カテゴリー: S

The upper radical signifies ‘plants’ or ‘leaves,’ while the lower component depicts a mouth stimulated by a harsh taste, meaning ‘bitter.’ Consequently, the kanji represents ‘bitterness’ and, by extension, ‘suffering.’ As the old proverb goes, ‘Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

This kanji depicts a woman feeling relaxed under the roof of a house. Therefore, it carries the meaning ‘safe’ or ‘peaceful’.

This kanji depicts a footprint left in the sand. Therefore, it carries the meaning ‘to stop’—staying in the same place.

This kanji is composed of two parts: ‘words’ on the left, which signifies a sacred promise to God made with a sword and a mouth, and ‘tongue’ on the right, which shows a tongue coming out of a mouth. Therefore, the combination of these elements creates the meaning ‘to speak’.

This kanji shows a person with their legs spread wide on the ground. That is why this kanji means to ‘stand’.

This kanji has two parts. The top represents a torn flag, meaning ‘not’ or ‘non-‘. The bottom is the symbol for ‘heart’. So, this kanji means ‘sad’ because it shows a heart being torn apart.

This kanji consists of two parts. On the left is a bottle of sake, and on the right is a person kneeling down to serve it. Therefore, this kanji carries the meaning of ‘serving’ or ‘offering’ something to others.

As you can see, this character beautifully symbolizes a happy, smiling face. True to its radiant form, it directly captures that joyful expression to mean ‘smile’!

In this figure, you can clearly see a person opening their mouth wide to pour their heart out. This character perfectly captures that expressive action to mean ‘sing’.

In the same way, you can find a bow on the left side of this figure, which symbolizes immense strength. On the right, there is an element resembling an insect. Since insects were also seen as symbols of incredible resilience in ancient times, this character perfectly combines these ideas to mean ‘strong, tough, and mighty’.