TYJ Body parts in Japanese

8.3. Body parts

8.3.1. Head

For your interest: In Japanese culture, the eyes are the most important part of the face. Japanese has many proverbs about eyes, and one of them says "the eye talks as much as the mouth does", which means you can express and read emotions through eyes. This is one reason why eyes of Japanese manga and animation characters are exaggerated.


For your interest: The nose is the least important part of the face in Japanese culture.





Note: In colloquial Japanese, the word べろ "bero" is more commonly used for tongue.




Note: In colloquial Japanese, the word おでこ "odeko" is more commonly used for forehead.


For your interest: This word also means firing a person. It comes from decapitation as a metaphor for dismissal.




Note: The word かみ "kami" means hair on the head, but the word above is more clear because かみ also means paper. They happen to share the same pronunciation. の "no" is the genitive marker and け "ke" means hair (not necessarily on the head).


Note: The word まゆ "mayu" also means eyebrow. げ "ge" is a suffix form of け "ke", which means hair.

8.3.2. Hand

Note: This word consists of three parts: て (hand), the genitive marker の, and ひら "hira" (flat surface).


Note: This word consists of three parts: て (hand), the genitive marker の, and こう "kô" (tortoiseshell).


Note: This word includes twenty digits - ten fingers and ten toes.


Note: The word おや "oya" means parent, so it means parent finger.


Note: This word comes from ひと "hito" (person), さし "sasi" (the noun form of the verb さす "sasu", which means point), and ゆび (finger), so its literal meaning is person-pointing finger.


Note: Since the word なか "naka" means middle, this word is the same as middle finger.


Note: The word くすり "kusuri" means medicine, and this word means medicine finger. The ring finger often has a strange name in many languages, such as ring finger in English and "wúmíngzhî" in Mandarin, which means nameless finger. Those names are probably related; ancient people thought the ring finger was a magic finger.


Note: The prefix こ "ko" means little, so it is the same as little finger.

8.3.3. Other body parts

Note: This word is a combination of て (hand) and くび (neck).




Note: This word is a combination of あし (foot) and くび (neck).

8.3.4. Internal organs

The Japanese word for internal organs is ないぞう "naizô". The suffix ぞう "zô" is commonly used for organs.











Note: The word けつえき "ketueki" also means blood. It is a scientific term.