残す

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. ご飯を残してはいけません。▶ —
   You shouldn't leave any rice.
2. 日記に思い出を残す。▶ —
   I record memories in my diary.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Nokosu (残す) is the transitive Japanese verb for "leave behind / preserve / pass down" — the partner of intransitive nokoru. Senses: (1) physical residue ("gohan wo nokosu" leave rice, "okane wo nokosu" leave money); (2) record / memory ("nikki ni nokosu" record in a diary, "shashin ni nokosu" preserve in photographs); (3) posterity ("na wo nokosu" leave a name, "rekishi ni nokosu" leave in history, "shison ni nokosu" pass to descendants); (4) outcome ("ato wo nokosu" leave a trace, "kizu wo nokosu" leave a scar). A core Japanese dietary ethic: "gohan wo nokoshite wa ikemasen" (you must not leave rice) — fused with mottainai (a sense of waste being deplorable). The word mottainai went global after Wangari Maathai cited it at the UN in 2005, entering English as a loanword. Beliefs underwrite it: kome ichi-tsubu ni wa shichi-nin no kamisama (seven gods reside in a grain of rice), Shinto plus Nara-era agrarian society. Memorial vocabulary is rich: rekishi ni na wo nokosu (leave one's name in history), shashin ni nokosu, nikki ni nokosu. English leave behind / preserve / record map.

Quick check

1. How did "mottainai" enter English?

   • Wangari Maathai cited it at the UN in 2005 (Kenyan environmental activist)
   • Edo bushidou
   • Meiji Restoration
   • Tokyo 2020 Olympics