People and persons with 人
The kanji 人 has the core meaning of a person. It extends to people in general, human relationships, individuality, and the roles that people occupy in society.
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 means the criminal, culprit, or person responsible for an offense. It identifies the person who committed the act.
It combines 犯 (commit a crime) 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!”
殺人 (Murder)
殺人 means killing a person, murder, or homicide depending on context. It is a basic legal and descriptive term.
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 means a human being or humanity. It can refer either to a person as a species member or to human nature more broadly.
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.”
やさかい has a meaning like だから.
別人 (Different person)
別人 means a different person or someone changed so much that they seem like another person.
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.”
Relationships
二人 (Two people)
二人 means two people. It is the ordinary native counting form for a pair of persons.
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 means people. It refers to multiple persons as a group, often with attention to the people around someone or involved in a situation.
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!!”
職人 (Craftsperson)
職人 means a craftsperson or artisan skilled in a trade. It often carries a strong nuance of technique, pride, and hands-on mastery.
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.”
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 foreigner or foreign national. It refers to a person from another country rather than one’s own.
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...”