Hello from Joy o' Kanji!

Don't postpone joy! That's the common wisdom, and I couldn't agree more—especially because that saying contains the word "joy"! In that spirit I'll jump right into presenting five things that have recently brought me joy.

JOY SOURCES 1 AND 2: When two readers registered on Joy o' Kanji, they provided these terrific answers about what their favorite kanji is and why:

These wonderful contributions are now "bricks" in the Great Wall of Kanji.

JOY SOURCE 3: In the window of Aiken Clothing, my favorite store here in Berkeley (on 4th Street), I spotted a shirt dominated by kanji:

Quick Quiz: What does it say?! I'll reveal the answer at the end. (Incidentally, Aiken sells lots of fun T-shirts, including another with kanji—and a big squirrel!)

JOY SOURCE 4: Origami is a self-described Asian lifestyle magazine from Seattle, Washington. The new issue, which has a focus on food, features content from essay 1608 on 漬 (pickle). Look how editor Bruce Rutledge has brilliantly reimagined my material:

As of now the Origami website hasn't been updated to reflect the newest issue, but that should change imminently. Many thanks to Bruce for tempting people with kanji (along with the edibles in the issue) and for bringing his creative powers to bear on my work.

JOY SOURCE 5: 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. We're very excited to announce something we've had in the works for a long time: Over 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 about Kanshudo, take a tour of that site. And if you're ready to take the plunge, here's an overview of subscription options, which are more legible at the link:

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

New Essays
Ulrike's Mnemonics
Clearly Refreshing
You're Well Organized! Way to Go!
On the Wing
New Contest
Outbreak!
Previous Contest
Special Deal for October
The Joy o' Kanji Missions
What Joy o' Kanji Offers
Have You Gone Crazy for Kanji?
Become a Socialite!
Answer to the Quick Quiz

New Essays

The following essays came out this month:

September 4: "Rapid Rise" on 勃 (2113: sudden; rise)

September 11: "All Clear" on 澄 (1597: clear; to look unconcerned; put on airs; do with concentration)

September 25: "Words to Help Others Take Flight" on 励 (1919: to encourage; strive for; diligent)

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

Ulrike's Mnemonics

In September Ulrike wrote mnemonics for the following kanji:

In the process she finished the 1900 series! Well done!

These three mnemonics strike me as particularly lively and original:

Clearly Refreshing

The 澄 kanji (clear; to look unconcerned; put on airs; do with concentration) often involves the clarity of liquids, which somehow goes hand in hand with refreshment, as these images from essay 1597 show:

In Ashland, Oregon, a Japanese-style spa is called Chōzu, combining the chō on-yomi of 澄 with the zu of miZU. As you can see, the spa’s logo contains 水 (みず: water). The spa has soaking pools, so 水 is appropriate, though お湯 (おゆ: hot water; hot bath) would be much more so.

To the left we see a type of wine that looks oddly as clear as water.

The largest words on the bottle are 澄みわたる葡萄酒 (Clear Wine), where 葡萄酒 (ぶどうしゅ) means "wine."

So-called white wine is actually yellowish, so I’m unsure what the left-hand bottle contains, but the

澄みわたる (すみわたる: to be perfectly clear) could refer to the taste of the wine, rather than its appearance.

The bottle to the right contains 梅酒 (うめしゅ: Japanese apricot liqueur) and bears the large words 澄みわたる梅酒, meaning "Clear Umeshu."

Again, this drink looks clear. An American friend of mine makes and

markets umeshu in Japan. When I asked if these Suntory products could truly be clear, he told me this, referring at the end to Choya, the world’s largest producer of umeshu:

Based on the product image and the packaging I guess the selling

point of these products is that they are completely clear.

Last year there was a product released called clear milk tea that

was brewed using a special steaming process, and it was quite

the rage for awhile. I think Suntory is just trying to jump on that

wagon. I think the fad has mostly passed, though. I suspect

that how they are getting the clear liquid is by using charcoal

powder, which is then filtered out. So if anything it is probably

negatively affecting the flavor. Choya has some low-quality

consumer grade umeshu that are mixed with all sorts of things,

and I think this product may be designed to fit in that category,

so it’s probably of little concern to them if it doesn’t taste like a

first-tier drink.

For much more on 澄 (clear; to look unconcerned; put on airs; do with concentration), and more alcohol options, see essay 1597.

You're Well Organized! Way to Go!

Two of the kanji I focused on this month have something in common. Each has a Joyo kun-yomi that could prove confusing to kanji learners. I'm talking about these words:

澄ます (すます: (1) to clear; make clear; (2) be unruffled; look unconcerned; feign indifference; (3) look serious; (4) put on airs; (5) listen carefully)

励ます (はげます: to encourage; cheer; raise (the voice))

A kanji learner could easily mistake these for the -ます forms of the following verbs:

澄む (すむ: (1) to become clear (water, air, etc.); become transparent;

(2) resonate clearly (e.g., voice); (3) become serene; become tranquil; be free of evil or idle thoughts; (4) be pronounced as an unvoiced sound)

励む (はげむ: to strive)

But that's not the case. All four verbs appear here in their dictionary forms, and all four readings are Joyo kun-yomi of the respective characters.

We find 励ます on this book cover:

This work teaches Japanese people how to bolster others in English, as the title shows:

「コミュニケーションを円滑に

するほめる英語・励ます英語」

Communicating Smoothly: English Words of Praise and Encouragement

Check out the English phrases to the left. “Way to go!” is great to learn, but “You’re well organized”? That's hilarious! I thought it must reflect Japanese values until I realized that the author is American.

Regarding the role of にする in the title, the syntax (noun)を(adjective)にする means “to make (noun) (adjective).” Therefore, コミュニケーションを円滑にする means “to make communication smooth.”

For much more about 励 (to encourage; strive for; diligent), see essay 1919, "Words to Help Others Take Flight.”

On the Wing

Actual wings are even better than words for taking flight. As it happens, a talented husband-wife artist team from Berkeley has brought us birds galore this month.

Gerry Traucht's tranquil photo is newly available for purchase on our auxiliary merchandise site Kanji Kaimono:

This work, "White Pelican Mist," showcases several young pelicans. For those of us on the West Coast who have spent weeks choking on acrid smoke from countless wildfires, the hazy background tells just as important a story.

Previously, Gerry created a series of pictures that bear witness to majestic and mystical birds as they go about restoring a tainted environment. Apparently thinking in that vein, he has optimistically added the rejuvenation kanji to the image above.

Meanwhile, Ellie Fidler has created a work that I could gaze at for quite a long time. It's called "Bamboo Palm Raven," where the 烏 means "raven":

New Contest

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)

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!

Outbreak!

These two book covers feature 勃 (sudden; rise) in the word 勃発 (ぼっぱつ: outbreak (e.g., war); outburst; sudden occurrence):

In fact, that term constitutes the main title of the work to the left:

「勃発！第一次世界大戦ドイツ皇帝ヴィルヘルム二世と『シュリーフェン

計画』」

Outbreak! World War I: The German Emperor Wilhelm II and the “Schlieffen Plan”

The Schlieffen Plan was a German plot dating back to 1905 to invade France and other countries. By the way, the man on the cover here is the German emperor Wilhelm II. Because of this Kaiser (that’s what a German emperor is called in German), the Japanese refer to handlebar mustaches even now as カイゼル髭 (カイゼルひげ: lit. “Kaiser’s mustache,” where 髭 is non-Joyo).

The second book brings us back to Japanese concerns, particularly during the early part of the Showa era (1926–1989). Here’s the title:

「昭和史日中戦争勃発」

Showa History: The Outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War

That war began between China and Japan in 1937, eventually becoming part of World War II in 1941 when China joined the Allies.

With that sorted out, I want to know who the women on the cover are. When I think of war, women don’t immediately come to mind. I've asked various people, and two Brits who adore Japanese films suggested certain actresses' names. It's hard to make a positive ID, though.

We can at least be certain of what 勃 (sudden; rise) represents. For much more on this kanji, see essay 2113.

Previous Contest

Tilak Bhattacharjee and Herwig Egghart won last month's contest. This was the question, now followed by the answer:

There's a four-kanji term for the sort of scene that exists only in one's imagination, and that compound includes a kanji for an animal. Which animal do I mean? Choose an option:

a. elephant

b. tiger

c. bear

d. snake

Bonus question: Which compound do I have in mind?

The answer: a.

Here's the term:

心象風景 (しんしょうふうけい: imagined landscape; scenery in one’s mind’s eye) image (1st 2 kanji) + scenery (last 2 kanji)

The 象 kanji originally meant "elephant" and can still represent that. But in 心象 (しんしょう: image; mental picture) the 象 stands for "appearances."

I spotted 心象風景 on a book cover I included in last month's newsletter and on page 1 of essay 2122 on 喩 (metaphor):

This faint text frames the lemon:

比喩は心象風景の点描である。

A metaphor is a sketch of an image in the mind’s eye.

比喩 (ひゆ: metaphor); 点描 (てんびょう: pointillism,

a technique of forming an image from small, distinct dots)

Special Deal for October

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

387 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?

Signed copies of my book are available

exclusively on Kanji Kaimono!

Become a Socialite!

If you contribute just $5 a month on the crowdfunding site Patreon, I'll email you each new essay! What convenience! Any level of giving will help keep Joy o' Kanji running and will do a great deal to boost morale!