Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Japanese Kanji for Facial Features 耳 目 眉 自 鼻 口

Here is a picture I found at Eve Kushner's Kanji Blog Post #5 . Her kanji posters are just amazing. Her blog is full of smart kanji posts, sometimes too smart for me :).

I'll be dissecting this image's kanji, learning Japanese words for facial features along with kanji.

  • ear
  • ジ ji
  • みみ mimi
耳かき" mimikaki stands for ear stick.
Here is a video ad for Tokyo Mimi Souji - Ear Cleaning (耳掃除) salon:

  • eye
  • モク、ボク moku
  • め、ま me, ma
Also means class; look; insight; experience; care; favor and more.
Easy to remember - vertical, upright eye.

  • eyebrow
  • ビ、ミ bi
  • まゆ mayu

  • nose
  • ビ bi
  • はな hana
Obviously complex of two or three kanji symbols. The upper one is similar to "eye".

  • oneself
  • ジ、シ
  • みずか.ら
Ancient meaning was also "nose" deriving from oriental practice of pointing to the nose to refer to oneself. Not like pointing to the chest in the West.

The lower part of 鼻 used to be related to table/display for prominent items. So what was a prominent nose now is just a nose 鼻.

  • mouth
  • コウ、ク kou, ku
  • くち kuchi
Represents open mouth.
Funny, 鼻口 biko, nose + mouth means "dog's muzzle"

I've learned 6 more kanji: 耳 目 眉 自 鼻 口 !

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