child, sign of the rat, 11PM-1AM, first sign of Chinese zodiac
Came from Chinese. It usually shows up when the kanji is joined to another, forming a compound word.
It is Japanese. It usually shows up when the kanji stands alone or is followed by hiragana.
The order matters: it is what makes handwriting come out legible, and it is how dictionaries index the character.
Visual decomposition, for recognising and comparing — not always the character's origin.
Where it appears is highlighted — the translation doesn't always make that visible.
家にもうお菓子があるからよ。
Ie ni mou okashi ga aru kara yo.
Because we already have candy at home.
お昼頃かしらね。あ、でも…最近携帯の調子が悪くて。
Ohiru goro kashira ne. A, demo... saikin keitai no choushi ga warukute.
Around noon, maybe. Oh, but... my phone's been acting up lately.
まあ、今回は迷わなかっただけマシか…消えたのはお菓子だけ。
Maa, konkai wa mayowanakatta dake mashi ka… kieta no wa okashi dake.
Well, at least I didn't get lost this time... just the sweet that vanished.
親子綱引きの時間でした。
Oyako tsunahiki no jikan deshita.
It was time for the parent-child tug-of-war.
日本では、小さな子供が近所を一人で歩くのは珍しくありません。
Nihon dewa, chiisana kodomo ga kinjo o hitori de aruku no wa mezurashiku arimasen.
In Japan, it's not unusual for young children to walk around the neighborhood alone.
だって…迷子になったと思ったから！
Datte… maigo ni natta to omotta kara!
I... I thought you'd gotten lost!
本当。この様子だと、たぶんおならと食生活の乱れだけだと思う。
Hontou. Kono yousu da to, tabun onara to shokuseikatsu no midare dake da to omou.
Really. Based on what I'm seeing, it's probably just gas and an unbalanced diet.
藤子さん!ケンタくん!ちょうどいいタイミング!
Fujiko-san! Kenta-kun! Choudo ii taimingu!
Fujiko-san! Kenta-kun! Perfect timing!
Readings and meanings: KANJIDIC2 · Decomposition: KRADFILE · Both from Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, CC BY-SA 4.0 · data from 2026-10-22 · Strokes: KanjiVG, Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0