old man, old age, grow old
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.
大抵の人は、カウンターの向こうにいる無愛想な老人しか見ていませんでした。
Taitei no hito wa, kauntaa no mukou ni iru buaisou na roujin shika mite imasen deshita.
Most people just saw a grumpy old man behind the counter.
今年は敬老の日と秋分の日が近いのよ。最初のほうは、おばあちゃんみたいなお年寄りに感謝する日なの。
Kotoshi wa Keirou no Hi to Shuubun no Hi ga chikai no yo. Saisho no hou wa, obaachan mitai na otoshiyori ni kansha suru hi na no.
This year, Keiro no Hi and the autumn equinox holiday landed close together. The first one is about showing respect for our elders, like Grandma.
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