Style, Ceremony, Formula

Interesting Fact

At first, ceremony and formula seem completely unrelated. But they share an important idea: a fixed way of doing something. A Japanese ceremony follows a prescribed sequence of actions, while a mathematical formula gives you a prescribed method for reaching an answer. This is why Japanese uses 式 for both. You can see this in 結婚式 (けっこんしき), a wedding ceremony, and 数学の式 (すうがくのしき), a mathematical expression. One kanji, two worlds—both with a specific “way” to do things.