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 down on things represented the idea of strength or power. Drawing in all the fingers took too much time, so the Chinese abstracted the form of the hand and drew it . Squaring this to fit the kanji square, they wrote the final form 力, meaning strength or power. When used as a word by itself it is pronounced CHIKARA, and when it is used in compound words it is pronounced RYOKU or RIKI.
The Chinese added power 力 to a field 田 and formed the new kanji 男, meaning man. This signifies the male half of the human species “man” and not the species itself. When this character is used as a word by itself it is pronounced OTOKO, and when it is used in compound words it is pronounced DAN. 男 appears on all the doors where only males should enter.
A woman the Chinese pictured as a pregnant lady, seated with her arms outstretched . This was later written and finally 女. It is pronounced ONNA when it is used to form a word itself, and JO when it is used in compound words. 女 appears on all the doors where only females enter.
The Chinese put together the kanji for woman 女 with the kanji for immature 未 to make a new kanji 妹, meaning younger sister. Used as a word by itself it is pronounced IMŌTO. In compound words 妹 is pronounced MAI.
Mother to the Chinese was a woman 女 with her breasts drawn in. To the character for woman 女 they added breasts , and topped her with a hat to shade her eyes . The final form of this character is 母. Used as a kanji by itself it is generally pronounced (with the addition of several kana to indicate words of respect) OKĀSAN. This is the most popular spoken-Japanese word for mother, but to be understood it must be pronounced with a distinctly long Ā, as in OKAAASAN, to distinguish it from OKASAN, which means Mr. Oka. 母 can also be pronounced HAHA when it forms a word by itself. When used with other kanji in compound words it is pronounced BO.
Person, which refers to the species “human being,” means either man or woman. The Chinese pictured person as the human form in general . In final form they drew it 人. It is pronounced HITO when it makes a word itself, and pronounced NIN or JIN in compound words. A Japanese person is a 日本人, pronounced NIHONJIN or NIPPONJIN. A person from America is an AMERIKAJIN. There are no kanji for the word “America” so the AMERIKA in AMERIKAJIN is written in phonetic (kana) letters, and the written word looks like this アメリカ人.
Since every person 人 had a mother 母, the Chinese combined these two kanji into a new composite kanji 毎 with the meaning every. They wanted to add the pictograph for person 人 to the pictograph for mother 母 in the most aesthetic way so that the new kanji would be easy to read and write and would fit proportionately within the kanji square. Putting 人 and 母 side by side would make the new kanji too wide, and putting one above the other would make it too high. Instead, they decided to modify slightly the shape of one
