Lesson L14N2N2 Kanji in Context⏱ 25 min

Health and Medicine Kanji

This lesson focuses on kanji commonly encountered in medical and health contexts, such as those for symptoms, treatments, and body parts. You will practice reading and understanding these kanji in realistic sentences and phrases, building vocabulary and comprehension for N2-level material.

🎯 Goal: Learn N2 kanji related to health and medicine in context.

Lesson Content

Learning Goal

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to recognize and use 8 N2-level kanji related to health and medicine: 診 (shin), 療 (ryō), 患 (kan), 症 (shō), 治 (chi/ji), 薬 (yaku), 毒 (doku), and 健 (ken). You will understand their meanings, readings, and how they appear in common medical vocabulary.

Concept

Health and medicine kanji often appear in hospitals, prescriptions, and health-related news. These characters share radicals related to sickness (⺼, 疒) or treatment (⺮, 艹). Learning them together helps you read medical signs, understand symptoms, and talk about health conditions in Japanese.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

1. 診 (しん) – Examine, Diagnose

Radical: 言 (speech) + 㐱 (person with hair)
Meaning: To examine or diagnose a patient
Common words:
- 診察 (しんさつ) – medical examination
- 診断 (しんだん) – diagnosis
- 診療 (しんりょう) – medical treatment

2. 療 (りょう) – Cure, Treat

Radical: 疒 (sickness) + 尞 (to burn)
Meaning: Medical treatment or therapy
Common words:
- 治療 (ちりょう) – treatment, therapy
- 医療 (いりょう) – medical care
- 療養 (りょうよう) – recuperation, convalescence

3. 患 (かん) – Afflicted, Patient

Radical: 心 (heart) + 串 (string of coins)
Meaning: To suffer from an illness; a patient
Common words:
- 患者 (かんじゃ) – patient (in hospital)
- 疾患 (しっかん) – disease, disorder
- 患部 (かんぶ) – affected area

4. 症 (しょう) – Symptom, Condition

Radical: 疒 (sickness) + 正 (correct)
Meaning: A symptom or medical condition
Common words:
- 症状 (しょうじょう) – symptom
- 重症 (じゅうしょう) – serious condition
- 症例 (しょうれい) – clinical case

5. 治 (ち/じ) – Cure, Heal

Radical: 氵 (water) + 台 (platform)
Meaning: To heal, treat, or govern
Common words:
- 治療 (ちりょう) – treatment
- 治す (なおす) – to cure (verb)
- 政治 (せいじ) – politics (different meaning, but same kanji)

6. 薬 (やく) – Medicine, Drug

Radical: 艹 (grass/plant) + 楽 (comfort)
Meaning: Medicine or drug (often from plants)
Common words:
- 薬 (くすり) – medicine (noun)
- 薬局 (やっきょく) – pharmacy
- 漢方薬 (かんぽうやく) – Chinese herbal medicine

7. 毒 (どく) – Poison, Harm

Radical: 毋 (do not) + 青 (blue/green)
Meaning: Poison, toxin, or harmful substance
Common words:
- 毒 (どく) – poison
- 中毒 (ちゅうどく) – poisoning, addiction
- 毒薬 (どくやく) – poison (as a drug)

8. 健 (けん) – Health, Strong

Radical: 亻 (person) + 建 (build)
Meaning: Healthy, strong, vigorous
Common words:
- 健康 (けんこう) – health
- 健やか (すこやか) – healthy (adjective)
- 健診 (けんしん) – health check-up

Mini Examples

Japanese	Romaji	English
医者が診断をした。	Isha ga shindan o shita.	The doctor made a diagnosis.
治療は順調です。	Chiryou wa junchou desu.	The treatment is going well.
患者の症状が悪化した。	Kanja no shoujou ga akka shita.	The patient's symptoms worsened.
この薬は毒ではない。	Kono kusuri wa doku dewa nai.	This medicine is not poison.
健康診断を受ける。	Kenkou shindan o ukeru.	To receive a health check-up.

Common Mistake

❌ Confusing 患 (kan) and 症 (shō)

患 refers to the person or state of suffering (患者 = patient)
症 refers to the symptom or condition itself (症状 = symptom)
Wrong: 彼は症状です (Kare wa shōjō desu) – "He is a symptom" (incorrect)
Right: 彼は患者です (Kare wa kanja desu) – "He is a patient"

❌ Mixing 治 (chi) and 療 (ryō)

治 focuses on the act of curing/healing (治す = to cure)
療 focuses on the process of treatment (治療 = therapy)
Both often appear together: 治療 (chiryou) = treatment

Quick Practice

Fill in the blanks with the correct kanji from this lesson:

医者が___断を下した。 (The doctor gave a diagnosis.)
→ Answer: 診 (shin)
この___は副作用がない。 (This medicine has no side effects.)
→ Answer: 薬 (yaku)
___康のために運動する。 (I exercise for my health.)
→ Answer: 健 (ken)
彼は___者の家族だ。 (He is the patient's family.)
→ Answer: 患 (kan)
___状が改善した。 (The symptoms improved.)
→ Answer: 症 (shō)

Summary and Next Step

You've learned 8 key N2 kanji for health and medicine: 診・療・患・症・治・薬・毒・健. These appear in hospital signs, medical documents, and everyday health conversations. Practice reading them in compound words and try to spot them in Japanese news articles about health.

Next step: Study kanji for body parts (頭・腕・足・心) or learn medical verbs (治す・診る・患う). Then try reading a simple Japanese health article to reinforce your new vocabulary.