You arrive in Japan and want to buy toilet paper. The clerk points to a beautiful envelope and says 「手紙はこちらです」— wait, why is toilet paper so fancy?
Because 手紙 in Japanese isn't toilet paper at all — it means letter (as in written correspondence).
This is the most fascinating phenomenon in Chinese-Japanese kanji: same form, different meaning. These words are called "False Friends" — they look identical to Chinese but mean something completely different. They're the easiest trap for Chinese speakers to fall into, and also the most entertaining topic to study.
Core Table: 20 Most Dangerous False Friends
Daily Life
| Japanese Word | Japanese Meaning | Chinese Speaker's Guess | Danger Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 手紙 (てがみ) | letter, mail | hand paper → toilet paper | ★★★ Completely different |
| 切手 (きって) | postage stamp | cut hand → severed hand? | ★★★ Completely different |
| 新聞 (しんぶん) | newspaper | news → news report | ★★☆ Related but different |
| 汽車 (きしゃ) | train (steam) | automobile → car | ★★★ Completely different |
| 娘 (むすめ) | daughter | mom/bride | ★★★ Nearly opposite |
Descriptions
| Japanese Word | Japanese Meaning | Chinese Speaker's Guess | Danger Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 大丈夫 (だいじょうぶ) | it's okay, no problem | great husband → manly man | ★★★ Completely different |
| 丈夫 (じょうぶ) | sturdy, durable | husband | ★★★ Completely different |
| 邪魔 (じゃま) | hindrance, nuisance | evil demon | ★★☆ Different degree |
| 怪我 (けが) | injury | blame me | ★★★ Completely different |
| 迷惑 (めいわく) | bother, trouble | confusion | ★☆☆ Close |
Actions
| Japanese Word | Japanese Meaning | Chinese Speaker's Guess | Danger Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 勉強 (べんきょう) | study, learning | reluctance → forced | ★★★ Completely different |
| 走る (はしる) | run | walk | ★★☆ Different speed |
| 先生 (せんせい) | teacher, doctor | Mr./Sir | ★★☆ Different usage |
| 経済 (けいざい) | economy | economy | ★☆☆ Same |
Places & Things
| Japanese Word | Japanese Meaning | Chinese Speaker's Guess | Danger Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 床 (ゆか) | floor | bed | ★★★ Completely different |
| 湯 (ゆ) | hot water | soup | ★★☆ Related but different |
| 階段 (かいだん) | stairs | stage/phase | ★★☆ Related but different |
| 人間 (にんげん) | human being | human world | ★☆☆ Close |
| 泥棒 (どろぼう) | thief | mud stick? | ★★★ Completely different |
| 無料 (むりょう) | free of charge | no ingredients | ★★☆ Literally related |
Why Do False Friends Exist?
There are three main reasons why Chinese-Japanese kanji diverge in meaning:
1. Ancient Meanings Preserved
Many false friends actually preserve the original ancient Chinese meaning. It's modern Chinese that changed, while Japanese kept the older usage.
- 走 → In Classical Chinese, 走 meant "to run" (the idiom 走馬觀花 literally means "riding a galloping horse to view flowers"). Japanese kept this ancient meaning
- 湯 → In Classical Chinese, 湯 meant "hot water" (the idiom 赴湯蹈火 means "wade through boiling water and fire"). Japanese preserved this
- 手紙 → Paper was precious in ancient times; "hand paper" meant something written by hand = a letter
2. Japanese Inventions
Some words were uniquely created by Japanese speakers using kanji, with no connection to Chinese usage:
- 切手 → Shortened from 切り手形 (a cut certificate/voucher), nothing to do with "cutting hands"
- 大丈夫 → Originally meant "a dignified man" → extended to "strong enough" → further extended to "no problem"
- 怪我 → Derived from an ancient Japanese word for "injury," written with these kanji phonetically
3. Simplification Coincidences
- Japanese and Chinese independently simplified different traditional characters, sometimes arriving at the same modern form for completely different original characters
Classic Comedy Scenarios
Scene 1: At a Japanese Inn
A Chinese speaker checks into a Japanese inn and sees a sign: 「お湯は無料です」—
❌ Chinese reading: "The soup has no ingredients" → No soup?
✅ Japanese meaning: "Hot water is free"
Scene 2: At the Hospital
A friend says 「怪我をしました」—
❌ Chinese reading: "He's blaming me!" → What did I do?
✅ Japanese meaning: "I got injured"
Scene 3: At School
The teacher says 「今日は勉強しましょう」—
❌ Chinese reading: "Today let's force ourselves" → Sounds painful
✅ Japanese meaning: "Let's study today"
Memory Tips
The best way to handle false friends is to learn them one by one, but stories help:
- 手紙 → Before smartphones, you wrote on paper by hand = a letter
- 大丈夫 → A great 丈夫 (man) can handle anything = no problem
- 勉強 → Japanese view studying as requiring 勉 (effort) = to study hard
- 走 → Classical Chinese 走 = run; Japanese kept the original = run
- 床 → Japanese traditionally slept on futons laid on the floor = 床 means floor
- 湯 → "Wade through boiling 湯" (ancient proverb) = hot water
Practice
Q1. You see 「手紙を書く」 in Japan. What does it mean?
Show answer
To write a letter. 手紙 (てがみ) means "letter/mail" in Japanese, not toilet paper.
Q2. What does 走る mean in Japanese?
A. To walk B. To run
Show answer
B. To run. Japanese preserved the Classical Chinese meaning of 走 = run. "To walk" in Japanese is 歩く (あるく).
Q3. A friend says 「大丈夫ですか」 to you. What are they asking?
Show answer
"Are you okay?" 大丈夫 (だいじょうぶ) = okay, no problem. They're checking if you're alright.
Q4. You see お湯 at a Japanese inn. What should you expect?
Show answer
Hot water. 湯 (ゆ) means "hot water" in Japanese. Hot spring inns always have お湯 available. "Soup" in Japanese is スープ (a loanword from English).
Q5. Which of the following is NOT a false friend (i.e., means roughly the same in Chinese and Japanese)?
A. 勉強 B. 経済 C. 怪我 D. 娘
Show answer
B. 経済 (economy). 経済 means "economy" in both languages. The others are all false friends: 勉強 = study, 怪我 = injury, 娘 = daughter.
Q6. Why does 走る mean "run" in Japanese instead of "walk"?
Show answer
Because Japanese preserved the Classical Chinese meaning. In ancient Chinese, 走 meant "run" — the idiom 走馬觀花 literally describes galloping on horseback. Modern Chinese shifted 走 to mean "walk," but Japanese didn't follow that change.
Summary
- False friends are Chinese-Japanese kanji that look the same but have different meanings
- Main causes: ① Japanese preserves ancient Chinese meanings ② Japanese-invented usages ③ Simplification coincidences
- High-risk false friends: 手紙 (letter), 勉強 (study), 大丈夫 (it's okay), 走 (run), 湯 (hot water), 床 (floor), 娘 (daughter)
- Strategy: Use story-based mnemonics to learn them one by one
- Next up: Discover the unique advantage of Traditional Chinese readers — many Japanese kanji are identical to Traditional Chinese