I spend much of my life around the kitchen sink. The Japanese word for a kitchen sink is 流し-nagashi, which loosely translates to the flowing place, in reference to flowing water.

When I was growing up, honeysuckle vines grew on the wall outside the kitchen sink. In the summer when they were blooming, their sweet fragrance filled the kitchen. I can remember smelling them as I washed the dishes in the sink. Much of my grade school years were spent in a dormitory. We children took turns helping our dorm parents make the meals and wash the dishes. I have many memories of that kitchen sink in the dorm.

Now when I look out the window over the kitchen sink, I see flowers, chickens walking about, and beautiful alder trees. Every day, I bring in a variety of produce out of the garden to eat. It all passes through the sink to be washed and prepared. Here are some of the foods which were in my sink today.

The character 流 is a beautiful one made of the radical on the left side which means water, and the part of the right which adds the meaning of movement. Together they mean water flowing.

The word 流し-nagashi has many meanings in Japanese besides a sink.