感 - This FEELING So Intense, There Are No Words

Readings & Meanings:

カン

feeling, sense, feel

Common Usage:

感触

感じやすい

感動

感謝

Examples:

畳の感触が好きだ。

彼女は感じやすいタイプだ。

シートン動物記を読んで感動した。

感謝の心をいつも忘れないようにしなさい。

Translations:

I like the feeling of tatami.

She's the sensitive type.

I read Ernest Thompson Seton's Wild Animals I Have Known and was deeply moved.

Never forget to keep a grateful heart.

Radical:

心 is our radical, the heart.

咸 is our phonetic. It shows a mouth 口 and a spear 戈, and extra lines to show the mouth is shut. You usually shut your mouth when you bear the brunt of a spear attack. I guess.

Think of that shock that causes your mouth to shut.

Now think of an emotion that overwhelms you to the point of being unable to speak.

That's 感.

Bonus: ii kanji

The most frequent way you'll hear this kanji being used is in the phrase "いい感じ". It means "good feeling," and is used in many, many ways, mostly slang.

When you are at a restaurant and the food is really good and satisfying (and you don't want to single any one food out as specifically delicious, you just want to emphasize that you're happy with everything), say いい感じ.

When you're pleased with something and want to candidly tell your friend, lean to him/her and say いい感じ.

You might wonder what the difference is between いい感じ and いい気分. It's almost impossible to say what the difference is. Don't worry about it; don't ruin that いい感じ.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Thompson_Seton
http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/7.htm