薄い

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 薄い紙を使う。▶ —
   I use thin paper.
2. 味が薄い。▶ —
   The flavor is weak.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Usui (薄い) is the i-adjective fusing "thin / weak / pale / diluted / sparse." Kanji 薄 = 艹 (grass) plus 溥 (spread thinly) — flat and thin. Paired with atsui (厚い, thick). Multi-sense cluster: (1) thickness — usui kami (thin paper), usui hon (thin book); (2) flavor or concentration — aji ga usui (weak flavor), koohii ga usui (watery coffee); (3) color intensity — usui iro (light color), usui ao (pale blue); (4) abstract sparseness — kankei ga usui (thin relationship), kanousei ga usui (low probability). Culinary cultural code: usu-aji (薄味, light flavor) anchors traditional Japanese cuisine, foregrounding sozai no aji (the ingredients own taste). Kyoto kyoufuu uses celebrated usu-aji; Tokyo kantoufuu runs heavier. Ramen matrix: usu-aji (light) → assari (clean) → kotteri (rich) ladder. Korean splits yalpda (thin) and yeolpda (faint); Chinese splits bo and dan; Japanese fuses everything into usui. JLPT N5 usui integrates with Japans culinary cultural code.

Quick check

1. Order of Japans ramen richness matrix?

   • Usu-aji → assari → kotteri progression
   • No taste → normal → spicy
   • Sweet → spicy → bitter
   • Soup → noodles → toppings