Atamaji
愛

愛

On reading: AI
Kun reading: —

The character for love. It covers more ground in Japanese than the English word does.

When “愛” fills a head

Why it is in the set

Every joke generator needs one character that can be read warmly or ruefully depending on what is next to it, and 愛 is that character. It is also one of the few in the set that people are pleased to see come out on top, which matters: a set of 36 that never gives a nice result is not funny, it is just mean.

What a head full of it looks like

Not necessarily a person. Quite often a dog, a city, a band, a way of doing things. A head led by 愛 is a head organised around something it has decided to keep.

Words that use it

愛情 (aijou, affection), 恋愛 (renai, romantic love), 愛想 (aisou, friendliness), 愛用 (aiyou, one's habitual choice of a thing), 愛犬 (aiken, one's dog), 可愛い (kawaii, cute — literally “able to be loved”).

Kanji it turns up with

恋 (being in love) is its closest neighbour and the two read differently: 愛 is settled, 恋 is not. 愛 with 推 (a favourite to root for) behind it is usually about a thing rather than a person.

Where “愛” comes from

The old form has a hand reaching down (爪), a heart (心) in the middle, and a foot below turning back. A person walking away who keeps looking behind them, with the heart drawn in.

That picture is the meaning: love as the thing that makes you turn around.

Japanese uses it for romantic love, but also for 愛用 (a thing you use by choice and keep using) and 愛犬 (the dog you have). The English word narrows where the Japanese one does not.

A line you might get for “愛”

“Pointed at something, or someone, with the whole chest.”

Count the “愛” in your own head

Others in “Feelings”

“愛” is filed under “Feelings”. These are the rest of that group.

The 36 kanji

This is entirely a joke and has nothing to do with any real person.