daily-hyosatsu

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アメチェ ＝ アメリカンチェリー ＝ American cherry ＝ Black cherry ＝……….BlaChe (?)

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Look at this pretty garden! And a new name!

須 is usually read ス, but it can also be すべから.く, すべし, ひげ, まつ, もち.いる, もと.める, or シュ. It sometimes means beard, other times it means necessarily, ought to, or by all means.

永, as we reviewed yesterday, is read なが.い or エイ. It means eternity or long (amount of time). Watch out for the stroke at the very top or you get 氷 ice/freeze.

Put them together and you get 須永 Sunaga, a surname that belongs to about 16,900 people.

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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.

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Another one-character name today! The surname 椿 is read Tsubaki. It belongs to about 15,000 people—and also, stylized as “TSUBAKI,” to a brand of shampoo and hair products.

椿 is a plant: the camellia! It's read つばき, チン, or チュン. The radicals are 木 tree and 春 spring, the latter of which has a similar on-yomi: シュン.

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@destinationtoast not a stupid question at all! The word "variant" might actually be misleading, since it's a question of script reform. Basically a government effort to simplify and standardize the writing system. The character used to be written 澤 (and in some proper nouns, it still is) and since the reform, it's 沢. (The two characters are called 旧字体 【きゅうじたい】 'old character form' and 新字体 【しんじたい】 'new character form,' respectively.)

In this case, it seems like people were commonly writing 尺 as a way to abbreviate 睪 even before the reform. (Anyone who's ever tried to take notes in Japanese on the fly will get it.) The substitution was likely based either on a cursive version of the character or on a similar pronunciation.

The character 尺 was a unit of measurement (shaku, about 30.3 cm) and it can also mean ruler, measure, scale, or length. And 睪 (目 eyes + 幸 happiness) apparently meant to spy on(!!!), but I never see it used today.

So the 氵 water radical, like you said, remained the same and the other radical was simplified! And I'm super glad you asked because I learned a bunch of other characters with the 尺 radical that got reformed, and, what's more, it affects the on-yomi of almost all of them!

駅 【エキ】, meaning (train) station, used to be 驛.

択 【タク】, meaning choose/select, used to be 擇.

訳 【ヤク】, meaning translation, used to be 譯.

釈 【シャク】, meaning explanation, used to be 釋.

Of course there are also plenty of kanji using the 尺 radical whose on-yomi doesn't end with -aku, but idk, I thought it was noteworthy!

More wet names! 西澤 is usually read Nishzawa, rarely Nishisawa, very rarely Nisihzuwa or Saizawa. 斉藤 is usually read Saitō, rarely Saidō. We've actually covered 斉藤 Saitō before, so let's just focus on the wet name today.

西 means west. It’s read にし, セイ, サイ, or ス.

澤 is a variant of 沢, meaning swamp/marsh, blessing/grace, or brilliant/glossy. Both characters are read さわ, うるお.い, うるお.す, つや, or タク.

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Today, a stately one-character name! The surname 城 is read Shiro here, but apparently it's more often read Jō. In rare cases, you might also see Kizuki, Kizuku, Tachi, or Tate.

Outside of names, 城 means castle. It's read しろ, ジョウ, or セイ. It's written with 土 earth and 成 become, the latter of which contains 戊 spear/halberd.

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Since we've done a wet name basically every day since late May (give or take a few), let's go out with a bang! I want to show you something a little bit extraordinary and then maybe stay dry for the rest of July. So!

This is a work by the renowned calligrapher and seal engraver 香川峰雲 Kagawa Hō'un (1904-1977). It is, to say the least, VERY stylized, buuut can you tell what it says?

Hints: (1) It is one character; (2) it is an *easy* character; and (3) it is WET.

Did you guess 水? Because it says 水! Doesn't get wetter than that, right?

水 means water. It's read みず or スイ. As a radical, it can appear as either 水, 氺, or 氵. It's wet! And now we will be dry.

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Something different today! A Japanese whiskey called Amahagan. It comes from 長濱蒸溜所 【ながはま じょうりゅうじょ】 Nagahama Distillery. I gave some to my dad for Christmas!

長濱 Nagahama is a surname belonging to about 2600 people. However, the second character 濱 is one with a few variations, so if you write Nagahama as 長浜, it belongs to 18,200, but if you write it as 長濵, it's only 140.

長 means long (but only for distance or physical length; a long time is 永), or leader, superior, or senior. It’s read なが.い, おさ, or チョウ.

浜 (or, in proper nouns, possibly 濱 or 濵) means beach, seashore, or coast. It's read はま or ヒン.

And 蒸溜所 【じょうりゅうじょ】, or more commonly 蒸留所, means distillery. But the important thing is, the copy REALLY tickled me. "Since we don't have enough aged whisky yet……” Wonderful! Also, I love a good anagram, especially one that can transform a Japanese name to look plausibly Scottish at first glance. (Does it count as an anagram if it's reversed?)

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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.

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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.

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Today, a place name! And it's a wet one too! This apartment building is named GRAND EGGS 桜上水 【さくらじょうすい】. Sakura Jōsui is a neighborhood in Tokyo, and Grand Eggs is.…….. anyone's guess.

桜 means cherry tree, cherry blossom, or cherry. It’s read さくら, オウ, or ヨウ. It's made up of the tree radical 木 next to a woman 女 wearing the tsu-crown ⺍ (named because it looks like ツ).

上 means up, above, or raise. See here for readings broken down by meaning.

水 means water. It's read みず or スイ.

Also, vocab! Outside of names, 上水 【じょうすい】 means tap water or water supply. In the interest of symmetry, you should also know that 下水 【げすい】 means sewage, drainage, or ditch. You can also add 道 【-どう】 road/path to either: 上水道 means waterworks and 下水道 means sewer system.

Also, outside of names and civil engineering, 下水 can also be read したみず, in which case it can mean water flowing underneath (♫♫♫) or one's true feelings. OR it can also refer to the water radical at the bottom of a character—for example, on the bottom right in 緑 green. The bottom water radical sometimes looks like 水 but sometimes more like 氺. I’m not totally clear on the specifics tbh, but I can promise you that life will be easier if you recognize both!

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Double trouble! And another wet name today! That's 27 days in a row, babey!

荻 is a type of reed or rush (Amur silvergrass or Miscanthus sacchariflorus, if that means anything to you). It’s read おぎ or テキ.

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

浜, as you may have seen on a snack recently, means beach, seashore, or seacoast. It’s read はま or ヒン.

本 means book, main, origin, true, or real/genuine. It’s also used to count long things. It’s read もと or ホン.

Put them together and you get the surname 荻田, usually read Ogita but possibly Okita or Okida, and 浜本, always read Hamamoto.

Now, you may be wondering, is this one of those reversible nameplates that works vertically or horizontally? NOPE. While 田本 Tamoto is a surname, 荻浜 Oginohama is a place name and nothing else. Oh well!

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Today, a place name! And it's a wet one too! This apartment building is named GRAND EGGS 桜上水 【さくらじょうすい】. Sakura Jōsui is a neighborhood in Tokyo, and Grand Eggs is.…….. anyone's guess.

桜 means cherry tree, cherry blossom, or cherry. It’s read さくら, オウ, or ヨウ. It's made up of the tree radical 木 next to a woman 女 wearing the tsu-crown ⺍ (named because it looks like ツ).

上 means up, above, or raise. See here for readings broken down by meaning.

水 means water. It's read みず or スイ.

Also, vocab! Outside of names, 上水 【じょうすい】 means tap water or water supply. In the interest of symmetry, you should also know that 下水 【げすい】 means sewage, drainage, or ditch. You can also add 道 【-どう】 road/path to either: 上水道 means waterworks and 下水道 means sewer system.

Also, outside of names and civil engineering, 下水 can also be read したみず, in which case it can mean water flowing underneath (♫♫♫) or one's true feelings. OR it can also refer to the water radical at the bottom of a character—for example, on the bottom right in 緑 green. The bottom water radical sometimes looks like 水 but sometimes more like 氺. I’m not totally clear on the specifics tbh, but I can promise you that life will be easier if you recognize both!

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More wet names! 西澤 is usually read Nishzawa, rarely Nishisawa, very rarely Nisihzuwa or Saizawa. 斉藤 is usually read Saitō, rarely Saidō. We've actually covered 斉藤 Saitō before, so let's just focus on the wet name today.

西 means west. It’s read にし, セイ, サイ, or ス.

澤 is a variant of 沢, meaning swamp/marsh, blessing/grace, or brilliant/glossy. Both characters are read さわ, うるお.い, うるお.す, つや, or タク.

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Have we really done 24 straight days of wet names without a single 江 in sight? Let's rectify that! The surname 江田 is usually read Eda, like it is here, but you might also see Kōda, Gōda, Eta, or Enoda.

江 means creek, inlet, or bay. It’s read え or コウ. It’s the source of katakana エ, and it's also the E in Edo 江戸.

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

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What a fantastic typeface! Can you read this one? I know you can, I have faith in you!

The name is 長谷川 Hasegawa! Which is the 33rd most common surname in Japan.

The crazy thing about this typeface is that I knew that it said Hasegawa, but I didn't know *why* it said Hasegawa. I could read it but I couldn't parse it. Before my dog pulled me away, I was stood there in front of it for a minute just trying to remember what was the middle character of this name I've been seeing almost daily for almost 16 years (in fact, the surname of a woman I dated for over a year! And who ended things by ghosting me! On a remote island with a population of >9500!!).

Even walking home, I was still just scratching my head, going, "What comes between 長 and 川 in Hasegawa? Wait, am I wrong and is 長 actually the second character?" But no. Could not *technically* read it, definitely could not write it in that moment, complete and total hole in my memory, but somehow still knew what it said. Language, huh?

Anyway! Neat reminder that we can recognize words as a unit even when we can’t read every ‘letter.’ So, without further ado, here’s what you came here for:

長 means long, or leader/superior/senior. It’s read なが.い, おさ, or チョウ.

谷 means valley. It’s read たに, きわ.まる, or コク.

川 means river. It's read かわ or セン.