Read Japanese Today. Len Walsh

wrote the number one with one flat horizontal line 一. They found it hard to simplify this pictograph, so never changed its shape. It is pronounced ICHI either in compound words or by itself. It can also be pronounced HITOTSU (with a kana, since the kanji 一 only provides the HITO sound) either in compound words or by itself.

      The number two followed the same pattern and was written 二. It is pronounced NI, either in compound words or by itself. It can also be pronounced FUTATSU (again with a kana, since the kanji 二 only provides the FUTA sound) in compound words or by itself.

      The number three was done the same, and was written 三. It is pronounced SAN either in compound words or by itself. 三 can also be pronounced MITSU (with a kana) in compound words or by itself.

      The number five started out the same, with five flat horizontal lines . The Chinese found that there were too many horizontal lines to write clearly in a small space and, further, there was no way to draw them cursively with a brush in one continuous line without lifting the brush from the paper, so they took two of the lines and made them vertical 丑. Then they opened up the upper corner for aesthetic balance and wrote it 五. It is pronounced GO either in compound words or by itself. It can also be pronounced ITSUTSU (with a kana) in compound words or by itself.

      The number four was pictured as four fingers balled into a fist . The Chinese first simplified it a bit to , and then in final form as 四. It is pronounced SHI either in compound words or by itself. 四 can also be pronounced YOTSU (with a kana) in compound words or by itself.

      The number ten was pictured as the ten fingers of two crossed hands . The fingers took too long to write so the Chinese simplified the final form to just the cross 十. It is pronounced JŪ either in compound words or by itself. 十 also can be pronounced TŌ, either in compound words or by itself. In compound words it is also sometimes pronounced JITSU or JUTSU.

      The Chinese connected three tens and underlined them with a one 一 to emphasize that thirty years was one life-span, one generation. They simplified it first to then squared it off to the final form 世, meaning a generation. Used as a word by itself it is pronounced YO. In compound words it is pronounced SE or SEI. A 二世 NISEI, two-generation, is a Nisei, a second-generation American, born in the USA, of Japanese parentage. An 一世 ISSEI (ICHISEI pronounced euphonically), one-generation, is an Issei, a first-generation Japanese who emigrated to the United States.

      The Chinese tripled power 力力力 then multiplied by ten 十 to form the new composite kanji 協, many-strengths-together, meaning to unite, to join together in cooperation. 協 is not used as a word by itself. Used with other kanji in compound words it is pronounced KYŌ. The compound word 協力 KYŌRYOKU, unite-strength, means cooperation.

      For number nine, the Chinese started with the number ten 十 and dropped one off to get down to number nine. They first wrote it as and finally squared it off to 九. (To “square off ” a pictograph means to line up and re-proportion the components to make it aesthetically pleasing and easy to read and write; in nine 九, the squaring off is done by rounding). It is pronounced KYŪ or KU either in compounds or when used by itself. It can also be pronounced KOKONOTSU (with kana), either in compound words or by itself.

      To symbolize the act of splitting or dividing, the Chinese drew a straight vertical line ┃, then divided it in two ｜｜. It was stylized as and came to be the kanji for the number eight 八 (but also retaining the concept of “divide”) since eight is one vertical line divided up. It is pronounced HACHI either in compound words or by itself. It can also be pronounced YATSU or YŌ in special cases. 八 appears in many other kanji as an element that brings to the composite kanji the meaning of “divide.”

      The Chinese drew a pictograph of the element for eight 八 and the element for two 二 escaping through the top to symbolize eight minus two, the number six. They wrote the final form of the kanji 六, meaning six. Used as word by itself it is pronounced ROKU or MUTSU. In compound words 六 is pronounced ROKU.

      ♦ SECTION 2 ♦

      To form the kanji for a sword the Chinese drew a sword as then squared it off to 刀. As a kanji by itself it is pronounced KATANA. Combined with other kanji in compound words, it is usually pronounced TŌ.

      When 刀 is used as an element in a new kanji and appears in the left-hand or right-hand portion of the new kanji’s square, it is often abbreviated to 刂. When it appears at the top or the bottom of the new kanji’s square it remains 刀, although its proportions may change to fit the square. A 小刀, SHŌTŌ, is a short sword and a 大刀, DAITŌ, is a long sword.

      The Chinese started with the sword 刀 then, onto the blade, added a mark ヽ to emphasize the meaning blade. They wrote the new kanji in final form like this 刃, meaning blade. Used as a word by itself it is pronounced HA. Used in compound words 刃 is pronounced JIN.

      When 刀 sword is added as an element to the element for eight 八 (used in its meaning of divide) it forms the new kanji 分 meaning cut and divide. This kanji, 分, has many other meanings, but all subsume the idea of cut and divide. Used by itself, 分 is pronounced WAKARU (intransitive) or WAKERU (transitive). In compound words it is pronounced BUN, FUN or BU. The common word in Japanese for understand is 分 WAKARU (to cut and divide knowledge into bite-size bits so it can be absorbed).

      Many Japanese words, particularly those in common language as spoken for millennia, have many exceptions to the rules of definition and pronunciation. For example, 分, a very common character, in compounds means a piece or part or division, after something has been cut and divided. 一分 IPPUN (changed from ICHIFUN for euphony), means one minute, a division of an hour. The same kanji written in the same way 一分 also has the specialized meaning of one-tenth, in which case it is pronounced ICHIBU. The compound word 十分, JIPPUN, ten-minutes, means ten minutes. The same two characters in the same order in another compound word 十分 are pronounced JUBUN, ten-parts-out-of-ten, which means enough, sufficient, adequate.

      分子 BUNSHI, piece-child, means molecule. Pronounced exactly the same way, 分子 also means the numerator of a fraction. (The denominator of a fraction is 分母 BUNBO, mother-part.)

      The Chinese took the Asian glyph for number seven , turned it upside down 七 and used it as the character for seven. It is pronounced SHICHI either in compound words or by itself. 七 can also be pronounced NANA or NANATSU (with kana) either in compound words or as a word by itself.

      Then they added 七 seven to 刀 sword to get enough cutting power and made a new composite kanji 切, meaning cut. Used by itself it is pronounced KIRU. In combination with other kanji it is pronounced SETSU.

      From a view of a flowing river the Chinese