Kanji Lesson 4

天 (テン, あめ, あま-)

By D.Boyarrin (Flickr)
CC-BY 2.0

Sky, Heaven

Consist of a line on top (一) that symbolize something high, and big (大) .

• 天気 (てんき) Weather

明（メイ、ミョウ、あか.るい）

Bright

Shows the two brightest object in the sky: The Sun & The Moon.

• 明日（あした） Tomorrow
• 明白（めいはく） Obvious, Clear

By Chris Gladis
via Wikimedia Commons
CC BY 2.0

女（ジョ, おんな）

Woman

Picture of a dancing woman.

• 女の人（おんなのひと） Woman
• 女の子（おんなのこ） Girl

見（ケン, み.る）

See

Consist of an eye (目) and human legs, a picture of someone looking at something. 

• 見た目（みため） Appearance

貝（バイ, かい）

Shellfish

Picture of a creature having a specialized eyes and tentacles. One of the widely known shellfish is the scallop, whose figure is used in many well-known symbols. Take a closer look at the photograph, the tiny black dots are the eyes. A scallop can have up to 100 eyes, and any lost or injured eyes can easily be regrown. The teeth like organs are actually tentacles. These tentacles function both as a sensor and as a sieve to prevent large particle from entering. Scallops have been a commodity in China since around the 13th century, so its no surprise that this character also has the meaning of "commodity" if used as an element of another kanji.

土（ド, ト, つち）

By fishermansdaughter (Flickr)
CC BY 2.0

Soil/Earth/Ground

Picture of a pile of soil.

• 土曜日 (どようび) Saturday

士 (シ)

www.vectorportal.com
CC BY 2.0

Gentleman, Samurai

Picture of someone with a wide shoulder and narrow hip, which is a perfect posture for a man. Japanese Samurai consist of "perfect" gentlemen that rank high in society and excel in many fields such as culture, education, and martial skill.

• 力士 (りきし) Sumo Wrestler