Word of the day - 嵐 (arashi)
嵐 (arashi), noun = storm
Examples of usage
嵐が来そうです (arashi ga kisō desu)
It looks as if a storm is going to come
嵐が治まりました (arashi ga osamarimashita)
The storm abated
男たちは嵐の夜に出てきました
(otokotachi wa arashi no yoru ni detekimashita
The men went out on a stormy night
This character is a compound of two characters: on top there’s a mountain (山 - yama) and under that there’s the character for wind (風 - kaze). Storms are common in the mountains, so this combination makes sense. Knowing the meanings of the individual parts of compound characters like this can help you to remember them.
In Mandarin this character is pronounced làn means mountain mist, mountain haze, mountain vapor or mist.
Another, more common, Japanese word for storm is 暴風 (bōfū)
4 Responses to “Word of the day - 嵐 (arashi)”

TJ on 22 Aug 2006 at 8:58 pm #
how do you write Kamikaze in kanji?
Zachary R. on 22 Aug 2006 at 9:08 pm #
It should be 神風, TJ.
Max Pinton on 22 Aug 2006 at 11:36 pm #
The first example has an extra き, and the third should end 出てきました。
TJ on 23 Aug 2006 at 5:12 am #
Thanks ZAchary :)