ChiramiThese emoji are Japanese kanji (🈵 🈳 🉐 🈹)
Four of the emoji on your phone are Japanese kanji on coloured buttons: 🈵 満, full, 🈳 空, empty, 🉐 得, a bargain, and 🈹 割, a discount. They come from signs you really see in Japan: 満 and 空 on hotels and car parks, 得 and 割 on price tags and shop windows.
Where they came from
All four were added to Unicode in 2010 and became standard emoji in 2015. Their official names are as plain as their meanings: the Japanese “no vacancy”, “vacancy”, “bargain” and “discount” buttons. 🉐 is the odd one out, a circle rather than a square; its Unicode name is “Circled Ideograph Advantage”.
The video’s meanings are the emoji’s own: full, empty, bargain, discount. The kanji behind them have longer stories, and they turn up in many everyday words.
The four kanji
満 (man): full. The 氵 on the left is water, and the right side gives the sound. In Japan you’ll see it as 満室 (manshitsu), no vacancy at a hotel, 満車 (mansha), a full car park, and 満席 (manseki), every seat taken. On the emoji it means no vacancy.
空 (kuu): empty. On top is 穴, a hole or hollow, and 工 underneath gives the sound. A hollow is empty, and the same kanji is the sky, 空 (sora), the great empty space overhead. 空室 (kuushitsu) is a free room, and 空車 (kuusha) is a car park with spaces, or a taxi that’s free to hail.
得 (toku): gain. Its right side began as a hand (寸) grabbing a shell (貝), which was used as money in ancient China. Some early forms also have 彳 on the left, for walking or a road. Picking up money is gain, profit, and in a shop that means a good deal: お得 (otoku), good value, and お買い得 (okaidoku), a bargain buy.
割 (wari): divide, cut. The 刂 on the right is a knife, and 害 on the left gives the sound. 割る (waru) is to split or divide, and 割引 (waribiki) is a discount, a cut in the price. 割 is also a unit: one 割 is ten percent, so 三割引 (sanwaribiki) is 30% off.
How to use them
申し訳ありません、本日は満室です。
Moushiwake arimasen, honjitsu wa manshitsu desu.
I'm sorry, we're fully booked tonight.
空室はありますか。
Kuushitsu wa arimasu ka.
Do you have any rooms available?
駐車場が満車だった。
Chuushajou ga mansha datta.
The car park was full.
このセットはお得ですよ。
Kono setto wa otoku desu yo.
This set is really good value.
全品三割引です。
Zenpin sanwaribiki desu.
Everything is 30% off.
- Car parks light up one word: 空 if there’s space, 満 if there isn’t.
- A taxi showing 空車 (kuusha) is free. Wave it down.
- 割 counts in tenths. 一割 (ichiwari) is 10%, 五割 (gowari) is 50%. A 二割引 (niwaribiki) sign means 20% off, not “two off”.
- お得 is everywhere in shops and ads, on anything from set meals to phone plans.
Words with the same kanji
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 満員 | man’in | full, packed |
| 満月 | mangetsu | full moon |
| 空港 | kuukou | airport |
| 空気 | kuuki | air |
| 得意 | tokui | strong point, forte |
| 割り勘 | warikan | splitting the bill |
Remember it
Water to the brim (満): no room left. An empty hollow (空): come on in. A hand grabbing money (得): a bargain. A knife through the price (割): a discount.
The kanji in this lesson
Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.
満full, fullness, enough
- On
- マン man · バン ban
- Kun
- み(ちる) mi(chiru) · み(つ) mi(tsu) · み(たす) mi(tasu)
- Strokes
- 12
- Level
- JLPT N3
Common word 満足 まんぞく manzoku, satisfaction; contentment
空empty, sky, void
- On
- クウ kuu
- Kun
- そら sora · あ(く) a(ku) · あ(き) a(ki)
- Strokes
- 8
- Level
- JLPT N4
Common word 空気 くうき kuuki, air; atmosphere
得gain, get, find
- On
- トク toku
- Kun
- え(る) e(ru) · う(る) u(ru)
- Strokes
- 11
- Level
- JLPT N3
Common word 得意 とくい tokui, being good at; one's strong point
割proportion, comparatively, divide
- On
- カツ katsu
- Kun
- わ(る) wa(ru) · わり wari · わ(り) wa(ri)
- Strokes
- 12
- Level
- JLPT N3
Common word 割引 わりびき waribiki, discount; reduction