People and persons with 人
人 refers to human beings, human nature, other people, and numbers of people.
Etymology
This kanji is a pictograph of a person standing with the body slightly bent. It’s an ancient human figure reduced to two simple strokes.
Crime
犯人 (Criminal)
犯人 is someone who has committed a crime or a wrongdoing in violation of the law, morality, or rules.
It combines 犯 (offense) with 人 (person) to show the person who committed the crime.
In a snow-covered mountain villa, a room full of suspects listen as Detective Mouri explains how their host was murdered. The accused notes she has a receipt showing she was at the convenience store at the bottom of the mountain when the murder took place.
- 中原:
- 「それにまだ金澤先生のアリバイもあやふやよ！！」
- “Moreover, Mr. Kanazawa's alibi is also vague!”
- 「私だけを犯人扱いしないでよ！！」
- “Don't treat only me as the suspect!”
- “Moreover, Mr. Kanazawa's alibi is also vague!”
殺人 (Murder)
殺人 refers to the act of intentionally taking another person’s life with one’s own will and premeditation.
It combines 殺 (kill) with 人 (person) to show the killing of a person.
Sonoko is invited to a band’s after party. During the get-together, the band’s singer Tatsuya eats a rice ball only to collapse and die. The police are called in, and Inspector Megure discovers the victim was poisoned. He accuses the man who prepared the food, but Conan bites into a rice ball to show it’s safe. The victim’s manager, Mari, agrees.
- 麻理:
- 「無差別殺人ならともかく、たまたま達也が食べたオニギリだけに、あらかじめ毒を仕込むのは不可能じゃありません？」
- “If it were indiscriminate murder, that's one thing but since it was just the rice ball Tatsuya happened to eat, wouldn't it be impossible to poison it beforehand?”
- 目暮:
- 「た、確かにそうだが…」
- “Th-that's true.”
Identity
人間 (Human being)
人間 is used in three main ways, depending on the context: (1) humanity itself, (2) a specific person or individual, or (3) character or personality.
It combines 人 (person) with 間 (between) to show human beings living among one another.
Alicia and Akari visit an island that’s modeled after part of Japan back on Earth. There, an elderly local woman tells the two of the fox spirits that visit the human world there. Akari is excited at the prospect of meeting one, but the old woman gives her a warning: on rare occasion, a fox will take a person back home with them.
- おばあさん:
- 「神さまの世界と人間の世界は違うやさかい」
- “The god world and the human world are different.”
- 「連れて行かれたらあかん」
- “Therefore, it is bad to follow along.”
- “The god world and the human world are different.”
やさかい has a meaning like だから.
別人 (Different person)
別人 refers to someone who is not the same as a particular individual, or to another person who is not that individual. It is also used figuratively to describe a situation where a person’s appearance, personality, or attitude has changed dramatically compared to before.
It combines 別 (different) with 人 (person) to show a different person.
Sacchan and Kotoha notice Yui walking with a couple of her friends from school. The two decide to sneak and follow after them. Sacchan notices Yui doesn’t act quite the same with these friends as she does with Sacchan and Kotoha.
- さっちゃん:
- 「潜入作戦とかで別人になりきることがあるかもしれないから」
- “Maybe it's because she's in an undercover operation or something that she sometimes pretends to be a different person....”
- 「学校の時の結衣は結衣らしさを消してすごしてるのかもしれない」
- “...that Yui at school might be trying to hide her true self.”
- “Maybe it's because she's in an undercover operation or something that she sometimes pretends to be a different person....”
怪人 (Mysterious person)
怪人 refers to mysterious individuals whose true identities are unknown or to suspicious characters with strange abilities.
It combines 怪 (strange) with 人 (person) to show a person marked by eerie abnormality.
A client tells Detective Mouri about the condition in which she found her deceased husband. Hearing the details, Conan identifies the likely poison, including the composition, the dosage required to kill, and the internal effects it has on a person. When Ran asks how he knows all this, Conan covers by saying the monster villain on the kid’s TV show he watched explained it.
- 蘭:
- 「随分 丁寧な怪人ね… 毒の成分まで教えてくれるなんて…」
- “What a polite villain... Going so far as to tell the poison's composition...”
- コナン:
- 「そんな怪人いねーよ…」
- “No such monster exists...”
Relationships
二人 (Two people)
二人 means that there are two people.
It combines 二 (two) with 人 (person) to show two persons.
Makoto introduces Chinatsu and Kei to Anzu while the group is meeting one another.
- 真琴:
- 「こっちの二人は居候先の親戚で千夏ちゃんと圭くんくんです」
- “These two are the relatives I'm staying with, Chinatsu-chan and Kei-kun.”
- 千夏:
- 「こんにちはっ！」
- “Hello!”
- 圭くん:
- 「どうも」
- “Hi.”
- 杏子:
- 「椎名杏子です よろしく」
- “I'm Shiina Anzu. Nice to meet you.”
Society
人達 (People)
人達 is a term used to refer to a group of people.
It combines 人 (person) with 達 (plural group) to show people as a group of persons.
After Shin’ichi was forced to take a deadly drug that instead shrank him back to a child, he took on the undercover name Conan and went to stay with his childhood friend Ran and her detective father in the hope of a lead to the black-clad men who drugged him. He later discusses with Professor Agasa about how useless Detective Mouri is. The professor reminds Conan that the poison was supposed to have killed him, so he can’t rush and let others know his true identity.
- コナン:
- 「オレだけじゃなく、オレのまわりの人達も危ないっていうんだろ？」
- “You're saying it won't be just me, but the people around me will be in danger too, right?”
- 「心配すんな！ちゃんと蘭にもおっちゃんにも、江戸川コナンでとおしてるよ！！」
- “Don't worry! I'm keeping up the Conan Edogawa act with Ran and the old man, too!!”
- “You're saying it won't be just me, but the people around me will be in danger too, right?”
職人 (Craftsperson)
職人 means someone whose profession involves creating objects by hand using the skilled techniques acquired through years of training and experience.
It combines 職 (profession) with 人 (person) to show a person of a trade.
Akari picks up a box containing glassware items for her to transport. One of the employees from the shop making the glassware takes the box from her to place in her gondola. After he does this a second time, Akari says she can help carry the boxes, but he refuses.
- 職人:
- 「このガラス達は親方が精魂込めて作った」
- “These pieces of glass were made with the maestro's heart and soul poured into them.”
- 「僕達職人の努力の結晶なんス」
- “They're the crystallization of our craftsmen's efforts.”
- “These pieces of glass were made with the maestro's heart and soul poured into them.”
結晶 can refer to crystallization, but also to the fruits (of one’s labor). He means the latter here, but the former works well in an English translation without losing the meaning.
外国人 (Foreigner)
外国人 means a foreign national or a citizens of another country.
It combines 外国 (foreign country) with 人 (person) to show a person from another country.
Shin’ichi’s teenage friend Ran enters Professor Agasa’s house looking for him, unaware that he was forced to take a poison that inadvertently turned the teenager into a young child. When Ran sees the boy and asks his name, Shin’ichi recalls Agasa’s suggestion to not reveal who he is. Panicking, he gives the name “Conan”, explaining the oddness of it by saying his father is a fan of author Arthur Conan Doyle.
- 欄:
- 「コナンねー…」
- “Conan, huh?”
- 阿笠:
- 「なにがコナンだ!! 外国人じゃあるまいし」
- “What's with 'Conan'!? It's not like you're a foreigner...”
- コナン:
- 「しかたねーだろ？ ほかに思いつかなかったんだから…」
- “It couldn't be helped, all right? I couldn't think up anything else...”