Elemental Kanji: Water 水, Fire 火, Earth 土, Wood 木, Metal 金

Water, fire, earth, wood, and metal — the five classical elements — are among the most useful kanji in Japanese because they double as the days of the week and seed countless compounds.

The five elements and their weekdays

Everyday words from each

• 水 → 水曜日 (Wed), 水道 (suidō, tap water), 水泳 (suiei, swimming).
• 火 → 火事 (kaji, fire/blaze), 花火 (hanabi, fireworks), 火山 (kazan, volcano).
• 土 → 土地 (tochi, land), 土産 (omiyage, souvenir — irregular reading!).
• 木 → 木曜日 (Thu), 木材 (mokuzai, lumber), 大木 (taiboku, big tree).
• 金 → お金 (okane, money), 金曜日 (Fri), 金魚 (kingyo, goldfish).

Spot the radicals

水 becomes the three-stroke 氵 radical on the left of water-related kanji (海 sea, 河 river, 泳 swim). 火 becomes 灬 at the bottom (照 shine, 熱 hot). Recognizing these radicals lets you guess the meaning of unfamiliar kanji at a glance.