If you've ever studied Japanese, or even if you haven't, there is one aspect that can be difficult and taunting to learn --- kanji. Kanji are the written characters in Japanese writing that are derived from Chinese. There are thousands of them and each character can have multiple pronunciations. Even Japanese people have difficulties learning them. However, the years that I've been learning kanji there are some that are fun to learn and when you make the connection between them it can be really interesting. Here's a list of some of my favorite words written in kanji.

1. 花火, Hanabi - firework

This word is made with two characters. 花(はな, hana), which means flower. The second character, 火(ひ, hi), means fire. Together they're "flower-fire" aka firework. How cute is that!?

2. 写真、Shashin - photograph

写(しゃ, sha) means copy and 真(しん, shin) means truth or reality. So, 写真(shashin) is a copy of reality aka photograph

3. 日本, Nihon - Japan

日(に, ni) means day or sun and 本(ほん, hon) means origin. 日本 means origin of the sun. That's why Japan has the nickname "Land of the Rising Sun".

These are just a few of my favorite words written in kanji. Learning kanji can be frustrating sometimes, but when you can make connections like this it makes it not only fun but easier to learn new kanji.