Don't Care, Didn't Ask

"The only way to avoid criticism is to say nothing, do nothing and be nothing."

[cyn-the-black-rabbit]

I have an another secret for y'all

I prefer BFDI characters NOT to be humanized. So are the Algebraliens!

[daily-hyosatsu]

Today, one of my favorite things: a name with very common kanji that is somehow very rare. Let's get into it!

間 is read あいだ, ま, あい, カン, or ケン. It means interval or space .

永 is read read なが.い or エイ. It means eternity, long, or lengthy. However, it's refers to time only; for distance or physical length, use 長 instead.

Put them together and you get the surname 間永 Mae or Managa, which belongs to about 90 people. Also, if you put the thing down, flip it, and reverse it, then you get the surname 永間 Nagama or Eima, which belongs to about 200.

[daily-hyosatsu]

Anyone in the mood for another wet bird name?

鴨 means (wild) duck. It's read かも, あひる, or オウ. (Realizing now that SO MANY birds have the on-yomi オウ!) The radicals are 鳥 bird and 甲 armor. I wasn't totally sure at first that ducks were the obvious choice for "armored bird," but when I thought about it, they are waterproof, right? That's a kind of armor.

志 means intention, aspire, resolve, plan, motive, or hopes. It’s generally read こころざ.す, こころざし, or シ. The radicals are 士 gentleman and 心 heart/mind.

田 means rice paddy/field. It’s read た or デン.

All together, it reads 鴨志田 Kamoshida or Kamoshita. The rice field to which the duck aspires. I like it! Belongs to about 6600 lucky people.

[daily-hyosatsu]

Double trouble today! And good news—the 22-day streak of wet names is still going!

The surname 照沼 is usually read Terunuma, like it is here (or as far as I can tell with this AWFUL all-caps English font), but it can also be Terinuma, Teranuma, or Shōnuma.

照 means illuminate, shine, or compare. It can also mean bashful or blushing. It's read て.る, て.らす, て.れる, or ショウ.

沼 means marsh, swamp, bog, wetland, pond, or lake. It's read ぬま or ショウ. The latter reading comes from the right radical, 召, which is also why 照 is read ショウ. See? It's useful to learn radicals.

The second surname, 今道, is usually read Imamichi, like it is here, but it may also be Kondō.

今 means now. By extension, it also means the most recent/this (as in “this week,” or “the current ~”). It's read いま, コン, or キン.

道, improbably, seems to be new to this blog! It means road, path, or journey—both literally and figuratively. It can also mean teachings or moral. It's commonly read みち, ドウ, or トウ, but can also be read いう.

Aaaand this post is already long, but it's fun to discover that you know vocabulary that you don't even know you know, so here you go:

照り焼き　　　　 teriyaki

天照大（御）神 Amaterasu Ō(mi)kami (the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology)

武士道 Bushidō (the samurai moral code)

道場 dōjō (martial arts training hall)

道教 【どうきょう】 Taosim/Daoism

[daily-hyosatsu]

Today, we are continuing with a new hyper-specific trend: wet bird names! The surname 鵜殿 is read Udono, with a possibility for Utono, Uden, or Udo. It belongs to about 1600 people.

鵜 means cormorant. It can be read う, テイ, or ダイ.

When I saw this nameplate on a walk, I looked at the radicals and wondered, "What bird 鳥 is like a little brother 弟?" and then almost immediately recognized that as a thought I'd before, and I knew it had to be a cormorant! I'm not sure why arbitrarily deciding that a cormorant is like a younger brother can make that information stick...... but it did! For me, anyway.

What makes a cormorant like a younger brother? I took a minute to think about it, and the one thing I really know about cormorants is that basically every single time I have seen one, it has never been flying, it has never been swimming—it has only ever been standing in the river, going like this [x]

Just perched there for ages, still as a statue, soggy as hell. Wings out like it's preparing to take flight, but nope, never actually moving! Just standing there, dripping dry. Apparently this is because their plumage gets waterlogged much easier than other waterfowl, so they need longer to dry, but if that's not younger brother behavior, I don't know what is.

So! A cormorant is like a younger brother. Fight me. Next kanji.

殿 is kind of stately. It can mean hall, mansion, palace, or temple. It can also mean lord or Mr./Ms. It shows up as a polite suffix in writing (especially in business letters and official letters), in which case it's read どの. It can also be read との, デン, or テン.

Aaaaand the longer I look at this, I'm starting to realize that 鵜殿 is a totally normal way to address a formal letter to an anthropomorphic cormorant. Okay. Wow. I'm gonna be thinking about this all day.

[daily-hyosatsu]

Tokyo had already hit 27C and 80% humidity by 7am today, so let's take this sweat day and do another wet day!

翠 was totally new to me, and that's exciting because it's something I love: kingfisher! It can also mean green. It's read かわせみ (which is what the bird is called), みどり (green), or スイ.

It's made up of 羽 feather on top of 卒, meaning graduate (or end, or die, or soldier). To further break it down, 卒 is a 亠 lid over two 人 people standing on 十 the number ten. Hmm. Not sure how to mnemonic that for you.

川 should be much more familiar, though! It means river, and it's read かわ or セン.

Put them together and you get the surname 翠川 Midorikawa, with the possibility of Sotsugawa, Hikawa, or Suikawa. Conspicuously absent is the reading Kawasemigawa.

[daily-hyosatsu]

The surname 日置 is usually read Hioki, with the possibility of Heki (which is a school of Japanese archery), Hiki, Hichi, Hiji, Hio, or Hegi.

日 means day, sun, or Japan. It also serves as the counter for days, and as an abbreviation for Sunday (日曜日 [にちようび]). It’s read ひ, -び, -か, ニチ, or ジツ.

置 generally means to place, put, set, deposit, or leave behind. Which is confusing because it can also mean keep (maybe better to think of it as setting aside for later?). It can also mean employ or pawn. It's read おく, -おき, or チ.

You might recognize the bottom part of the character: 直 means direct, honest, or fix. It's made up of 目 eye, 一 one,｜ vertical line, and 十 ten. To get 置, you top it with 罒 net (from 网).

Radical-wise, this character looks very different between the font in the photo and the font that tumblr (currently) uses. In the photo, there's the bottom-left element that looks like the letter L ...

... which is actually a combination of two radicals:｜vertical line and 一 one. But some fonts condense them into one horizontal line...

... and eliminates the horizontal gap, putting it into direct contact with the bottom of the 目 eye. And a lot of people don't like things touching their eyes!

I prefer the first font; I think it's much easier to recognize. For example, compare it with the character 査 investigate, which is made up of 木 tree, 目 eye, and 一 one. Two of those radicals are common to both, BUT even though 査 doesn't have the｜ vertical line, the bottom is basically indistinguishable from the one in 直. Why? Why are we erasing the horizontal line? What did it ever do to us?

(I also think the L version looks prettier, but that's totally subjective.)

[daily-hyosatsu]

Today, a very rare name with very useful kanji! The surname 丸加 is read Maruka, and it belongs to only about 20 people.

丸 is read まる or ガン. It means round or perfection. It’s also a suffix for ship names, -まる, like USS or HMS. Apparently this is because a ship is complete/perfect, an enclosed system with its own world.

加 is read くわ (e.g. くわ.える / くわ.わる) or カ. It’s the source of the kana か and カ. It means to add, increase, join, or include. In ateji, it stands for Canada.

[daily-hyosatsu]

A three-character surname today! 志津田 is read Shizuta or Shitsuta. It only belongs to about 130 people, but if you drop the last character, you get the surname 志津 Shizu or Shitsu, which belongs to about 1,300.

志 means intention, aspire, resolve, plan, motive, or hopes. It’s generally read こころざ.す, こころざし, or シ. The radicals are 士 gentleman and 心 heart/mind.

津 means port, harbor, or ferry. It’s read つ or シン. The radicals are 氵water and 聿 writing brush. As a mnemonic, what kind of water requires a writing brush? Imagine a calligrapher labeling a port on a map.

田 means rice paddy/field. It’s read た or デン.

[daily-hyosatsu]

Absolutely baller name today; totally stopped me in my tracks. The surname 龍宝 is read Ryūhō, and it belongs to about 30 people (who, you have to assume, are impossibly cool).

龍 is read たつ, リュウ, リョウ, or ロウ. It means dragon. (More on the various characters for dragon here.)

宝 is read たから or ホウ. It means treasure, wealth, or valuables. By component, 王 means king, 玉 means jewel or ball, and the 宀 radical (ウ-crown) is a roof.

[cyn-the-black-rabbit]

I have a secret for y'all

I live for werewolf!mcs

[daily-hyosatsu]

Another number name today! The surname 八並 seems to mostly be read Yatsunami, as it is here, but I've also found some sources for Yanami (especially as a first name) and Hachinami.

八 is the number 8. It’s read や, や.つ, やっ.つ, よう, ハチ, or ハツ. It's also the source for the katakana ハ.

並 is a very useful kanji to know! It can mean row, line up, to rival/equal/rank with, besides, or as well as. I promise to go deeper on a future post, but for now, remember that it's read な.み or なみ, or なら.べる, なら.ぶ, なら.びに, ヘイ or ホウ.

[daily-hyosatsu]

Emerging from a fog of work and burnout, I come bearing a rare and interesting name! The surname 梅舟 Umefune is written with two common jōyō characters, but only belongs to about 10 people nationwide. Oooh...

梅 means plum or plum tree. The right radical (木 tree) hints at the meaning. The readings are うめ or バイ.

舟 means boat or ship. It's read ふね, ふな-, -ぶね, or シュウ.

(I wanted to make a joke about how I missed the (plum) boat with this post because we're just at the time of year when the plum petals are falling! But that phrasing sounded kind of loaded—because 梅毒 【ばいどく】, literally 'plum poisoning,' happens to mean syphilis! Which made me feel like "riding the plum boat" should also be some kind of euphemism.................. but it's not. [To my knowledge, anyway.] And most people would probably have more innocent associations with plum, like 梅雨 【つゆ】 'plum rain,' meaning rainy season. So I would ignore me if I were you.)

[daily-hyosatsu]

Back today with a first name! The male name 和久 is usually read Kazuhisa.

和 is quite common in first names. It means harmony, peace, soft(en), or Japan. It’s read やわ.らぐ, やわ.らげる, なご.む, なご.やか, あ.える, ワ, オ, or カ.

When it means Japan, it’s basically always read ワ. In names, the reading かず is very common, though it isn't listed above because it's only used in names. It's called a 人名読み 【じんめい よみ】, literally "personal name reading" or 【名乗り】 literally, "to give (one's own) name." It's not really practical for me to cover them in terms of language learning, but in case you were wondering, that's why you'll often see a name read in a way that can't be accounted for with just the on- and kun-yomi. If you're curious, they're all listed on Kanji Jiten Online.

久 means long time (ago/since), the first time in a long time, or old story. It's read ひさ.しい, キュウ, or ク. I'll give its name readings too, but just for symmetry's sake — don't think I'm gonna start doing this going forward 😆

[daily-hyosatsu]

A jōyō kanji first name today! With first names, you can never *really* be sure, but 恒寿 is likely read Tsunetoshi or Hisatoshi.

恒 is new to this blog! It means constancy or always. It's read つね, つねに, or コウ.

(Confusingly, there is a common adverb that is also pronounced つねにand means always/constantly, but that's usually written 常に. So. Look out.)

寿 means congratulations, longevity, or (one’s) natural life. It’s read ことぶき, ことぶ.く, ことほ.ぐ, ジュ, ス (as in 寿司 sushi), or シュウ.

[daily-hyosatsu]

Apologies for the bad lighting but I could not resist sharing this name! 奥脇 is read Okuwaki.

奥 (oku, oku.maru, kuma, or ō) means something along the line of interior, depths, back region, or hidden part. 脇 (waki, wake, or kyō) means armpit/flank, supporting role, or the other way/side/place.

[daily-hyosatsu]

Indulging myself with a repeat today because I was cleaning up my camera roll and found a whole nother new picture of this nameplate! Also with terrible lighting! I am nothing if not consistent.

[daily-hyosatsu]

This is a wild one! The name 八國生 is read Yakō, and there are maybe 10 people in the country who hold it. I tried typing やこう on the Japanese keyboards on both my Windows computer and my iPhone, and neither one even suggested 八國生 as a possibility.

It's always cool to see such an unusual name with such common kanji. This case is especially interesting because 生 as a suffix can be read umare, to denote place of birth; for example, someone born in America is 米国生まれ beikoku-umare. And we know that 国 kuni or koku, meaning country, is the same as 國. So did this family originate from eight countries? Or from eight warring states during the Sengoku period? My uneducated guess is that they probably came from a place that was/is called 八國 or 八国.