Kanji For Life

How do you say Life in Japanese? It is easy, sei katsu | セイカツ | 生活 =

Life

Okay so here is the deal. This is the kanji for life: 生. It’s a very pretty character and something that obviously reappears a lot in the Japanese language. I am really committed to learning this language, but it takes a lot of effort and even a couple good wake up calls. I got to thinking, what is the best way to get a hold of this Japanese Monster, in a manner that is convenient and efficient (especially for busy Dads). I came up with the not so novel idea of starting a new blog. This site will basically serve as my own personal dictionary, which I can cater just to my liking.

I’ve learned that the best way to study sometimes, is to just teach it for yourself (I am practically the smartest person I know with respect to the customs of Americans’ eating habits, shoe permitted buildings, baseball teams, and idiosyncrasies of the spoken dialect. This is probably due to the fact that I live in Japan and no one here is American, but I digress.) So in any case, it is easy to see that Japanese is going to be with me For Life.

Now on to today’s lesson.

Readings:

• ON (1): SEI　（セイ）
• ON (2): SHō 　（ショウ）
• kun (1): i(kiru) 　生きる
• kun (2): i(keru)　生ける
• kun (3): nama 　生

Radical:

• N/A
• Residual part(s): N/A

Compounds:

• 生活 (セイカツ) -　life = seikatsu
• 先生 （センセイ） – teacher = sensei
• 学生 (がくせい） – student = gakusei
• 生ビール （ナマビール） – draft beer = nama bīru
• 生まれ変わる (ウマレカワル） – to be born again = umarekawaru

Example Sentence:

• 生活は面白。 = Seikai wa omoshiroi.
• Life is interesting.

I thought this was an appropriate way to start the Kanji off. This is the Kanji for life and is seen in many compounds.