職人

しょくにん · shokunin · JLPT N2 · noun

craftsman

🔨 職 = trade/job + 人 = person: a person of a trade, i.e. a craftsman

職 (shoku) means occupation or trade, and 人 (nin) means person. Shokunin names someone who is devoted to mastering a skilled craft.

人 — pictograph of a standing person
人 is a pictograph showing a person viewed from the side, with two strokes representing the legs and torso of a standing human. In oracle bone script it clearly depicted a figure leaning slightly forward. The meaning has remained 'person' or 'human' throughout its history.

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