(new)
I want to understand kanji by their components, but the left side of this one is very rare. It only shows up in 5 kanji total and it's always either paired with 斤 (axe) or with 見 (see) like in 親 (parent). The others are 薪 (firewood), 噺 (talk), and 襯 (underwear). Japanese sources would have me believe it's a variant of 辛 (spicy), but in Chinese 亲 means relative. So much for "parent" being "spicy look" :P. Also, according to Chinese radicals, 亲 is 立 (stand) on a 木 (tree), but for some reason the tree is usually written like ホ. It's surprising to me that ホ is considered to be the same radical as 木. I never made that connection. So even 茶 has a tree in it? Also what does it mean to stand on a tree? Perhaps it's using the meaning of 立 where it refers to who built something, so 木立 might mean they were made by the family tree? I was honestly hoping your site would dig into what's the deal with 亲, but for some reason despite appearing in 5 kanji it isn't considered a radical on its own. Also it's neat that there's a 斤 (axe) on the right, which is a funny character because you never know if it's really an axe or if it's meant to be interpreted as a unit of measurement, or is it just lending its pronunciation (キン) to characters like 近 (near)? Also, since it means "new", it shows up in show and game titles where it's often translated as Neo: 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン (Neon Genesis Evangelion) 新すばらしきこのせかい (Neo The World Ends With You)