Who says Kanjis are hard to learn????

 

Kanji’s is the essential part of Japanese language. You cannot read or understand written Japanese without knowing some of them. Also if you were to live in Japan, it will be necessary to know some Kanji’s. In this lesson today, let me introduce you to the basic Kanji’s that you want to know.

If you tell me, you are moving to Japan tomorrow, these might be the top 10 Kanji’s that I would advise you to learn. These Kanji’s are everywhere in Japan as you can see by reading each meaning.

 

１．店　（みせ, Mise）-Store

This kanji is widely used at all stores, almost.

For example:

飲食店（いんしょくてん）=Inshoku ten, Place to eat(just like an restaurant)

青山店（あおやまてん）=Aoyama ten, Aoyama branch

スポーツ店（すぽーつてん）=Sports store,

手芸店　（しゅげいてん）=Craft store, etc…

 

２．喫茶店　（きっさてん, Kissaten）-Cafe

Cafe is very popular in Japan. You will see many that you might be already familiar with such as Starbucks, etc, but there are many local cafes around in any town. If you feel like sitting down and enjoying your coffee or tea, this is the kanji you need to look for.

 

３．御手洗　（おてあらい, Otearai）-Restroom

Many places still have a sign with this Kanji for restrooms. Especially rural areas.

 

４．新幹線　（しんかんせん, Shinkansen）-Shinkansen

It’s true most of the stations where you can use Shinkansen are major stations, so it does have English translation with Kanji’s. But it doesn’t hurt to know these 3 Kanji’s so you can spot them easier since English translations are normally written in small letters underneath of the Kanji’s.

 

５．電車　（でんしゃ, Densha）-Train

People in Japan use train quite often. The bigger the city is, the more use of train, bus and overall public transportation, of course. Even local places have local trains, so definitely a must to know these two characters for trains!

 

６．売り場　（うりば, Uriba）-Ticket booth

If you were to use public transportation, you will need to buy tickets. You need to find the ticket booth or vending machines for tickets.

 

７．代金　（だいきん, Daikin）-Charged amount

When you pay for something, that is called Daikin. If you are not sure how much, you can ask by saying, “Daikin wa oikura desuka?(だいきんは　おいくら　ですか？代金は　おいくら　ですか？)”

 

８．お茶　（おちゃ, Ocha）-Tea

You will see this often on the menu, or maybe written in signs for cafe. This one is easy to remember!

 

９．釣銭　（つりせん, Tsurisen）-Change

This goes hand in hand with Daikin above. When you purchase something, you will want to make sure you got the right change.

 

１０．お水　（おみず, Omizu）-Water

Simple yet must know. Sometimes all you need is just a water, you can ask by saying, “Omizu itadake masuka? (お水　頂けますか？　おみず　いただけ　ますか？)