoop on the two new Radical Notes, along with an image from each writeup:

Radical Note 16 on 几, the "table" radical: Find out about the radical in 処 (896: to deal with) and 凡 (1827: mediocre), and see how a table could have a connection to the wind.

The product is called 凡の風 (ぼんのかぜ), where 凡 means "mediocrity." Who would associate that idea with a product?! Oh, 凡の風 turns out to be a restaurant name and could translate as "Ordinary Wind." (That doesn't sound great for sales either! Fortunately, Japanese people don't associate 風 with anything of the sort.)

Radical Note 57 on 弓, the “bow" radical: Find out why the symbol for an archery bow lies inside 弱 (138: weak) and 弟 (177: younger brother), among several other Joyo kanji.

Here we see a demonstration of 弓道 (きゅうどう: (Japanese) archery), a word that literally means "the way of the bow." For our purposes, the picture more usefully shows the shape of an archery bow, which 弓 supposedly depicts.

Radical Notes are free, so be sure to check out these resources!

Trash Talk

Once you become extra-aware of a radical, you can't help seeing it everywhere, as I did with this piece of paper lying on the sidewalk:

I know it's verboten to bring home trash in the coronavirus era (and my husband will certainly have something to say about the matter when he reads this!), but what was I supposed to do? It has Chinese characters on it!

This writing is in fact Chinese, not Japanese. And although my eye went right to the cute "table" radical in 投, we're not really seeing radical 16 (几). Rather it's radical 79 (殳), the "lance shaft" radical. As Radical Note 79 on 殳 explains, the Chinese word 投票 means "voting," whereas 投票 (とうひょう) means both "ballot" and "voting" in Japanese. 

Note that radical 79 also pops up two lines earlier in 没. In Japanese that means "sinking; immersion; disappearing; dying; lack," which sounds worrisome in this context. It's part of a question that translates as "Haven't you registered to vote yet?" The 没有 means "haven't done."

One more thing jumped out at me in the text—the part after 11月3日 (November 3). Why was there a mention of a star (星)? Was it an astrological prediction about the election?! No, 星期日 means "Sunday" in Chinese. Taking 星期 and adding 一 (one) through 六 (six) produces the days of the week from 星期一 (Monday) through 星期六 (Saturday). Thus, 星期二 means "Tuesday"!

The Avengers

Have you ever wondered what happens to dead emperors? This book gives us an idea:

The title starts with 怨霊 (おんりょう: vengeful ghost):

    「怨霊になった天皇」

    Japanese Emperors Who Became Vengeful Ghosts

Several Japanese emperors are believed to have become vengeful ghosts after having been assassinated, cursed to death, or “infuriated to death”! The last option corresponds to 憤死 (ふんし), which means “dying in a fit of anger or indignation”!

It's also possible for an emperor to be tormented by a 怨霊. One reason Emperor Kanmu (735–806) moved the capital to Nagaoka-kyo and then to Kyoto was to avoid the wrath of his brother’s spirit, according to several scholars.

To learn more about 怨 (grudge), see essay 1964.

Ulrike's Mnemonics

Ulrike ventured off for a well-deserved vacation. Before leaving she wrote mnemonics for the following kanji:

These three are especially memorable:

In a Flash of Light

I love the font in this image and the way it makes the components in 瞬 (moment; to blink, wink; twinkle) much more visible and accessible:

The first word in the title, 光 (ひかり: light), combines with 瞬く間 (またたくま: brief moment; blink of an eye (time span)) in this way:

    「光、瞬く間」

    In a Flash of Light

Although this does not contain に, my proofreader says he somehow hears the title as meaning “in a flash of light,” which is to say “in a moment.” I have made the English translation reflect that idea.

This work is a so-called BL (boys’ love) manga. The faint English over the guy’s shoulder says, “my light that his light lights me up lights him up.” Sounds like someone lit up a few too many times before writing that!

That image comes from essay 1372 on 瞬, as does the following one:

When I look at detailed, vivid photos of wildlife, I marvel at the creatures’ assets, never at the photographers’ skill. But that means I’m missing the big picture, so to speak! This book teaches readers how to become those accomplished photographers, as the title reflects, incorporating the keyword 決定的瞬間 (けっていてきしゅんかん: decisive moment; critical moment; crucial moment):

    「生き物の決定的瞬間を撮る」

    Taking Pictures of Living Creatures at Just the Right Moment

    「野鳥・昆虫・哺乳類・魚類・植物の撮影テクニック」

    Techniques for Photographing Wild Birds, Insects, Mammals,

    Fish, and Plants

The book explains how to focus rapidly on moving objects, how to shoot photos in quick succession, and so on. I’m intrigued to see plants in the list of photographic subjects, as I don’t think of bushes as darting around like hummingbirds!

For more on 瞬 (moment; to blink, wink; twinkle), see essay 1372.

Capturing an Angelic Moment

A proof of concept has emerged at the "crucial moment" with quite a coincidence; photographer Gerry Traucht describes this work as a "snowy egret seen in an angelic moment":

This piece, titled "Spirit of the Way," features the 魂 (soul, spirit) kanji and is available from Kanji Kaimono, our auxiliary merchandise store.

Postcard Perfect

Strand Clothing has made Kanji Kaimono even more beautiful by adding postcards that feature woodblock prints. Here are vivid examples:

You'll find these images and many more at the following links:

• Set 1

• Set 2

Each collection contains 10 different postcards.

Our Collaboration with Kanshudo: What's New

Our partner Kanshudo is a comprehensive and effective Japanese-learning platform that can guide your studies with an AI tutor, among many other features. Kanshudo's fun, challenging exercises draw on keywords and sample sentences from Joy o' Kanji essays, helping you work with and retain what you've read.

The game Term Find is probably the best way to test yourself on the vocabulary in the essays. Until recently Term Find wasn't available for essays written before 2020, but you can now play this game for any essay, old or new! Here's what the game looks like for essay 1964 on 怨 (grudge):

The goal is to match the yomi to the term in the grid. Of course, えんずる is easy, thanks to the okurigana, but the answer is not always so obvious!

Last month I told you about a thrilling development over on Kanshudo, one that prompted many people to take action. I think the announcement bears repeating: On the Kanshudo site you can now jointly subscribe to Joy o' Kanji and Kanshudo! Doing so will save you considerable money, as opposed to buying two separate subscriptions. Monthly, annual, and lifetime options are available. To learn more, take a tour of Kanshudo and see an overview of subscription options.

The Japanese in India

This book takes us to World War II and to India, which is not a locale I associate with the war or with Japanese fighting:

In March 1944, the Japanese invaded Imphal (the capital of Manipur, a state in northeastern India), aiming to capture British colonies and thereby destroy Allied forces there. Instead, the Japanese suffered heavy losses and retreated into Burma in July. The book shows how the Japanese drew up and carried out the reckless plan to invade Imphal.

I included this image in essay 2132 on 慄 (to tremble) because the book title begins with 戦慄 (せんりつ: trembling with fear; shudder; shiver):

    「戦慄の記録 インパール」    

    A Horrifying Record: Imphal

Previous Contest

Congratulations to Tilak Bhattacharjee (speaking of India!) and Herwig Egghart, who both won last month's contest. Here again was the question, now followed by the answer:

A word for one martial arts weapon contains a kanji that also appears in terms for the moon, “left hand,” a certain structure in the brain, and a unit of distance. Which weapon do I mean:

    a. the sword used in kendo 

    b. the bow used in kyudo (archery)

    c. the staff used in bojutsu (fighting with a stick called a bo)

    d. the sickle used in Okinawan kobudo (Okinawan martial arts)

Here's the answer:

b. I'm talking about 弓 ((archery) bow), which appears in 弓道 (きょうどう: Japanese archery).

The 弓 kanji plays a role in this intriguing word, which relates to the moon:

• 弓張り月 (ゆみはりづき: half moon), where 弓張り means "stringed bow." A half moon resembles a stringed bow, whereas a crescent moon looks more like a bow without the string. The following picture from Radical Note 57 showcases the two shapes. That is, stringless bows appear at the top, and the two kneeling men are holding bows whose strings haven't yet been drawn back to fire off an arrow. All the way to the right an archer has retracted the string fully, making the bow quite round. I'm not sure if her bow shape corresponds to the moon in any of its phases!

The 弓 kanji also pops up in these terms, which I alluded to in the contest question:

• 弓手 (ゆんで: one's left hand; bow hand), referring to the way a right-handed person holds a bow in the left hand.

• 脳弓 (のうきゅう: fornix, an arching fibrous formation in the brain).

• 弓 (きゅう: (1) bow; (2) unit of distance to an archery target (approx. 6 feet); (3) unit of distance for land surveying (approx. 8 feet)).

About the final definition of the last word, Henshall says this in his newer edition (in his etymology of 強): "It is thought that the bow, being of standard length, may have had the additional role of being a convenient tool for making land measurements." Very cool!

A Dreamy Kanji

When one reader registered on Joy o' Kanji in October, she gave a dreamy reason for loving one kanji in particular:

Her contribution is now a "brick" in the Great Wall of Kanji.

New Contest

A three-kanji term breaks down this way:

    world + talk + [a food preparation method]

What is the method? Choose an option:

    a. frying

    b. boiling

    c. baking/roasting

    d. pickling

Bonus question: Which compound do I have in mind, and what does it mean?

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

Black and Tan Dog at the Beach

Kudos to artist Ellie Fidler for an electrifying image of her sweet Shawnee:

This piece is available (along with many others that Shawnee inspired) from Ellie Fidler Kanji Designs on Kanji Kaimono.

Special Deal for November

Check out the newest deal on Kanji Kaimono:

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

390 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 writing about kanji, such as Thematic Explorations and a Glossary

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

• Kanji Kaimono, a store chock-full of beautiful items with kanji on the surface, supplied by vendors from around the world

Have You Gone Crazy for Kanji?

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

Have a wonderful, kanji-full November!

JOYOusly yours,

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