Kanji Cheat Sheet: General Appliances

Quick poll for the savvy women of Tokyo: Hands up how many of us operate kanji-covered household appliances through sheer guesswork? Moving to and setting up in a new country can be hard enough without having to figure out the everyday basics we’ve probably never thought twice about doing back home. Here are some basic kanji and kana to help demystify some of those tasks.

General Appliances Kanji and Kana

電源 / でんげん     power

メニュー    menu

入り / 運転 /入    on

切り / 停止    off

取り消し / キャンセル    clear/cancel

リセット    reset

スタート    start

停止 / 止める    stop

ロック解除    unlock

自動 / オート キー    automatic/auto key

メモリーキー    memory key

手動    manual

タイマー    timer

予約    setting the timer

時間    time/hours

分    minute/s

残り    (time) remaining

For a list of kanji and kana that are useful when operating your air conditioning and heating unit, click here.

Have you ever had a mishap caused by not being able to read the Japanese on a household appliance? Share your experiences in the comments!

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