恵

blessing; favor

Kanji 1196

In this essay, you'll learn to say "blessed with" (as in "She’s blessed with intelligence and beauty") and to refer to people's wit, wisdom, and intelligence (all with the same word!). You'll also find out how to say that something (perhaps a dictionary or even the sun) is beneficial. But don't be under the impression that this kanji is only for positive thinking. It also enables you to talk about slick politicians, to complain that you're racking your brain, and to poke fun at your own natural laziness. 

Revision history: 

Dec. 5, 2023:

• pp. 6-7 sidebar: Slightly changed the breakdowns of 恵方参り and 恵方巻.
• p. 9: Deleted the reference to "Ebisu shop" (which means nothing!), saying instead that 惠比壽屋 is a ryokan name.

Oct. 31, 2023:

• pp. 6–7 sidebar: Added transitions between the keywords and discussions.
• p. 10: Fixed a broken link.

Jan. 6, 2020: Made formatting changes here and there. Also replaced the old Henshall etymology with the new one in the Etymology Box on p. 2.

Mar. 18, 2016: 

p. 5: Fixed a formatting problem.
p. 9: Changed a bit of the information about a company and a section of Tokyo.
pp. 14 and 15: Removed 2 broken links.

Nov. 21, 2014: Revised the photo caption about The Seven Samurai on p. 13.

Oct. 31, 2013: Made several small changes to the photo caption on p. 11.

Sept. 19, 2012: Added 6 photos to pp. 13–15. Also added けい to the name yomi list on p. 1 because several of the new photos have 恵 with that yomi.