Both 漢字 (Japanese Kanji) and 汉字 (Chinese Hanzi) are translated as Chinese Characters’. At the present time, approximately 70% of the characters share the same meaning in both languages. Let’s take a look at 30 examples with different meanings!
Chinese Character | Japanese Meaning | Chinese Meaning |
湯 | hot water, hot spring | soup |
東西 | east and west | things |
聞 | listen | smell |
切手 | stamp | cut hand |
娘 | daughter | mother |
手紙 | letter | toilet paper |
勉強 | study | reluctance |
高校 | high school | college |
走 | run | walk |
丈夫 | strong | husband |
大丈夫 | no problem, alright | gentleman |
汽車 | train | car |
食 | to eat | food |
床 | floor | bed |
小人 | child | vile person |
愛人 | mistress | lover |
老婆 | old woman | wife |
結束 | unity | finish |
謝 | apologize | thank |
吃 | stutter | eat |
上手 | skillful, expert | start to know how to do |
下手 | poor, clumsy | start |
先生 | teacher | mister |
怪我 | injury | blame me |
机 | desk | machine |
顔色 | facial colour | colour |
新聞 | newspaper | news |
下水 | sewage | launch, internal organs |
大家 | landlord | everyone |
Bonus: Did a pig became a wild boar?
Chinese Character | Japanese Meaning | Chinese Meaning |
猪 | wild boar | pig |
猪 means wild boar in Japanese while 豬 means pig in Chinese. Pig is one of the Chinese zodiac animals and there is a year of the pig in many countries. However, there were no pigs in Japan when the Chinese zodiac was introduced from China to Japan. Therefore, it was translated as a wild boar that resembles a pig.
Read about Chinese words that made in Japan.
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