干 - A Small Amount of DRY Sticks & Pickled Plums

Readings & Meanings:

カン

ほ（す）

ひ（る）

dry

Common Usage:

干す

梅干

若干

Examples:

洗濯物を干す。

梅干は塩辛い。

裁判所に提出する文書は若干のミスも許されない。

Translations:

I dry the laundry. (outside)

Umeboshi (pickled plum) is salty.

For the writings that have to be filed with the court, the slightest amount of mistakes is unforgivable.

Radical:

干 is its own radical! It's called Ichi-juu. Can you figure out why?

This is a pictograph of a forked stick that keeps enemies at a distance. Original meaning is "thrust/defense." "Dry" is a borrowed meaning.

Bonus: Umeboshi

梅干 is delicious. Don't let the example sentence fool you; there are salty varieties of 梅干, and sake-soaked versions, but the kind I love the best is the red kind. It's a little sweet, but mostly sour, and yeah, a little bit salty, but it's amazing in onigiri.

Below is a quick photo of the brand of 梅干 that I like the best. Note that it's Shiso Umeboshi; that's what gives it the sour taste I love.



References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/7.htm