方
Direction
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| ほう | かた | 方 |
Meaning: Direction
The radical and the kanji for direction are the same! Huzzah!
The only direction you need to go in is forward, as long as you know the radicals enough to know the meaning of this kanji, too.
Reading: ほう
You need direction, but you don’t know how to get it. So, you decide to choose via some way that would be somewhat random. You find a hoe (ほう) on the ground, and throw it up into the air. You’ll go in the direction in which it falls.
Feel the hoe in your hand. Look at the tip of it… think about the possibilities that one side of the hoe will cause it to favor one direction over another. Wonder if that’s really random, or not. Feel the weight of it as you throw it in the air. Whatever you do, just know that it’s a hoe, and not any other tool.
Vocabulary
Just for the main common word for 方, there are at least three pretty common meanings associated with it, which is pretty nuts on its own. This kanji is also part of a grammar lesson, all on its own. That being said, there are a ton of meanings to this kanji, and a good number of common words as well. We’ll come back to them, though. For now, just take a look at the common words and analyze.
a 方（かた）＝ Way / Method / Person (Polite)
- Meaning: There are several meanings for this word, making it particularly difficult. It means “way” or “method” (these two kind of make sense together, but it also means “person,” though this is a polite way to say that. For example, にほん の 方 means “Japanese person.”
- Reading: The reading for this is the kun’yomi reading (because it’s a kanji all alone) though we’ll learn more vocab using this kanji soon. You can think about “methods” and then think about the methods of cutting something open. One of the best methods is a cutter (かた).