journal features

this week in kanji mistakes - 電

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

Kawasaki, 2020.04.06

Well, time to start the long terrible grind on kanji once more.

When I first came to this country and started becoming exposed to the writing system, I couldn't help but note that some looked a lot like one thing, but meant another.

For instance, the following is the kanji for electricity. And not brine shrimp.

電

rand()m quote

In the wake of 9/11, we [in America] have made the decision as a society that we can never again create something in which we can take pride, for fear that someone will destroy it. Moreover, we must suppress any trace of individualism, lest someone have the desire to rise above the bland sameness that protects us. I have, alas, no idea how to recapture our courage.

—Anonymous post to boingboing.net, 2009