入る
hai-ru
News, people, wallets: it all comes inside
The picture Something outside crosses the edge and settles inside a boundary. 入る crosses the edge inward; 出る crosses that same edge outward.
Where the picture shows up in 入る
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The body goes inside
どうぞ中に入ってください。
dōzo naka ni haitte kudasai
Please come in.
The body steps over the threshold and puts its feet down on the floor inside the room.
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A space holds it
この部屋にはお客が二十人入ります。
kono heya ni wa kyaku ga nijū-nin hairi-masu
This room fits twenty guests.
Chair after chair goes into the empty room until the twentieth one fills it exactly.
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Joining a group
四月から新しい人が入ります。
shi-gatsu kara atarashii hito ga hairi-masu
A new person joins us in April.
A new person slips into the line of staff and becomes one of the places in that line.
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Sitting inside a container
かばんに財布が入っていません。
kaban ni saifu ga haitte imasen
My wallet is not in the bag.
You hold the bag open and look in, and the spot where the wallet should sit is empty.
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News arrives inside
連絡が入ったらすぐ知らせます。
renraku ga haittara sugu shirase-masu
I will tell you as soon as word comes in.
The phone rings and news from outside drops into your hand and stays there.
Japanese treats information like an object that enters your circle.
All of it in one picture
入る is one arrow pointing inward. Step over the threshold and you come in; fit twenty chairs and the room holds them; slip into the line of staff and you have joined; rest in the bag and the wallet is in it; land in your hand and the news has come in. So anything with 入る carries the same feeling: what was outside the edge has crossed it and taken a place inside.