洪

flood, deluge; vast

Kanji 1252

Learn how floods pose a serious threat in ultra-rainy Japan, which now has the world's largest underground flood-prevention facility. Find out how to talk about real and figurative floods. Hear Okinawan "flood myths," and see what the Japanese say about Noah's flood. Examine 洪 in the names of a huge bell, famous ship, well-known doctor, star athlete, and two countries.

Revision history:

Sept. 9, 2023: p. 6: In the 2nd photo caption, I revised the translation of the novel title, changed the definition of 及ぶ, and added an explanation about that verb.

Jan. 22, 2020:

• p. 2: Etymology Box: Replaced the old Henshall etymology with the new one.
• p. 10: Added a link to the Kanshudo games.

Dec. 9, 2016:

• p. 4: Replaced the first sample sentence under the "Figurative Floods" head because the Japanese was flawed in various ways.
• pp. 7 and 8: Updated or removed broken links and did some rewriting where necessary to accommodate those changes.

Aug. 29, 2014: Originally published.