and touching the ground. Flat base flippable Kanji characters will look like the following: 山, 田 or 西. Kanji characters with a stem base will look like it has legs sticking out or poles mounted on the ground: 本, 川 or 卵. Non-flippable Kanji characters are those facing either the left or right side, or a combination of both. Examples include: 子, 己 and 生 facing the left side (West), and 上, 女 and 糸 facing the right side (East). Look for what appears to be a long, flat back with the front side protruding, or with an opening. Unlike other Kanji indexing systems, no pre-existing knowledge is required. Just look closely, flip it, then find its match in the correlating section. The Flip-In Index begins on page 1112.
EXERCISE: How does an absolute novice locate a Kanji character in the index? The examples below will illustrate the possibilities.
Example 1: Search for 舗
a) One can clearly see that the Kanji character 舗 is not wholly flippable; it would look very different when inverted horizontally.
b) However, one can conclude that its left side 舎 is flippable; it would look roughly the same when turned around.
c) In addition, the bottom part 口 of 舎 has a flat base —as distinguished from a stem base.
d) Hence, the Kanji character 舗 can be located in sub-section: 6.0.a. Left Whole (Flat Base) on page 1117.
Example 2: Search for 蚕
a) One can clearly see that the Kanji character 蚕 is not wholly flippable; it would look very different when inverted horizontally.
b) However, one can conclude that its top part 天 is flippable; it would look roughly the same when turned around.
c) Also, the bottom part of 天 has a stem base—two poles touching the ground.
d) Hence, the Kanji character 蚕 can be located in sub-section: 3.0.b. Top (Stem) on page 1115.
Example 3: Search for 態
a) One can clearly see that the Kanji character 態 is neither wholly nor partially flippable; none of its sub-elements would look the same when inverted from left to right, or vice versa.
b) The Kanji character 態 can be divided into two sub-elements, namely 能 and 心 on a horizontal split.
c) Looking for what appears to be the dominant protruding part, or an opening and a long-flat back, one clearly see that the sub-elements 能 and 心 are both facing to the right side or East.
d) Hence, the Kanji character 態 can be located in sub-section: 2.1. Facing East (Horizontal Split) on page 1123.
Example 4: Search for 張
a) One can clearly see that the Kanji character 張 is neither wholly nor partially flippable; none of its sub-elements would look the same when inverted from left to right or vice versa.
b) The Kanji character 張 can be divided into two sub-elements, namely 弓 and 長 on a vertical split.
c) Looking for what appears to be the dominant protruding side, or an opening and a long-flat back, one clearly see that the sub-element 弓 and 長 are both facing apart, or opposite each other.
d) Hence, the Kanji character 張 can be located in sub-section: 4.0. Facing Apart on page 1126.
The Flip-It Index: Origin
Over the years, the urge to devise a Kanji indexing system, accessible by absolute beginners, refused to subside. One extremely cold winter night, I was in a hot spring in Miyazaki, Japan contemplating semi-thoughts. Then, I noticed the glass wall in front of me had the letters "HOH" painted on it. I have seen and ignored these letters many times. I walked past the glass wall to the outer garden, and then took a hard look at the same inverted letters. I then realized something self-evident: Writing systems were meant to be symmetrical, which when inverted horizontally would look almost the same. That concept would later spring forth to life the Flip-It Index (see p. 1112), where Kanji characters are categorized according to their "flippability." Partially-flippable Kanji—meaning the bottom, top, left, or right side only, can be flipped—are grouped together. Non-flippable Kanji characters face either the West or East, based on what appears to be a long, flat back and something protruding. Thus, the Flip-It Index is categorized by whether a Kanji character is flippable, partially-flippable, or non-flippable. The end result is a new Kanji indexing system, where learners can navigate without any preexisting knowledge. All one has to do is look carefully:
Flippable: 豊bundance, 奉dore, 同like, 堂ltar, 宣nnounce; or partially-flippable such as: 農arming (top), 盟lliance (bottom), 彰ward (left), and 細lender (right).
Non-Flippable: 子hildren (Facing West), 止top (Facing East), 約romise (Facing Across), and 私rivate (Facing Apart)
Short Versus Long Sounds
Sensivity with Kanji compounds consisting of double consonants and elongated sounds is of crucial importance. Double consonants: 作家 sakka (writer) and 活性 kassei (dynamism) should not confused with 坂 saka (hill) and 火星 kasei (Mars) respectively. Without the accent stressed on "kk" and "ss," another meaning will be conveyed. Elongated vowels are more difficult and need to be explained at length. Failure to distinguish between short vowels a, o, u from long vowels ā, ō, ū would surely court confusion and learning frustration. The meaning intended would entirely change, depending only on the elongated sounds. As an example, the words "kyodai," and "kyōdai," have entirely different meanings: The former 巨大 refers to "giant," and the latter 兄弟 means "brothers." Kanji researchers have spent much time and resources explaining this crucial matter. Transcription methods differ as to what the better way is. One method that attaches the letter "h" after the vowel was a trend in popular culture: Satoh, Saitoh, Itoh, Katoh and Ohno. The ease of typing the letter "h" with computers and cell phones may have led to the trend. However, for historical reasons, the overwhelming majority of English reference publications use the Hepburn style: ā, ū, ē, ō. This romanization system was pioneered by Dr. James Curtis Hepburn (1815–1911). The diacritic above the preceding letters represents the elongated sounds. To put it simply, one can think of the letter u as a mouth facing the sky and the line above, or ū, as depicting rising wavelengths of an elongated sound. Within the Hepburn style, the above common names should be spelt as: Satō, Saitō, Itō, Katō and Ōno. The Hepburn style is used by the Government of Japan in all official documents. Kanji dictionaries use the same approach. The Kanji Handbook is no exception. Concentrate on the subtle difference between the short and long syllables. A long accent is placed on elongated vowels, taking double the time to pronounce than short vowels. Success with this exercise will lead to greater confidence. Practice your pronunciation and listening skills, using the comparative list below:
| Short | Long |
| a (aunt) 叔母さん obasan | ā (grandmother) お婆さん obāsan |
| bo (fund raising) 募金 bokin | bō (anti bacterial) 防菌 bōkin |
| cho (savings) 貯金 chokin | chō (great service) 超勤 chōkin |
| do (Saturday) 土曜 doyō | dō (similar) 同様 dōyō |
|
fu (guardians)
|
