こんにちはみなさん。

今月は１月です。新しい年が始まりましたね。
１月の漢字は「新」です。

新：（音読み「シン」）（訓読み「あたら（しい）」「あらた」「にい」)

The meanings of this kanji are
1. new
2. fresh

Example usage for 新 is as follows:
1. 新年 (しんねん: new year), 更新 (こうしん: renew).
2. 新鮮 (しんせん: fresh), 新人 (しんじん: freshman).

Example sentence:

新年あけましておめでとうございます。今年もよろしくおねがいします。

Happy new year. Please be kind to me this year too.

People send 年賀状（ねんがじょう）in the new year in Japan. These are like Christmas cards in the US. It’s common to send them to everybody you know. They usually have quick messages including the phrase above. Sometimes they include pictures of the new year’s zodiac animal. (2017 is the year of the rooster – just like this blog!) The phrase above is a typical New Year’s greeting. The second part（今年もよろしくおねがいします）is hard to translate. It says, “Please take care of me this year too.” It sounds weird, but it means, “Thanks to you, I had a great year last year, so please continue keep in touch with me.”

A lot of things are changing in the US this year. A new congress, new senators, and a new president. New things aren’t necessary good, but new things always contain hope. I chose this kanji for this month with hope for America’s and Japan’s future.

みなさんこんにちは。

毎月一つずつ漢字を紹介していこうと思います。
I will introduce one kanji per month.

１２月の漢字は「亡」です。

亡：（音読み「ボウ，モウ」）（訓読み「な」）

The meanings of this kanji are:
1. disappear
2. die
3. run and hide

Example usage for 亡 is as follows:
1. 滅亡 (めつぼう: extinction)
2. 死亡 (しぼう: death), 未亡人 (みぼうじん: widow)
3. 逃亡 (とうぼう: evading, escape), 亡命 (ぼうめい: defection)

Example sentence:
先日（せんじつ）、キャリーフィッシャーさんが亡（な）くなりましたね。とてもざんねんです。
A few days ago, Carrie Fisher passed away. It’s so sad.

People use 亡 when they talk about death. This is a polite version of 死ぬ. You can use 亡 to talk about your family’s death or other people’s death. Other ways to describe death are 他界する (たかい) and 永眠する(えいみん) and so on. 他 means “other” and 界 means “world,” so 他界する means to go to the other world. 永 means “forever” and 眠 means “sleep,” so永眠するmeans to sleep forever. I think the people who created these words to describe death had a nice imagination.

亡 is a sad word, but it’s very useful. It’s like saying “pass away” instead of “die.” You don’t want to say “When did your father die?” to your grieving friend.

How was today’s Kanji lesson?

I will decide next the kanji based on what happens next month. 🙂

お楽しみに！