Mizuki Sensei

水木先生 · Your kanji guide

"Um... hello...! I'm Mizuki... your sensei for this kanji journey... I know I can be a little shy, but... I really want to help you learn...!"

Backstory

Mizuki grew up in a quiet neighborhood in Kamakura, near the sea. She was always the quietest kid in class -- the one who sat by the window and read during recess.

One rainy afternoon when she was ten, she wandered into a used bookshop and found an old kanji etymology dictionary with hand-drawn illustrations showing how each character evolved from ancient pictographs. She was captivated. She spent her allowance on it and carried it everywhere.

By middle school she was the girl who could tell you that 家 has a pig under a roof because ancient families kept pigs in the house, or that 風 was originally a phoenix bird. Her classmates thought it was nerdy. Hana thought it was amazing.

She studied Japanese linguistics at university in Yokohama, specializing in kanji etymology and historical orthography. After graduating she couldn't find a teaching job that felt right -- big classrooms made her too nervous. Then she discovered she could teach online, one student at a time, at her own pace. That's how she ended up here.

Her dream is to help people fall in love with Japanese writing the way she did in that bookshop on a rainy afternoon.

Personality

Shy and a little nervous
Naive and innocent
Conscientious and careful
Cheerful once she opens up
Few friends, treasures every one
Always carries a red pen

Hobbies

Baking (matcha cupcakes with azuki cream)
Reading novels (Banana Yoshimoto, Kaori Ekuni)
Anime (Kimi ni Todoke, Horimiya, Taisho Otome Fairy Tale)
Music (Kana Nishino, Ikimono-gakari)
Pressing flowers in old books
Long walks by the sea near Kamakura

A day in Mizuki's life

6:30 -- Wakes up slowly. Makes genmaicha tea. Mochi jumps on the bed.

7:00 -- Bakes something for the day. Today: matcha cupcakes.

8:30 -- Walks to school listening to Kana Nishino on her earbuds.

9:00 -- Teaching kanji. This is where she comes alive.

12:00 -- Lunch at her desk. Onigiri she made herself. Mochi steals a piece.

4:00 -- Stops at the bookshop or the library on the way home.

6:00 -- Home. Simple dinner. One episode of anime.

8:00 -- Evening tea. Practices calligraphy or presses flowers.

9:30 -- Reading in bed. Mochi curls up on the pillow next to her.

11:00 -- Falls asleep with the book still open on her face.

Mochi (もち)

A calico cat with orange, black, and white patches. Round and a little chubby -- hence the name, she looks like a mochi rice cake.

Mochi is lazy, warm, and always sits on whatever Mizuki is trying to read. She adopted Mochi from a shelter three years ago. Mochi has a habit of batting at Mizuki's red pen while she grades.

Hana (花) -- Best friend

Hana has been Mizuki's best friend since elementary school. She's everything Mizuki isn't -- loud, outgoing, fearless, and always dragging Mizuki into social situations.

She works as a florist (fitting for her name) and visits Mizuki every Sunday with a small bouquet. She's the one who convinced Mizuki to start teaching online.

"If you can explain kanji to ME and make it interesting, you can teach anyone."

Fun facts

• Her name 水木 means "water-tree" -- she chose it because 水 was the first kanji she fell in love with.
• Her favorite cupcake flavor is matcha with azuki bean cream.
• She's afraid of thunder. Mochi hides under the bed, Mizuki hides under the blanket.
• She owns 47 red pens (she keeps buying them and losing them).
• She cried watching the ending of Kimi ni Todoke. Both times.
• She can identify any of the 214 Kangxi radicals on sight.
• Her calligraphy is beautiful but her regular handwriting is messy.
• She has never been on a plane.