Hello from Joy o' Kanji!

February felt special because four essays posted (one per week), including the 400th! I think a math problem might be hidden in there somewhere but for now I just want to celebrate! Here's one glass for me and one for you:

Wait, there are hundreds of you. Can I really handle that much champagne? Only one way to find out!

The day before that auspicious essay posted, I went for routine medical tests (all turned out fine) and became mesmerized by the top of this Chinese sign at the check-in desk:

The first character to jump out at me was 病 (sickness), which makes perfect sense in the context of COVID. Then I recognized 毒. Poison! Not frightening at all!

But what was going on with 冠, which I associate with radicals crowning the tops of kanji? I stared and stared, my pupils undoubtedly doing crazy things, and then I broke into a huge smile that baffled the man behind the desk. The character means "crown," just as "corona" does! The next character had to represent "-shaped," possibly corresponding to the Japanese 状. So "sick poison" (病毒) must convey "virus." 

Once I returned home, I looked all this up and found that my guesses were right! That is, 冠狀病毒 in Traditional Chinese (or 冠状病毒 in Simplified Chinese) means "coronavirus" and breaks down as "crown-shaped virus"!

My proofreader knows Chinese and confirmed my findings, adding that the Chinese also call the disease 新型冠状病毒 (novel coronavirus).

I haven't felt this excited about the coronavirus in a very long time. Well, probably ever! I hope that my enthusiasm is contagious—and only my enthusiasm!

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

• New Essays
• Instant Gratification
• Ulrike's Mnemonics
• Unlearning Virtue
• Bovine Beauty
• Previous Contest
• Kyoto from All Angles
• To the Core
• Artwork for Those Who Love Detail
• Special Deal for March
• New Contest
• Essay Revisions
• The Joy o' Kanji Missions
• The Joy o' Kanji Goal
• Progress to Date
• What Joy o' Kanij Offers
• Joy o' Kanji + Kanshudo
• Have You Gone Crazy for Kanji?
• Become a Socialite!

New Essays

The following essays came out this month:

February 5: "A Capital Idea" on 京 (99: capital; Tokyo; Kyoto) 

February 12: "Core Concepts" on 芯 (2036: core) 

February 19: "Taking a Loss for a Gain" on 牲 (1474: sacrifice; victim) 

February 26: "Bay View" on 湾 (1944: bay, gulf) 

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

Here are sneak previews: 

Instant Gratification

Here's some instant gratification for you. The last preview promised an explanation about たられば, and I'll supply it right here, right now.

Essay 1944 on 湾 (bay, gulf) contains this image:

The images of planes are fitting not only because the book is about the Attack on Pearl Harbor (真珠湾攻撃, しんじゅわんこうけぎ) but also because the author takes off in a flight of fancy, starting with this whimsical title:

    「『たられば』の日本戦争史」

    A “What If” Take on Japan’s Military History

    「もし真珠湾攻撃がなかったら」

    If the Pearl Harbor Attack Hadn’t Happened

That alternative history is certainly hard to imagine, given all that later transpired.

The たられば (what if) at the head of the title combines two conditional verb forms—namely, the -たら and -れば of words such as したら or すれば (both meaning “if one does”).

Let's shift back to Japan, examining this body of water:

I like how the name of this bay breaks down:

    英虞湾 (あごわん: Ago Bay) English + anxiety + bay

I think of a bay as much emptier than what we see here. They say nature abhors a vacuum, and it’s almost as if Mother Nature couldn’t tolerate the void of a wide-open bay and partly filled in the space out of anxiety!

Located in the city of Shima in 三重県 (みえけん: Mie Prefecture) on Honshu, Ago Bay is a tourist destination. As essay 1349 on 珠 (pearl) explains, Ago Bay is where Kokichi Mikimoto (1858–1954) developed pearl culturing in 1893, and the bay is now considered the center of Japan’s marine pearl-culturing industry.

Find out much more about 湾 (bay, gulf) in essay 1944!

Ulrike's Mnemonics

In February Ulrike created memory tricks for the following kanji:

These three particularly speak to me:

Unlearning Virtue

Here we have a shocker:

The title features the keyword 自己犠牲 (じこぎせい: self-sacrifice) and translates this way:

    「不道徳お母さん講座 私たちはなぜ母性と自己犠牲に感動するのか」

    A Course in Being an Immoral Mother: Why Are We Deeply Moved by     Motherhood and Self-Sacrifice?

In both elementary school and high school, Japanese students take a course called 道徳 (morality), learning how to be virtuous. The author perceives these teachings as harmful and tells readers (especially mothers) to discard what they learned about the topic. She apparently advocates maternal selfishness!

For much more on 牲 (sacrifice; victim), see essay 1474.

Bovine Beauty

I chose to write about 牲 because it features the "cow" radical 牛, and the Year of the Ox has just begun. For the same reason Ellie Fidler has created a portrait of a sweet calf with a 牛 nearby:

This work is available for purchase from Kanji Kaimono, our auxiliary merchandise site.

Previous Contest

Both Tilak Bhattacharjee and Herwig Egghart won the last contest! Here again was the question, now followed by the answer.

One two-kanji compound breaks down this way:

    to move around randomly + pasture

Why would someone go in search of greener pastures? What could the term mean? Choose an option:

    a. infidelity

    b. nomadism

    c. moving abroad

    d. experimenting with alternative lifestyles 

    e. refusing to stay at one company for a long time

Bonus question: Which word do I mean?

The answer is b. I'm talking about 遊牧 (ゆうぼく), which represents nomadism in the strict sense—that is, the type found in Mongolia—as opposed to the way we now use "nomad" for anyone who constantly moves to a new address.

The dictionary defines traditional "nomadism" as "a way of life in which a community has no permanent settlement but moves from place to place, usually seasonally and within a defined territory." When livestock devours the grass in one area, nomads move, taking the animals with them.

Kyoto from All Angles

This image makes it clear that we're not in nomadic Mongolia anymore:

At the top of this beautiful wrapping paper, the large red 京 is in seal script and stands for 京都 (きょうと: Kyoto).

We see that city name fully spelled out in the right-hand column, followed by 六角 (ろっかく: hexagon). A hexagon?

Yes, the paper came to me wrapped around a tin of senbei (rice crackers) from a Kyoto street called 六角通 (ろっかくどおり). The name alludes to that of the temple building 六角堂 (ろっかくどう), which is on the same road and has a hexagonal roof. So it is that the packaging features the red 京 in a hexagon, collectively constituting the store logo.

Essay 99 on 京 (capital; Tokyo; Kyoto) will take you to Kyoto, as well as Tokyo and two major cities in China. There's budget travel for you!

To the Core

I almost didn’t include this image in essay 2036 on 芯 (core) because the cover abounds with golf jargon, but I couldn’t resist the jaunty font:

Even the first word (where 喰 is non-Joyo) is jargon:

    芯喰い (しんくい: hitting the dead center of a golf ball with the club)

        core + biting

I imagine that the idea is that smacking the ball in the dead center is like taking a big bite out of it, down to its core.

Here’s how the title translates:

    「芯喰い、アイアン!」

    Hit the Center of the Ball with an Iron!

And here’s the series title:

    「読んで、100切り!」

    By Reading This, You’ll Break 100!

The 〜切り (〜ぎり) means "ending up with less than 〜."

Discover more core concepts in essay 2036 on 芯 (core).

Artwork for Those Who Love Detail

On our auxiliary merchandise site Kanji Kaimono, Strand Clothing now offers more postcards, all featuring classic ukiyo-e (woodblock prints). These newcomers contain motifs I've never seen before in Japanese art:

Tatami-matted furniture in the water?!

There's more water here—and so much beyond that:

A Kanji Kaimono function enables you to zoom in on images (by hovering over them with your mouse), and I've never had more fun doing that than with these exceptionally detailed pictures. (If you love kanji, I'm assuming that you also tend to lose yourself in detail.) Anyway, this screenshot is part of a larger work. I've shared this bit with you because I'm marveling at how many of my favorite things I see in one place: a lovely tea set, a picnic, blossoms, traditional Japanese architecture, a kimono, and quaint boats.

What a surprise to spot peacock feathers in another artwork:

And, oh my goodness, what's going on here:

What sweetness!

If you want in on the fun, lose yourself in these two sets of postcards:

Set 3

Set 4

Special Deal for March

Each month brings a great deal on Kanji Kaimono, and March is no exception. Check it out:

New Contest

One number factors into Japanese words for all of the following:

• A type of amberjack (a fish).

• Many, in the sense that Edo contained many towns, Osaka has many bridges, and Kyoto abounds in temples. (I'm talking about three separate but parallel expressions here.)

• Produce store (one selling fruits and vegetables).

• Lashing out at someone who is irrelevant to the issue.

Which number is it:

    a. 一        c. 六

    b. 三        d. 八

Bonus question: Which Japanese words do I 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!

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

402 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

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?

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Have a wonderful, kanji-full March!

JOYOusly yours,

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