KanjiGami
Remembering Kanji Made Easy.
107

Research, Polish

と(ぐ) (togu)

JLPT N4

Interesting Fact

In Japan, forging a katana and polishing it were considered two completely different arts. After a swordsmith finished making the blade, it was handed to a specialist called a togishi. Using a series of increasingly fine sharpening stones, the togishi spent one to three weeks polishing a single sword. Their job wasn't to make it shiny—it was to reveal the blade's hidden hamon (temper line) without removing too much steel. A careless polisher could permanently ruin a masterpiece.

Memory Trick

Look at 研. The left side is radical stone(石). The right side looks like two swords standing side by side. ⚔️⚔️ “Two samurai keep polishing their swords against the sharpening stone to make is shine like Mirror.”

Readings

Onyomi: ケン (ken)

Kunyomi: と(ぐ) (togu)

Example Words

研究
けんきゅう (kenkyuu)
Research
研究者
けんきゅうしゃ (kenkyuusha)
Researcher
研修
けんしゅう (kenshuu)
Training
研ぐ
とぐ (togu)
To sharpen

Example Sentence

彼は 新しい 技術を 研究しています。

かれは あたらしい ぎじゅつを けんきゅうしています。

kare wa atarashii gijutsu o kenkyuu shiteimasu

He is researching new technology.

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