nox 📓 studies japanese

I'll also be pausing kanji posting due to the lack of time I'll have to commit to studying. I'm hoping I'll be able to resume this activity once certain things are taken care of IRL.

jisho.org/search/%E5%B...

Additional vocab:
引き • biki; -off (price reduction), discount​

引く(hiku) can be used for to pull or to draw in terms of horse and carriage, attention or sympathy, to draw a card or mahjong tile, to draw a line or plan, to play a stringed instrument, or to subtract something, among other definitions.

🗓️ Kanji-a-day
2025年3月21日 (金)

引
🔊 in; hiki 📖 pulling
🔊 hi(ku) 📖 to pull, to draw
JLPTN3

福引き • fukubiki; lottery
引用 • in yō; quotation, citation
引き立て • hikitate; favor, patronage

While 「休」is usually meant for periods of rest, breaks, or a pause, it can also be used in conjunction with other kanji for a more negative meaning, such as suspension, absence, or cancellation.

jisho.org/search/%E4%B...

🗓️ Kanji-a-day
2025年3月20日 (木)

休
🔊 kyū; yasu(mi) 📖 rest, vacation
🔊 yasu(mu) 📖 to rest
JLPTN5

休憩 • kyūkei; rest, intermission
休日 • kyūjitsu; holiday
休養 • kyūyo; relaxation, recreation

「正午 」(shōgo) is used for noon, which can be interpreted as the "true middle" of the day since 「午前」(gozen) is morning and「午後」(gogo) is for afternoon.

When you see 正, it's safe to assume that it has something to do with exactness, precision, formality, normalcy, or truth.

jisho.org/search/%E6%A...

🗓️ Kanji-a-day
2025年3月19日 (水)

正
🔊 sei, sho; tada(shii) 📖 correct, right
🔊 tada(su) 📖 to correct, to rectify
🔊 masa(ni) 📖 surely, truly
JLPTN4

正直 • shōjiki; honesty
正方形 • seihōkei; square (geometrical figure)
正月 • shōgatsu; New Year's

Another type of dictionary, specifically the one I've been using to study kanji, is called a 「字書」(jisho)—which is just a dictionary of Chinese characters. The second character in the sequence, 「書」(sho), is used for books, documents, letters, and for the starting kanji of "to write": 「書く」(kaku).

🗓️ Kanji-a-day
2025年3月18日 (火)

字
🔊 ji 📖 letter, mark
🔊 aza 📖 section (of a village)
JLPTN4

字引 • jibiki; dictionary
文字 • moji, monji; letter, character, ideograph
数字 • sūji; number, numeral

I learned most of my Japanese at a well-known US university that still used the Kunrei-shiki romanization system in the 2010s.

It was unnecessarily brutal and messed up some of my kana writing for things like チ (chi/ti, pronounced chi) vs ティ (actual ti). I'm so happy to read this.

Japan Prepares Official Hepburn Romanization Switch, Changing 70-Year Tradition - Unseen Japan Japan will likely abandon its Kunrei-shiki romanization system that even most of its government doesn't use.

Do you spell Shinjuku as "Sinzyuku"? Of course not - only an insane person would. That's how you romanize it, however, under Japan's official Kunrei-shiki romanization system - a system that almost no one uses and that the Japanese government is, finally, preparing to abandon.

Some more fun words with 「文」:
文句 • monku; complaint, grumbling, objection​
文房具 • bunbougu; stationery
文字 • moji; letter (of an alphabet), character​

Find more, here:
jisho.org/search/%E6%9...

🗓️ Kanji-a-day
2025年3月17日 (月)

文
🔊 bun 📖 writings; a sentence
🔊 mon 📖 old unit of money
🔊 fumi 📖 letter; book
JLPTN4

文化 • bunka; culture
文学 • bungaku; literature
文部大臣 • Monbudaijin; Minister of Education

「本棚」(hondana) is another word that looks similar to bookcase—it's actually for bookshelf, though it does have bookcase as one of its possible meanings.

And 「本物」(honmono) means "genuine article" or "real thing/the real deal".

Other 本 uses:
jisho.org/search/%E6%9...

🗓️ Kanji-a-day
2025年3月15日 (日)

本
🔊 hon 📖 book; suffix for counting long, slender objects
🔊 moto 📖 basis; essence; (tree) root
JLPTN5

一本 • ippon; one (bottle, rod, etc)
本箱 • honbako; bookcase
日本 • Nihon, Nippon; Japan

There will be a double kanji post today! I haven't forgotten! It's just been bit busy yesterday and today 🖤

「糸口」can also mean beginning/start/first step​, that can be used similarly to the phrase "break the ice"/"ice breaker" in English.

jisho.org/word/%E7%B3%...

🗓️ Kanji-a-day
2025年3月15日 (土)

糸
🔊 shi; ito
📖 thread
JLPTN2

毛糸 • keito; woolen yarn
糸口 • itoguchi; clue
糸巻 • itomaki; spool for thread

「虫」can also be "nervousness", "fretfulness" or a "person devoted to one thing".

Probably the most interesting definition is the one that is probably closest to saying, in English, that there's something "rotten" or "wrong" with someone.

You can find more here:
jisho.org/word/%E8%99%AB

🗓️ Kanji-a-day
2025年3月14日 (金)

虫
🔊 chū; mushi
📖 insect, bug, worm
JLPTN2

害虫 • gaichū; harmful insect
虫歯 • mushiba; decayed tooth
昆虫 • konchū; insect, bug

Apparently, instead of the English phrases like "fighting like cats and dogs", Japan uses 「犬と猿」and 「猿」means "monkey".

I found a couple of instances of "dogs and monkeys" being used as relational opposites for today's fun fact:

「犬と猿」
jisho.org/word/%E7%8A%...

「犬猿の仲」
jisho.org/word/%E7%8A%...

🗓️ Kanji-a-day
2025年3月13日 (木)

犬
🔊 ken; inu
📖 dog
JLPTN4

小犬 • ko-inu; puppy
番犬 • banken; watchdog
狂犬病 • kyōkenbyō

350 Japanese Counters Grouped by Usefulness We've put together a list of 350 Japanese counters grouped by usefulness. That way, you can learn the counters that get used most often.

Additional uses for 「石」:
石 • ishi; jewel, precious stone
石 • koku; unit of measurement (approx. 180.4 liters)
石 • seki; counter for jewels in a watch or for transistors, diodes, etc in electronic products*

*Japanese has different counters for many items:
www.tofugu.com/japanese/jap...

🗓️ Kanji-a-day
2025年3月12日 (水)

石
🔊 seki, koku, shaku; ishi
📖 stone
JLPTN3

小石 • ko-ishi; pebble
石炭 • sekitan; coal
磁石 • jishaku; magnet

Outside of rural areas, first floor apartment units also tend to have the issue of larger spiders getting inside.

From what I've been seeing, these units end up being a bit cheaper as well since there's concerns of flooding, higher noise pollution and other bugs.

So proceed with caution. 🙂

General tip today for those considering moving to Japan instead of the typical sentence build:

If you're not a fan of くも (kumo; spiders), then beware of bamboo being too close to your place of residence, specifically in more rural areas since they often make webs in bamboo forests.

🗓️ Kanji-a-day
2025年3月11日 (火)

竹
🔊 chiku; take
📖 bamboo
JLPTN2

竹藪 • takeyabu; bamboo grove
竹細工 • takezaiku; bamboo ware
竹籠 • takekago; bamboo basket

花火はとても騒々しいから好きじゃないです。
I don't really enjoy like fireworks because they're so loud.

Bonus vocab:
騒々しい • souzoushii; noisy, loud

🗓️ Kanji-a-day
2025年3月10日 (月)

花
🔊 ka; hana
📖 flower
JLPTN4

花屋 • hanaya; flower shop, florist
花瓶 • kabin; vase
花火 • hanabi; fireworks