暴走族 [ぼうそうぞく] – a group of delinquents in Japan known for driving very loud bikes and cars recklessly and generally making nuisances of themselves

• 暴 [ボウ・あばれる] – violence; outburst; outrage
• 走 [ソウ・はしる] – to run
• 族 [ゾク] – tribe

迎春 [げいしゅん] – New Year’s Greetings

• 迎 [ゲイ・むかえる] – to welcome, to greet
• 春 [シュン・はる] – spring (season)

昨年中は大変お世話になりました。今年も宜しくお願い致します！

大晦日 [おおみそか] – New Year’s Eve

• 大 [ダイ・おお-・おおきい] – big, large
• 晦 [カイ・つごもり・くらい・みそか] – disappear; dark
• 日 [ニチ・ジツ・ひ・-か] – day; sun

Happy Big Disappearing Sun… day!

月食 [げっしょく] – lunar eclipse

• 月 [ゲツ・ガツ・つき] – moon
• 食 [ショク・たべる] – to eat

Gotta love Japanese…

Right now, as I type this, the first full lunar eclipse on solstice in 456 years is visible in the United States.  To give you an idea of how long ago that was, Elizabeth I wasn’t even queen yet.  (In fact, she was imprisoned in the Tower of London.)

冬至点おめでとうございます！

淡々 [たんたん] – disinterest; indifference

• 淡 [タン・あわい] – thin; pale; fleeting
• 々 – symbol that indicates repetition of the previous character

To me, the kanji 淡 is a great example of how understanding pieces parts can help you to both understand and remember characters.  It comprises 3 distinct radicals, 2 of which are repeated: 水 (water) + 火 (fire) + 火 (fire) = 淡.

Does it make sense that adding water to fire would make the fire appear fleeting or faint?  Does this give you a picture of how the Chinese may have thought of this concept when formulating this character?

When water is used as the 部首 [ぶしゅ] (radical of a kanji), it is called 水部 [すいぶ].  When it is in the left portion of a kanji and rendered as 氵, it is called さんずい.  It looks like 3 droplets of water, doesn’t it?

When fire is used as a radical, it is called 火部 [かぶ].  Often, it occurs in its full form (火) in the left or right portions of a character (偏旁 [へんぼう]).  However, when it shows up in the bottom–literally the “foot” (脚 [あし]) of a character–it is rendered as 灬.

As mentioned above, 々 is a symbol, not a character.  It indicates that you should pronounce the previous kanji again.  々 acts as a shortcut, making it so that you don’t have to write out the character twice.

See if you can use this information to help you crack open unfamiliar kanji!

瓜実顔 [うりざねがお] – oval-shaped face

• 瓜 [カ・うり] – melon
• 実 [ジツ・み・さね] – reality; truth
• 顔 [ガン・かお] – face

瓜実顔 probably isn’t a terribly useful word, nor have I actually ever heard it in conversation, but I stumbled upon it today and thought it was interesting, so…

即時 [そくじ] – prompt; immediate; in real time

• 即 [ソク・つく] – instant; as-is
• 時 [ジ・とき] – time

与し易い [くみしやすい] – easy to deal with; manageable

• 与し [くみし] – participate in; give; bestow
• 易い [やすい] – easy; simple