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On'yomi
ホン
HON
Kun'yomi
もと
moto

book · present · main · origin · true · real · counter for long cylindrical things

wisdom

Details

Strokes5
Frequency#10
Radicaltree(4)

Stroke Order

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Strokes5

Cultural Context

Etymology

Shape of mark at base of tree (木). The root of things.

Symbolism

Root, book, Japan. Represents authenticity in 'real' and 'genuine'.

Related Culture & Scenes

  • Unraveling a book

Anime & Manga

本好きの下剋上

Ascendance of a Bookworm(2013)

anime/manga

Story of a 'book'-loving woman making books in another world.

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Games

かまいたちの夜

Kamaitachi no Yoru(1994)

SNES/PlayStation

Developer: Chunsoft

Masterpiece sound novel game (progressing like reading a 'book').

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Words & Expressions

Four-Character Compounds

一本調子

いっぽんぢょうし

monotone; monotonous; dull; monotone

興味本位

きょうみほんい

(just) out of curiosity; (just) in order to satisfy one's curiosity; aimed chiefly at amusing; (just) out of curiosity

他力本願

たりきほんがん

salvation by faith in Amitabha; relying on others; depending on others; salvation by faith in Amitabha

本家本元

ほんけほんもと

original home; birthplace; originator; original home

本末転倒

ほんまつてんとう

putting the cart before the horse; mistaking the means for the end; getting one's priorities backwards; putting the cart before the horse

帰巣本能

きそうほんのう

homing instinct; homing instinct

敵本主義

てきほんしゅぎ

diversionary tactics; concealing one's true motives until the last moment; diversionary tactics

抜本塞源

ばっぽんそくげん

eradication of (sources of) evil; laying the ax to the root of evil; eradication of (sources of) evil

本領安堵

ほんりょうあんど

recognition and guarantee, by the shogunate, of ownership of the inherited estate of a samurai who pledged allegiance to it (in the Kamakura and early Muromachi periods); recognition and guarantee, by the shogunate, of ownership of the inherited estate of a samurai who pledged allegiance to it (in the Kamakura and early Muromachi periods)