Kanji Signs 4 U

Manga is an excellent way to study Japanese and learn kanji and vocabulary, there are manga for almost any interest you may have, however many manga are very difficult in the beginning if they don`t have furigana (Hiragana reading above the kanji).  On this blog I hope to review some manga that I have read that are suitable for beginner to intermediate students.  Yotsubato! よつばと！ Yotsubato! is definitely my first recommendation for starting to read manga.  There isn`t a  lot of text on each page and most of it is hiragana but there are enough kanji in there to learn new characters and to stop it becoming confusing as to where one word ends and the next begins (I find hiragana only books or manga like Doraemon a nightmare to read).  Each book holds about 7-10 chapters and they usually read like separate stories so you won`t get bogged down if you don`t understand something. There are only 13 books in total, so it isn`t a huge series. ...

This picture is from a standard post box in Japan.  They look a little like the British ones so its possible their design was copied from the English during the Meiji period when Japan brought in many ideas and systems from overseas.  (But that`s just a guess so please correct me in the comments if I am wrong!). 郵便 Reading; ゆう・びん Meaning；mail service, postal service Below it is the symbol for post in Japan a T with a line over it.  According to Wikipedia the symbol comes from katakana テ　and is called  郵便記号 ゆう・びん・き・ごう You can read more here;  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_postal_mark Some useful vocabulary; 郵便局　ゆう・びん・きょく　post office 郵便物　ゆう・びん・ぶつ　mail 郵便屋さん　ゆう・びん・や　postman Kanjisigns4U Directory Page 2018  If you liked this post please tell your friends, leave comments, subscribe and share to facebook, pinterest, twitter etc...  It will help me to continue produc ing interesting free material.  Please feel free to ...

Another very common kanji you will see especially on the signs for convenience stores. Reading;　さけ Meaning; alcohol This picture was taken from a beer vending machine.  This character does not just mean Sake as in Japanese rice wine but alcohol in general and covers sake, beer, wine, vodka etc... The radical on the left is water (さんすい）and the radical on the right is a bottle (or a bird) (ひよみのとり). Some common words with 酒 日本酒　に・ほん・しゅ　sake 居酒屋　い・ざか・や　bar, tavern 酒屋　さか・や　liquor store Kanjisigns4U Directory Page 2018  If you liked this post please tell your friends, leave comments, subscribe and share to facebook, pinterest, twitter etc...  It will help me to continue produc ing interesting free material.  Please feel free to use any of the photos on this site  only for non commercial use , as long as you link back to this site. Thank you

Yesterday we had　駐車場　ちゅう・しゃ・じょう and 月極駐車場　つき・ぎめ・ちゅう・しゃ・じょう。　Here is another sign you will see in a parking lot. Reading: あきあり Meaning; Vacancy, available So if you are looking for parking there is a space available. The character is an elementary school first grade kanji and means sky or empty. It is actually the kanji for Karaoke although most Japanese do not know this as Karaoke is always written カラオケ　in katakana.  The original name for Karaoke comes from empty から and orchestra (abbreviated to オケ）. Some words with 空 空港　くう・こう　airport 青空　あお・ぞら 　blue sky　 お腹が空いている　おなかがすいている　I`m hungry Kanjisigns4U Directory Page 2018  If you liked this post please tell your friends, leave comments, subscribe and share to facebook, pinterest, twitter etc...  It will help me to continue produc ing interesting free material.  Please feel free to use any of the photos on this site  only for non commercial use , as long as you link back to this site. Thank yo...

This is one of the most common signs you will see in Japan. Reading: ちゅう・しゃ・じょう Meaning;　Parking lot We have 駐 (ちゅう）Stop over 車　（しゃ）Car and 場　（じょう）Place Now lets  make it longer... Reading; つき・ぎめ・ちゅう・しゃ・じょう Meaning;　Parking lot rented on a monthly basis. So now we have added 月（つき）Moon or in this case month, and 極（ぎめ）poles (North and south), extremely. Here are some other common words using these kanji... 月 月曜日　（げつ・よう・び）Monday 来月　（らい・げつ)  Next month 極 積極的　（せっ・きょく・てき）Assertive 南極　（なん・きょく）South Pole Kanjisigns4U Directory Page 2018  If you liked this post please tell your friends, leave comments, subscribe and share to facebook, pinterest, twitter etc...  It will help me to continue produc ing interesting free material.  Please feel free to use any of the photos on this site  only for non commercial use , as long as you link back to this site. Thank you 　

These are kanji you will see in an elevator at the station. Starting at the top； 改札 Reading; かい・さつ Meaning;　Ticket Gate And below a character you will see in almost all elevators in Japan 階. The radical on the left is hill 阝（ぎふのふ）and the remainder of the character 皆（みな、みんな）　means "everybody". Reading; かい Meaning; Floor, story　 Both of the above kanji use gate 門　(もん), on the left  "open" which to me looks like a person with arms wide holding the gates open.  On the right "close" looks like a person running into a closing elevator. `開く Reading; あ(く) Meaning: Open 閉める Reading; しめる Meaning; Close Kanjisigns4U Directory Page 2018  If you liked this post please tell your friends, leave comments, subscribe and share to facebook, pinterest, twitter etc...  It will help me to continue produc ing interesting free material.  Please feel free to use any of the photos on this site  only for no...

Starting with the main kanji down the bottom of the picture. 注意 Reading; ちゅう・い Meaning; Caution, warning At the top we have. 歩行者 Reading; ほ・こう・しゃ Meaning; Pedestrian and に　in this case meaning "of "or "to". So it means "caution pedestrians" or "beware of pedestrians". Kanjisigns4U Directory Page 2018  If you liked this post please tell your friends, leave comments, subscribe and share to facebook, pinterest, twitter etc...  It will help me to continue produc ing interesting free material.  Please feel free to use any of the photos on this site  only for non commercial use , as long as you link back to this site. Thank you