Page 68 - Japanese Character Writing for Dummies

paper

The radical of this kanji is on the left and means “thread.” The Japanese traditional

SHI/kami paper art, origami, contains this kanji; it’s written as origami, which liter-
ally means “folding paper.” If you add the kanji for “hand” to this kanji, the word

becomes tegami (letter). Although social media are convenient, it is considered

more cultured and elegant to write a letter, which is tegami (w)o kaku in
Japanese.

Radical: 糸 Number of strokes: ten

to live, birth

ikiru means “to live.” It can also be read umu (to give birth) or umareru
(to be born). Preceded by the kanji for “person,” the meaning becomes life
SHŌ, SEI/i(kiru), in general — that is, jinsei.

u(mareru), u(mu)

Radical: 生 Number of strokes: five

62 Japanese Character Writing For Dummies