wait

The kanji 待 is made up of the components 彳, 土, and 寸. Inside 待, you can see the kanji 寺, right? 寺 carries the meaning of holding something and remaining in that state—being stopped. 彳 is the “gyōninben” radical, which represents a road, and it depicts the image of someone’s feet stopping along the way while holding something in their hand.

thought

The character 想 is made up of the kanji for “tree,” “eye,” and “heart.” Since it contains the “heart” radical, it perfectly matches the image of what 想 expresses. 想 describes the act of calling to mind someone else. You can sense the image of picturing a person’s form or appearance in your heart. Compared to 思う, which is read the same way (“omou”), 想 is used when stronger feelings or emotions are involved.

Noh

In this puzzle, you combine the four kanji components “ム,” “ヒ,” “ヒ,” and “月” to form a character. The answer is “能.” Combining “ム” and “ヒ” creates the “ノ” part of “能,” and combining “ヒ” and “月” completes the remaining parts. “能” is a kanji that means ability or talent.

tongue

In this puzzle, you combine the three kanji “口” (mouth), “ノ,” and “十” to form a word. The answer is “舌” (tongue). Combining “口” and “ノ” creates the main part of the character “舌,” and “十” influences the overall shape to complete it. “舌” refers to the organ inside the mouth that helps chew food and sense taste.

piece

With イ, 口, and 古, the kanji 個 is formed. イ is said to represent the shape of a person seen from the side; it’s also known as the “ninben,” the person radical. The character 固 next to イ conveys the meaning of a hard helmet. In other words, from a strong, independent person comes 個, which carries the meaning of “one person” or “individual.”

hundred million

How far can you say the digits of numbers? There’s an impressive kanji used to represent large numbers: 億 (oku, one hundred million). 億 is made up of the components イ, 立, 日, and 心. But 億 is used for more than just place values in numbers. Written as 億る, it can also be read oshihakaru, meaning to “guess” or “suppose,” reflecting a person’s feelings. The character 億 is composed of the person radical ninben (亻) and the character 意, which carries meanings related to thinking or the heart/mind. For that reason, the original sense of 億 is connected to the feeling of thinking various things about people.

noon

Daytime, the time when many people are active, is written with a character composed of the elements for “sun,” “measure,” and “one.” If you break the character for daytime down, you might wonder, “Why do we use this character?” The origin of the character for daytime comes from an associative compound. An associative compound combines the meanings of existing characters to create a new character with its own meaning. The character for daytime is formed from the sun and an older character that means to divide or separate. Among the periods of time divided by the sun’s rising and setting, it represents the span when the sun is above the horizon.