Read Japanese Today. Len Walsh

      ♦ SECTION 1 ♦

      The ancient Chinese saw the sun like this , so that is how they wrote the word for sun. They later found it took too long to write the rays, so they shortened the pictograph to . When they simplified the character to its final form, to make it even easier to write and at the same time look aesthetically acceptable to the Chinese eye, they squared the circle and changed the dot into a line 日.

      The basic meaning of 日 is sun. The Chinese saw that the passage of the sun across the sky took one day, so they extended 日 also to mean one day. This kanji, as do most, has several pronunciations. When 日 forms a word by itself, it is generally pronounced HI. When it is put together with other kanji in a compound word it is pronounced NICHI or JITSU.

      The Chinese pictograph for tree was . It was gradually simplified to , and then to . Squared off to final form it was written 木. The horizontal line represents all the branches, the vertical line the trunk, and the diagonal lines the roots. The meaning of 木 is tree or wood. When it forms a word by itself it is generally pronounced KI, and when it is combined with other kanji in a compound word it is generally pronounced MOKU.

      To form the character for root, the Chinese just drew in more roots at the bottom of the tree to emphasize that part. Eventually, they squared off all the added roots to one straight line ―, and the final form of the kanji became 本. In addition to the meaning root, the Chinese extended the meaning to the root of things, the origin or source. They extended 本 later to mean book as well, which they felt to be the root or source of knowledge. It is pronounced either HON or MOTO, both as a word by itself and in compound words.

      The compound word 日本, formed by putting the kanji for sun 日 together with the kanji for root or origin 本, means origin of the sun. It is pronounced NIHON or NIPPON, which is what the Japanese call their country. 日本 would normally be pronounced NICHI-HON, but for euphony the Japanese use NIHON or NIPPON.

      On the pictograph for tree the Chinese drew in more branches to make a new kanji that would indicate the tree was still growing and had not yet matured. To draw the final form, they combined all the new branches into one short straight line — and drew it in among the other branches 未. This new kanji 未 means immature or not yet there. It is pronounced MADA when used by itself, where DA is written in kana. 未 is pronounced MI in compound words.

      The Chinese later capped the pictograph for tree with one line at the top ― and made another new character 末, meaning the end, as far as you can go, the extremity, the tip. When used as a word by itself it is pronounced SU-E, and when combined with other kanji in a compound word it is pronounced MATSU.

      This kanji 末 looks very much like the kanji 未, meaning immature or not yet there, described above. The difference is that in the kanji meaning extremity 末, the line capping the growth of the tree is longer than the line representing the normal branches, while in the kanji meaning immature 未, the line representing the fluffing out of leaves and branches is shorter than the line representing the normal branches.

      A picture of the sun at sunrise rising up behind a tree was the scene the Chinese picked to stand for east. In this new kanji, they drew the tree 木 and the sun 日 in the same way they did when they were used as separate kanji, but in the new composite kanji they put the sun behind the tree to show that it was sunrise. The final form of east was written 東. When this kanji forms a word itself it is pronounced HIGASHI. Where 東 appears with another kanji to form a compound word, as in TŌKYŌ, it is pronounced TŌ.

      The KYŌ in TŌKYŌ was originally a pictograph of a stone lantern . These lanterns stood at the gates of the Chinese Emperor’s Palace, later at the gates of the Imperial City, and came therefore to symbolize the nation’s capital. The Chinese drew the early pictograph . Now it is written 京. It is not used as a word by itself. In compound words with other kanji it is pronounced KYŌ or KEI. 東京 TŌKYŌ, east-capital, means eastern capital.

      The Chinese, who farmed the world’s first rice-paddies about 12,000 years ago, drew a picture of the paddies , later simplified to , and then to the final form 田. This kanji means rice-field or rice-paddy. When used with other kanji in compound words it is pronounced DEN. When used by itself, or in proper names, 田 is usually pronounced TA or DA, whichever sounds better. The well-known Honda Corporation writes its name 本田, original-field.

      A strong hand bearing

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