水 – Kanji Japan

2026年9月30日2026年10月1日

stagnant(澁・渋)

This kanji has two radicals. The left side is the ‘water’ radical (a river). The right side shows three footprints in the sand, meaning ‘to stop’ or ‘to stay.’ Combined, it originally meant a place where water is slow or stagnant. Later, it came to be used for words like traffic jams(渋滞）, being reluctant（渋々）, and the name of a town with slow-flowing water ‘Shibuya’（渋谷）.

2026年9月16日2026年9月16日

school(派)

This character contains the radical for flowing water on the left, and a symbol for water pathways on the right. Because streams naturally split into separate paths, this character came to mean a “school” or “branch” of thought.

2026年6月7日2026年9月17日

waterfall(瀧)

When seeing a massive waterfall, ancient people imagined a majestic dragon charging up into the sky, viewing it as the very avatar of a god. This character consists of two parts, beautifully embedding the symbol of that dragon on the right side.

2026年6月7日2026年8月20日

water(水)

This character is beautifully simple, capturing only the dynamic outline of a water splash. Yes, true to its fluid form, this is the character that means ‘water’!

2026年6月7日2026年9月17日

whirlpool(渦)

As you can see, this character vividly describes a huge, rotating vortex. True to its dynamic form, it directly captures the powerful motion to mean ‘whirlpool’.

2026年6月7日2026年9月17日

float(浮)

On the right side of this character, you can see a hand gently cradling a baby, while the left side shows splashes of water. This beautifully suggests that the fluid motion of holding a baby close resembles the graceful stroke of a swimming hand. Therefore, this character captures that very essence to mean ‘float’.