髪

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 髪を切りました。▶ —
   I got a haircut.
2. 長い髪が好きです。▶ —
   I like long hair.

Collocations

Mnemonic

かみ — 髪, Yamato. On top of one sound sits a small cabinet of meanings — 髪 kami (hair on the head) / 神 kami (god) / 紙 kami (paper) / 上 kami (upper). Four senses share one sound, and the kanji decides which is which. What English bundles under "hair," Japanese cuts finer — 髪 kami: hair on the head. 毛 ke: hair / fur anywhere (eyebrow, arm, animals). 髭 hige: beard, moustache. 眉 mayu / mayuge: eyebrow. The onyomi はつ hatsu appears in 散髪 sanpatsu (haircut) — 散る (to scatter) + 髪 = 'to scatter the hair'. The Korean reading bal is sister to the onyomi はつ.

Quick check

1. Four-way homophone split of kami?

   • 髪 (hair) / 神 (god) / 紙 (paper) / 上 (upper)
   • Only 神
   • Only 髪
   • All identical