カテゴリー: F

This kanji is made of two parts. On the left is the ‘person’ radical. On the right is a symbol said to depict a human hand guiding or taming an elephant. Combined, it originally represented doing something artificially or claiming to act on someone else’s behalf. However, because such actions were often driven by self-interest rather than genuine goodwill, the kanji eventually came to mean ‘fabrication’ or ‘falsehood.’

Words & Phrases

• 偽善（gizen）:Pretending to be a virtuous person, or performing superficial good deeds merely for show; hypocrisy.
• 偽物（nise-mono）:The state of not being genuine, real, or authentic; a fake, imitation, or counterfeit.

This kanji is said to depict a human hand guiding or domesticating an elephant. By extension, it came to mean ‘to act,’ ‘to do,’ or ‘to do something for a specific purpose.’

Words & Phrases

• 為政（isei）:The act of governing a nation or society and managing public affairs; conducting politics or governance.

This kanji combines the ‘heart’ radical on the left with a right-side symbol for rapid, blurred motion. Together, it depicts an unfocused or distracted mind, coming to mean ‘to grow faint,’ ‘to become dazed,’ or ‘to fall in love.

Some kanji are made by repeating the same character three times to emphasize its meaning. This kanji combines three ‘tree’ radicals to represent a dense forest filled with many trees.

This kanji shows a square flag waving in the wind. Among the different kanji for “flag,” this one specifically means a square war banner used to rally soldiers.

This kanji originally depicted a rectangular flag fluttering in the wind, resembling seeds being sown in a rice paddy. While several kanji represent flags, this specific one was used for rectangular banners in Buddhist ceremonies.

This kanji combines the “sickness” radical on the left with “knowledge” on the right. Representing “sick or impaired thinking,” this character evolved to mean “foolish” or “stupid.”

This kanji consists of two parts: the clothing radical on the left, which depicts a person wearing a kimono, and the knife radical on the right.
Together, these components form the kanji meaning “first” or “at first,” originally referring to cutting fabric to make clothes.

This kanji simply depicts a flag attached to a tall pole. As you can see, it originally refers to a “flag” or “banner“,”clothe”.